Posted by Cory Barker on March 8, 2012 · 1 Comment
The accused: Smallville, “Reckoning” (Season 5, Episode 12) The crime: Sending its lead character on an aimless, never-ending path of self-loathing How much impact, both positive and negative, can one bad episode have on an entire series? How do long-running series continue onward in the aftermath of an episodic failure? Is it possible that individual, … Read more
Filed under SMALLVILLE, Featured, #TVFail · Tagged with #TVFail, Allison Mack, Annette O'Toole, Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, Cory Barker, DC Comics, Erica Durance, Green Arrow, John Glover, John Schneider, Jonathan Kent, Justin Hartley, Kristin Kreuk, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Lionel Luthor, Lois Lane, Martha Kent, Michael Rosenbaum, Oliver Queen, Smallville, Smallville 100th episode, Smallville 200th episode, Smallville 9, Smallville Jonathan Kent dies, Smallville Reckoning, Smallville Season 10, Smallville Season 5, Smallville Season 6, Smallville Season 7, Smallville Season 9, Superman, Tom Welling
Posted by Cory Barker on December 30, 2011 · 1 Comment
It is that time again folks! The end of the year is upon us and that means it is time to look back on the highs, lows and WTFs in television from the past 12 months. There is a lot to reflect on in regard to television 2011. Charlie Sheen went crazy. Well, crazier. Comedy … Read more
Filed under Best of 2011, Featured · Tagged with 2 Broke Girls, Alphas, American Horror Story, Being Human, Best of 2011, Best of 2011 TV, Best of the Year, Best of the Year TV, Best Television of 2011, Best Television of the Year, Best TV of 2011, Breaking In, Burn Notice, Chuck, Cory Barker, Falling Skies, Glee, Gossip Girl, Grimm, House, How To Make It In America, Modern Family, Mr. Sunshine, New Girl, Nikita, Once Upon a Time, Pan Am, Perfect Couples, Prime Suspect, Psych, Smallville, Suits, The Office, The Secret Circle, The Walking Dead, Traffic Light, Up All Night, Warehouse 13, White Collar
Posted by Cory Barker on December 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment
It is that time again folks! The end of the year is upon us and that means it is time to look back on the highs, lows and WTFs in television from the past 12 months. There is a lot to reflect on in regard to television 2011. Charlie Sheen went crazy. Well, crazier. Comedy … Read more
Filed under Best of 2011, Featured, Top Episodes of 2011 · Tagged with 30 Rock, American Horror Story, Archer, Awkward., Best 100 Episodes of 2011, Best 100 Episodes of TV 2011, Best Episodes of 2011, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Community, Cory Barker, Cougar Town, Doctor Who, Enlightened, Friday Night Lights, Game of Thrones, Glee, Happy Endings, Homeland, Justified, Louie, Misfits, New Girl, Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, Raising Hope, Revenge, Smallville, Sons of Anarchy, Supernatural, The Chicago Code, The Good Wife, The Hour, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, Top Episodes of 2011, Top Episodes of 2011 TV, TV Surveillance Best of 2011
Posted by Cory Barker on December 19, 2011 · 2 Comments
It is that time again folks! The end of the year is upon us and that means it is time to look back on the highs, lows and WTFs in television from the past 12 months. There is a lot to reflect on in regard to television 2011. Charlie Sheen went crazy. Well, crazier. Comedy … Read more
Filed under Best of 2011, CHUCK, DEXTER, Episode Reviews, Featured, Glee, Modern Family, SMALLVILLE, The Office, TRUE BLOOD · Tagged with ABC, Alan Ball, Best of 2011, Chuck, Chuck Season 4, Clark Kent, Cory Barker, Dexter, Dexter Season 6, Entourage, Entourage Season 8, Entourage Series Finale, FOX, Glee, Glee Season 2, Glee Season 3, HBO, Jeremy Piven, Lois Lane, Modern Family, Modern Family Season 3, Most disappointing veteran series, NBC, Ryan Murphy, Showtime, Smallville, Smallville Season 10, Steve Carell, The CW, The Office, The Office Season 7, The Office Season 8, True Blood, True Blood Season 4, TV Surveillance Best of 2011
Posted by Cory Barker on November 11, 2011 · 1 Comment
This time of the year is a super-busy one for many of us, but if you’re a graduate student like me, it’s particularly awful. I know, I deserve it. Graduate students are, indeed, the worst. In any event, because much of the next six weeks is going to be filled with dozens of responsibilities and … Read more
Filed under #TVFail, Blog News · Tagged with #TVFail, 30 Rock, Announcements, Blog news, Burn Notice, Cory Barker, Dexter, January Jones, Mad Men, Parks and Recreation, Roswell, Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Smallville
Posted by Cory Barker on September 13, 2011 · 3 Comments
If you’re one of my 11 regular readers, you know that I am very interested in exploring the position and meaning of network strategy and branding. I understand that a lot of people are turned off by any sort of in-depth discussion of a television network’s “brand” and how they cultivate it, but it is … Read more
Filed under Fall 2011 Preview, Featured, The CW · Tagged with 90210, America's Next Top Model, Branding, Broadcast Network, Broadcast Television, Cory Barker, Dawn Ostroff, Development, Eric Charmelo, Fall TV Preview, Gossip Girl, H8er, Hart of Dixie, Hellcats, Josh Schwartz, Kevin Williamson, Life Unexpected, Mark Pedowtiz, Melrose Place, Nicole Snyder, Nikita, One Tree Hill, Rachel Bilson, Ratings, Ringer, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Scheduling, Smallville, Supernatural, The CW, The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries
Posted by Cory Barker on August 31, 2011 · 6 Comments
Test Pilot #22: Northern Exposure Debut date: July 12, 1990 Series legacy: One of the most critically acclaimed and beloved dramedies of all-time It’s time for a new theme in the site’s most popular ongoing feature, Test Pilot. The primary reason I started this feature almost a year ago was so that I could have … Read more
Filed under Featured, Northern Exposure, Test Pilot · Tagged with 1991 Emmy Awards, 2011 Emmy Awards, Alaska, Barry Corbin, Buffy, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, CBS, Chicago Hope, China Beach, Chris Stevens, Cory Barker, Cynthia Geary, Darren E. Burrows, Desperate Housewives, Ed Chigliak, Elaine Miles, Emmy Awards, Emmys, ER, Everwood, Friday Night Lights, Gilmore Girls, Hart of Dixie, Holling Vincoeur, Janine Turner, Joel Fleischman, John Callum, John Corbett, Joshua Brand, L.A. Law, Maggie O'Connell, Marilyn Whirlwind, Maurice J. Minnifield, Night Court, Northern Exposure, NYPD: Blue, One Tree Hill, Outstanding Drama Series, Parenthood, Picket Fences, Quantum Leap, Rob Morrow, Smallville, Test Pilot, The CW, The Vampire Diaries, The WB, The X-Files, thirtysomething, Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars
Posted by Cory Barker on August 23, 2011 · 2 Comments
After nearly a month, my fairly substantial hiatus here at TVS is over. I am happy to be back providing content for you folks on a regular basis. In my time off, I’ve missed all sorts of television, both viewing- and writing-wise. To combat that, I’ll be whipping up a number of random posts with … Read more
Filed under 24, Arrested Development, Columns, Featured, Friday Night Lights, Party Down, SMALLVILLE, Veronica Mars · Tagged with 2011, 24, 24 movie, Arrested Development, Arrested Development movie, Back to the Future, Columns, Cory Barker, Deadwood, Deadwood movie, Doc and Marty's relationship, Doc Brown, Entourage, Entourage movie, Fans, Firefly, Friday Night Lights, Friday Night Lights movie, Fringe, Internet, Internet Culture, Jack Bauer, Marty McFly, Media, Party Down, Party Down movie, Rome, Rome movie, Serenity, Sex and The City, Sex and the City 3 movie, Smallville, Smallville movie, The Event, The Hills, The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games movie, TV show movies, Twilight, Twilight movie, Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars movie
Posted by Cory Barker on June 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment
With the 2010-2011 television season officially over, I’ll be taking some time over the next week or so to look back on how some of television’s best and worst fared this season. General thoughts: Endings are, of course, difficult to manage. This has to be especially true for a series that has been on the … Read more
Filed under 2010-2011 season wrap, Featured, SMALLVILLE · Tagged with 2010-2011 season wrap, Annette O'Toole, Cassidy Freeman, Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, Cory Barker, Erica Durance, Final seasons, John Schneider, Jonathan Kent, Justin Hartley, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Martha Kent, Michael Rosenbaum, Oliver Queen, Smallville, Smallville Season 10, Superman, Tess Mercer, The CW, The Daily Planet, Tom Welling
Posted by Cory Barker on May 14, 2011 · 1 Comment
Here we are at the end of a long, winding and oftentimes bumpy, 10-year road. Smallville is over. As someone who tries to review television objectively, I’ll be the first to acknowledge this series’ weaknesses, both those within its control and those not. I want to point out all of those things first as to say … Read more
Filed under Episode Reviews, Featured, SMALLVILLE, Uncategorized · Tagged with 2018, Aaron Ashmore, Cassidy Freeman, Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, Cory Barker, Darkseid, Desaad, Erica Durance, Finale, Gordon Godfrey, Granny Goodness, Heroes, Jimmy Olsen, John Glover, John Schneider, Jonathan Kent, Jor-El, Justin Hartley, Lex Luthor, Lionel Luthor, Lois Lane, Michael Rosenbaum, No Ordinary Family, Oliver Queen, Reviews, Season Finale, Series Finale, Smallville, Superman, Tess Mercer, The Cape, The CW, The WB, Tom Welling
