Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family
There's been so much action going on with the TCA and the midseason returns and what-not that we sort of missed the announcement for the
DGA Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television nominations for 2009. It's quite an interesting bunch, as much for what and who's included and who and what were left out.
Since the DGA noms come from the directors themselves, these awards are indicative of what the professionals really think of their peers. Very illuminating, if you ask me. Check it out, category by category, and feel free to comment on my comments.
Continue reading DGA Nominations for the best in TV in 2009
Posted Jan 11th 2010 7:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
On March 21,
Breaking Bad is back. That's right, AMC is bringing back one of the best dramas on television that's not
Mad Men when
Breaking Bad returns for Season Three with an episode starring and directed by Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston.
The episode, "No Mas," means "No More" in Spanish and it will be interesting to see how creator Vince Gilligan picks up the threads from the Season Two finale. For fans of the show, that means we're finally going to know what's happened to Walter during and after the plane crash. That's just an assumption because when it comes to
Breaking Bad, you're never truly sure what's going to happen next.
Continue reading Breaking Bad returns in March
Posted Dec 30th 2009 11:06AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Law and Order, Lost, Rescue Me, Doctor Who, NCIS, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men
More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actors of the decade. And, boy, was it a tough choice.
From a meth-making chemistry teacher to a damaged 1960s ad exec, the guys populating the dramatic actor category in our best of the decade are nothing short of brilliant.
It's hard to choose favorites when you're dealing with the likes of Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, Mark Harmon, James Gandolfini, and many others, but the
TV Squad team has spoken.
Did your favorites make our list? If not, feel free to add them in the comments below.
Continue reading Best TV of the '00s: Dramatic Actor
Posted Dec 22nd 2009 9:01AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Dexter, Awards, Damages, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee
The winners of
2009 Satellite Awards were announced on Sunday in Los Angeles, and when you look at the winners on the television side, you have to like the choices. Most of these shows and actors have been on our year-end "best" lists, and if I were to guess, I think you'll see many of these names on the Prime time Emmy nomination roster.
The first thing that jumped out to me was
Glee. The Fox musical dramedy was a winner in five different categories, including actors Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and
Kristin Chenoweth -- for her guest role -- recognized. And the show was named Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical.
Continue reading Glee and Breaking Bad top the Satellite Awards
Posted Dec 20th 2009 9:24AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Lost, Celebrities, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Ratings, NCIS, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Burn Notice, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Nurse Jackie, Glee, Community, Cougar Town, Modern Family
What a year! Once we got over the WGA strike, the networks kicked it into high gear and got busy making TV. Except for NBC. Even
Jeff Zucker has admitted that NBCU has failed to respond to the need for new programming.
Fortunately, the other channels have been busy and there's been a lot of great television... and some that's just plain awful. But I'm a half-glass full kind of person and I have good feelings about 2009. However,
since I don't want to repeat my list from last year, I'll just mention that I could put these 2008 best choices --
Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory and
Mad Men -- on my list again. But I'm going to go for an all new list and, thankfully, I had plenty of 'bests' to choose from.
Best
1. Glee. If there was ever a show that was made just for my personal taste, this is probably it. I love the singing and dancing. I get the characters. It even tickles me that I had just as much angst with bullies in high school as these kids. Every episode hasn't been perfect, but it's perfectly fine that they keep striving.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Allison's list
Posted Dec 19th 2009 2:04PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Sports, News, OpEd, Daytime, The Office, Talk Show, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Parks and Recreation
I don't think I did one of these lists last year, and I have no idea why. The election all by itself would have generated a pretty fun best/worst list. Maybe we were all suffering from information overload, and were just exhausted. Not sure.
But 2009 had a lot of interesting TV, too, just not all in one category. As I've done in the past, I'll dispense with the usual "best show" and "worst show" lists and just make up categories:
GOODNESS
Best comeback from a shaky first season: Parks and Recreation. As I mentioned in my "
return of the sitcom" story,
Parks and Rec has made the biggest improvement from first season to second since... well, since
The Office. It's no coincidence; Greg Daniels and Mike Schur's
Office experience taught them that patience would be rewarded, both on the part of the writers and the viewers.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Joel's list
Posted Dec 17th 2009 11:33AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, House, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Celebrities, The Closer, 30 Rock, Dexter, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family
Every day it seems that we have nominations to announce. Yes, we are in award season and today it's the Screen Actors Guild's turn. On Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 8 p.m. on TNT and TBS, the winners of the
16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live from Los Angeles. Here's the nominees in the main categories and some thoughts on each:
Drama Ensemble: The Closer; Dexter; The Good Wife; Mad Men; True Blood
Interesting that CBS's
The Good Wife made the cut, especially over
Lost or
House or
Breaking Bad or
Sons of Anarchy or
Damages or
Friday Night Lights. And I love
The Closer, but the inclusion here is a surprise. I guess
NCIS would be too big a surprise to get recognized.
Comedy Ensemble: 30 Rock; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Glee; Modern Family; The Office
Glee and
Modern Family are freshmen, but clearly excellent ensemble comedies. And for
Curb Your Enthusiasm, are they honoring the
Seinfeld team all over again? Also, where's
The Big Bang Theory?
Continue reading Screen Actors Guild award nominations for TV
Posted Dec 16th 2009 11:25AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Festivus, Celebrities, Chuck, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Community, Modern Family
If anyone has followed our Festivus festivities for the last four years, you'll remember that
every year I ask for certain gifts to appear under my aluminum pole, and it never happens. So if I were to air any grievances this year, that would be it.
But 2009's a new year, so I have a new list of gripes and wishes that I hope get fulfilled in 2010:
- That I get the power to bend space and time. That's the only way I'll be able to watch and/or record the coming Monday slate: HIMYM, House, and Chuck will all be on at 8 PM. Maybe I need to wish for a couple of TiVo HD XLs to appear under my pole.
- Speaking of Chuck, I hope they follow up last year's bang-up finale with a great third season. And I hope people watch.
- That season two of Breaking Bad comes out on DVD soon so I can catch up in time for season three.
- That more people discover that Conan's actually doing a good job on The Tonight Show.
- That Comcast gives Jay Leno his own show... in daytime.
- Southland does better ratings on TNT than they ever would have on NBC.
- Continued laughs from rookie comedy sensations Modern Family and Community.
- Alison Brie's phone number.
Posted Dec 16th 2009 10:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, House, Festivus, Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, Glee
On the eighth day of Festivus, TV gave to me ... eight stars a shinin'!
There are a lot more than eight wonderful stars shining in the TV pantheon for 2009, but these eight are a remarkable bunch who have been exemplary this past year. They've left us with memories that'll last long after this Festivus has ended. So, in no special order, here are the eight stars a shining from the year gone by.
1. Jane Lynch. If the Emmy doesn't already have Jane Lynch's name engraved in a statuette for
Glee, it will by the time the awards are handed out. Lynch has been the perfect villain, the villain you love to hate. But if she were just a one-note nasty, it wouldn't work. Lynch has shown the other side of Sue Sylvester. Her "swing" date showed Sue in love, and her visit to her sister Jean was a soft earthquake emotion. Jane delivers week in and week out. Her star is glowing.
Continue reading The Twelve Days of Festivus: Eight stars a shinin'
Posted Dec 16th 2009 9:38AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Lost, The Office, 30 Rock, Dexter, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family
Round up the usual suspects. That would seem to be the appropriate line when you look at the
nominees for the 2010 Writers Guild Awards. That doesn't mean that all these nominees are not worthy; they are some of the best 2009 television for sure. It's just that inevitably some shows are left out in favor of the tried old faves.
For instance, in the comedy category, can you really put
Modern Family in and completely diss
The Big Bang Theory? I can't. I'm not even happy about the annual goopfest for
30 Rock, a sitcom that I've grown tired of -- but that's just me. I'd prefer
How I Met Your Mother to get some time, or
United States of Tara or
Nurse Jackie or
The Middle. All four of those show have been superior to
30 Rock -- to me.
Continue reading 2010 Writers Guild Award nominees announced
Posted Nov 22nd 2009 4:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Closer, Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Burn Notice, Glee
Thanksgiving is coming and for many of us it's time to eat, drink and watch football. It's also a time to reflect on the things you're grateful for and since TV Squad is all about television, here's what I'm grateful for this holiday season, with regard to the tube.
Mad Men season finale
There was really nothing as satisfying in the entire year for me. Matt Weiner promised a game-changing episode and he delivered it with a whopper of a wrap up. Actually, nothing was really wrapped; it was more like the cards have been dealt and we're still waiting to see how the hands are played.
Continue reading What Allison is thankful for
Posted Nov 8th 2009 11:30AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Daytime, Site Announcements, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
The folks at our sister site
Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:
Posted Sep 1st 2009 3:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men
This should come as no surprise to even the most casual of TV Squad readers.
Mad Men has been picked up for a fourth season, assuring that Matthew Weiner's engrossing and demanding tale of Don Draper and the people at Sterling Cooper will be played out for at least another year.
When a show like
Mad Men comes along, not unlike
The Sopranos in quality and pop culture appeal, the question usually isn't whether the network will stand behind it for the duration, but whether or not the creative team envisions a long run.
Continue reading Mad Men renewed for fourth season
Posted Aug 1st 2009 11:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, Battlestar Galactica, TCA Press Tour, Awards, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, True Blood
Tonight, the members of the Television Critics Association (including me) gathered at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena to give out its annual awards. The membership voted on the awards in the month leading up to the press tour; we were given a number of candidates to choose from in various categories. The membership was also asked to choose recipients for an individual Career Achievement award and the Heritage Award, which recognizes a past show that had a big impact artistically and on the industry.
The members gave
ER its Heritage Award, which honors the impact the show has had on the TV landscape. As for current shows, the members gave
Battlestar Galactica the Program of the Year award,
Mad Men Outstanding Achievement in Drama.
The Big Bang Theory won for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Jim Parsons won the Individual Achievement in Comedy award for his performance.
Bryan Cranston of
Breaking Bad won the Individual Achievement in Drama award.
True Blood won the Outstanding New Program Award. And, finally, the award I'm most excited about (because she'll likely be there): Betty White received the Career Achievement award.
A complete list of winners is after the jump.
Continue reading TCA Awards: Mad Men, Big Bang, ER, True Blood, BSG are big winners - TCA Report
Posted Jul 16th 2009 2:44PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory
Now that the excitement has died down, I've been scouring
the complete list of nominations. Here's a few observations... Then, let me know what you think.
-- Why bother with the Outstanding Mini-Series category? There were only two nominees worthy of a nomination. Exactly how many mini-series are even produced anymore? This is an outmoded TV format. Kill the category.
-- What's going on with the writers?
30 Rock dominates the comedy category and
Mad Men dominates the drama category. What are the chances that the lone nomination in each category wins? I'd say slim and none. I call for limitations; only two episodes per series. Writing is such a subjective thing anyway. If you like
30 Rock's scattershot humor, you're more likely to vote for it compared to a traditional sitcom like
Big Bang Theory. The latter should have snagged a nom for
The Lizard-Spock Expansion episode.
Continue reading Some random thoughts on the Emmy nominations
Next Page »
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