Connie Britton
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Question: I've never written to you before, but I'm hoping you can look into a crystal ball for me and reassure me about the fate of Nashville. I'm totally hooked by this show, which is saying a lot since I haven't watched anything regularly on the big three networks for about 10 years or so. I'm extremely worried that Nashville is doomed for cancellation, since it appears that the ratings are pretty lackluster. Any gossip or buzz that you can pass on to reassure me?
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Joshua Jackson
Question: What can I say except: "Awesome!" Fringe could not have ended any other way. I was fully prepared to be sad and upset, but the ending left me feeling fulfilled and satisfied. I applaud anyone who had anything to do with this amazing show. Walter, Olivia, Peter and the gang have become family to me and I am happy knowing that they have a future. So thank you universe, whichever one you choose, for this wonderful show. And thank you, Matt, for always championing Fringe and giving it space and time in your column. — Rachel
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Kevin Bacon
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Question: I rely on your advice for new shows, so is The Following worth watching? I love Kevin Bacon, but I have given up on The Mentalist because of the whole Red John thing. If they had laid that to rest when it appeared that they did, I would still be watching. It seems like this new show will be very similar, but I haven't heard enough to make a decision. What do you think? — Tom
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Dan Byrd and Courteney Cox
Question: Now that Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 have been banished to Sundays nights to wither away, isn't this a lesson we all saw coming by piling on sitcoms against each other on Tuesdays? I can potentially see ABC saving Happy Endings to prolong its syndication opportunities, but both shows were buried without much support (premiering in late October) and ABC seems to have gone down the Cougar Town route again. Apart from protected golden child Modern Family and reliable The Middle, ABC has a poor record of keeping their sitcoms on the air over the last several years, and now we have two more to add to the long list here. It's only a matter of time before Suburgatory enjoys a similar fate. Throwing them opposite hot thing New Girl and a Matthew Perry vehicle Go On seemed foolish on ABC's part.
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Emily VanCamp
Question: After the embarrassing debacle of Viva Laughlin, I figured network TV wouldn't ever touch musical dramas ever again. Then Ryan Murphy surprised the naysayers with the out-of-the-box success of Glee. Then came along my personal favorite Smash last winter, and the also-great Nashville this fall. Now I read a couple months ago that Fox was trying to revise Fame. My question is this: Have you ever known of a time when so many music-based shows have been on TV? Is it because of the success of American Idol, The Voice and The X Factor? And do you think there is room on TV for possibly four musicals, or will they cannibalize each other for viewers? I've noticed Glee has been down in the ratings, and for a year-four show targeted at the fickle teen market, is this expected? Have you heard any buzz on Smash? I thought Season 1 was great, but I did notice the weak links too, which seem to have been corrected. I hope Season 2 really gets grittier and goes more behind-the-scenes a la West Wing instead of the soapy melodrama of S1. Thoughts? — Sean
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Cole Horibe and Lindsay Arnold
Question: Any thoughts on this season of So You Think You Can Dance? The format change and unfortunate interruptions this year from Independence Day and the Summer Olympics have forced multiple eliminations in some episodes to keep them on schedule, and we've lost a few promising contestants that I feel may have been cut too early on. How are you finding this season so far? — Brodie
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The Newsroom
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Question: It seems that many TV critics (you being a notable exception) are coming down hard on The Newsroom, and I was wondering if you have an idea of why this is. Yes, it's preachy, but every Aaron Sorkin show and movie is. Successful, intelligent career women are portrayed as being driven mostly by their hormones, but that's true of every woman character on TV that's written by a man (unless played by Julianna Margulies or Connie Britton). And some of the plot contrivances (the wayward e-mails, the Bigfoot obsession, the cute blonde assistant who is smart when the plot needs her smart and dumb when the plot needs her dumb) are cringe-worthy. On the other hand, you've got a talented, likable cast ably delivering some of the snappiest dialogue on TV, which right there puts it ahead of 95 percent of everything else.
I'm not saying it's not flawed, but the pluses outweigh the minuses by quite a bit, and the show is wildly entertaining. So why the heavily negative reaction? Is Sorkin held to a higher standard? Are journalists taking more shots because the show is set in a milieu they know (a newsroom) rather than the White House? Curious on your take on this. — Rick
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The Glee Project
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Question: Frankly, the Emmys should just be the Cable Television Awards now, and they can have a "special mention" category for everything on broadcast. I don't have cable, I don't want cable, and I haven't seen any of the nominees from cable. There just isn't enough room these days for the leftovers, no matter how good broadcast shows may be, so there's not much point watching the awards. — ACS
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The Good Wife
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Question: [From Twitter] I'm wondering if holding shows like Smash, Good Christian Belles, Awake, etc, to midseason might backfire. If the most promising shows don't debut until 2012, who's to say more viewers won't flee to cable between now and then? — Dennis
Matt Roush: A good and fair question, and one that I imagine may dog the networks as the TCA critics' tour gets underway over these next two weeks. I can't remember a season when the anticipation for midseason replacements has so upstaged the fall ...
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Mireille Enos
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Question: I am still mulling over the finale of The Killing. As expected, there are a lot of people who hate it but I am not one of them. I think it is pretty clear that Richmond was the killer and Linden and Holder caught him. Holder faking the photo does not mean Richmond is innocent. It means that Holder took a shortcut because he was convinced that Richmond was guilty. I thoroughly enjoyed the show — it was like watching a novel unfold. I do like mystery novels a lot and I am particularly fond of character-driven mysteries, which is what we had here. What I am upset about is that I have to wait so long for ...
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