The Best New Shows This Summer

Political Pundits drone on about the 24 hour news cycle, well  television critics should be harping on and promoting TV’s twelve month cycle. TV no longer has a bench for the B team. Long gone is the time when summer shows were only repeats or shows not good enough for the starter line-up in the Fall. This summer broadcast, cable and streaming networks have dug deep to present thoughtful and unique content.

There were three hundred new shows this summer. Too many for any sane person to actually watch, but here are the best shows I watched. Several of them should have been nominated… They were that good.

Book Review: My Voice is a Great Graduation Present

There isn’t a hip hop head who does not know The Voice of New York. She is an undisputed hip hop radio icon. Angie Martinez is hip hop. As hip hop matures and new radio personalities emerge, Martinez remains atop the list. Second only to Charlamagne …

Are you Suffering From Series Fatigue?

During this age of prestige television there are a lot of great shows available. FoMO, fear of missing out, leads to Series Fatigue. This ailment is seen globally but cases are at epidemic rates in Europe and North America. Its symptoms include vitamin D deficiency from marathon viewing, sleep deprivation/insomnia, weight gain, poor job performance and neglected family and friends. In severe cases, job and home loss has been noted…  Is this disease real yet? LOL!

Music Blessings?

When I was twelve I hated going to school. The only day I found tolerable was Wednesday. On this glorious day I got to leave school to alternatively, volunteer at the nursing home or attend religious classes. Unsurprisingly, the church’s school was not a place …

Hey Mama: How Clair Huxtable Changed Motherhood on TV

The TV mothers of my childhood are ever-present. They too are part of the language I speak. Their stories are part of my memory: Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy, 1951), Carol Brady (The Brady Bunch, 1969), Olivia Walton (The Waltons, 1971), Edith Bunker (All in the Family, 1971), Florida Evans (Good Times, 1974), Louise Jefferson (The Jeffersons, 1975), and Clair Huxtable (The Cosby Show, 1984). I liked these mothers, but I was critical of them. They were not real. Their perfectly imagined lives were fun escapism. They were an extension of my schooling, my American indoctrination. The mothers in children’s stories and by extension TV, film, music and literature are idealized. They are nurtures, teachers, protectors. These TV mothers showed me what Wendy Darling told the Lost Boys in Peter Pan.  

Limitless: From Bland to Experimental

CBS’ Limitless is a sequel to the film which starred Bradley Cooper in 2011. The series begins several years after the film. Eddie Morra has become a senator (Bradley Cooper) and NZT is once again available in NYC.

After Lemonade: #Real Relationship Goals

When the reality television boom began in earnest, I did not flock to it. I automatically equated it to fool’s gold; glittery with little value much like soap operas and novellas. The genre’s ‘unscripted’ dating, relationship and competition shows troubled me: The Real World (1992), …

Immimnent Death?

Television ratings have been experiencing arrhythmia. They have been irregular, rhythmless. Even ratings juggernauts Empire, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Scandal have seen declining ratings. This is sending tv and ad executives to the ER seeking immediate fixes to avoid infarctions. Ironically, they would all be elated with tachycardia ratings; bradycardia would be their death.

Disappointing Game of Thrones season six premier ratings would send Hollywood into a tailspin!

Studios are reactionary. No doubt show runners have had far more notes this year. When year end ratings arrive next month, so will the far fetched ideas, cancellations, abrupt changes in production and the green lighting of absurd shows. A pendulum shift should be expected. If only stories mattered. With that I am off to enjoy Games of Thrones after drinking far too much Lemonade this weekend.

One More Reason Melissa Harris-Perry is The Public Intellectual We Need!

I awoke with a yearning for The Melissa Harris-Perry Show. I wanted to hear varied voices rap thoughtfully if not poetically and even combatively about all we experienced this week: primaries, surprising endorsements, potential wars, trans outing,  births, deaths… The void is deafening. I filled it …

Empire’s Dilemma

Are Empire‘s creators as lost and misguided as critics believe, or are they capitalizing on social media commentary  and hate viewing? Empire is many things simultaneously: prime-time soap opera, comedy, musical, mystery, family drama… Well into the second year and third season, the show has not quite gelled. It’s …