Joshua Jackson
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Question: I appreciate how you are one of the few critics who recognizes how good a family sitcom The Middle is. I'm not American, but I can so relate to the Heck family, and they really hit it right out of the park with the family dynamics. Frankie and Mike's 20th anniversary was another terrific episode, and I want to give kudos to Atticus Shaffer's performance when Brick told Axl why books are so important. Strong words that captured a lot from the joys of reading to getting to know the struggles of a kid who's socially inept. I'm happy this show lasted this long and will reach 100 episodes by next season. Now that the show has enough episodes for syndication, do you think The Middle has a chance to grow even more in the ratings? The current ratings are fine and actually lives to up its title, as it's right smack in the middle of the ratings race, not a blockbuster but a self-starter that does solid numbers. But the show is just so good, so I really hope more people will discover it eventually. — Jecoup
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Claire Danes
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Question: I've been a fan of Homeland since before the pilot even came out. I don't live a day without at least thinking about Homeland once. Even last week's episode, which was heavily criticized, coerced me to suspend my disbelief on some dangling plot devices due primarily to the deliciously long-awaited meeting of Carrie and her mortal enemy Abu Nazir. And yet, while this season has largely been about Brody's allegiances and double missions, the series for me has always been about Carrie Mathison and Claire Danes. Her character was developed in Season 1...
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Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn
While ABC's The Middle may not be the most popular, acclaimed or honored family comedy on TV, it is almost certainly the most relevant (and often the funniest). Especially in an election year when so much attention was focused on the financially strapped middle class, the travails of the down-but-not-out Hecks of Indiana resonate like no TV family since the Conners of Roseanne.
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Charlie Hunnam, Dayton Callie
The price of power sits heavy on the shaggy head of Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the prince-turned-leader of a troubled biker kingdom on FX's Sons of Anarchy, wrapping its fifth and best-yet season tonight with a super-sized 90-minute finale (10/9c). A few weeks ago, in a moment worthy of this series' Shakespearian ambitions, Jax told his disgraced, dethroned evil stepfather Clay (Ron Perlman): "I'm tired of being crushed under the weight of greedy men who believe in nothing."
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Angus T. Jones
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Question: I accidentally caught the opening scene of an episode of Two and a Half Men after The Big Bang Theory. There was poor Angus T. Jones telling Jon Cryer that he "had the clap" and was happy about it. I haven't watched the show in many years; I just got tired of it. But in light of the young actor's video declaring the show to be filth, I really had to agree with him. Am I the only one that doesn't want to see a child I've watched grown up in movies and TV talking about VD for a joke? Then I started thinking about the effect nine years of being immersed in nothing but sex jokes might have on your childhood and I started to feel really sad. It's not like I'm a prude, I thoroughly enjoyed an episode of BBT featuring bikini waxing and nude revenge.
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Andrew Lincoln
Forget zombies and monsters. Humans are the real killing machines this weekend, as two of TV's bloodiest shows sign off Sunday night, in direct competition — followed immediately by repeats, so you can watch one and then the other, and then good luck trying to get to sleep.<
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The Hour
Memo to HBO's The Newsroom: This is how it's done.
In its second season, BBC America's The Hour (Wednesdays at 9/8c) is the very model of a smart, sleek, witty and sexy drama about the inner workings of a high-profile TV news operation. Set in the late '50s, but feeling quite contemporary in its depiction of media celebrity, with political and competitive pressures assailing journalistic ideals, this first-class entertainment avoids the pitfalls of preachiness and extreme silliness that often derailed Aaron Sorkin's TV comeback.
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Monica Potter
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Question: How do you feel about the subject matter on Parenthood this season? Some of my favorite moments on the show have always been the lighthearted sibling moments with the jokes and teasing. Those moments are all but gone as the Kristina storyline has taken precedence this year. From the Twitter and Facebook comments I've read, it is really ringing realistically to many viewers. The show is handling it with grace, but it's so very heavy that it seems like a departure for a show that has always had a good dose of comedy in each episode. I doubt that they're gaining viewers this year. My fear is that for a show that has always seemed to get renewed by the skin of its teeth, this feels like the end. Do you have any insight as to ratings or where it stands with NBC? — Jennifer
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Lindsay Lohan
What unbecomes a legend most? Look no further than this long weekend's well-timed candidate for the TV Turkey Hall of Fame: Liz & Dick (Lifetime, Sunday at 9/8c), an epic of stunningly cynical and pathetic miscasting, a TV-movie so laughably inept it doesn't deserve to be on a first-name basis with anything resembling humanity.
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Timothee Chalamet, Morgan Saylor
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Question: Fellow Hoosier here. Love your column. I don't have a question really, but wanted to express my displeasure in the fact that ABC has canceled Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue. I was excited about both of these shows not only for the story lines but for the cast. I'm becoming rather weary of investing time in a show only to have it canceled. Any hope either series will be picked up by another network? OK, so maybe I had a question after all. — Bonnie
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