Danny Pudi and Donald Glover
Apparently, no one ever told Community to beware the ides of March. (Et tu, Dean Pelton?) The mind reels at how the obsessive Abed (Danny Pudi) would react to March 15 being the date designated by NBC for the return of the never-say-die sitcom — and winner of TV Guide Magazine's 2011 Fan Favorite cover — from a most unwelcome three-month hiatus.
Once again kicking off NBC's stubbornly low-rated comedy lineup (8/7c), this endearingly zany cult comedy wastes no time ...
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Mary McCormack, Frederick Weller
Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter!
Question: Just wondering about Terra Nova and the rumors that they'll be shopping it around to another network. It took them pretty much forever to get the first season prepared, I'm assuming because of the special effects. If they wind up on another network, that probably means a smaller budget, faster production, fewer dinosaurs, more focus on the people, character-driven stories, etc. Right? Sounds entertaining to me. (I do confess, though Terra Nova struck me as a bit of a mess in some ways, I was looking forward to seeing how the story played out.)
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Colton
Some thoughts on the highs and lows and assorted other TV news that caught my eye this week:
DEAD MAN WALKING: So there I was watching AMC's The Walking Dead last Sunday — the first piece of TV I hungrily consumed after a week of mostly TV-free vacation (except for the Oscars, which I should have passed on) — and as self-righteous Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) yammers on about everyone's humanity being at stake if they execute their prisoner (Randall the Outsider), I start rolling my eyes and going, "Oh, die already, you blowhard."
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Game Change
"It wasn't a campaign. It was a bad reality show," concludes political operative Steve Schmidt (a forceful Woody Harrelson) toward the end of HBO's controversy-stirring Game Change (Saturday, 9/8c), a searing, sizzlingly well acted docudrama about the decision "to create a dynamic moment" in the 2008 presidential run of John McCain (a salty but sanguine Ed Harris) by selecting "a game-changing pick" in fellow maverick Sarah Palin, "the best actress in American politics."
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Awake
When a new show comes along that blows you away with its risk-taking originality, like NBC's haunting Awake (see my review of the pilot episode here), it's almost inevitable that one of the first ...
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Leslie Bibb
About as subtle as a Texas tornado, GCB storms onto ABC with hopes of delivering Sunday-best ratings. While Desperate Housewives limps into the sunset, this gaudy, bawdy send-up of gossipy Dallas church divas has a brash, giddy energy reminiscent of happier times on Wisteria Lane.
"Broad" barely...
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The American Experience: The Amish
As modern life keeps accelerating, with everything so fast-paced and high-tech, the Amish quietly adhere to centuries-old traditions, leaving the rest of us wondering whether to admire or pity them.
The Amish, a fascinating and gorgeously photographed two-hour episode of PBS' American Experience that's as much anthropology as history lesson, often feels more like a nature documentary. Because the subjects refuse to talk on camera, believing it violates the Second Commandment, we watch from afar as these devout people go about their daily routine and timeless devotions in insular, unspoiled rural habitats. They do, however, open up in voice-over interviews about their strongly held values and rigidly enforced rules.
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Billy Crystal
February's Big Event Scorecard: The Grammys had Adele. The Super Bowl had Eli Manning. The Oscars, the last and least of these annual TV spectacles, had ... Cirque du Soleil? And endless pointless montages of movie stars gushing about how wonderful the movies are. And Billy Crystal recycling age-old shtick, including the "What are they thinking?" gag that had us squirming along with the celebs in their seats, making for a night that was (to borrow from a nominated title) Extremely Long and Incredibly Dull.
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The Walking Dead
So much coming and going in the volatile, fragile world of fantasy/horror TV. Once again, we're bidding adieu to Fox's freaky Fringe (Friday, 9/8c) for a month.
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