Things are looking up for BoJack Horseman in Season 3 with more wacky hijinks and crazy adventures as he promotes his new hit movie. This season BoJack works the Oscar circuit, hoping that winning a trophy will make him happy; meanwhile Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter create a new specialty taxi service and Diane becomes a celebrity blogger. As usually there’s a lot of satire about the Hollywood industry and lampooning of celebrities. And, the writers continue to address provocative issues and offer some biting social commentary. Additionally, several interesting guest stars are featured, including Jessica Biel, Candice Bergen, “Weird” Al Yankovic, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Clever and funny, Season 3 of BoJack Horseman continues to deliver the laughs.
Season 2 of BoJack Horseman is full of laughs and keeps the series fresh with its edgy comedy stylings. The overarching story follows BoJack as he starts production on his dream project playing Secretariat and begins dating a TV producer, but before long his self-destructive behaviors jeopardize everything that he’s worked for. And, there are some exciting developments with Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter teaming up as business partners, and Princess Carolyn developing a new television show. The writing is quite good at developing multi-episode arcs and at paying off minor plot threads. Also, a number of guest stars make cameos, including George Takei, Paul McCartney, Daniel Radcliffe, Kristin Chenoweth, Ed Helms, and Ricky Gervais. One of Netflix’s best original shows, BoJack Horseman delivers a great second season that’s incredibly fun and satirical.
South Park attempts to get back to episodic adventures in its twenty-first season. Yet while it’s far less serialized than previous seasons, there are still a couple of ongoing story thread; such as Cartman’s dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend. And despite their pledge to avoid the low hanging fruit of Trump jokes, Trey Parker and Matt Stone can’t help but to throw some shade his way. The sociopolitical satire continues to be smart and edgy, taking on victim culture, political correctness, and several pop-culture trends. However, they push the raunchiness a little far in a couple of episodes, and if one’s not hip to the current trends, a lot of the humor will fall flat. Season 21 of South Park isn’t that bad, but it’s nowhere near the highs of the early seasons.
“Member South Park?” “Yeah, I member.” Less of a television season than a 10-part miniseries, South Park’s 20th season takes on internet trolling and asks the pressing question, was Star Wars: The Force Awakens really that good? When Gerald trolls his son’s elementary school’s internet message board he stirs up trouble that pits the girls against the boys and leads a Denmark company to develop a troll trace program that could cause universal Armageddon when everyone’s online handle is exposed; meanwhile Mr. Garrison does everything he can to sabotage his presidential campaign. One of the funnier recurring jokes of the season are the Member Berries; little berries that say “Member” followed by some ‘80s pop-culture reference, and causes people to mellow out and feel nostalgic…and like the J.J. Abrams Star Wars reboot. But most of the humor is focused on internet trolling, which is kind of niche. And the episodes are over serialized, to the point that no one episode can stand alone. The crudeness and vulgarity is also problematic, and saturates every episode in the troll comments and the boy’s pride marches; which involves them exposing themselves in public. Season 20 has its moments, but overall it’s one of South Park’s weaker seasons.
Season 19 of South Park delivers plenty of laughs and is as culturally relevant as ever. After Principal Victoria is removed for making insensitive remarks she is replaced by PC Principle, a no-nonsense authoritarian who’s intent on forcing South Park to embrace a progressive attitude about race, gender, and privilege; meanwhile Mr. Garrison make a run for president when South Park becomes overrun with immigrants. As usual show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone take on current hot button political issues, including Yelping, gentrification, internet news ads, ISIS, and Trump’s presidential run. And there’s a lot of serial storytelling, with several themes and story arcs building over multiple episodes. However, the clever satire and outlandish comedy can sometimes get spoiled by some of the more crude and irreverent jokes. Yet while it goes a little too far at times, overall South Park’s 19th season is a lot of fun.
As outrageous and provocative as ever, Season 18 of South Park delivers some fun laughs. Especially topical, the season addresses the controversy over the NFL’s Washington Red Skins, drones, Freemium gaming, and YouTube commentating. Additionally, the episodes are surprisingly serialized, with continuing story arcs throughout the season; such as Randy secretly moonlighting as the pop singer Lorde. And the comedy is outlandish and incredibly funny (for the most part). Still, it gets rather vulgar at times, really pushing the TV-MA rating. Also, a lot of the jokes are contingent on knowing the pop culture references and current events being spoofed. Irreverently entertaining, South Park: Season 18 continues the series’ trademark brand of social satire.
South Park ups the social commentary in Season 5 as the show deals with post-9/11 America. This season the boys end up in Afghanistan and get caught up in the search for Osama bin Laden, Mr. Garrison attempts to put the airlines out of business by inventing a new mode of transportation called the IT, and Cartman works to legalize stem cell research to save Kenny when he gets a terminal disease. Also, fan favorite character Towelie is introduced (“Don’t forget to bring a towel”), as well as Kyle’s cousin Kyle. The satire is really clever and more irreverent than ever; taking on television censorship, sex education, the War on Terror, and government bailouts. Full of laughs, Season 5 of South Park is incredibly entertaining.
The adventures get more crazy and outrageous in South Park’s fourth season. Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny embark on a serious of schemes to get $1 million dollars by posing as tooth fairies, starting a boy band, and leading a religious crusade. And the town gets embroiled in controversy after controversy when Timmy, a handicapped kid, becomes the leader if a local rock band, Chef protests the South Park flag, and the Marshes take in a group of orphans from Romania. Additionally, there are Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday specials, and Pip finally get is very own episode in a Masterpiece Theatre spoof. But most importantly, the boys graduate to Fourth Grade and get a new teacher, Miss Choksondik. Continuing to deliver smart and hilarious satire, Season 4 of South Park keeps pushing bounders and delivering laughs.
The second season of South Park gets even crazier as the boys get into more hilarious antics. This season Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny help solve the case of a serial chicken molester, go to the world dodgeball championship, foil a nefarious plot by a planetarium owner, throw a music concert to save Chef, do battle with their evil selves from a parallel dimension, and discover the mysterious Underpants Gnomes. Additionally, the show pulls a wild April Fool’s joke by kicking off the season with a full-length Terrence and Phillip episode (instead of the promised conclusion to the “Who’s Cartman’s Mom?” mystery). The animation is improved but still sticks to the crude cardboard cutout look, and the satire is incredibly sharp and clever. The parodies are also extremely funny; riffing on Star Trek, the Grinch, Poltergeist, Titanic, America’s Most Wanted, and America’s Funniest Home Videos. The laughs keep coming in Season 2 as South Park adds more characters are gets more ambitious in its storytelling.
The Simpsons continues to decline in its twelfth season as the show moves further away from satire and relies more and more on cartoonish gags. This season Homer becomes an online investigative journalist under the name Mr. X (“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes”), Marge tries to reform a convict (“Pokey Mom”), Lisa gets involved with an environmental activist group and ties herself to a tree to save it (“Lisa the Tree Hugger”), and Bart joins a boyband (“New Kids of the Blecch”). Additionally, Flanders builds a Christian amusement park (“I’m Going to Praiseland”), Krusty the Clown discovers he has a long lost daughter (“Insane Clown Poppy”), and Springfield tears itself apart when it gets divided into two different telephone area codes (“A Tale of Two Springfields”). The list of guest stars includes The Who, Drew Barrymore, Jay Mohr, Patrick McGoohan, Edward Norton, Michael Keaton, and N’SYNC. Unfortunately though, the writers have all but given up on the show’s main characters; writing them however they want in order to fit the jokes (irregardless of continuity or past character development). Season 12 of The Simpsons has a lot of problems, but at the end of the day it’s still fairly entertaining and delivers some laughs.
Laughs are on tap at Patty’s Pub as It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia enters its sixth season. Shenanigans abound as Dennis marries his former girlfriend Maureen Ponderosa, Dee gets pregnant, Mac wins a radio contest, and Frank attempts to throw a birthday party for Charlie. Also, the Gang screens their Lethal Weapon fan film and welcomes a new member into the group. Additionally, there are special Halloween and Christmas episodes. A couple of interesting guest stars stop in as well, including René Auberjonois, Tom Sizemore, and David Huddleston. The comedy is as outrageously funny, irreverent, and raunchy as ever, continuing to send the characters to new depths of depravity. Hilariously entertaining, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is still going strong after six seasons.
Michael takes the battle for his friend’s souls to Earth in Season 3 of The Good Place. Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason’s deaths are undone, and Michael attempts to put them on the path to the Good Place, but when the Bad Place realize what he’s doing they send in agents to intervene. Some interesting additions are made to the show’s mythology as new parts of the afterlife are explored and more is learned about the point system that determines ones fate. Also, with this new alternate reality, the writers are free to explore and develop the characters in fun new ways. And in-between the laughs, they make some astute observations about the absurdities of life. Still going strong in its third season, The Good Place is as fresh and funny as ever.
There’s a new judge on the bench in Season 5 of Night Court. When Christine Sullivan replaces Harry she finds that she’s not up for being a judge and works to get Harry his job back. Additionally, Mac receives a $2 million inheritance from his uncle, Bull dates a blind woman, Harry nearly dies when one of his tricks backfires on him, and Dan is called up by the Army Reserve. Also, Yakov Smirnoff, John Astin, and Mel Torme stop by for some shenanigans, and there are guest appearances by Teri Hatcher, David Graf, and Don Cheadle. Also, the writers continue to experiment with multi-episode arcs; including a 3-part premiere and a 2-part midseason special (as well as a special Christmas episode). And, they continue to address social issues, including working with disabilities, bullying, and mental illness, in between the jokes. As funny as ever, Season 5 of Night Court is a lot of fun.
From The CW comes the exciting and fun supernatural comedy Reaper. On his 21st birthday Sam Oliver learns that his parents sold his soul to the Devil and is forced to become the Devil’s bounty hunter, collecting souls that escape from Hell; however, Sam soon gets help when his friends learn about his situation and decide to join him in his fight against evil. Starring Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Ray Wise, and Missy Peregrym, the show has a solid cast, and the writers do an impressive job at coming up with creative powers for the escaped souls and different types of vessels to capture them with. Also, the comedy is well-done, mixing satire and slapstick, and keeps the tone lighthearted. And, several notable guest stars are featured, including Patton Oswalt, Mercedes McNab, Mitch Pileggi, Melinda Clarke, and Kevin Smith. It has a few problems, but overall Season 1 of Reaper is entertaining and delivers a lot of laughs.
Warehouse 13 comes to an end in its fifth and final season, though it’s not really a season (only 6 episodes). After learning that she has a long-lost sister who’s been possessed by an artifact, Claudia attempts to save her, but when she falls into the wrong hands she’s used as a weapon against the Warehouse. Unfortunately, the show really plays up the comedy in these few last episodes, and fails to recapture the intensity and danger that the first few seasons had. And, it’s not that strong of a story arc to go out on, and series finale is incredibly disappointing and feels forced. However, as a wrap-up season, several past recurring guest stars return for some nice cameos, including Mark Sheppard, Jaime Murray, and Kelly Hu. There are a few highlights to Season 5 of Warehouse 13, but overall it’s a lackluster conclusion to this beloved show.
The fate of the world is in the hands of Warehouse 13 in Season 4. After the destruction of Warehouse 13 Pandora’s Box is unleashed, throwing the world into chaos, which leads the Warehouse team to search for an artifact that can turn back time and undo the Warehouse’s destruction; but the artifact’s use comes with a terrible price and consequences that they may not be able to live with. Brent Spiner, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Polly Walker, and Kelly Hu join the cast as recurring guest stars, and make for some interesting and colorful characters. There are also a couple of intriguing additions to the show’s mythology and some creative new artifacts. However, some of the episodes have problems balancing the A and B plots; creating an inconsistent tone. Yet despite having a few weaknesses, Season 4 of Warehouse 13 is entertaining and full of thrills.
Supernatural continues to fall apart in Season 7 as it struggles to find new story arcs. Castiel’s reign as the new god comes to a quick end as the Leviathan from Purgatory within him begin tearing him apart and break free, leading the Winchesters on a quest to find a way to kill them before they can enact their plans for world domination. The writers do all they can to try to make the Leviathan compelling and formidable villains, but they just come off as overpowered boogeymen. And in a desperate move, the show kills off some of its fan-favorite characters and introduces new ones to change things up and build some kind of momentum. Still, there are a couple of interesting additions to the series mythology, and several notable guest stars are featured, includes James Marsters, Charisma Carpenter, Meghan Ory, Nicholas Lea, Jason Dohring, and Felicia Day. Settling into mediocrity, Season 7 of Supernatural is coasting on fumes.
“As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a Thriller.” Hosted by legendary horror master Boris Karloff, Thriller spins riveting tales of the strange and macabre. A mix of crime and horror stories, the show lacks a constant tone (though the same could be said of most anthology series). Season 1 features the writing talents of Charles Beaumont, Donald S. Sanford, Douglas Heyes, and Robert Bloch, and the list of guest stars includes such notable actors as Leslie Nielsen, Natalie Trundy, Audrey Dalton, James Gregory, Robert Vaughn, and William Shatner. And while the quality of the episodes varies, some of the highlights include “The Hungry Glass,” “The Cheaters,” “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” and “The Grim Reaper.” It has some problems defining what kind of show it wants to be, but eventually Season 1 of Thriller finds itself and delivers the ghastly chills and compelling drama that it promises.
Baring little resemblance to the first season, Dark Angel reboots itself as more of an X-Files type series in Season 2. Scrapping the Manticore super-soldier plot, the story this season follows genetic mutants that escape the Manticore sublevels during its destruction and a breeding cult that tries to exterminate all of Manticore’s creations in order to insure a coming apocalypse. It’s a hard change in tone for the series, and it ultimately fails. Still, there are a several interesting subplots and episodes that do work. And, the series continues to deliver plenty of intense, high-energy action. The addition of Jensen Ackles and Ashley Scott to the cast also helps to keep the show fresh and exciting. While the change in direction this season frees Dark Angel to explore new territory, it strays too far from the show’s initial concept.
From James Cameron comes the science-fiction thriller Dark Angel. The show follows a genetically engineered super-soldier named Max who’s on the run from the government and looking for others from her unit that escaped with her. In Season 1 Max hooks up with an investigative journalist named Logan Cale and makes a deal to help him in his crusade to root out corruption in exchange for using his resources to find the others X5 soldiers like her and the Manticore program that created them. Jessica Alba leads the cast as Max and brings a lot of charisma to the show. The writing is also quite good, and gives the series a unique attitude and style. Additionally, the costumes and sets do an incredible job at creating a post-apocalyptic look and feel to the show. Entertaining and provocative, Season 1 of Dark Angel is a thrilling, action-packed adventure.
Filmation’s Star Trek comes to an end after a short 6-episode second season. Rather than sequel original series episodes (like last season), Season 2 sees the first holodeck going awry (“The Practical Joker”), the return of the Enterprise’s first captain (“The Counter-Clock Incident”), and Kirk facing off against the Mesoamerican god Kukulkan (“How Sharper Than a Serpents Tooth”). Gene Roddenberry and DC Fontana scale back their involvement and Bill Reed takes over directing duties following Hal Sutherland’s departure. And yet, the series wins Star Trek’s first and only non-technical Emmy – Outstanding Children’s Program for the episode “How Sharper Than Serpent’s Tooth.” However, the animation hasn’t improved; containing all the usual errors and reused cells, and the voice work is just as flat and lifeless. Still, there are some interesting stories and a couple of fun action scenes. Yet for all its faults, Season 2 of Star Trek: The Animated Series feels closer to the live-action series than the first season.
Star Trek returns as a Filmation Saturday morning cartoon on NBC. The original cast (save Walter Koenig) reprise their characters, and James Doohan, Majel Barrett, and Nichelle Nichols take on double and triple duty; voicing the supporting and guest characters. And several of the writers and directors from the original show return as well, including DC Fontana who helms the series as associate producer. Season 1 features several sequel episodes to the original series, including “More Tribbles, More Troubles,” “Mudd’s Passion,” and “Once Upon a Planet” and introduces two new crew members specifically for the animated series; M’Ress, a cat-like woman, and Arex, a three armed and three legged alien. However, the animation isn’t very good, as it doesn’t allow for a lot of movement and the voice work is rather weak; with little emotion or inflection to it. Yet while it has its problems, Season 1 of Star Trek: The Animated Series is an entertaining and unique vision of Star Trek that boldly goes where the live-action series never could.
The Simpsons continues to go off the rails and out of control in its eleventh season. Things get super crazy as Homer and Mel Gibson team-up to make a movie (“Beyond Blunderdome”), Bart becomes a faith healer (“Faith Off”), a biker gang abducts Marge (“Take Me Wife, Sleaze”), Lisa stumbles upon the nefarious plans of an evil toy company (“Grift of the Magi”), Mr. Burns has the Simpsons house sit for him (“The Mansion Family”), and Moe becomes a soap opera star after having plastic surgery (“Pygmoelian”). Additionally, the show make some major character changes (all of them bad) by killing off Maude Flanders (“Alone Again, Natura-Diddily”), having Barney go sober (“Days of Wine and D’oh’ses”), and giving Apo and Manjula quintuplets (“Eight Misbehavin’”). Unfortunately the writing is all over the place and is more concerned with setting up jokes than story and character. Although, the outrageousness borders on brilliance in the clever parody episode “Behind the Laughter.” And there are a lot of fun cameos from Mel Gibson, Ed Asner, Lucy Lawless, the B-52s, John Goodman Gary Coleman, Britney Spears and many many more. While on the whole The Simpsons is still pretty entertaining, Season 11 has some real dreck that drags it down.
The Travelers mission comes to an end in Season 3. Following their kidnapping, Jeff and Kathryn start to suspect the truth about Carly and MacLaren; meanwhile, events lead the Director to make a deal with the FBI to have Traveler teams work with them. Additionally, the Faction makes a new ally and goes on the offensive. The show gets a little more morally gray; with Travelers forcing the deaths of several people in order to get them overwritten with new Travelers from the future, and they come to realize that their actions are not improving the future, and may in fact be having the oppose effect. Also, creator Brad Wright delivers an impressive series finale that does a nice job at wrapping up the show. Exciting and full thrills, Season 3 of Travelers goes to some interesting places. Protocol Omega.
The voyages of the USS Enterprise come to an end in the third and final season of Star Trek. Featuring the infamous episode “Spoke’s Brian,” the quality of the writing takes a steep decline; recycling old plots and losing all subtlety in its social commentary (ex: “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”). And the budget cuts show in the limited sets and reduced cast on-screen. Still, there are a couple of standout episodes, such as “The Enterprise Incident,” “The Savage Curtain,” and “The Tholian Web,” and the show continues to deliver exciting fight scenes and interesting aliens. Additionally, several notable guest stars make appearances, including Lee Meriwether, Charles Napier, and Mariette Hartley. Star Trek’s third season is the weakest of the series and its slide into mediocrity resulted in the show’s cancelation.
The Alpha Quadrant is plunged into war in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s sixth season. With the Dominion occupying Deep Space Nine, Kira and Odo decide to resurrect the resistance; meanwhile Captain Sisko and his crew carry out daring attacks against the Dominion with the Defiant. Additionally, Worf and Dax get married, Bashir attempts to help a group of genetically engineered misfits, and Quark comes to the aid of the Grand Nagus when he’s deposed. A rather eclectic season, Season 6 features some of the best episodes of the series (“In the Pale Moon Light”) and some of the worst (“Profit and Lace”). It also introduces several fan-favorite characters, including Holodeck lounge singer Vic Fontaine and Sector 31 secret agent Sloan, and kills off a main character (which Star Trek has never been good at). Yet while it has its problems and is uneven at times, Season 6 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine doesn’t lack for ambition, and is incredibly entertaining and is full of thrills.
Warehouse 13 comes under attack in its third season. Following Myka’s resignation, Mrs. Frederick recruits a new agent name Steve who has a unique ability to tell when someone is lying, and a cabal is soon discovered that is systemically attacking the Warehouse and its regents. Aaron Ashmore proves to be a good addition to the cast and brings a fresh new energy to the show (particularly in his relationship with Claudia). Also, Sasha Roiz, Kate Mulgrew, and Anthony Michael Hall join the show as recurring characters, and the list of guest stars is pretty solid; featuring Jeri Ryan, J. August Richards, and Alessandra Torresani. Additionally, the writers do a good job at building the seasonal story arc and at developing the series mythology. The most ambitious season of the series so far, Season 3 of Warehouse 13 is full of action and adventure.
Erik Kripke hands the reins over to Sera Gamble as Supernatural returns for a sixth season and tries to find a new direction post-Apocalypse. Dean returns to the hunter lifestyle after discovering that Sam is back, and Crowley attempts to increase his power by finding Purgatory; meanwhile an angel civil war erupts as Castiel leads a rebellion. The show is kind of in a freefall, unsure of where to take the series after completing a five season arc. It abandons its Christian mythology and starts bringing in fairies, dragons, and alternate dimensions. Still, the writers come up with some really creative and fun episodes. Also, Mich Pileggi and Sebastian Roché join the cast as recurring characters, and there are several notable guest starts, including Robert Picardo, Robert Englund, and Brian Doyle-Murray. While Season 6 is entertaining and full of thrills, it remains to be seen if Supernatural can continue without the Apocalypse theme that has come to define the last few seasons of the show.
For the return of Jack Bauer the fifth season of 24 goes for its biggest stakes yet and gets even more action-packed. Taking a new direct that will ultimately be the series’ undoing, the show becomes all about Jack. This season Jack Bauer comes out of hiding when former President David Palmer is assassinated, and vows to bring those responsible to justice; meanwhile a rogue faction of Russian separatists threaten to release a deadly nerve gas. Overall the story arc for the season is pretty cohesive; though some of the recons in the second half don’t quite work. Unfortunately though, in addition to David Palmer, several fan favorite characters meet their end (both on and off screen). However, the new cast features a number of impressive guest stars, including Mark Sheppard, Peter Weller, Ray Wise, and Stana Katic. Full of thrills, Season 5 of 24 is incredibly ambitious and gets kind of crazy.
Season 4 of 24 derails the series a bit, but it eventually gets back on track. In a pseudo reboot, the series brings in a nearly all new cast and re-writes the Chloe O’Brian character to be a sympathetic lead. But it doesn’t work, and by mid-season most of the show’s familiar characters return. Still, this season marks the introduction of several major characters of the series, including Audrey Raines, Curtis Manning, Bill Buchanan, and Charles Logan. The terrorist threat faced this season is also problematic; it’s all over the place, beginning with a political kidnapping and ending with a rogue nuclear missile (with several other plots in-between). However, the action is still intense and well-shot. And, there are some interesting guest appearances by Lana Parrilla, Leighton Meester, and T.J. Thyne. In its effort to go bigger than ever before 24 tries some incredibly daring and inventive things for its fourth season, but it ends up being kind of a mess (though a fun one).
