TV: Everything except basic cable

That “Sopranos” ending, six years on

May 18, 2013

The first post I ever wrote here was about The Sopranos, HBO’s series about the New Jersey mob. At the time I was annoyed by the ending: an abrupt black screen that said “hardware malfunction” a lot more than it said “this is a fitting end to one of the most groundbreaking TV shows ever [...]

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Great moments in entertainment

January 28, 2013

Obviously, I haven’t found much to write about lately. I’m still not very inspired, but the month is almost up and the calendar at right doesn’t have much red in it. So here are a few desultory observations from a man still dealing (apparently) with the heart-attack blues: Downton Abbey, Episode 4 (BIGTIME SPOILER AHEAD): [...]

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Now that’s what I call reality

November 13, 2012

Lately we’ve been watching a PBS show called Market Warriors, which ostensibly involves four antiques experts going around to flea markets and buying stuff cheap to sell at auction for major profit. I use the word “ostensibly” here because in practice it works the other way around: The experts nearly always pay too much, and [...]

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The best shows I’ve never seen

September 24, 2012

The bad thing about writing about the Emmy Awards is that you have to admit you watched them. And that’s not cool. The only reason cool people watch the Emmy Awards is so they can complain about how boring and predictable it all was. So, naturally, that’s what I’m going to do too. Actually, for [...]

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A world without power. Or imagination.

September 18, 2012

I stayed up last night to watch Revolution, NBC’s new drama about a world without suddenly and inexplicably without electricity. I was intrigued by the premise, OK? Also, I wanted to see some cool CGI scenes of Chicago overrun with vegetation. Unfortunately, the premise and the fleeting CGI stuff are about all there is. The [...]

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So long, Mike. Been good to know you

August 28, 2012

Today I’m still kind of bummed out over the untimely death of Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad. I guess I saw it coming, but still. Mike was a bad hombre with his own hard integrity and only one weakness — his little granddaughter. He also had a wit as dry and abrasive as the New [...]

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And now for something completely different

July 19, 2012

Until Tuesday, my only TV viewing on this trip was about 8 minutes of channel surfing at a Super 8 in Alma, Nebraska. Then Tess sent word that she’d just bought the new season of Breaking Bad on Amazon. That night I put on the headphones and watched episode one, “Live Free or Die,” on [...]

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Seen any ancient films lately?

June 11, 2012

Lately we’ve been watching really old movies, streamed through our really old Wii to our really big TV. Old movies — black-and-white ones that mostly seem to star Barbara Stanwyck — are about all we have left. We’ve gone through all the good shows on streaming Netflix and Hulu Plus, then through the OK ones, [...]

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Killing time with “The Killing”

May 2, 2012

The way we watch TV these days, it’s possible that quite a few people haven’t yet seen Season 1 of AMC’s The Killing, even though it aired last year. Me, I just finished it via Netflix, and I see iTunes and Amazon are both offering it along with the first half-dozen episodes of Season 2. [...]

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‘Mad Men’ gets off to a very slow start

March 26, 2012

Has Mad Men lost its mojo? Maybe too early to say after one episode, but that premiere really didn’t do anything for me. It played pretty much like what it was: an hour-long episode padded to two hours. Matthew Weiner said the extended premiere was intended to gin up enthusiasm — or maybe just awareness, [...]

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