I won’t argue the aesthetics of the CSI vs. NCIS in the alphabet soup of TV procedurals. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is the tonier of the two, what with its sharp visuals, smart-talking professionals, and high-tech laboratories apparently illuminated by blacklight, while NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service has a lighter touch, with more humor and […]
The U.S. has a long and complicated history of remaking foreign shows. There are a lot of failures, to be sure, but also a lot of success stories. The Bridge is one of the more natural imports. The original show, a dark murder mystery procedural from Denmark, throws a cross-border complication into a case where […]
It was originally set to launch on July 1 but Season Five of Downton Abbey, the hit BBC costume drama soap opera of aristocrats and servants in the socially turbulent Edwardian era, is now available to stream free on Amazon for Prime members. This season embraces everything I enjoy about the show, and everything that […]
Hulu has been trying to find its place in next to Netflix and Amazon Prime in the subscription streaming market for some time now. Initially dedicated to providing next-day access for network TV shows, complete with advertising, it found itself behind the curve when Netflix decided to turn itself into a streaming network in its […]
Netflix continues their foray into splashy, ambitious original series with “Sense8,” a sprawling science fiction thriller created by Andy and Lana Wachowski (“The Matrix” films) with “Babylon 5” creator J. Michael Straczynski. Daryl Hannah, Naveen Andrews, Freema Agyeman, and Doona Bae (of the Wachowskis’s “Cloud Atlas”) star in a story of eight strangers from around […]
“Granite Flats” isn’t an original Netflix drama but it’s new as far as most Netflix subscribers are concerned. Set in the Cold War tensions and paranoia of the early 1960s and focused on the experiences of three schoolkids investigating strange things brewing in their town, it’s a family-friendly drama originally produced for the Mormon-backed BYUtv. […]
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reunite for the first time since “9 to 5” for the new Netflix original series “Grace & Frankie.” They play old friends who turn to each other for support when their husbands (Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen) reveal their secret love affair and announce that they are getting married. It’s […]
A couple of years ago, Fox remastered the entire run of The X-Files, ostensibly for a Blu-ray and digital HD release of the series. No X-Files Blu-ray has been announced, let alone released, but the first 13 episodes of Season One are now streaming in HD on Netflix (and Netflix only, apparently; Amazon and Hulu […]
If you are a fan of a certain strain of popular entertainment, the big news this week is the launch of Daredevil (or, as it’s been branded across the web, Marvel’s Daredevil), the first of five announced Netflix original shows based on Marvel Comics titles. Daredevil is the costumed alter ego of Matt Murdoch, a […]
