IN TWEET: A SOLID CAST AND SOME SHARP WRITING ALMOST SAVES THE SHAMELESSLY DERIVATIVE AND MUDDLED “DEFIANCE,” A NEW SYFY ORIGINAL SERIES. Every time SyFy launches a new scripted series there’s a tiny ember of hope that reignites inside me. Will this be the show that picks up the mantle of great science fiction television? One that has been laying dormant since BATTLESTAR GALACTICA wrapped in 2009. Keep the dream alive because DEFIANCE is not that show. Behind the camera, there are some direct connections to the BSG mythos. Executive producers Michael Taylor and Kevin Murphy both worked on the dreadful prequel series CAPRICA and Taylor was a supervising producer and writer on BSG beginning with the third season. The third EP on DEFIANCE is Rockne S. O’Bannon , well known in science fiction circles for his work on series like SEAQUEST DSV , FARSCAPE and the criminally underrated re-boot of V which aired on ABC. Is DEFIANCE a bad show? Not really, especially considering how mu...
IN TWEET: THE NEW HULU ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES “THE AWESOMES” ISN’T THE WORST THING ON TV. IT’S JUST NOT…WELL…AWESOME. In the spirit of full disclosure, the new Hulu original series THE AWESOMES was already at a huge disadvantage right out of the gate. I am not a fan of television animation. I’ve never been able to sit through a full episode of THE SIMPSONS . I don’t think FAMILY GUY is a little slice o’ brilliance. I stopped watching SOUTH PARK several years back (right around the time it became as insufferably self-impressed as creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone ). With that said, I’m also pretty sure that if you are a fan of the genre, THE AWESOMES is going to land in your house with a thud. THE AWESOMES are a motley crew of seriously flawed super heroes. After their leader retires, Prock ( Seth Meyers ), his sad sack of a son, takes over. All the quality members of the group immediately flee and go solo. Prock has to re-assemble a team or lose government funding (don’t as...
IN TWEET: SUNDANCE CHANNEL SENSATION “THE RETURNED” IS NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIX. IT’S CREEPY, RIVETING AND BRILLIANT. ABC finally scored a ratings hit with the debut of RESURRECTION ( click here for my review ). Too bad only a tiny fraction of the 13 million viewers who tuned in are aware that its premise is almost identical to the vastly superior French television series LES REVENANTS (THE RETURNED) . Though the stateside outing is not a re-format, comparisons between the two are unavoidable. Now streaming on Netflix, THE RETURNED is a mini-masterpiece . The dead springing back to life has become a hot pop-culture meme thanks in no small part to the juggernaut that is THE WALKING DEAD. In THE RETURNED, we get an expertly crafted revisionist take on elements of the zombie genre. That means no rotting flesh, no brain chomping and no maggoty walkers. Here, when deceased residents of a small mountain town suddenly come back to life, they do so in human form. They haven’t aged and are i...
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