Antenna Free TV — Sharp, Passionate TV Criticism

‘True Blood’ Season 6 Premiere: Dropping the Ball Fits the Billith

When we last left Sookie and company, Bill had morphed into a bloody, naked vampire god — that hence forth I will call “Billith” — after drinking the essence of the vampire community’s Biblical Eve equivalent, Lilith. Season six picked up right where the Season 5 finale left off with Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric [...]

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The Sci-Fi on SyFy Isn’t Very Sci-Fi

by Will Harris June 14, 2013 Commentary

Last week, SyFy — y’know, the network formerly known as Sci-Fi and The Sci Fi Channel — debuted a pair of new shows as part of their summer programming, one based on a character in the public domain (Sinbad), the other a sequel to a BBC America series that’s barely been gone long enough to [...]

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AFT #89: ‘Arrested Development’ Spoilerfest, Dense Shows, NPH, ‘The Goodwin Games’ and More

by Joel Keller June 13, 2013 Podcasts

Guess what, kids! We’ve officially hit our longest podcast ever! But if you don’t want to hear about Arrested Development, it’s actually not that long, since we talk about it for a good 50 minutes. But first, the rest of the week’s doings in TV: We talk about Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Tonys, why [...]

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‘Hannibal’ Is the Most Important Show on Network Television

by Doctor Awesome, PhD June 13, 2013 Commentary

For years now, there’s been this expression that a show “feels like a cable show,” which is just critic-speak for “it’s higher in quality than most network shows.” As the first season of Hannibal has progressed, it’s become clear that this show intends to challenge its viewers in ways that most network shows can’t or [...]

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Would It Kill You To Be New-Viewer Friendly, ‘Falling Skies’?

by Doctor Awesome, PhD June 11, 2013 Commentary

Fans of great science fiction and fantasy shows know how exciting it can be to convince friends to start watching their favorite genre series; it’s fun to watch a newbie dive into those mythology-heavy worlds. But how many of you would try to convince your friends to start watching Falling Skies this year after watching this week’s [...]

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Why Neil Patrick Harris Should Host the Oscars in 2015

by Joel Keller June 10, 2013 Award Shows

Let’s face facts: You and I are likely not the target audience for the Tony Awards. Of the four major award shows, it’s usually the one I care about the least, mainly because I just don’t give a rat’s patoot about Broadway plays and musicals, especially in these times of endless revivals, Disney reimaginings, and [...]

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‘King & Maxwell’: More of the Same from TNT Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing

by Scott Malchus June 7, 2013 Reviews

Over the course of the past decade, TNT has cornered the market—or at least shares it with USA Network—on old-fashioned procedurals, thanks to series like The Closer and its spin-off, Major Crimes, Rizolli & Isles, Franklin & Bash (what’s with all the ampersands?), and Leverage. All of these shows are the nighttime equivalent of a [...]

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AFT #88: ‘Arrested Development’s Bad Reviews, Dan Harmon’s Return, Crazy ‘Mad Men’ Conspiracies and More

by Joel Keller June 6, 2013 Podcasts

We’re back after a two week break. We think that Skype missed us, because it punished us with lots of drop-outs and slow bandwidth. But we plowed forward undeterred, because there was a lot of stuff to get to: Because of his vacation, Joel hasn’t watched the new Arrested Development yet (gasp! He’s watched a few [...]

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(Doctor) Who’s Next: Contemplating the Twelfth Resident of the TARDIS

by Will Harris June 6, 2013 Commentary

Over the weekend, the sci-fi community was dealt a tremendous blow when it was announced that Matt Smith, otherwise known as The Eleventh Doctor, would be departing the TARDIS in the wake of the annual Doctor Who Christmas special. Okay, actually, maybe “dealt a tremendous blow” is over-dramatizing things a bit, but even so, it’s [...]

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‘The Voice’ Has Become Super Boring, But Blake Shelton is a Smart Coach

by Joel Keller June 5, 2013 Commentary

Last night’s elimination episode of The Voice, which sent the show’s top five acts to its season four semi-finals, restored my faith in the viewers who vote for and download music from the contestants. The retention of the only two non-country singers left in the competition, Sasha Allen and Michelle Chamuel, proved that at this [...]

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