Tweet Two years ago I mourned the death of the “gay show.” In the early-mid 2000s cable networks boasted scripted shows with all-gay leads — Queer as Folk, Noah’s Arc, The L Word, DL Chronicles, Dante’s Cove – following post-Will & Grace buzz and advertiser demands for targeting. After those shows went off-air, broadcast and cable nets alike [...]
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Is ‘Enlightened’ Enlightened? The Strange, Quiet Brilliance of HBO’s Dark Comedy
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on November 8th, 2011
Tweet I recently texted a friend to complain about how overwhelmed I was by my lengthy to-do list — which included, incidentally, writing this blog post. Me: “My to-do list is never ending bleh.” Friend: “It always has been Marps. I’ve never met you when you told me ‘oh I’m so chill I got nothing [...]
Why Americans Will Ruin British Teen Shows
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on October 24th, 2011
Tweet Originally posted at Splice Today! Thanks to Racialicious for linking! There was a moment in last week’s penultimate episode of the BBC series The Fades when the lead character, Paul, realizes he might not be a good guy. The series is a noir tale of angels and demons, or ghosts rather, and Paul is the [...]
Quality Web Originals Jump Over-The-Top
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on October 8th, 2011
Tweet UPDATE: Hulu is premiering its own scripted show, Battleground, along with some other new programs. ORIGINAL: We’ve always had ambitious programming on the web. But new announcements and series premieres suggest a change in the air, that the combination of low production costs, the maturation of web video networks and growing advertiser comfort with [...]
‘Half Share,’ Niche Scripted Shows and the Tough Road to TV
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on August 19th, 2011
Tweet Full post at Tubefilter! If you haven’t seen or heard of it, Half-Share, a show about six gay men vacationing on Fire Island, is hilarious. But as Edge Media editor Steve Weinstein noted, it may be “the funniest sitcom you’ll never see on TV.” Despite praise from audiences at festivals and screenings, Half-Share, like [...]
‘Game of Thrones’ Goes MTV: A New Generation of Leaders?
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on June 20th, 2011
Tweet Thanks to Monsters of Television for linking! With last night’s season finale and the episode before it, Game of Thrones made a decisive narrative shift toward focusing on a younger generation of people, all of whom are dealing with the failures of the previous generation. Many fans felt cheated when Ned Stark (Sean Bean) [...]
Gay Reality Shows Hit the Web: Should We Be Scared?
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on June 1st, 2011
Tweet Is reality television bad for minorities? Black women are up in arms over the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the latest season of Celebrity Apprentice. The slew of “wife” shows aren’t so flattering to women either — see: Real Housewives, Mob Wives, Sister Wives, Bama Belles, Teen Mom, Hip Hop Wives, Basketball Wives, etc. Series like The [...]
The Changing Economics of the TV Abortion
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on May 15th, 2011
Tweet Thanks to Early Bird Catches the Worm for linking! “Is abortion no longer taboo for TV?” That’s the question Entertainment Weekly asked last year on the heels of abortions by major characters on Friday Night Lights (Madison Burge’s Becky Sproles) and Mad Men (Christina Hendricks’ Joan Holloway). If this week’s penultimate episode of Private Practice is [...]
Is ‘Mad Men’ No Longer AMC’s Favorite?
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on March 30th, 2011
Tweet UPDATE: AMC and Weiner have reached a deal. ORIGINAL: AMC and Matthew Weiner have generated an impressive amount of fan outrage after contract talks stalled over Mad Men, whose next season now won’t debut until 2012 (although it looks like we’ll be getting a much-desired seventh season). The details of the negotiations are spotty and [...]
‘The Sopranos’ and Its Legacy, Post-Hype
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on March 24th, 2011
Tweet It’s a curious thing to watch a popular show long after it’s done. For one, there are fewer people to talk to, and the ones with whom you can will barely remember individual episodes and subtle moments. TV, and serialized TV especially, has too much narrative. But there are benefits, hindsight chief among them. [...]
