‘V’ for political parable (TV review)
If “V” (7 p.m. Central Tuesdays on ABC) was just another alien invasion show, we could dismiss it out of hand. After all, there are only two alien invasion stories: 1, the aliens are evil, and we […]
Science Fiction
Is ‘Dollhouse’ channeling Philip K. Dick?
TV and books commentary: A modern SF TV master draws inspiration from a past literary master.
How crucial is continuity in franchise storytelling? (Commentary)
I’m curious to hear from my readers on this one: How important is it to you that a franchise has continuity between each of its installments? I ask this because two of my favorite sagas […]
Get even better, ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ does (TV review)
Watching “The Clone Wars” (7 p.m. Central Fridays on Cartoon Network), I wonder if the “Star Wars” prequels should’ve been animated all along. “Clone Wars” feels more like “Star Wars” than the live-action movies do. You would […]
I love ‘Fringe’ (TV review)
“Fringe” (8 p.m. Central Thursdays on Fox) has become such a good show in its own right that it goes beyond being a good “X-Files” rip-off. Even if that’s all it was, I’d love it — […]
Fall TV 2009: 7 new developments on old shows (Commentary)
Here are seven plot developments I’m looking forward to on old favorites this fall season. (Technically, TV’s best show, “Friday Night Lights,” is a fall returnee — Oct. 28 on DirecTV — but I’ll be […]
Mystery, mysticism and politics: Denning’s ‘Abyss’ continues the ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi’ series (Book review)
The early “Star Wars” novels — “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” and the “Han Solo Adventures” — followed the lead of “A New Hope,” where adventure was the writer’s main concern. With “Heir to the […]
Fall TV 2009: 6 new shows to watch (Commentary)
Here are six new shows you might want to check out: 1. “Community” (8:30 p.m. Central Thursdays on NBC, starts Sept. 17) — When I first heard about this show about a hodgepodge of students at a […]
What show will make Entertainment Weekly’s Fall TV Preview cover? (Commentary)
I’ve already picked up the fall TV previews from TV Guide and Sci Fi magazine (yeah, it’s still called that, even though the channel is called SyFy). It’ll be a couple weeks before I get […]
Fall movie preview: 3 with Jason Bateman, and 4 others (Commentary)
Here are seven fall films you wouldn’t have to drag me to: “Extract” (Friday) — This is “Office Space” turned on its head: Here the bosses are sane, and the employees are nuts. So, obviously, this […]