television review

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

Bristol Palin&#39;s New Show: &#39;Kardashians of Wasilla&#39;
Bristol Palin's New Show: 'Kardashians of Wasilla'
review roundup

Bristol Palin's New Show: 'Kardashians of Wasilla'

Reviewers agree: 'Life's a Tripp' does not make Palin look good

(Newser) - If you already hate Bristol Palin, be prepared to hate her even more after watching tonight's premiere of her new Lifetime reality show, Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp. The critics hands-down pan the debut, and many agree that it may remind you of another obnoxious reality show family:...

Girls : &#39;Unstoppably Irritating&#39; or &#39;True to Life&#39;?
 Girls: 'Unstoppably Irritating' 
 or 'True to Life'? 
reviewers battle

Girls: 'Unstoppably Irritating' or 'True to Life'?

New HBO show sparks reviewer battle at 'Mother Jones'

(Newser) - Two reviewers at Mother Jones have locked horns over HBO's new hipster all-female series, Girls. "Hipsters are really going to like this show," sneered Asawin Suebsaeng a few days ago. "Which is to say that it is as profoundly bland as it is unstoppably irritating."...

Mad Men Return Slow but Satisfying
 Mad Men 
 Return Slow 
 but Satisfying 
tv review

Mad Men Return Slow but Satisfying

Critics just happy Don Draper is back

(Newser) - Critics eager for the return of Mad Men weren't blown away by the first episode of the fifth season—but that doesn't mean the show has lost its magic. What they're saying:
  • "I'm glad to have Mad Men back, but 'A Little Kiss' was
...

Oscars Were Basically the Same Old Sequel

Billy Crystal brings the same old stuff

(Newser) - Last night's Oscars, like its Best Picture, was a throwback to a different time in film history. And though the show may have topped last year's Anne Hathaway-James Franco fiasco, it was boring and tired throughout:
  • "The whole night looked like an AARP pep rally," writes
...

Smash Opens to Rave Reviews
 Smash Opens to Rave Reviews 
TV Review

Smash Opens to Rave Reviews

NBC musical dazzles critics... mostly

(Newser) - If you watched the Super Bowl, you just might have heard of Smash, NBC's new drama about the making of a Broadway musical. It premiered last night, and critics are (mostly) giving it a standing ovation:
  • The buzz has gotten so intense that the conversation isn't even about
...

'Beavis and Butt-head' Reviews: Critics Conclude Show Is No Longer Relevant
Beavis and Butt-head Still Idiotic, No Longer Essential
review roundup

Beavis and Butt-head Still Idiotic, No Longer Essential

Even so, you might appreciate the nostalgia: critics

(Newser) - Beavis and Butt-head are back—but two decades later, MTV’s pair of dimwits is no longer critiquing just music videos. They have now added reality shows, movies, and viral videos to their repertoire. But do we still need them?
  • Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe : Back in the early 1990s, Beavis
...

Ken Burns' 'Prohibition' a Slow But Fascinating PBS Documentary: Reviewers
 Ken Burns' Prohibition 
 a Long, Tall Drink 
TV Review

Ken Burns' Prohibition a Long, Tall Drink

'A Nation of Drunkards' is the best episode: reviewers

(Newser) - Ken Burns' latest mega-documentary, Prohibition, starts a three-night run tomorrow on PBS. Reviewers are praising the 5 1/2-hour survey of America's war on booze, but warn that it's a bit slow and may reveal its best stuff in the first episode:
  • "It's a great subject with
...

Two and a Half Men Premiere: Womanizing Ashton Kutcher a Fine Stand-in for Charlie Sheen, Say Critics
Sweet, Womanizing Kutcher
a Fine Stand-in for Sheen
review roundup

Sweet, Womanizing Kutcher a Fine Stand-in for Sheen

Critics not gushing, but they're mostly pleased with premiere

(Newser) - Charlie Sheen’s character “exploded like a balloon full of meat,” another character explained last night as Two and a Half Men premiered and finally killed him off. Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher also debuted as Walden Schmidt. What the critics are saying:
  • Turns out Schmidt is “sweet, unsarcastic
...

Joan &amp; Melissa an Embarrassment
 Joan & Melissa 
 an Embarrassment 
tv review roundup

Joan & Melissa an Embarrassment

Critics: New reality show 'upsetting,' 'uncomfortable'

(Newser) - Joan Rivers’ new reality show on WE, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, follows the 77-year-old comedian as she moves in with her daughter in Los Angeles. It’s as artificial as the botox Rivers extols:
  • The show is “upsetting,” writes a pained Linda Stasi in the New
...

MTV's Skins Sees Teens as 'Monsters'
  MTV's Skins Sees 
 Teens as 'Monsters' 
TV review

MTV's Skins Sees Teens as 'Monsters'

Critics: New drama is heavy on sex and drugs, little else

(Newser) - MTV debuted its new series Skins last night, an American version of a British teen drama rife with sex and drugs. Not everybody's a fan:
  • Richard Lawson, Gawker : It goes even further than the Brit version in pushing the idea that teens are "messy jumbles of extremes with very
...

Dear Golden Globes: Please Get Rid of Ricky Gervais
Dear Golden Globes:
Please Get Rid of Gervais
television review

Dear Golden Globes: Please Get Rid of Gervais

Critics not impressed with Ricky Gervais' antics

(Newser) - Hollywood’s celebrities certainly were not happy with Ricky Gervais’s hosting gig at last night’s Golden Globes—but how did the critics feel about it? Read on:
  • "Are we at war with England? If not, then why have we been subjected to two years of Gervais hosting
...

Sarah Palin's Alaska: Good Branding, Bad TV

At least haters can fantasize she'll get eaten by a bear

(Newser) - Sarah Palin seems to be out for a fresh start with her new reality show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska. “In this well-staged reboot, the less you know about her—or, in some cases, shuddered to think about her—then the better the show gets, writes Hank Stuever of the...

The Big C Will Make You Cringe
 The Big C Will Make You Cringe 
review roundup

The Big C Will Make You Cringe

Laura Linney's new series doesn't impress everyone

(Newser) - Critics are split on The Big C, Showtime's Laura Linney-starring comedy about a woman with cancer living out the last year of her life, which debuts tonight:
  • The cast is perhaps a bit large for a half-hour show, writes Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times , and the whole thing
...

Why Glee Matters
 Why Glee Matters 
Season Review

Why Glee Matters

Moments of actual sincerity shine through

(Newser) - Glee, which took its season-ending bow last night, might seem like a meaningless confection, but it’s actually an important piece of popular art, writes Matt Zoller Seitz of Salon , calling it “one of the most stylistically bold broadcast network shows since Twin Peaks.” Because in between its...

HBO's Treme Does Justice to New Orleans
 HBO's Treme Does 
 Justice to New Orleans 
TV REVIEW

HBO's Treme Does Justice to New Orleans

'Wire" creator David Simon scores with new series set in Big Easy

(Newser) - Critics seem thrilled with Wire creator David Simon's new HBO series Treme, about post-Katrina New Orleans:
  • Dave Walker, New Orleans Times-Picayune : "This is the screen depiction that New Orleans deserves, has always desired, but has been denied."
  • Locals want to know two things: "Is it real? and
...

Jessica Simpson Eats Bugs, Stays Ditsy

 Jessica 
 Simpson 
 Eats Bugs, 
 Stays Ditsy 
'Price of Beauty' review

Jessica Simpson Eats Bugs, Stays Ditsy

The 'Price of Beauty' premiere offers some funny moments

(Newser) - Jessica Simpson’s new reality show debuted last night, and it put her in a few disgusting situations. In the first episode of VH1’s The Price of Beauty, Simpson attempted to eat a bug in Thailand—because they boost metabolism—and later found herself using a facial cream made...

The Pacific Lives Up to Band of Brothers
 The Pacific Lives Up to 
 Band of Brothers 


tv review

The Pacific Lives Up to Band of Brothers

Critics impressed with miniseries from Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg

(Newser) - The Pacific, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s 10-hour World War II miniseries, debuts on HBO Sunday—and critics are, with few exceptions, impressed:
  • The Pacific is “absolutely worth watching in its 10-hour entirety,” writes Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles Times , although it does have a few
...

Old-Fashioned Oscars Draw Lukewarm Reviews
 Old-Fashioned Oscars Draw Lukewarm Reviews 
TV Review

Old-Fashioned Oscars Draw Lukewarm Reviews

Baldwin and Martin wow, but show somehow lacked fun

(Newser) - Were the 82nd Academy Awards any good? The critics are split, but, hey, that’s the point. “We all think we know how to do a better Oscar night,” writes Hank Steuver of the Washington Post . “When really all we know are recipes for queso dip.”...

Zach Galifianakis Spices Up SNL
 Zach Galifianakis Spices Up SNL
tv review

Zach Galifianakis Spices Up SNL

Star of 'The Hangover' proves a good fit for late night

(Newser) - Zach Galifianakis provided a bright spot in an up-and-down season of Saturday Night Live, critics agree. The star of The Hangover brought his stoner demeanor and—for most of last night's episode—bounteous beard to Studio 8H. Some reactions:
  • The opening monologue "was pretty much just Galifianakis doing his
...

Leno Offers Same-Old in Tepid Return

Critics left cold by victorious host's Tonight Show return

(Newser) - Jay Leno made his triumphant return to the helm of the Tonight Show last night. Critics say it was like he never left, although they're split on whether that's a good thing:
  • The back-to-the future Tonight Show had "neither pop, nor sizzle, nor surprise, and no amount of cheerleading
...

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser