FEATURE: THE GOOD WIFE's continuity problem

Television review: "Time and Life," MAD MEN episode 7.11

Postmortem: History, repressions and --yes-- comedy on THE AMERICANS

  

Television review: FX's THE AMERICANS, season 3

Film brief: ADULT BEGINNERS

Television review: "The Forecast," MAD MEN episode 7.10

Television review: Belated thoughts on BROAD CITY, ALWAYS SUNNY and SHAMELESS

Winter TV: Full Coverage

With the winter TV slate coming to an end, click on the links below to revisit our coverage of The Americans, Better Call Saul, Bloodline and more. 

Television review: "New Business," MAD MEN episode 7.9

(AMC)

It’s all old business in “New Business.” Characters are placed against their limitations, while the past continues to harken back in less-than-desirable ways. If there’s one idea that these final episodes of Mad Men seem to be collectively approaching, it might just be that tune which opened last week’s episode, “Severance”: is that all there is?

I asked myself that very question as “New Business” wrapped up its various, intersecting story arcs. Through its lack of focus and flatness in tone, this was to a significant degree the weakest episode that Matthew Weiner and co. have churned out in quite some time.

Final thoughts on BETTER CALL SAUL

(AMC)

I’m going to let my official review of Better Call Saul from last month stand for now, mainly because my thoughts are mostly unchanged. But a few words on the season as a whole…

Film review: CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

Television review: "Severance," MAD MEN episode 7.8

(AMC)

The first of Mad Men’s last batch of episodes derives its name, literally, from the firing of Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton). “Severance” is offered to him in faceless, compensatory fashion: you’ve been with us a long time, Roger (John Slattery) and Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) seem to be telling their longtime co-worker, so here’s a little package as gratitude for what you’ve given us.

REVIEW: Fox's LAST MAN ON EARTH, so far

/EW

When The Last Man on Earth premiered, critics didn’t only like the show: they were invested in it, quick to make note of its promise for the slowly-decaying network sitcom. Ed Bark wrote that while it “has no chance at all to be a blockbuster in league with Fox’s new Empire ... it’s another distinctive example of what the Big Four broadcast networks should dare and do.” James Poniewozik of Time said that “it does not seem like the sort of thing that would be a primetime network sitcom. And that’s precisely why it should be one.” For God’s sake, the headline of Andy Greenwald’s review for Grantland read: “Proof of Life: ‘Last Man on Earth’ and a Glimmer of Hope for the Network Sitcom.”

FEATURE: The end of MAD MEN and the era it came to define

AMC

Earlier today, Hank Stuever of the Washington Post floated the idea that we’re in a “Silver Age” of television, filled with pretty-good-but-not-great dramas which exist in such quantity that it’s become more and more difficult to stand out as either better (say, Rectify) or worse (House of Cards).

It seems like the right time to make such a declaration, as this TV season is marking the end of both Mad Men, a Golden Age show if there ever was one, and Justified, a byproduct of the era that reached extraordinary heights like so many others -- Game of Thrones, Damages, Big Love, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, The Walking Dead and on -- but couldn’t quite sustain its place at the top of the mountain. With their departures, it’s safe to say that we’re firmly in a new era right now: an era defined by the immediacy of binge-watching and the gluttony of good-enough entertainment. And Mad Men is going out not with a bang, but with a whimper. A show notorious for taking its time and reveling in ambiguity has perhaps overstayed its welcome, given how the TV culture has changed: after a remarkable Emmys streak, it hasn’t won a single major award in years, and its viewership numbers are on the decline. Breaking Bad and The Sopranos went out with record ratings and a healthy Emmy salute. Sadly, Mad Men’s farewell won’t be quite so generous.