Posted by Cory Barker on January 26, 2012 · 3 Comments
The accused: 30 Rock, “The One With The Cast of Night Court” (Season 3, Episode 3) The crime: Embodying the big dangers with high-profile guest casting Television’s failures are supposed to be obvious. From the overhyped non-starters that flop from the very beginning (hello, FlashForward, Lone Star) to the much-discussed clumsy conclusions of series we were convinced … Read more
Filed under #TVFail, 30 Rock, Featured · Tagged with #TVFail, 30 Rock, 30 Rock Season 3, 30 Rock The One With The Cast of Night Court, Alec Baldwin, Community, Cory Barker, Guest Casting, Jack Donaghy, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski, Jenna Maroney, Jennifer Aniston, Julianne Moore, Kenneth Parcell, Liz Lemon, Matt Damon, Night Court, Parks and Recreation, Paul Rudd, Scrubs, Stunt casting, TGS, The Office, Tina Fey, Tracy Jordan, Tracy Morgan
Posted by Cory Barker on January 26, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Let’s get this out of the way first: Tim Kring is the worst. He is not just the worst because he took a series with a great concept and a handful of truly good episodes in Heroes and quickly ran it into the ground, repetitively. Tim Kring is just the worst because he knows exactly … Read more
Filed under Episode Reviews, Featured, Touch · Tagged with 24, Arthur DeWitt, Clea Hopkins, Cory Barker, Danny Glover, David Mazouz, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Heroes, Jake Bohm, Karen David, Kayla Graham, Kiefer Sutherland, Martin Bohm, Pilot Reviews, Pilots, Reviews, Tim Kring, Touch, Touch FOX, Touch Pilot, Touch Pilot Recap, Touch Pilot Review, Touch Season 1 Episode 1, Touch Season 1 Episode 1 Recap, Touch Season 1 Episode 1 Review, Touch Series Premiere, Touch Series Premiere Recap, Touch Series Premiere Review
Posted by Cory Barker on January 25, 2012 · 1 Comment
Over the holidays, I spent a substantial amount of time watching television with my parents (as you do). My parents don’t have the most refined television tastes (and they’ll be the first to admit it), but I was surprised to see that some of the obnoxious reruns of CSI: Miami they used to watch all … Read more
Filed under Columns, Featured · Tagged with A&E, American Pickers, Auction Kings, Ax Men, Basic Cable, Big Shrimpin', Black Gold, Cake Boss, Columns, Cops, Cory Barker, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, Discovery, Economics, Economy, Hardcore Pawn, History, Ice Road Truckers, Labor reality programs, Pawn Stars, Politics, Saw Dogs, Storage Hunters, Storage Wars, Swamp Loggers, truTV
Posted by Cory Barker on January 25, 2012 · 1 Comment
I’m short on time again today, but I wanted to put down a few short thoughts on last night’s Justified. If you were to say that Justified had one weakness in its first two seasons (primarily in its first, though), it would be how the series handled the supporting characters who work with Raylan in … Read more
Filed under Episode Reviews, Featured, Justified · Tagged with Art Mullen, Ava Crowder, Boyd Crowder, Carla Gugino, Cory Barker, Erica Tazel, FX, Graham Yost, Harlan, Jacob Pitts, Joelle Carter, Justified, Justified Cut Ties, Justified Cut Ties Recap, Justified Cut Ties Review, Justified Reviews, Justified Season 3 Episode 2, Justified Season 3 Episode 2 Recap, Justified Season 3 Episode 2 Review, Justified Season 3 Reviews, Karen Goodall, Karen Sisco, Limehouse, Mykelti Williamson, Natalie Zea, Neal McDonough, Nick Searcy, Rachel Brooks, Raylan Givens, Reviews, Tim Gutterson, Walton Goggins, Winona Hawkins
Posted by Cory Barker on January 24, 2012 · 9 Comments
You may or may not know this, but I am in the midst of completing my MA thesis on USA Network and the “Characters Welcome” brand campaign (among other things). I say this to point out that I have spent a good deal of time with USA Network’s slate of programming over the past year … Read more
Filed under Columns, Featured, USA Network, White Collar · Tagged with Arcs, Branding, Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice, Columns, Cory Barker, Elizabeth Burke, Formula, Genre, Jeff Eastin, Mary McCormack, Matthew Bomer, Michael Westen, Mozzie, Narrative, Neal Caffrey, Patrick J. Adams, Peter Burke, Psych, Royal Pains, Sam Axe, Suits, Tiffani Thiessen, Tim DeKay, USA Network, USA Network "Characters Welcome", USA's "arcs", White Collar, White Collar Season 3, Willie Garson
Posted by Cory Barker on January 18, 2012 · 2 Comments
Test Pilot #34 and #35: Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared Debut date: September 25, 1999 and September 25, 2011 Series legacy(ies): Two of the most beloved and respected short series of all-time Welcome back to Test Pilot guys and gals! With that extra-special Joss Whedon Theme Week behind us, it’s time to fall back into … Read more
Filed under Featured, Freaks and Geeks, Test Pilot, Undeclared · Tagged with Becky Ann Baker, Bill Haverchuck, Busy Phillips, Carla Gallo, Charlie Hunnam, Cindy Sanders, Cory Barker, Daniel Desario, Freaks and Geeks, Freaks and Geeks Pilot, Freaks and Geeks Season 1, Harold Weir, James Franco, Jason Segel, Jean Weir, Joe Flaherty, John Francis Daley, Josh Spiegel, Judd Apatow, Ken Miller, Kim Kelly, Linda Cardellini, Lindsay Weir, Lizzie Exley, Lloyd Haythe, Marshall Nesbitt, Martin Starr, Monica Keena, My So-Called Life, Neal Schweiber, Nicholas Stoller, Nick Andopolis, Paul Feig, Pilots, Rachel Lindquist, Ron Garner, Sam Weir, Samm Levine, Seth Rogen, Steven Karp, Teen drama, Test Pilot, Timm Sharp, Undeclared, Undeclared Pilot, Undeclared Season 1
Posted by Cory Barker on January 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment
I’m a bit short on time today, but I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on the very-good season premiere of Justified. When series take the kind of leap in quality that Justified did in its second season (although I maintain that somehow, we’ve retroactively decided the first season isn’t that great and that’s … Read more
Filed under Episode Reviews, Featured, Justified · Tagged with Art Mullen, Ava Crowder, Boyd Crowder, Cory Barker, Desmond Harrington, Dickie Bennett, Dixie Mafia, Fletcher Nix, FX, Graham Yost, Jere Burns, Jeremy Davies, Joelle Carter, Justified, Justified Season 3, Justified Season 3 Episode 1, Justified Season 3 Episode 1 Recap, Justified Season 3 Episode 1 Review, Justified Season 3 Review, Justified Season Premiere, Justified Season Premiere Recap, Justified Season Premiere Review, Justified The Gunfighter, Justified The Gunfighter Recap, Justified The Gunfighter Review, Mags Bennett, Margo Martindale, Natalie Zea, Neal McDonough, Nick Searcy, Reviews, Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Winona Hawkins, Wynn Duffy
Posted by Cory Barker on January 17, 2012 · 1 Comment
I received the book Prime Time, Prime Movers for Christmas and have been plowing through it over the last week or so. As these things go, reading a book about the big individual creative forces in television history has me thinking about contemporary writer/producers. Therefore, today, I debut a new occasional feature where I will discuss … Read more
Filed under American Horror Story, Featured, Glee, MAD MEN, Showrunner Series · Tagged with AMC, American Horror Story, Betty Draper Francis, Boardwalk Empire, Brad Falchuk, Cory Barker, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron, Don Draper, Elisabeth Moss, Emma Pillsbury, Episodic stories, Finn Hudson, FX, Glee, Glee Season 1, Glee Season 2, Glee Season 3, Ian Brennan, January Jones, Jayma Mays, Jon Hamm, Lea Michele, LOST, Mad Men, Mad Men Season 4, Masculinity, Matthew Morrison, Matthew Weiner, My Life Would Suck Without You, Nationals, Naya Rivera, New Directions, Peggy Olson, Procedurals, Quinn Fabray, Rachel Berry, Regionals, Ryan Murphy, Santana Lopez, Sectionals, Serialization, Showrunner Series, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Storytelling, Structure, Theme, Treme, Troubletones, We Are Young, Will Schuester
Posted by Cory Barker on January 17, 2012 · 3 Comments
Edit: A few folks reminded me that Abrams’ name is also on Person of Interest, which I totally forgot about. My points apply there as well, I think. J.J. Abrams has learned to put his name above television projects that fit a very specific kind of mold. He understands that his name, the mention of … Read more
Filed under Alcatraz, Episode Reviews, Featured · Tagged with Alcatraz, Alcatraz Pilot, Alcatraz Pilot Recap, Alcatraz Pilot Review, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode 1 Recap, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode 1 Review, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode 2, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode 2 Recap, Alcatraz Season 1 Episode 2 Review, Alcatraz Series Premiere, Alcatraz Series Premiere Recap, Alcatraz Series Premiere Review, Alias, Anna Torv, Cory Barker, Diego Soto, Edwin James, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Emerson Hauser, Ernest Cobb, FOX, Fringe, J.J. Abrams, Jack Sylvane, Jeffrey Pierce, Jonny Conye, Jorge Garcia, LOST, Lucy Banerjee, Olivia Dunham, Parminder Nagra, Peter Bishop, Pilot Reviews, Pilots, Ray Archer, Rebecca Madsen, Reviews, Robert Forster, Sam Neill, Sarah Jones, Undercovers, Walter Bishop
Posted by Cory Barker on January 16, 2012 · 12 Comments
Note: This post is a longer (but barely) and hopefully more coherent version of my tweet explosion from Friday night. With the annual winter Television Critics Association Press Tour coming to an end and many of the season’s mid-season premieres here or right around the corner, I wanted to take a little time and talk … Read more
Filed under NBC, Columns, Featured · Tagged with Columns, CBS, ABC, LOST, NBC, Chuck, Parenthood, Southland, Parks and Recreation, Heroes, 30 Rock, The Office, Friday Night Lights, Kath & Kim, Community, Ben Silverman sucks, Chase, Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Jeff Zucker, Law & Order, Cory Barker, Remakes, Adaptations, Ben Silverman, Broadcast Television, Knight Rider, Bionic Woman, Spin-offs, Comcast, Development, Free Agents, The Playboy Club, Whitney, Prime Suspect, Wiseguy, Grimm, Awake, The Voice, TCA 12, NBC 2012, Robert Greenblatt, Smash, The Munsters, Hannibal, Munsters pilot 2012, Bryan Fuller, Are You There Chelsea?, The Firm, America's Got Talent, The Chopping Block, Fear Factor, The Rockford Files remake, Surface, Romancing The Stone, Friday Night Dinner, westerns
