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(Bitter) Sweet Freedom: New media props up cheap hits, but at what cost?

The Roman Empire was brutal, repressive, tyrannical, corrupt, morally bankrupt…  Well, nothing’s perfect, right?  After all, the Empire’s collapse after 700 years didn’t bring freedom or reformation, but the Dark Ages – disease, ignorance, witch trials, book burnings, illiteracy, and all that other bad stuff which made the Dark Ages so damned dark. It’s like …

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Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?: Six Series about Starting Over

The beginning of each year is a time for reevaluation, renewal, and resolutions. Every year, millions of people decide to turn over a new leaf in one part of their lives or another, to finally quit smoking, to keep to the budget this time, to get to the gym more often. Yes, many will slide …

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Community, Ep. 3.09: “Foosball And Nocturnal Vigilantism” makes the show’s benching even sadder

Community, Season 3, Episode 9: “Foosball And Nocturnal Vigilantism” Airs Thursdays 8pm ET on NBC We are now just one Christmas-themed episode away from Community being benched for an undisclosed period of time and with an episode such as this, it’s all the more heartbreaking. Where else would you get to see a show where …

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TV To Be Thankful For: 2011

Thanksgiving is here (American Thanksgiving, at least), making it officially the Holiday Season. It’s a time for reflection, for pausing to appreciate those people and things we’re most grateful for, and for focusing on what’s really important in life. Television. Here are just a few of the many things I am grateful for this year. …

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Best Of Breaking Bad (part 3) – 15 Greatest Episodes – Watch The Most Memorable Moments

#5 Season 2, Episode 6: Peekaboo Directed by Peter Medak Written by Vince Gilligan & J. Roberts Directed by Peter Medak, known for such hidden gems as Let Him Have It, Romeo Is Bleeding and The Krays, ‘Peekaboo’ is technically my favourite episode. This episode is all about family, and not just Walt’s family, but …

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Best Of Breaking Bad (part 2) – 15 Greatest Episodes – Watch The Most Memorable Moments

#10 Season 4, Episode 1: Box Cutter Directed by Adam Bernstein Written by Vince Gilligan Box Cutter ranks as one of the most suspenseful episodes of the entire series, which is saying a lot due to its semi-slow pace. Box Cutter is extremely manipulative but in all the best ways. This episode was a giant …

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Best Of Breaking Bad (part 1) — 15 Greatest Episodes – Watch The Most Memorable Moments

#15 Season 4, Episode 2: Thirty-Eight Snub Directed by Michelle MacLaren Written by George Mastras Thirty Eight Snub features two memorable scenes. No one can forget Walt receiving a fist to the eye and a half a dozen kicks to the midsection from Mike the Cleaner. Mike is a man of few words, and speaks …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.13: “Face Off”

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 13: “Face Off” Written by Vince Gilligan Directed by Vince Gilligan Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC Now here’s an hour of television that had a lot to do. First, it had two incredible season finales to follow up on (Season 2’s “ABQ” and Season 3’s “Full Measures”). Second, …

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Watch The First Minute of the ‘Breaking Bad’ Season Finale

Sound On Sight has only recently started a TV section, but one of the shows we are closely following is Breaking Bad. Kate and Simon have their weekly updates on the Televerse podcast and Simon has been writing some incredible reviews week by week on each episode. Next week I will be guest hosting on …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.12: ‘End Times’

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 12: “End Times” Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and Thomas Schnauz Directed by Vince Gilligan As though he’s been reading Breaking Bad threads online, Walter White has had a few moments of honesty this season, even if most of them are in some way self-serving. This week, in shooing Walt Jr., …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.11: “Crawl Space”

Breaking Bad Season 4, Episode 11: “Crawl Space” Written by Sam Catlin and George Mastras Directed by Scott Winant Airs Sundays, 10pm ET on AMC Let’s talk about antiheroes. We all know that when HBO unleashed The Sopranos, the idea that an entire series could be oriented around an inherently despicable figure was not necessarily …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.10: ‘Salud’

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 10: “Salud” Written by Gennifer Hutchison and Peter Gould Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC That Breaking Bad‘s damn-near patented “holy shit!” factor is back in full force this week is not the only thing that makes “Salud” the best episode the show’s produced in …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.09: “Bug”

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 9: “Bug” Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and Thomas Schnauz Directed by Terry McDonough Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC When you were watching Walt’s blood trickle down towards the frame in “Bug”‘s typically striking cold open, was there any doubt in your mind that it was Jesse who’d dealt …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.08: ‘Hermanos’

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 8: “Hermanos” Written by Sam Catlin and George Maestras Directed by John Renck Just a brief recap/review this week, as I’m still up at the Telluride Film Festival binging on movies and mountain air. Giancarlo Esposito has been Breaking Bad‘s secret weapon since Gus Fring became the closest thing the …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.07: ‘Problem Dog’

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 7: “Problem Dog” Written by Peter Gould Directed by Peter Gould Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC First off: there is a very good chance that “Problem Dog” contains a piece of television history. David Costabile, who has continued to leave an indelible impression as doomed chemist Gale Boetticher, …

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We’re Running Out of Time!: TV and the Condensed Time Line

Television, more than any other medium, allows its audience to experience a story over time. Characters grow and develop over the years and the audience shares in this. The big, life-changing moments happen, but so do the small ones, the day to day and week to week choices that shape who a person really is. …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.06: “Cornered”

Breaking Bad, Season Four, Episode Six: “Cornered” Written by Gennifer Hutchison Directed by Michael Slovis Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC Everybody knows Walter White is an asshole. But is Skyler White an idiot? One of the hardest things to accept in fiction can be a character who doesn’t perceive everything they so clearly …

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Breaking Bad Renewed for a Fifth and Final Season

Many of us here at SOS are absolute bananas about one of AMC’s outstanding drama series, not the 50s era one with all the smoking men, but rather Breaking Bad. Unfortunately, after five years and numerous awards (with more sure to come) including three consecutive Emmy wins for lead actor Bryan Cranston, AMC officially announced on Sunday its decision …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.05: “Shotgun”

Breaking Bad, Season Four, Episode Five: “Shotgun” Written by Thomas Schnauz Directed by Michelle MacLaren – As we approach the halfway point of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season, we finally hit upon a serious snag. Yes, it’s true that the season’s pacing has been measured to an almost perverse degree, but that’s hardly an issue when …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.04: ‘Bullet Points’

Breaking Bad, Season Four, Episode Four: ‘Bullet Points’ Written by Moira Walley-Beckett Directed by Colin Bucksey Airs 10pm ET on AMC Performance. For Skyler and Walt, that appears to be this season’s watchword. Ever since Skyler made the decision to stick around in the wake of Walt’s “break,” life has evolved into a series of …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.03: “Open House”

Breaking Bad Season 4, Episode 3: ‘Open House’ Written by Sam Catlin Directed by David Slade Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC Is Breaking Bad‘s fourth season a transitional one? Over the last couple of weeks, Vince Gilligan has all but confirmed that Season 5 will be the show’s last, making this one the …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 4.02: “Thirty-Eight Snub”

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 2: ‘Thirty-Eight Snub’ Written by George Mastras Directed by Michelle MacLaren Breaking Bad gained another Deadwood alum (to go with series regular Anna Gunn) this week – though probably as a one-scene wonder. Jim Beaver – aka Whitney Ellsworth, or Bobby if Supernatural‘s more your speed – graces the cold …

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