CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
HollywoodChicago.com Television
Fifth Season of ‘Medium’ Opens With Average Pair of Episodes
Submitted by BrianTT on February 2, 2009 - 8:51am Television Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Medium” is like TV comfort food. NBC’s paranormal mystery will never break new ground but is almost always entertaining. Each episode and overall season has a way of blending into each other, but there’s something comforting about a Monday night staple that is, at the very least, consistently satisfactory and sometimes better.
Post Super Bowl Edition of ‘The Office’ Scores Comedy Field Goal
Submitted by BrianTT on January 30, 2009 - 9:14am Television Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What a network chooses to put in its post-Super Bowl spot says a lot about what they are most commercially and creatively confident about on their schedule.
Gordon Ramsay’s Overly Formulaic ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Has Grown Cold
Submitted by BrianTT on January 28, 2009 - 12:17pm Television Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – By its very nature, reality television is formulaic. “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” - They all follow the same structure every year. But good reality TV mixes it up with interesting competitors and enough variety to keep viewers interested. It has gotten to the point where you can barely tell one episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” from another one, much less from season to season.
HBO’s ‘Big Love’ Locks Viewers in For Season-Three Family Drama
Submitted by Lauren on January 22, 2009 - 1:29am Television Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – How does Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) do it on HBO’s “Big Love”? He has three beautiful wives, a sea of children, parents at war with each other, politics with a polygamist prophet and big business to control. And that’s just the beginning.
Kyra Sedgwick, Ensemble Cast Continue to Bring it Home on ‘The Closer’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 21, 2009 - 8:25pmTelevision Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – TNT’s “The Closer” has an easy-going charm that rarely gets the critical praise it deserves but has turned the show into one of the most highly rated scripted program on basic cable. “The Closer” beats most network programs and is, cable or not, one of the bigger hits on TV. The mid-season premiere, “Good Faith,” airing Monday, January 26th, 2009, makes it easy to see why.
Excellent Ensemble, Quality Writing Click on TNT’s ‘Trust Me’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 20, 2009 - 1:35pmTelevision Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – We have good news for fans of “Will & Grace” and “Ed”. The stars of those two shows have been lucky enough to have lightning strike their careers again with TNT’s “Trust Me”.
USA’s ‘Burn Notice’ Returns Better Than When it Left With Great Mid-Season Premiere
Submitted by BrianTT on January 19, 2009 - 4:18pm Television Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Who’s ready for a summer diversion in the middle of the winter? USA hopes you are. When the very good “Burn Notice” left the air at the end of last summer, it had scored ratings that would make it the #1 scripted show on cable for the entire year in the coveted 18-49 demo.
‘Lie to Me’ With Tim Roth Mistakes Concept For Content
Submitted by BrianTT on January 19, 2009 - 11:23amTelevision Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Mentalist” is the only significant new hit for the 2008-2009 season and the number one rule in TV is that if something works once, try and replicate it. Viewers can expect to see dozens of clones of the Simon Baker series in the next few years. It is into this atmosphere that Fox hopes their newest crime series, “Lie To Me,” can find a loyal audience.
The Best of What’s Out There: The TV You Should Be Watching in Early 2009
Submitted by BrianTT on January 15, 2009 - 11:08amCHICAGO – We were considering looking back at the best programming of 2008 when something dawned on us - a lot of it isn’t on the air right now and not yet available on DVD. We at HollywoodChicago.com believe in being productive and helpful, so why tell you something is great when you can’t even see the show?
DVD Review: Catch Current Season of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Before Mid-Season Premiere
Submitted by BrianTT on January 14, 2009 - 5:31pm DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Battlestar Galactica” returns to the Sci-Fi Channel on January 16th, 2009, at 9pm CST for the final arc of episodes of the beloved series. There’s still time to catch up with season 4.0 before the mid-season premiere of 4.5 in an excellent TV set from Universal.
