HEARTBEAT:  Wednesday 8PM on NBC – Change the Channel NBC’s HEARTBEAT differs from most of the post-ER, post-Grey’s Anatomy medical shows that have come down the pike in that it’s an unabashed star vehicle rather than an ensemble piece.  And this isn’t an antihero story, a la House:  Dr. Alexandra Panttiere (played by Melissa […]

  MISTRESSES:  Thursday 9PM on ABC MISTRESSES lost its marquee star this season, when Alyssa Milano declined to move with the show to its new (cheaper) Vancouver shooting location.  We’ll see what effect, if any, this has on the ratings, but in terms of the show’s substance, by Season 2 Milano wasn’t being featured more […]

  TATAU:  Saturday 10PM on BBCAmerica BBCAmerica only has two showcase slots to launch new series, those being the hours after Dr. Who and Orphan Black, so with plenty of time to prepare for the return of the latter, it’s difficult to understand how the network ended up handing the space over to TATAU, a […]

  The final scene of ALMOST HUMAN‘s season typified what a behind-the-scenes mess the entire run had been.  The occasion was a sequence where human police detective circa 2048 John Kennex (Karl Urban) and his cyborg partner Dorian (Michael Ealy) expressed their appreciation for one another, Dorian because Kennex had spoken on his behalf at […]

  HART OF DIXIE barely survived the hunger games known as network scheduling season this year–it won’t be back until midseason, with an abbreviated (and probably final) set of episodes, and even then only so it can hit the 4-season mark that increases syndication prices.  The show’s ratings were passable at best when it aired […]

  ALLEGIANCE:  Thursday 10PM on NBC – If Nothing Else is On… ALLEGIANCE is what happens when broadcast network executives watch cable.  The story of long-term, deep-cover Russian agents is clearly, shall we say “strongly influenced” by FX’s The Americans, even if the specifics of the storyline aren’t identical.  But broadcast networks desperately need “big […]

  After 6 seasons, PARKS & RECREATION is still the most reliably lovable show on network television–maybe on all of TV.  No other series wears its heart on its sleeve as genuinely as Parks, and no ensemble provides more joyful fun than its cast.  The Season 6 finale, written by Co-Executive Producer Alan Yang and […]

  LEGENDS OF TOMORROW‘s destiny as the goofball discard pile of CW’s DC/Greg Berlanti universe may have reached its apotheosis with tonight’s Season 3 finale, written by co-creator/Executive Producers Matt Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer.  It featured a family-sized box of former series regulars and guest stars from throughout the run of the series, but its […]