[Televisionary]

Murder among the dreaming spires? I explore the enduring charms of Masterpiece Mystery ’s Oxford-set crime drama Inspector Lewis , which returns to PBS for a fifth season on Sunday. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Morse Code: PBS' Knife-Sharp Lewis Returns," in which I take a look at both Inspector Lewis and Endeavour from within the context of the legacy of Morse and their role within what I'm calling an Oxford crime trilogy. In a television landscape populated by countless iterations of CSI and its ilk—crime dramas where the emphasis is on forensics as crime-solving technology rather than in old school policing—Masterpiece Mystery’s delightful Inspector Lewis may feel like an odd man out. But in the case of Lewis, which returns to PBS on Sunday for a fifth season (or sixth, if you’re going by the U.K.’s numbering system), that’s a good thing indeed. The show, based on characters created by Colin Dexter, is now itself a long-runni

In honor of July 4, I picked my 11 most beloved politicos on television, from Leslie Knope ( Parks and Rec ) and Clay Davis ( The Wire ) to David Palmer ( 24 ) and Sigourney Weaver’s Elaine Barrish in USA’s upcoming miniseries Political Animals . Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "11 Best TV Politicians: Parks and Rec, The West Wing, 24 & More," in which I pick out 11 of the best, most memorable, or all-around unforgettable fictional politicians on television (plus one out there bizarre choice). While Garry Trudeau and Robert Altman’s short-lived mockumentary Tanner ’88 may have been one of the first television shows to focus squarely on the democratic process in action, shows as diverse as The Wire, Parks and Recreation, 24, Veep, and The Good Wife have dived into political action at its best and worst. With the Fourth of July upon us, it’s time to look back at some of television’s most memorable politicians, from Parks and Recreation’s new

HBO's The Newsroom transforms its female characters into hysterics and fools. In a critics’ conversation, Maureen Ryan and I dissect the woman problem embedded in Aaron Sorkin’s troubling drama. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "HBO’s The Newsroom : Aaron Sorkin’s Woman Problem," a critics' conversation in which The Huffington Post's Maureen Ryan and I explore the women problem within The Newsroom . In certain circles, HBO’s latest drama, The Newsroom , from creator Aaron Sorkin ( The West Wing, The Social Network ), has been the galvanizing event of the summer, eliciting no shortage of strong responses both pro and con. In a critics’ conversation reprinted below, The Daily Beast’s Jace Lacob and the Huffington Post’s Maureen Ryan delve into the troubling issue of women within the HBO drama. MAUREEN RYAN: One of the bigger problems with The Newsroom is that so many scenes involve men setting women straight, men supervising wome

Tabloid fodder Charlie Sheen returns to TV with FX’s lazy Anger Management , which feels out of place on the cable network, particularly when it sits beside FX’s more experimental and daring fare. I compare Sheen’s new show with Louis C.K.’s Louie , which returns for a third season on Thursday. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Comedy Clash: Charlie Sheen’s Anger Management & Louis C.K.’s Louie ," in which I compare and contrast the new Sheen comedy vehicle, Anger Management , with the similarly themed Louie . Both shows revolve around middle-aged men, both air Thursday on FX, and yet that's when the similarities stop altogether... Charlie Sheen returns to television with FX’s Anger Management , beginning Thursday. If that statement fills you with dread, we’re simpatico in our TV-comedy leanings. Putting aside the fact that Sheen is a thug with a penchant for substance abuse and violence against women, Anger Management —developed by Bru

The Duchess of Cornwall is just one obsessive viewer. Nordic Noir—embodied in Scandinavian dramas like The Killing, The Bridge , and Borgen —have become cult hits in the U.K., and are about to become the go-to formats for American TV pilots. I explore the genre’s appeal, its breakout female characters, and why audiences in the U.S. are unlikely to see many of them in their original form (but it is possible to see them!). Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Rise of Nordic Noir TV," in which I explore why these Scandinavian dramas have become cult hits in the U.K., how they are ripe for American adaptations, and their universal appeal. While AMC’s The Killing has been dumped in a trunk to die like Rosie Larsen, its progenitor, Denmark’s Forbrydelsen, continues to slay viewers around the globe on the strength of its moody wit and strong-willed protagonist. Forbrydelsen (in English, The Crime) became a cult hit in the United Kingdom when it air

The Daily Beast (or rather me directly) obtained a production draft of Lifetime’s Elizabeth Taylor biopic starring Lindsay Lohan. I pick out eight especially salacious bits from the script. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, " Liz & Dick : 8 Crazy Scenes from Lindsay Lohan’s Elizabeth Taylor Biopic," in which I read Christopher Monger's script and pick out the eight craziest, oddest, most salacious bits of Lifetime's upcoming Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton biopic, Liz & Dick , starring Lindsay Lohan. When considering actresses to play the late, beloved Academy Award–winner Elizabeth Taylor, the first name that comes to most people’s minds likely isn’t Lindsay Lohan. And yet the troubled, talented 25-year-old actress is currently playing Taylor in Lifetime’s made-for-TV movie Liz & Dick , about the tumultuous romance between Taylor and her costar/husband Richard Burton (played here by True Blood ’s Grant Bowler). Lohan is

Will the 2012-13 television season be a success or a snooze? Over at The Daily Beast, Maria Elena Fernandez and I offer our first impressions of 30-plus network pilots—from The Following and Nashville to The Neighbors and Zero Hour (and everything in between)—coming to TV next season. Head over to The Daily Beast to read my latest feature, "TV Preview: Snap Judgments of 2012-13’s New Shows," in which we offer our dueling he said/she said perspectives on all of the available broadcast network pilots. While some of you may have jetted off on summer vacations in the last few weeks, we’ve spent the first part of the summer wading through pilots for more than 30 new scripted shows that likely will be on the air next TV season. (Sometimes networks change their minds, and, if we’re honest, there are a few shows we’d love to see disappear altogether.) It was a Herculean feat to make it through the pile of screeners this year—it was not overall the best pilot season—to offe