Jurnee Smollett runs like she means it. This is not a small matter in the first and only season of Lovecraft Country, the HBO series developed by and run by Misha Green. The show swoops in and out of genres … Continue reading That Championship Season — Lovecraft Country, Season One
The July 1936 issue of Esquire magazine included a poem by Langston Hughes titled “Let America be America Again.” A meaty treatise on how the most treasured principles of the American dream are forever out of reach to certain citizens … Continue reading That Championship Season — America to Me, Season One
There are plenty of workplace sitcoms across the history of television. A remarkable number of them don’t both to really deal with work. The assemblage of people with disparate personalities, unified by obligation only, is a handy way to generate … Continue reading That Championship Season — Superstore, Season 3
As Marvel took over the movies, their concurrent attempts to expand their universe into television largely floundered. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the much vaunted series co-created by Avengers helmer Joss Whedon, went from an official, canonical extension of the Marvel Cinematic … Continue reading That Championship Season: Legion, Season One
For some, the following statement is sacrilege: I’m grateful Freaks and Geeks only lasted one season. The brainchild of Paul Feig and arguably the true starting point of Judd Apatow’s ascendency to brand dominance as a producer of comedies, Freaks … Continue reading That Championship Season — Freaks and Geeks, Season One
In its overarching narrative, Veep was designed to stay locked into place. Created by Armando Iannucci, who was essentially striving for the U.S. equivalent on his scathing satire of British politics The Thick of It, the new comedy series looked … Continue reading That Championship Season — Veep, Season Five
In the pilot episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) arrives for his first day of work as program director for a Midwestern AM radio station with a poster tube in hand. The station plays musty, middle of … Continue reading That Championship Season — WKRP in Cincinnati, Season One
As certainly as Marvel has become an unstoppable force wherever people recline luxuriously in gigantic palaces, the wide-reaching House of Ideas hasn’t quite cracked other media (including some significant slippage in realm of the colorful periodicals of sequential storytelling that … Continue reading That Championship Season — Jessica Jones, Season One
Before Raising Hope, Greg Garcia was the credited creator or co-creator on two series that had multi-season runs. Yes, Dear was a CBS family sitcom that was painfully conventional. Accordingly, it was a clear commercial success, running six seasons and … Continue reading That Championship Season — Raising Hope, Season Three
It was considered a major coup when the Fox television network signed up Joss Whedon to create a new ongoing science fiction series. Whedon sat in an exalted place among genre fandom, thanks to his efforts with Buffy the Vampire … Continue reading That Championship Season — Firefly, Season One
Coffee for Two 