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5 Possibilities for Captain America’s Big Announcement

Captain America is about to turn 75 and Marvel will celebrate in a big way. The entertainment giant recently announced that ABC will air Captain America: 75 Heroic Years on Tuesday, January 19 at 8 p.m. to commemorate Cap’s Hitler-punching debut from Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. The special befits the character’s iconic status and prominence in …

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Television that Home Video Forgot: Commander in Chief (2005)

Commander in Chief is one of those shows that had a strong representation of a woman in political power that was not made to appear as simply a woman stereotype, but as leader who only happened to be a woman, a representation that was by far a landmark in television history and should be remembered as a series that although had it’s production problems, still stands as a significant step towards a future where equality includes gender, even in the highest office of the United States.

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Television that Home Video Forgot: My Generation (2010)

This week commemorates five years since the premiere of My Generation, and although it got poor ratings and was canceled it does not mean it was a bad show. It’s almost always a shame when a network is unable to commit to their programming schedule and it’s only more disappointing when the show is one of quality that was just unable to find its audience in time. There’s no use in trying to elucidate as to why the show was canceled, it’s perhaps more suitable to appraise the show for what was produced, as little as there was. With its very short run and minimal critical recognition, it’s likely this show has been obscured by time, and with every year that goes by it goes unnoticed. This should not be the case as for those who watched it could see that it was a show that had interesting stories to tell, and stimulating ways to tell them using the documentary style device to enhance the myth-making of the characters and the world around them.

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ABC announces renewals, pickups, and series orders

ABC has unveiled a good picture of what its 2015-2016 television season will look like, handing down a number of renewals, cancellations, and series orders to new shows, as well as passing on other pilots. Among the new shows on ABC next season will be Quantico, The Catch, Wicked City, The Family, Of Kings and …

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How To Get Away With Murder, Ep. 1.14 and 1.15: “The Night Lila Died” and “It’s All My Fault” stick the landing

How To Get Away With Murder wraps up its season with a two-hour finale that solves the central mystery while leaving some questions unanswered. Some of the episode is a slog, padded out by yet another snoozy case of the week, but the last 10 minutes are as suspenseful as anything on television. If Peter Norwalk and the writers can figure out how to drop the procedural element of the show and more fully explore the actions of the regular characters, some of whom are not much more fleshed out than when the series began, the show will be much improved in season 2.

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Twin Peaks, Ep. 1.02: “Traces To Nowhere” establishes oddly effective beats of investigation

After the tour de force performance that was the pilot of Twin Peaks, the most important of the many questions raised was how on earth this would be able to sustain a weekly series. Its vision was so unique and its oddness so carefully calibrated that it was easy to understand why so many of the critics who first reviewed it and loved it gave it zero chance of mainstream success, even while you could also understand why ABC would take a chance on its vision.

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Twin Peaks, Ep. 1.01: “Northwest Passage” is brilliant world-building, wrapped in plastic

In the nearly 25 years since Twin Peaks debuted on ABC, the show has achieved an almost mythic status in the canon of television. Not only has it influenced a legion of other shows, but its various elements and images have become indelible parts of pop culture. Appreciation of cherry pie and damn good coffee. A lady with a log that she treats like a beloved pet. A dwarf dancing in a room with red curtains and a zig-zag carpet. When people think of Twin Peaks, they think of its oddities, and with good reason: the surreality is so distinct that it lingers long after the details surrounding it have faded.

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Scandal, Ep. 4.03, “Inside the Bubble”: ‘Everything is Colder’

Scandal’s very much a show where you love and root for characters based on their charm rather than their morality. No one is wholly good or evil, but that doesn’t really matter at the end of each episode–what matters is how likable each member of the cast is, how intriguing their storyline currently is, and how well they interact with other cast members on screen. This isn’t an insult to the audience, but rather a compliment to Scandal and the show’s creators–it has to be hard to make such morally-reprehensible people so compulsively watchable week after week.

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The character diversity of Lost was a secret strength of the show

This week a decade ago, the pilot aired for a show that would go on to become a milestone in television. That show was Lost and over the years, it has been praised and criticised for many things, while spawning a number of similar shows, most of which have failed to capture its magic. One …

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A New Old World: Cancellations and Renewals

Here’s the scorecard of recently announced TV cancellations and renewals, as we all bite our fingernails waiting for those final few verdicts to trickle in, particularly (I’m guessing), Nashville, Hannibal, and Community. UPDATE:  Hannibal just renewed. ABC CANCELLED: Trophy Wife, Mixology, and Neighbors. (Comment: Trophy Wife was superbly cast and sweet and funny, if slight, …

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Agents of SHIELD, Season 1, Episode 21, “Ragtag” Kicks the Puppy, All 3 of Them

Season one’s penultimate episode “Ragtag” looks back again into the past when Ward and Garrett first met, and it sets up a mean cliffhanger leading into the finale. In the opening scene, Garrett visits a young Ward in a juvenile detention facility. Ward is facing a hefty sentence for lighting his family’s house on fire with his brother inside, and Garrett is offering a way out with a secret organization that is always looking for young men like Ward. After breaking him out, Garrett abandons Ward in the woods with only a bag of clothes and a hunting dog named Buddy for companionship. If Ward can survive for a few months, Garrett will be back. Ward survives, and Garrett molds him in his own image with the mantra that any emotional attachment is a weakness.

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Agents of SHIELD, Episode 1.20: Emotions Cloud Missions in “Nothing Personal”

“Nothing Personal” opens with Maria Hill taking an evening stroll and chatting on her phone with Pepper Potts, but May is waiting around the corner for her with questions about Nick Fury and the T.A.H.I.T.I. project. Meanwhile, Coulson is back at Fury’s secret base with Triplett, Fitz, and Simmons, and they are trying to figure out why Skye and Ward left the base, taking their plane with them. Thanks to a bit of cleverness from Skye, they uncover Ward’s secret, but Fitz is unable to accept that Ward is a Hydra agent. Unfortunately, they have very little time to process these revelations as Colonel Glenn Talbot (Adrian Pasdar) has found their base and brought Maria Hill and a team of Special Forces along with him. As Coulson tries to convince Hill to help them, Skye is traveling with Ward back to where it all began for her, in a small diner where she met Mike Peterson for the first time.

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‘Toy Story of TERROR!’ a delightful start to a new series

Given ABC’s ties to Disney, and by extension Pixar, the network’s commission of a series of animated Toy Story shorts was probably inevitable. Many fans of the films may have been nervous about any new additions to the Toy Story franchise, but fortunately, Toy Story of TERROR! puts the fears of all but the most strident viewers to rest with its warm characterizations, endearing comedic moments, and strong visuals.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Ep 1.04, “Eye-Spy”: Vanilla, but with a nice twist or two

The most consistently frustrating thing about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is its absolute refusal to be anything other than a vanilla, middle-of-the-road piece of disposable entertainment. It’s not a show that’s necessarily terrible enough to hate (although some will try) and it’s not anywhere near good enough to like it. The most common response to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has to be a shrug of the shoulders and moving on from there. There’s nothing particularly memorable about anything that it has to work with. Here’s a question for the ages: if this show didn’t have the association with the Marvel universe, would people even be tuning in to watch it? You can ponder that amongst yourselves.

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Fall 2013 Network TV Preview: ABC’s new comedies are a white-washed, mostly uninspired trio of shows

Each of ABC’s three new fall comedies have similar problems: they all rely on a gimmicky “hook” to justify their existence; all three of them have bleach-white casts and suffer from “upper middle-class problems” disease; and most of all, all three of them go through the 22-minute exercise of a comedy pilot without ever finding …

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Revenge, Ep. 2.15, “Retribution”: Viewers regain faith

Revenge, Season 2, Episode 15: “Retribution” Written by Nikki Toscano and Elle Triedman Directed by Helen Hunt Airs Sundays at 9 pm (ET) on ABC It’s no secret that Revenge had lost its way earlier this season but with Amanda’s death at the end of the last episode, Emily’s desire to destroy the Graysons has …

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PaleyFest 2013: Watch the full panel for ‘Nashville’

The success of the Fox hit Glee proved the viability of musicals in television, opening the doors for several stories to be told in that format. One of those was ABC’s Nashville, which made its debut in Fall 2012, with the additional feature of writing its own songs. Focusing on three female country singers at …

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PaleyFest 2013: Watch the full panel for ‘Once Upon a Time’

Once Upon a Time has been steadily gaining an audience as its second season rapidly approaches its finale. While the first season focused on the dichotomy between Storybrooke and the fairytale world, the return of magic in the season finale, as well as the characters’ true memories, was a massive gamechanger whose effects have reverberated …

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Last Resort, Ep 1.13: “Controlled Flight into Terrain” ends the series in fine form, wrapping up several threads without shortchanging any of them

Last Resort, Season 1, Episode 13: “Controlled Flight into Terrain” Written by Karl Gajdusek and David Wiener Directed by Michael Offer Airs Thursdays at 8pm (ET) on ABC It’s never easy to say goodbye to a show, especially one that has run for a long time, allowing the audience to build an emotional attachment with …

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