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TV Review: REVENGE – Season 1 – “Suspicion”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON 11/25/2011

Emily VanCamp and Hiroyuki Sanada in REVENGE - Season 1 - "Suspicion" | ©2011 ABC/Colleen Hayes

Stars: Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Josh Bowman, Nick Wechsler, Gabriel Mann, Ashley Madekwe, Christa B. Allen, Connor Paolo Writer: Salvatore Stabile Director: Bethany Rooney Network: ABC, Wednesday nights, 10 p.m. Original Telecast: November 23, 2011 Maybe it’s because this aired on the night before Thanksgiving and some of us were a little distracted, but “Suspicion” was a rather flat episode for REVENGE. It felt like things were being set up, but not much was actually happening. Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) is trying to control her counterpart Amanda (Margarita Levieva), who in turn is going after local pub owner Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler). And this could cause significant problems for Emily’s great […]Read On »

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TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY – Season 1 – “Rubber Man”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF

Dylan McDermott and Taissa Farmiga in AMERICAN HORROR STORY - Season 1 - "Rubber Man" | ©2011 FX/Prashant Gupta

Stars: Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Jessica Lange, Taissa Farmiga, Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Frances Conroy, Kate Mara, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, Teddy Sears, Morris Chestnut, Christine Estabrook, Azura Skye Writer: Ryan Murphy, series created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk Director: Miguel Arteta Network: FX, Wednesdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: November 23, 2011 It takes a lot of faith in one’s material to get revelatory in the middle of a horror story. Skilled writers have been known to crash and burn once we know what’s behind the evil in literature and on screen. However, AMERICAN HORROR STORY co-creator Ryan […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE X FACTOR – Season 1 – “The Top 9 Perform” Recap

By CARL CORTEZ 11/23/2011

Melanie Amaro performs on THE X FACTOR - Season 1 - "The Top 9 Perform" | ©2011 Fox/Ray Mickshaw

Judges: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Antonio Reid, Nicole Scherzinger Network: Fox Original Telecast: November 22, 2011 THE X FACTOR was all about giving thanks this week, with the contestants picking songs that mean something to them and inspired them the most. Of course there was the good, the bad and the emotional – and picking on singers now feels like I’m taking cheap shots with it being an inspirational week, but with two people going home this week, there isn’t time for people to skate by. Every note, every song choice, every statement uttered is going to determine he should […]Read On »

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DANCING WITH THE STARS Season 13 Recap: J.R. Martinez dances off with mirror ball

By PAMELA HARLAND

Karina Smirnoff and J.R. Martinez win the mirror ball on DANCING WITH THE STARS - Season 13 finale | ©2011 ABC/Adam Taylor

Stars: Rob Kardashian, Ricki Lake, J.R. Martinez Network: ABC, airs Mondays, Tuesdays Original Telecast: Nov. 22, 2011 In an exciting finale to a nail-biting season, DANCING WITH THE STARS completes season 13 with J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff being crowned the DWTS champions! At times, throughout the season, it seemed Martinez had that mirror ball trophy all to himself, but a few guffaws and an injured ankle led some to speculate maybe his clenching that coveted award wasn’t such a sure thing after all. In the end, it all worked out for the war veteran and now part-time actor as […]Read On »

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TV Review: DEXTER – Season 6 – “Sins of Omission”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 11/22/2011

Michael C. Hall in DEXTER - Season 6 - "Sins of Omission" | ©2011 Showtime/Randy Tepper

Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Lauren Velez, Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, David Zayas, James Remar, Aimee Garcia, Geoff Pierson, Edward James Olmos, Colin Hanks, Billy Brown, Josh Cooke, Molly Parker, W. Morgan Sheppard Writer: Anika Lisette Mittman, series based on the books by Jeff Lindsay Director: Ernest Dickerson Network: Showtime, Sundays @ 9 PM Release Date: November 20, 2011 In DEXTER, it’s rare for the title character (Michael C. Hall) to be brought up totally short, but that’s what happens in a scene in “Sins of Omission,” which provides an unexpected grace note. Dexter is searching for the whereabouts […]Read On »

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TV Review: CASTLE – Season 4 – “Kill Shot”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON

Jon Huertas in CASTLE - Season 4 - "Kill Shot" | ©2011 ABC/Randy Holmes

Stars: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan, Molly Quinn, Tamala Jones, Seamus Deaver, Jon Huertas, Penny Johnson Jerald Writer: Alexi Hawley Director: David M. Barrett Network: ABC, Monday nights, 10 p.m. Original Telecast: November 22, 2011 At first it seems like the normal banter between Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and author consultant Richard Castle (Nathan Filion) as they walk to the crime scene in the “Kill Shot” episode of CASTLE . Then Beckett lets it drop that she’s still in physical therapy as part of her recovery from the gun shot wound she got at the end of last season when a […]Read On »

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TV Review and Recap: DANCING WITH THE STARS – Season 13 – “The Finals”

By PAMELA HARLAND

Cheryle Burke, Rob Kardashian, Tom Bergeron, Brooke Burke Charvet, Karina Smirnoff, J.R. Martinez, Ricki Lake and Derek Hough in DANCING WITH THE STARS - Season 13 - "The Finals" | ©2011 ABC/Adam Taylor

Stars: Rob Kardashian, Ricki Lake, J.R. Martinez Network: ABC, airs Mondays, Tuesdays Original Telecast: November 21st, 2011 Before you know it – Bam! It’s here already – the DANCING WITH THE STARS: Season 13 finals, or as Derek Hough may put it, just another day on the dance floor. Hough has made the finals four times with three wins. If he and partner Ricki Lake win tomorrow he will have won the mirror ball trophy a record four times and he will have never lost in the finals. However, that’s a big “if”. He and Lake have stiff competition with […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Colm Meaney is HELL ON WHEELS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 11/21/2011

Colm Meaney in HELL ON WHEELS - Season 1 | ©2011 AMC/Chris Large

On AMC’s new series HELL ON WHEELS, Sundays at 10 PM, American Civil War Confederate veteran Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) is on the trail of the people who murdered his wife. To that end, he takes a job with the Union Pacific Railroad, working on construction of what will be the first North American transcontinental railroad at the same time he seeks vengeance. The man in charge of this gargantuan rail expansion is Thomas “Doc” Durant, played by Colm Meaney. Durant may come across as a larger than life figure, but the man is a part of real American history, […]Read On »

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TV Review: FRINGE – Season 4 – “Wallflower”

By CARL CORTEZ

Seth Gabel in FRINGE - Season 4 - "Wallflower" | ©2011 Fox/Liane Hentscher

Cast: Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Anna Torv, Seth Gabel, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole Writer: Matt Pits & Justin Doble Director: Anthony Hemingway Network: Fox, airs Friday nights Original Telecast: November 18, 2011 FRINGE can get strange, but with “Wallflower,” the series’ season four midseason finale, it gets downright perplexing. It isn’t because it’s bad, but because it ends up telling a rather strange, almost tragic story that dovetails into a major mythology turning point, rather than any big reveal of the week’s mystery. The story begins with an invisible man running around creating havoc and leaving his victims completely white […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE WALKING DEAD – Season 2 – “Secrets”

By ARNOLD T. BLUMBERG

A Walker in THE WALKING DEAD - Season 2 - "Secrets" | ©2011 AMC/Gene Page

Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa Suzanne McBride, Lauren Cohan, Madison Lintz, IronE Singleton, James Allen McCune, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, Jane McNeill Writer: Angela Kang Director: David Boyd Network: AMC, airs Sunday nights Original Telecast: November 20, 2011 In the sixth episode of THE WALKING DEAD Season 2, “Secrets,” the truth about Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) barn dwellers is just the tip of the iceberg as secrets both old and new are shared amongst the group and in most cases lead to explosive turning points, while some of […]Read On »