‘The X-Files’ finale caps an inexplicably sloppy season
The short return season of "The X-Files" ended as it began -- as if someone had put an array of story elements from the show's original run into a blender...
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Review: ‘Fuller House,’ an exercise in nostalgia
No reboot is more happy to draw attention to its own return than "Fuller House," an exercise in nostalgia that leans heavily on knowledge of the show's past life as...
‘The X-Files’ and the problem with TV’s nostalgia boom
It's difficult to criticize the urge to mine a precious resource, especially when that gold lies just below the surface of popular culture. For decades, TV in particular has brought...
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey host a smashing ‘Saturday Night Live’
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler strolled on to the "Saturday Night Live" stage this weekend as if they owned the place. Given how good their installment of "SNL" was, it'd...
Top 20 TV shows of 2015
More than 400 scripted, primetime shows aired in 2015, so how can anyone winnow that array down to the 10 best programs? Trick question: It's not possible. Not for me,...
‘The Leftovers’ boss Damon Lindelof explains that shocking twist
Spoiler warning: Do not read on unless you've seen "The Leftovers" episode 209, titled "Ten Thirteen." As "The Leftovers" heads into its home stretch, it unleashed an amazing twist at...
Prime-time TV hasn’t yet gotten the terrorism issue right
"For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy." That quote comes from Roger Ebert, whose presence and writing are still deeply missed two years after his passing....
‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’ review: One of the year’s most distinctive new dramas
Two mainstays of film noir are the tough-talking dame and the cynical private eye, and one of the pleasures of "Marvel's Jessica Jones" is that it unites both types in...
NBC renews ‘Chicago Fire,’ ‘Chicago P.D.’
At a Chicago party on Monday for Dick Wolf's trilogy of Windy City shows -- "Chicago Fire," "Chicago P.D." and the upcoming "Chicago Med" -- fans of the first two...
‘Master of None’ review: Aziz Ansari’s ambitious comedy is authentic and endearing
The building blocks of "Master of None" are not unusual: In the Netflix comedy, "Parks and Recreation" actor and standup comic Aziz Ansari plays Dev, a single guy in New...