Preface When the pay-TV service Home Box Office debuted on a stormy night in the fall of 1972, its future hardly looked promising…or even assured. On the service’s opening night, HBO had less than 400 subscribers on a single cable system in Pennsylvania. They were treated to a hockey game and a two-year-old movie that …
Veep, Season 5, Episode 6: “C**tgate” Written by Georgia Pritchett & Will Smith Directed by Chris Addison Airs Sunday at 10:30pm on HBO Jonah is running for congress now, something I never dared to hope for but which pleases me immensely. The stock market is also crashing and three large banks are in need of …
“Bachmanity Insanity” Written by Carson Mell Directed by Eric Appel Airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO Silicon Valley is a reliably hilarious show and an astute critique of the excesses of corporate America and the tech industry. It’s also a sausage fest (much like the real Silicon Valley). The gender dynamics of the show have …
Veep, Season 5, Episode 5: “Thanksgiving” Written by Sean Gray & Georgia Pritchett & Will Smith Directed by Chris Addison Airs Sunday at 10:30pm on HBO I recently wrote about Veep’s lead-in on HBO, Silicon Valley, and how that show is best and funniest when the characters are dealing with a crisis. Veep operates similarly, …
Silicon Valley, Season 3, Episode 5: “The Empty Chair” Written by Megan Amram Directed by Eric Appel Airs Sunday at 10pm on HBO As funny as Silicon Valley can be, it’s rarely a good times show; Richard Hendricks requires a minimum level of crisis in order to reach peak nervous mania, and the show’s writing is …
Veep, Season 5, Episode 4: “Mee-Maw” Written by Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck Directed by Dale Stern Airs Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO For Selina Meyer, winning trumps all other personal concerns, whether those entail being sympathetic to a grieving daughter or honoring her deceased mother. That singular focus is the secret to Selina’s success, …
Silicon Valley, Season 3, Episode 3: “Maleant Data Systems Solutions” Written by Donick Cary Directed by Charlie McDowell Airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO At the end of last week’s very funny but somewhat stuffed episode, Richard’s plan to circumvent Jack’s wishes had been discovered and he was in danger of being fired for his …
Veep, Season 5, Episode 3: “The Eagle” Written by Steve Koren Directed by Chris Addison Airs Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO A key test of how fleshed out a show’s characters are is how well the story holds up when they’re pulled apart. Are their personalities interesting enough to sustain themselves in isolation? Or do the …
Silicon Valley, Season 3, Episode 3: “Meinertzhagen’s Haversack” Written by Adam Countee Directed by Charlie McDowell Airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO The end of last week’s episode of Silicon Valley was the biggest blow to Richard’s original Pied Piper vision yet; the new CEO Barker had gone all in on the presumably misguided advice of …
Veep, Season 5, Episode 1: “Morning After” Written by David Mandel Directed by Chris Addison Veep, Season 5, Episode 2: “Nev-AD-a” Written by Lew Morton Directed by Chris Addison Airs Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO The fifth season of HBO’s Veep was always poised to become a victim of expectations. The show had benefited from remarkable consistency over …
Silicon Valley, Season 3, Episode 1: “Founder Friendly” Written by Dan O’Keefe Directed by Mike Judge Silicon Valley, Season 3, Episode 2: “Two in the Box” Written by Ron Weiner Directed by Mike Judge Airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO The great success of Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley has been how effortlessly it manages to mock the …
The fifth season of HBO’s Girls aired its two-part finale this past weekend, and rather than feeling like a show that had run its course, it demonstrated a renewed creative potential. Although Girls has remained a reliably interesting show for its duration, the last two seasons suffered from an occasional lack of direction. It wasn’t …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 10: “Alibi” Written by Terence Winter Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Prior to the penultimate episode of Vinyl’s first season, HBO announced that co-creator and showrunner Terence Winter would be leaving the show, supposedly over creative differences (usually code for low ratings and/or critical disapproval). Although filled with …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 9: “Rock and Roll Queen” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by Carl Franklin Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Ever since Richie lost all the money gained from selling American Century’s private jet, a shoe has been hanging over the show. Zach is Richie’s most loyal lieutenant, and one who’s really more of …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 8: “E.A.B.” Written by Riccardo DiLoreto & Michael Mitnick Directed by Jon S. Baird Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO So far, a fairly reliable indicator of the strength of a Vinyl episode is how much humor it has. That’s not to say that the show needs to veer toward broad …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 7: “The King and I” Written by David Matthews Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO If Vinyl has managed to convey one thing about Richie’s personality, it’s that he never does anything halfway. He has to run his business with a constant pipeline of cocaine direct to his nose. …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 6: “Cyclone” Written by Carl Capotorto & Erin Cressida Wilson Directed by Nicole Kassell Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO If it succeeds at anything, Vinyl knows how to do a good coke scene. Bobby Cannavale has perfected the wild-eyed look of someone who’s been doing cocaine for three days straight, …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 5: “He in Racist Fire” Written by Adam Rapp Directed by Peter Sollett Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO The revelation from last week’s episode of Vinyl was that the show can be hilarious when it wants to be. It was a necessary discovery, because Vinyl would eventually implode if it chose to …
Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 4: “The Racket” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by S. J. Clarkson Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Perhaps Vinyl has regained its footing. The first three episodes of the series were filled with drama – Richie falling off the wagon, murdering Buck Rogers, and threatening his already shaky marriage. The episodes were …
Richie takes a backseat in an episode that introduces a particularly sedate real-life rock star.
A more streamlined second episode still has some kinks to work out.
Vinyl, Season One, Episode One: “Pilot” Written by Terence Winter and George Mastras Directed by Martin Scorsese Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO It seemed inevitable that Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger would work together at some point. After all, The Rolling Stones have created the essential music of Scorsese’s life, and his films would …
The Leftovers, Season 2, Episode 10: “I Live Here Now” Written by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta Directed by Mimi Leder Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO “I don’t understand what’s happening.” I’m not just saying this because there’s a chance it might be its actual last episode: “I Live Here Now” is the ultimate …