TV for Grownups

Anthony Edwards Returns to Series TV in Conspiracy Mystery ‘Zero Hour’

Posted on 02/10/2013 by stacyjenelsmith | AARP Blog Author | Comments

EntertainmentFormer ER star Anthony Edwards is back to series television on Valentine’s Day, in the aggressively promoted ABC mystery thriller serial, Zero Hour. It’s been more than a decade since Edwards breathed his last breath on ER, a prime-time event grownup viewers most certainly recall, involving magazine cover stories, dream-like soft focus scenes, tears, and water cooler chatter the next day. Dr. Mark Greene and his departure remain so vivid, even now, it’s probably to Edwards’ advantage that he waited …

‘Monday Mornings’ Is Worth Monitoring

Posted on 02/4/2013 by Austin O'Connor | Television and Entertainment | Comments

EntertainmentIf the doctor drama was a hospital patient, it would be listed in serious condition, especially after last week’s low-rated debut of NBC’s Do No Harm all but guaranteed another cadaver will soon be ushered into the doc show morgue. Turns out, though, that there’s almost always another doc show in the waiting room. Checking into the TV landscape tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT is Monday Mornings, an old school medical drama from veteran TV producer David E. Kelley, …

Where Are These ‘Girls’ Going?

Posted on 02/4/2013 by Lorrie Lynch | AARP Blog Author | Comments

Entertainment | Home & FamilyI spent my weekend in the company of five interesting 20-somethings, four of them young women. Then I went home to watch HBO’s Girls. Talk about a disconnect. The young people with whom I spent Saturday and Sunday are part of a volunteer corps in Washington, D.C. (I’m on a board that supports it) and are counseling the jobless, attending to rape crisis hotlines, translating medical forms for Spanish-speaking people who need the services of mobile health clinics and otherwise …

Falling for ‘Smash’ Again in Season 2

Posted on 02/3/2013 by stacyjenelsmith | AARP Blog Author | Comments

EntertainmentWhen Smash made its glittering premiere last season, complete with its Spielberg-Meron-Zadan imprimatur, many of us fell in love with the NBC serial that took us behind the scenes of a Broadway musical in the making. But as with many love affairs, somehow the little flaws turned into big disappointments, and the disappointments became less and less tolerable. The magic faded with clunky plot points, an unbelievable villain (Ellis, played by Jaime Cepero), and the show’s insistence that Karen (Katherine …

NBC’s Do No Harm Needs Treatment

Posted on 01/31/2013 by Austin O'Connor | Television and Entertainment | Comments

EntertainmentThe TV medical drama is on life support. A genre that gave us ratings powerhouses like St. Elsewhere, ER and House has been disappearing from network lineups. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is the only one still standing. Till now. Next week, Monday Mornings, a medical drama from Chicago Hope producer David E. Kelley and CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, debuts on TNT. Up first, though, is NBC’s Do No Harm, part medical drama, part thriller, premiering tonight at 10 p.m. Do No Harm revolves around Philadelphia neurosurgeon Jason …

Felicity is back — as a spy!

Posted on 01/30/2013 by Austin O'Connor | Television and Entertainment | Comments

EntertainmentThe Americans, the new cold war-era spy drama that premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on FX, has a juicy premise: It is 1981, and Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) are a seemingly hum-drum couple living outside of Washington, D.C. with two kids, a station wagon, a nice house and a picket fence. Unbeknownst to all, even their children, are their true identities as Russian sleeper agents, trained to live as Americans and unearth government secrets. It’s …