[Televisionary]

I've been extremely forthcoming about my love for FX's brilliant drama Terriers . Scratch that. I've been gushing about the show --created by Ted Griffin and executive produced by Shawn Ryan--for months now and I wish that more of you were tuning in to this remarkable and unique series. The first of the final four episodes of Terriers ' season begins tonight with the sobering "Asunder," a major turning point for the season both in terms of the overarching conspiracy plot (yes, the shady circumstances of the Montague come back into focus)--which Hank (Donal Logue) and Britt (Michael Raymond-James) are dragged back into--but also the character-driven subplots that have been lurking beneath the surface all season. I ripped into these next four installments with my teeth last week, insatiable for more of this groundbreaking series, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. In fact, I think that they rank up there with the very best that the series has produced t...

It's said that in a murder investigation, there are no secrets. The lives of everyone, from the victim to those around them, are laid bare under the harsh light of scrutiny. If you're concealing something, it will come out. The same holds true for a different sort of investigation, this time surrounding a missing purple pen belonging to Annie (Alison Brie) on this week's genius episode of Community ("Cooperative Calligraphy"). While the episode is ostensibly about the quest to track down this errant stylus, it's the bonds of the study group that come tumbling down when the finger of suspicion is pointed at each of them. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the very best bottle episode ever produced. For those of you who don't know, "bottle episode" is a technical term for an episode of television that's produced in one single location. It cuts down on the bottom line (something studios like quite a lot) as there aren't additional sets, loca...

We all have the networks--whether broadcast or cable, legacy or newbie--that we gravitate to, but I was wondering this morning about so-called indispensable networks. Given that I write about television, nearly all networks could be said to be indispensable in one way or another, but what I was pondering was that one specific television channel that you can't turn away from, that you automatically switch to when you turn on the television, or which you have on as background while you're doing other things in our multi-tasking obsessed society. Many years ago, that channel was--perhaps not surprisingly for those of you who know me--Food Network, but it was replaced by BBC America around 2000 and for many years that was my go-to network, the one spot on the metaphorical dial that I could always depend on for diverting fare, soothing background noise, or a sense of the familiar and comforting. For whatever the reason, sadly, that's not the case anymore and--shock, horror--I...

No surprise that AMC is gearing up for another invasion of The Walking Dead . Just a day after airing the series' second episode, the cable network announced officially that The Walking Dead would return for a second season of thirteen episodes. (Yes, thirteen episodes this time, as was rumored a while back.) The renewal shouldn't be a shock to anyone watching the numbers as the launch of The Walking Dead broke cable records, as it reached more of the key demographic than any other series in history. (I'll let that sink in for a second.) While the second episode dipped slightly in overall viewers, it saw an uptick in men 18-49. “The Dead has spread!” said Charlie Collier , President, AMC, in a statement. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as The Walking Dead . This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back The Dead again, across the globe.” That worldwide reach is due to AMC's pa...

Sci-fi auteur Abrams' latest TV show, Undercovers , has gotten the axe at NBC. Over at The Daily Beast, I take look at what went wrong and why TV needs a fully-committed, not watered down, Abrams in my latest feature, "Is J.J. Abrams Too Big for TV?" Do you agree with my assessment? Did you try to watch Undercovers ? Do you miss the days of Lost, Alias , and Felicity ? Should Abrams be more committed to these television endeavors even as his feature film career skyrockets? Or is it a case of over-committing, audience expectations, or creative partnerships? Head to the comments section to discuss.

If you follow me on Twitter , then you likely saw my news on Friday afternoon : my new role is that of TV Columnist for The Daily Beast. Longtime visitors to this site know that I've been writing features for The Daily Beast for well over a year now , but my relationship with Tina Brown's site has been on a freelance basis. Roughly a month ago, I entered into a new relationship with the news and entertainment site that solidifies my position there and shifts things into a far less transient arrangement. And while the paperwork has taken quite some time to finish, I can now officially announce my new gig. So what does that mean for Televisionary? In terms of the big picture, absolutely nothing at the moment. I've been juggling this and my freelance pieces for well over a year now. In terms of the small picture, it might mean some changes in terms of content and what I choose to write about here. Why am I telling you this? Because I don't want you think that I won't b...

Well, that's it. For now, anyway. Last night brought the season finale of PBS' addictive Sherlock ("The Great Game") and what an installment it was. For a season composed of just three installments, it delivered quite the requisite bangs and thrills, particularly in this final act, which I rate as strong as the first episode ("A Study in Pink") in the series. (I reviewed the first three episodes of Sherlock here , and spoke with Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman in a feature over here at The Daily Beast .) It contained all of the elements that make Sherlock just gleeful fun: Mark Gatiss' Mycroft, the banter between Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman), creepy criminals like the Golem, a fantastically deranged performance from Andrew Scott as the terrifying Moriarty, and one hell of an intricate mystery. Or in this case, no less than five interconnected mysteries designed to test Holmes' mettl...