The Simpsons continues the hilarity into a second season that delivers even more laughs. With the characters established, the show starts to explore their quirks and develops their chemistry with one another. This season delivers such classic episodes as “Bart Gets Hit By a Car,” “Oh Brother Where Art Thou?,” “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment,” “The Way We Was,” and the first “Treehouse of Horror” anthology episode (which became an annual tradition for the series). Additionally, several major stars make appearances, including James Earl Jones, Larry King, Danny DeVito, Ringo Starr, and Dustin Hoffman. Also, Phil Hartman joins the cast as a recurring guest star; debuting his signature character of shyster lawyer Lionel Hutz. Ridiculously funny, Season 2 of The Simpsons is incredibly entertaining.
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 often overlooked black sheep of the franchise, the 2002 Twilight Zone delivers a solidly entertaining season of the strange and fantastical. Produced by Ira Steven Behr (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) the season features 43 sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural tales; including a couple of remakes of classic episodes, such as “Eye of the Beholder” and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” and several others that are inspired by original episodes. Still, the episodes are rather hit-and-miss. The writing is a little weak, at times telegraphing the twist and rushing the story. Yet overall it does a good job at modernizing the series and tackles a lot of same political, social, and theological issues that the original show did. Hosted by Forest Whitaker and featuring a host of impressive guest stars (Katherine Heigl, Portia de Rossi, Jeremy Piven, Elizabeth Berkley, Andrew McCarthy, Jaime Pressly, Jason Bateman) the shows has a lot of talent behind it. It has some flaws, but overall the 2002 Twilight Zone proves to be a worthy revival of Rod Serling’s classic series.
The voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise continue on into a second season as Star Trek: The Next Generation begins to find its footing. Correcting some of the first season’s mistakes, Riker grows a beard, Geordi gets sent down to engineering, and Whoopi Goldberg is brought aboard to tend bar. But the show also makes the epic blunder of replacing Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) with Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur), which really messes with the character dynamics. Still, there are some classic episodes in this season, including “Q Who?,” “Elementary, Dear Data,” and “The Measure of a Man.” On the other hand, there's the infamous clip show, “Shades of Grey,” which is widely considered to be the worst episode of the entire series. While Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation isn't firing on all thrusters, it makes some important progress; such as moving towards being character centric and improving its episode structure.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s third season is more action-packed and full of adventure than ever before. In order to confront the Dominion threat Commander Sisko requisitions Starfleet’s fist and only warship, the Defiant, and takes it into the Gamma Quadrant to find the Founders and negotiate a peace; and when that fails the Cardassians and Romulans take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile Kai Winn negotiates a peace treaty with Cardassia but soon nearly starts another civil war on Bajor. Additionally, the origins of Odo and Garak are finally revealed. Also, several new recurring characters are introduced, including the Female Changeling, Leeta, Moogie (Quark’s mom), Liquidator Brunt, Kasidy Yates, and Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington. In Season 3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine really finds its footing and starts telling its own stories (as opposed to being a version of TNG).
Coach’s fifth season takes on a matrimonial theme as Hayden and Christine finally tie the knot. After a prolonged engagement, Hayden and Christine finally set a date and spend the season planning for their wedding, but the fates seem to be against them as a series of mishaps keeps postponing their wedding. But in the meantime, Christine gets cast in a national coffee commercial, Hayden develops a new scheme to go after the Rizzendough fortune, and Luther takes a trip to Vegas to risk his life’s savings on a game of roulette. Craig T. Nelson takes on a larger behind-the-scenes role by becoming a reoccurring director, and a number of celebrates cameo in the star-studded “Bachelor Party” episode. Additionally, the show addresses the very topical and controversial issue of steroid abuse in a powerful special episode. With a good balance of character drama and comedy, Season 5 of Coach is one of the best of the series.
Tales from the Darkside returns for a fourth and final season of ghoulish stories to frighten and amuse. Some of the highlights include “No Strings,” “Do Not Open This Box,” “Family Reunion,” and Stephen King’s “Sorry, Right Number.” And Debbie Harry, Bradley Whitford, Stephen McHattie, and Kim Greist guest star. To its benefit, the show cuts back on the comedy episodes a bit and focuses more on horror; thought it still has some truly awful goofball episodes, such as “Barter” and “The Yattering and Jack.” Also, the writers do a pretty good job at providing a variety of creatures; from witches and ghosts, to demon and werewolves. Additionally, the show does better at recognizing its limitations and at working within its budget than in some of the previous seasons. Yet while Season 4 of Tales from the Darkside is an improvement, the show is still kind of a mess and was cancelled, retuning man to “the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality.”
Hayden Fox faces his greatest challenge yet in Season 3 of Coach. This season Dauber finally graduates, Luther faces some demons from his past, and Hayden and Christine break up when their relationship reaches an impasse. The episodes are especially character driven, and do a good job at developing and enriching both the main and supporting cast. Yet, the comedy remains as hard hitting as ever. Even after three seasons Coach remains a smart and funny sitcom that the whole family can enjoy.
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.
While it’s still full of laughs, Season 4 of Coach isn’t quite as lighthearted as past seasons. Things get serious for Coach Hayden Fox as he helps his daughter through her divorce and has his relationship with his fiancée tested when she's offered the opportunity to host a national news program in New York City. On the football side of things, the Screaming Eagles do fairly well; resulting in a thrilling two part bowl game episode which features Robert Prosky guest starring as Hayden’s former mentor. The writing’s also pretty good, but seems less ambitious and more generic than in previous seasons. Still, the comedy is quite funny and the characters drama is rather touching at time. Though not its strongest season, Coach: Season 4 is entertaining and fun to watch.
Unwilling to let the show go, Fox forces The X-Files into extra innings with an eighth season. Following Mulder’s UFO abduction the FBI begins a manhunt headed up by special agent John Doggett, and in the interim Doggett is assigned to the X-Files. Meanwhile, Scully’s mystery pregnancy gets more mysterious, and soon garners the interesting of an alien cabal and the Syndicate. Robert Patrick (the T-1000 himself) joins the cast and takes on the skeptic role. And he proves to have good chemistry with Gillian Anderson; who’s now the believer. However, David Duchovny does appear in a limited number of episodes (in different capacities), but eventually he passes on the X-Files to Robert Patrick. Several notable guest stars are featured as well, including Danny Trejo, Wade Williams, Deep Roy, Penny Johnson, and Adam Baldwin. A little directionless, Season 8 of The X-Files is one of the weaker seasons of the series but successful transitions to a post-Mulder era.
The Jeri Ryan revival of Star Trek: Voyager continues into Season 5 with new and exciting adventures. Featuring such thrilling episodes as “Dark Victory,” “Relativity,” and “Equinox,” the show really ups the action. Yet the character episodes, such as “Once Upon A Time,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” and “Course: Oblivion,” are equally as powerful. Additionally, a couple of interesting guest stars beam aboard; including Lori Petty, Jason Alexander, and John Savage. Plus, TNG cast member LeVar Burton makes a cameo. Full of thrills, the rising tide created by Jeri Ryan proves to have staying power into Season 5 of Star Trek: Voyager.
With series co-creator and executive producer Larry David having left the show, Season 8 of Seinfeld has a bit of a rocky start but quickly recovers and delivers a lot of laughs. Featuring such classic episodes as “The Bizarro Jerry”, “The Little Kicks,” “The Susie,” “The Little Jerry,” and “The Yada, Yada,” the writers deliver some of the most iconic sketches of the show and step-up their game in the absence of David; feeling the pressure to prove themselves. George again gets a serial story arc, this time as a board member for a memorial charity foundation dedicated to his late fiancée; meanwhile, Elaine takes over the J. Peterman Catalog when Peterman goes on a sabbatical, Jerry gets into the movie bootlegging business, and Kramer and Newman throw competing millennium parties. Several recurring characters return and a number of interesting guest stars appear; including Bruce Davison, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stein, Christine Taylor, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Wagner, Amanda Peet, and Raquel Welch. While it’s not as strong as some of the previous seasons, Seinfeld’s eighth season is still incredible entertaining and fun.
The voyages of Captain Archer and his crew come to an end in the fourth and final season of Star Trek: Enterprise; arguably the best and most ambitious season of the series. The premiere and finale are both garbage (especially the finale which isn’t even an Enterprise episode), but in-between there are several 2-3 part episodes that start bridging Enterprise and Star Trek (TOS); exploring the alliance that becomes the Federation, the Vulcan reawakening, the transformation of the Klingons, and the rise of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe. With the cancellation writing on the wall, the writers don’t hold back and end up delivering some really creative and bold episodes. Cut down before its time, Star Trek: Enterprise goes out on top, delivering an incredible fourth season.
ABC’s hit sitcom Coach gets even better in Season 2. Though most of the episodes take place in college football’s off-season, Coach Hayden Fox gets into a number of shenanigans as he starts up a rivalry with the women’s basketball coach, has to deal with a new university president from his past who has a vendetta against him, and he must come to terms with his daughter’s marriage. Guest stars Pam Stone and Robin Srasser make for great additions to the supporting cast, and they do a good job at delivering the comedy. And, a young Rob Schneider debuts in one of his first television roles. With Season 2, Coach proves that it can deliver laughs both on and off the field.
One of the most ambitious seasons of the series, Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation launches the franchise to new heights. This season original cast member Denise Crosby returns to the show as a recurring character, Leonard Nimoy guest stars in a two part movie tie-in for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Michelle Forbes joins the show as the fan favorite character Ensign Ro. Additionally, the writers attempt some daring and unconventional episodes, including “Darmok,” “Cause and Effect,” “I, Borg,” and “The Inner Light.” However, some of the episodes get a little preachy, such as “The Masterpiece Society” and “The Outcast.” Still, the season’s strong focus on high-minded sci-fi concepts and contemporary sociopolitical issues provide plenty of opportunities for creative and compelling storytelling. The last season under the helm of creator Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 5 does an extraordinary job of realizing his vision.
In Star Trek’s second season the Enterprise’s five year mission continues exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new civilizations. Featuring such classic episodes as “Amok Time,” “Mirror, Mirror,” “A Piece of the Action,” and “The Trouble with Tribbles,” the writers do a great job at building on and expanding the series. However, there are a couple of bad episodes, such as the ill-conceived Halloween special “Catspaw” and the failed backdoor pilot “Assignment: Earth,” that don’t really fit the tone of the show. The cast welcomes a new member as Walter Koenig comes aboard as Ensign Pavel Chekov, and several interesting guest stars appear, including William Windom, Julie Newmar, John Fiedler, and Teri Garr. Exciting and full of adventure, Star Trek delivers a terrific second season; such that it inspired an unprecedented letter writing campaign to keep the show going.
The New Twilight Zone continues to intrigue and frighten audiences with a second season, even while undergoing massive changes. After a disastrous timeslot change and poor ratings, CBS switched the format of the show midseason to half-hour 1 story episodes, and then back again to hour 2 story episodes in order to burn them off after putting the show on an extended hiatus. However, the writers still managed to put out quality work, such as “The Once and Future King,” “The After Hours” (a remake), “The World Next Door,” and “The Card.” There are also a number of impressive guest stars; Tom Skerritt, Terry Farrell, George Wendt, William Atherton, and Gina Gershon. Yet despite delivering consistent chills, CBS’s ‘80s revival of The Twilight Zone came to a quick end in its second season as problems on and off set hastened its demise.
Season 7 of The Simpsons is another great season full of classic episodes that deliver a lot of laughs. After a rather lackluster conclusion to the Season 6 cliffhanger (“Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 1”) the season roars back with hilarious episode after hilarious episode; “King-Size Homer,” “The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular,” “Two Bad Neighbors,” “Homer the Smithers,” “22 Short Films About Springfield,” “Much Apu About Nothing,” “Homerpalooza.” And a host of fun guest stars turn up; Mickey Rooney, Paul & Linda McCartney, Bob Newhart, Glenn Close, R. Lee Ermey, Donald Sutherland, Suzanne Somers, and Jeff Goldblum. As usual Homer and Bart get into increasingly zany adventures and are the focus of most of the episodes, however a good number of secondary characters (Milhouse, Apu, Grandpa Simpson, Troy McClure) get their own episodes as well. Still going strong after seven seasons, The Simpsons seemed as if they could do no wrong (“Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 2” notwithstanding).
The Simpsons: Season 9 delivers yet another extraordinary season full of laughs as the show crosses the 200th episode milestone. The misadventures of the Simpsons get wackier than ever as they go to New York City to retrieve their car (“The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”), join a religious cult (“The Joy of Sect”), pull off a Christmas scam (“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace”), lose their house to carnies (“Bart Carny”), and help Krusty reinvent his act for the ‘90s (“The Last Temptation of Krust”). Additionally, Homer joins the US Naval Reserve (“Simpson Tide”), Marge becomes a realtor (“Realty Bites”), Lisa finds an angel skeleton (“Lisa the Skeptic”), and Bart becomes a peewee football star (“Bart Star”). The featured guest stars include Martin Sheen, Joe Namath, Alex Trebek, Jay Leno, Helen Hunt, Steve Martin, and U2. However, the use of guest stars is a little lazy and some of the wacky antics don’t work. Still, Season 9 of The Simpsons is incredibly entertaining and a lot of fun.
A hilarious redneck comedy, My Name is Earl delivers a strong first season. When a petty criminal named Earl Hickey wins a million dollars from a lotto ticket and is then immediately hit by a car he decides to turn his life around by making a list of everything he’s done wrong and tries to make up for them. Starring Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, and Jamie Pressly, the show has an impressive cast that has good chemistry together and delivers the broad, slapstick comedy especially well. And a number of interesting guest stars are featured, including Giovanni Ribisi, Jon Favreau, Christine Taylor, Juliette Lewis, and Timothy Olyphant. Despite having been a scammer and a criminal, the writers keep Earl likable by making his past crimes rather goofball-ish and rarely mean spirited. They also do a good job at balancing the comedy with the moral lessons so that the show never gets too preachy or too jokey. Season 1 of My Name is Earl is a lot of fun and has a positive message.
After moving production to LA and making the leap to feature films, The X-Files starts anew in Season 6. Picking up a few months after the X-Files was shut down, Mulder and Scully are stuck doing run-of-the-mill FBI work (yet still manage to run across the paranormal); but everything changes when an Alien Resistance suddenly appears and attacks the Syndicate. Season 6 begins the slow downfall of the series. The separation of the characters continues as many of the episodes find Mulder and Scully each on their own individual adventures. And the tone has a distinct shift to the farcical, with episodes like “Dreamland” and “The Rain King.” Also, the Alien Conspiracy seems to come to a sudden, abrupt end, leaving the series without a clear over-arcing plot. Still, the series mythology takes some exciting twists and turns, and there are a few interesting cases-of-the-week involving time-loops, ghosts, and high-tech weapons. A pretty big letdown after last season, Season 6 of The X-Files is one of the show’s weakest.
Veronica Mars is an exceptionally well-written show that’s compelling and fun. The series follows a young high school girl named Veronica Mars who works part-time at her father’s PI agency but does her own investigations on the side. Season 1 follows Veronica’s investigation into the murder of her best friend Lilly Kane, and the cover-up that destroyed her family and turned them into pariahs. While this main over-arcing story is always in the background, each episode has its own intriguing case. Additionally, the cast is especially strong; particularly Kristen Bell, who gives an excellent performance and brings a lot of charisma to the series. The show also makes good use of its guest stars, and Season 1 features appearances by Paris Hilton, Alyson Hannigan, Adam Scott, and Joey Lauren Adams. A sassy film noir detective series, Veronica Mars: Season 1 is full of engaging mysteries and intense drama.
The hilarity continues in the second season of Arrested Development as things get even crazier. The story of the Bluth family picks up where Season 1 left off as George flees from the law and takes shelter in the attic of the model home that his family lives in; meanwhile Michael and Gob compete for control of the family business as their estranged uncle tries to reconnect with their brother Buster. The show is jam-packed with plots for each character that carry over from episode to episode, which gives the series a very rich and textured feel. And the comedy hits harder as the humor gets more outlandish and irreverent. The guest stars also get bigger this season, and include J.K. Simmons, Martin Short, Ben Stiller, and everyone’s favorite...Franklin. Another brilliant season of television, Arrested Development: Season 2 is a laugh riot that doesn’t let up.
Star Trek: The Next Generation carries on without creator Gene Roddenberry in its sixth season. Season 6 also marks the launch of Trek’s first spin-off series, Deep Space Nine, and its first cross-over episode “Birthright.” Yet this branching off comes with the loss of Colm Meaney from the recurring cast, along with several others from TNG’s creative team. Still, the writers deliver a number of impressive episodes, including “True Q,” “Chain Of Command,” “Ship in a Bottle,” and “Rightful Heir.” And, such guest stars as Olivia d’Abo, Ronny Cox, and original series cast member James Doohan beam aboard. Season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation continues to deliver entertaining adventures, but somehow it seems a little less ambitious than previous seasons; sticking to what has worked in the past rather than boldly going where no one has gone before.
Star Trek: Voyager enters into a third season of Delta Quadrant adventures as the crew continues their voyage home. This season starts to hint at the coming Borg threat, which will change the direction of the show for the rest of the series. Additionally, a budding romance between Paris and Torres begins as the romance between Neelix and Kes comes to an end. Some of the major episodes of the season include “Future’s End,” “Real Life,” “Scorpion,” and the Star Trek 30th Anniversary special “Flashback” (featuring George Takei). However, the writing is inconsistent, and the character development is rather weak. Star Trek: Voyager continues to improve, but it still pales in comparison to the other Trek series.
Produced alongside the series' film debut (South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut), South Park's third season is really creative and daring. This season Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny take their adventures beyond South Park; visiting the Rain Forrest, joining Starvin’ Marvin in a space adventure, re-fighting the Civil War across the South, going to Jesus' millennium party in Las Vegas, and traveling to Arkansas for a national recorder concert. Additionally, Mr. Hankey hosts his own Christmas special and Korn comes to South Park to play their Halloween festival and solve a groovy mystery. Plus, several new recurring characters are introduced, including Chef’s parents, Skeeter, Skyler (Shelly’s boyfriend), Dougie, and God. The look of the animation has gotten a little better (with crisper images and cleaner movements) and the comedy is more outlandish and funnier (though it’s also more crude and vulgar). Mired by triumph and tragedy (the launch of their first film and the loss of a cast member), Season 3 of South Park is incredibly strong and takes the series to new and interesting places.
After two limited episode seasons Seinfeld finally gets a full 23-episode order for Season 3. And as a result, the show really starts to come into its own; developing a series format and building (and sticking to) a continuity. Additionally, several signature supporting characters are introduced, including Jerry’s frenemy neighbor Newman and Elaine’s boss Mr. Lippman. With such classics episodes as “The Pen,” “The Parking Garage,” “The Red Dot,” “The Boyfriend,” and “The Keys,” the writers have really stepped up their game. Also, several guest stars including Keith Hernandez, Michael Chiklis, Helen Slater, and Catherine Keener make appearances. Season 3 of Seinfeld is full of laughs and solidifies the show as “Must See TV.”
The fall of The Simpsons begins in Season 10 as it becomes the Homer Show. With the Bart Simpson fad over it falls to Homer to carry the show as he gets into misadventure after misadventure – attempting to become a grease salesman (“Lard of the Dance”), an inventor (“The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace”), an outsider artist (“Mom and Pop Art”), a long-haul trucker (“Maximum Homerdrive”), a hippie (“D’oh-in’ in the Wind”), and a body guard (“Mayored to the Mob”). Also, in addition to the series’ usual Halloween special, there are special episodes for the Super Bowl (“Sunday, Cruddy Sunday”), Valentine’s Day (“I’m with Cupid”), and Easter (“Simpsons Bible Stories”). And the list of guest stars features Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin George Carlin, Mark Hamill, the Moody Blues, Elton John, Dan Marino, Fred Willard, and Stephen Hawking. However, the loss of Phil Hartman proves to be devastating (leave a void that can’t be filled), and the characters are often rewritten to fit the jokes and ignore previous continuity (and not just the little things). Yet while The Simpsons’ hot streak may have come to an end, Season 10 is still incredibly entertaining and delivers a lot of laughs.
Enterprise continues its voyages on into a second season with all new adventures. The Temporal Cold War storyline from Season 1 is carried over and ultimately leads to another dramatic season finale in which the Enterprise sets off in search of a mysterious race called the Xindi, who are discovered to be in league with one of the Temporal factions that’s attempting to destroy Earth. Some of the episode highlights of this season include “Minefield.” “A Night in Sickbay,” “Judgment,” and the highly controversial “Regeneration” (which retcons the history of the Borg). However, the majority of the season consists of the tried-and-true formulaic episodes that every Star Trek series does about meeting new aliens and investigating space anomalies. Season 2 of Enterprise is still working out some of the kinks, but it delivers all of the thrills and excitement that has come to be expected from a Star Trek series.
