By Drew Grant 1/15 8:00pm

As Seen On TV

From clockwise left: Damian Lewis in Homeland, Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire, Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead, Jon Hamm in Mad Men, and Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad. (Ed Johnson)

Bad Men: TV’s Most Reprehensible Antiheroes and the Women Who Love Them

On Sunday night, as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were making history as the first two women to successfully elbow out a male host for the Golden Globes, audiences took in an unprecedented display of girl power. With Lena Dunham winning for Best Actress in a Comedy, Girls taking Best Comedy, and Julianne Moore winning for Game Change, we trumpeted a new era … one in which women could not only captivate an audience but do so with an unlikable protagonist. (Hannah Horvath is no Tony Soprano, but she can be plenty unappealing at times.)

Many of the night’s other nominees, including the stars of Veep and Nashville, fit into the same category, as did the un-nominated (but still there in spirit) Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie, Laura Linney in The Big C and Laura Dern in the criminally under-watched Enlightened, which premiered its second season this week. This last is perhaps the best example of these hard-to-watch heroines, with Ms. Dern playing the most delusional, self-righteous and self-martyring female antihero ever to traipse through premium cable.

It was a great night for rude, crude, progressive women. Unfortunately, it was an even better night for Bad Men. Read More

By Drew Grant 12/06/12 12:58pm

As Seen On TV

You don't want Rick Grimes as your boyfriend (AMC)

The Walking Dead Might Actually Kill You Now

Have you noticed that in the last several years, most of the “brilliant” TV shows on AMC, Showtime and HBO star these dangerous, psychopathic anti-heroes? From Dexter to Don Draper, Nick Brody to Rick Grimes, Walter White to the ultimate don, Tony Soprano, one gets the sense that while the rest of American culture is taking one step forward on progressive women’s rights issues, our beloved TV shows are moving us two steps back.

And what’s weird is how we love these horrible men. “I’m such a Carrie” no longer refers to the ultimate Bradshaw, but the bipolar Claire Danes on Homeland … the kind of gal who falls in love with a terrorist, despite the fact that he ends up subjecting her to electro-shock therapy treatments after they have sex. And they are still in love, or something! How sexy is that, ladies?

But wait, it gets worse… Read More

By Drew Grant 9/18/12 7:00pm

television

breakingbad

American Gangster: Don’t Meth With Breaking Bad’s Mark Margolis!

“So you want to talk about Breaking Balls?”

Actor Mark Margolis was sitting in a streetside table at Josephine, the French café near his Tribeca apartment. The actor, who has an olive complexion and a fringe of white hair, is in constant motion: cracking jokes, doing impressions, and giving a running commentary on passers-by. After greeting a local by name, he turned back to us and smirked: “All these guys in the neighborhood wear the same thing: greased hair, white pressed pants … they all look like they’re about to take a meeting with John Gotti.” (These goodfellas have a tendency to ask the actor if he’s “woikin,” which irks Mr. Margolis. “I want to ask them, ‘Are you woikin?’”)

Mr. Margolis’s volubility might surprise anyone who recognizes the 72-year-old actor for his work on Breaking Bad. On the hit AMC series, he played Hector “Tio” Salamanca, a character who is paralyzed and unable to speak (save the odd flashback), communicating solely via a small brass service bell.
Ding ding ding! Read More

By Drew Grant 7/16/12 1:34pm

Cable Wars

Breaking Bad (AMC)

Never Look a Meth Horse in the Mouth: AMC and DISH Offer Tempting Gifts for Taking Sides in Contract Dispute

The battle of the networks vs. cable providers reached a boiling point last night, when some 14 million viewers subscribed to DISH Networks were unable to watch the fifth season premiere of AMC’s highly popular, uplifting show about overcoming cancer with meth labs, Breaking Bad.

Whether negotiations between DISH and AMC broke down because of a breach of contract (says AMC) or because the network was charging too much for its service (says Dish), the outcome is hurtful to both parties. The ratings for Breaking Bad will be skewed negatively in the short term, since Nielsen only counts people who watch Walt and Jesse make meth during their original time-slot.

Meanwhile, AMC is enticing viewers away from DISH Networks with some pretty clever tactics. Read More

By Drew Grant 7/11/12 12:17pm

TV Wars

Time Warner, Dish Network, and DirecTv: the Summer of their discontent

DirecTv, Dish Network, and Time Warner: A Guide to How Your Cable Provider Will Be Screwing You This Summer

Several of us watching Jersey Shore reruns  last night suffered a rude shock when DirecTv rudely cut off our programming at midnight. Of course, we had been warned–a vague phone call earlier in the day, a hushed, automated voice telling us to call back our service provider, which we didn’t because we thought they were going to try to upgrade us again– but DirecTv’s  inability to negotiate with Viacom portends a summer of bad news, television-wise.

No matter who you pick to serve up your TV, it looks like you’ll be getting screwed. Here’s how it breaks down. Read More

By Christopher Rosen 6/22/10 12:57pm

Starz Gets Criminal With Underbelly

Crime paid for Chris Albrecht once before, and clearly he’s hoping it does once again. The former head of HBO — who was the executive that put The Sopranos on the air — is planning a remake of the Australian crime drama Underbelly for his new network, Starz. The series — which centers Read More