television feature

Jumping the Shark and Surviving: A Reappraisal of the Fifth Season of ‘Happy Days’

White Jumpsuits, Catsuited Babes, Pornstaches, and Other Joys of ’70s Sci-Fi Television

White Jumpsuits, Catsuited Babes, Pornstaches, and Other Joys of ’70s Sci-Fi Television

As the idealism of the ‘60s congealed into the malaise of the ‘70s, TV offered small bands of forlorn humans in tight suits, roaming the stars. These are the “the starlost shows”.

Shades of Grey: Television in Black and White

Shades of Grey: Television in Black and White

Recent trends in black and white viewership are changing TV’s big picture, making it not so black and white.

“Felina” Is One of the Best Episodes of ‘Breaking Bad’

‘The Big Bang Theory’ and the Rise of the Pathologically Nerdy in Sitcom TV

Their Mics Still Sound Nice: BET Puts Ladies First

‘The Wire’ As American Noir

Cowboy Bebop’s Film Noir Roots

Crime Series ‘M Squad’ Is Clench-Jawed and World-Weary

Crime Series ‘M Squad’ Is Clench-Jawed and World-Weary

M Squad‘s clench-jawed, world-weary plots involve serious crime – even serial killers and psychos – just to prove they had those back in the late ’50s, too.

The New Golden Age of British TV Comedy

‘The Invaders’: Cold War Central with the Vietnam Blues

‘The Invaders’: Cold War Central with the Vietnam Blues

What’s TV series The Invaders offer viewers but a whole lot of nonsense? A real sense of Cold War and Vietnam-era paranoia, in spades and seven ways from Sunday.

The Birth of an Idea: Instant Nation