Welcome to our list of the best TV show pilots of all time. Pilots are the episodes that hook us. Some shows have gone on to be wildly successful with lousy pilots. Some shows have failed despite terrific pilots. And then some shows launch with a killer pilot and go on to be a successful …
The Shield #1 begins as a standard thriller story with maybe a little too much narration from novelist-turned-comics writers Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig, but turns into a more psychological story about PTSD and patriotism as the comic progresses. Much of these psychological effects come from the art and colors of Drew Johnson and Kelly Fitzpatrick, who shy away from the red, white, and blue of the color art and play with grit, grime, and hellfire explosions as Victoria Adams tries to figure out who she is, what’s she’s been, and what she stands for as the Shield.
With Monday Night Raw – and WWE in general – being fairly light on genuine surprises, I almost always opt to dive into each show without reading the preview or any major dirtsheet spoilers. So I was surprised to see Triple H come out at the top of this week’s episode for a match with …
It’s always nice to see Vince swing by for an appearance now that he’s moved on from malevolent boss to frail old man. “Don’t boo my daughter Stephanie,” he pleaded with the crowd, asking nicely – for once – for us to show some respect to the daughter he beat the crap out of almost …
Curtis Axel is already leaving a strange impression. The writers want us to believe he’s ‘lucky’, but scoring fluke victories over successive big names across two episodes suggests that either a) the stars won’t job cleanly to Axel or b) WWE don’t want to jump the gun with him just yet. Either way, nothing Axel …
The close of this week’s Raw was an apt send-off into the oxymoronic PG-13 Extreme Rules, giving us something we don’t see every week, if ever: Triple H and Brock Lesnar engaging in fisticuffs. It almost didn’t happen; Lesnar was set to strut out of the arena until Hunter, inside of a steel cage, referred …
“I’m going to get in this ring and do my best,” cried Cena, pleading for the approval of yet another disgustingly ungrateful crowd. It didn’t work, though more effective in gaining their favour was his subsequent takedown of Ryback who – let’s be honest – is opening himself up to mockery the minute he steps …
The Extreme Rules card is shaping up to be a killer. In recent years, the first PPV of the WWE’s business year often turns out superior to the Wrestlemania that preceded it, partly because less features are being crammed into the runtime and expectations are comparatively low. So far, we have Brock Lesnar vs. Triple …
I guess it’s finally time to admit defeat. Fandango – or to a greater extent, Fandangoing – is sweeping the nation. It may not have yet reached the level of say, a Harlem Shake or Gangnam Style, but it’s most definitely out there. It’s crossed the border from the niche wrestling market into the mainstream, …
Another year, another subpar Wrestlemania. The production, talent and sheer manpower that goes into producing a show of this magnitude is greatly admired and appreciated by all watching, and is rarely to fault for the eventual disappointment of the finished product. The competitors can’t take the entirety of the blame for a merely passable match, …
John Cena made it ten minutes into his promo before being hushed with “boring” chants, the crowd united against him despite his description of Washington DC as a house divided into “Cenacrats” and “Rockpublicans”. The Great One stopped by later in the evening and predictably scored a better reaction from the fans, but his segment …
Bless Me, Ultima Directed by Carl Franklin Written by Carl Franklin USA, 2013 Bless Me, Ultima seems designed for high-school English teachers desperate to spruce up their lesson plans near the end of a school year or semester. By itself, the film is sincere and earnest to a fault, and charming if too episodic and …
Cop shows have been around almost as long as television itself and have run the gamut, from procedurals to sitcoms to serialized dramas. They’ve given us some of TV’s most memorable and enduring characters, not to mention some of the medium’s best performances. Yet, upon examination, disproportionately few of the detectives who grace our screens …