Television

Haven: A Look at Season 1 & Speculations on Season 2

Haven‘s
premiere in July last year wasn’t exactly a ground-breaking event. The
Syfy series was just one more supernatural drama that received rather
lukewarm initial reviews, and even managed to alienate a part of the
entertainment press after just a few episodes. A moderately active fan
base took over from journalists who only returned when, surprisingly,
the show kept drawing respectable ratings and Syfy stubbornly showed no
sign of canceling it prematurely. 

Very loosely based on The Colorado Kid
from Stephen King, the show tells the story of an FBI agent, Audrey
Parker, who investigates supernatural events in Haven, a small coastal
town in Maine. She is helped by local cop Nathan and small-time smuggler
Duke. The generally tepid reviews were apparently due to the fact that Haven was nothing like Lost or The X-Files
or an improvement over those two. The show designers intended to
deliver a series with independent episodes and just a trace of an
overarching storyline, which is exactly what they did. It follows that
it doesn’t make sense to assess their effort on the lack of a convoluted
mythology from day one.

Falling Skies Renewed!

For the 4 million or so American television audience members still gluing their eyes to TNT’s alien invasion drama Falling Skies
on Sunday nights, the week has brought some good news. After 4 episodes
of more than acceptable ratings, the network has seen fit to give you
all more of what you love. The show has been renewed for a second season
10-episode run in 2012. “Falling Skies
is a true standout series, from its ambitious storytelling,
high-profile cast and production team, to its phenomenal success when it
comes to international and time-shifted viewing,” said Michael Wright,
executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner
Classic Movies. “We’re reaching new audiences with Falling Skies and look forward to seeing where this fascinating and exciting series takes us next.”

Louie – Moving

While every episode of Louie
has something great to offer, it seems like the episodes with a
single storyline are usually more enjoyable. “Moving” continued
that tradition by earning more laughs than last week’s
“Bummer/Blueberries” while still eliciting the emotional
reactions the series does so well. The episode also saw the return
of two great recurring characters, as well as a little time with
Louie’s hilarious daughters.

Louie’s
urgent need to find a new place to live drove the episode, which
started out with a playfully painful moment between him and his
daughter, Jane. After she matter-of-factly explains he can’t move a
desk without asking mom first, Louie is driven to finally vacate what
had been his – and still is to his daughters – marital home. The scene
tugged at the heartstrings, but the harshness coming from such an
innocent source always makes it comedic. One of the funniest aspects
of their interactions is how Jane always manages to win the argument,
or at least get the last word in, because Louie is left bewildered by
her sheer naivety. She did it again here, nonchalantly striking
a ballet pose as Louie turns away with the familiar look of
disbelief.

Wilfred – Fear

We are three episodes into Wilfred’s
first season, and it seems like each one has been a step down from
the last. Though there are still some laughs to be had, they are
becoming rarer, just as the particularly unfunny moments have been
coming with more regularity. “Fear” suffered from the same
problems the series has had from the beginning: crude humor that’s
all crass and no cleverness, and an over reliance on broad comedy.
Also bringing the episode down was an equally stale plot and guest
role.

Fringe at Comic-Con 2011 Without Joshua Jackson: Bad News?

Fox has released the list of panel members for the shows
that the network will be promoting during the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con,
and this year’s announcement came with a little surprise for some Fringe fans. The
renowned and very popular convention is now the platform of choice for
generating some fan buzz around TV shows and other productions of the
entertainment industry. This year’s edition will be held from July 21 to
July 24 at the San Diego Convention Center. On Saturday, July 23 from
4:15 to 5:00 p.m., sitting in Ballroom 20 for a Q&A session will be Fringe
cast members Anna Torv, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, and
John Noble who will be joined by executive producers Jeff Pinkner and
J.H. Wyman.

NBC Unveils Premiere Dates for Fall 2011

NBC has announced its prime time programming premiere dates for fall 2011. After the finale of America’s Got Talent, Up All Night and Free Agents will move to their regular time slots of 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. respectively. It also appears that with Chuck moving to Fridays 8 p.m., and the new fantasy series Grimm fending it off at 9 p.m. with other genre shows — Supernatural (The CW) and Fringe (Fox) — Friday nights will now have a distinct sci-fi/fantasy feel…

The Player Affinity Emmys

With
the official nominations being announced on the 14th,
we thought it would be appropriate to put out our own list of picks
for the biggest categories. Far from predictions, these picks are
mainly wishful thinking on our part. Though we do not feel less strongly about our picks just because they don’t have
much chance of coming true.