Two time Fangoria Chainsaw Award winner (!) Bruce Campbell ("Burn Notice", "The Evil Dead").
Ratings:
IMDB: 90% Rotten Tomatoes: 92% (based on 4.6/5 average rating as of Oct 2015). Note: The second season has a 100% "critics's consensus" on Rotten Tomatoes.
Length:
season 1: 10 episodes. season 2: (current) 10 episodes.
Notes:
A superlative entry in a golden age of TV, "Fargo" distinguishes itself with a unique blend of comedy, drama and weirdness. Perfectly timed bursts of intensity occur against the dull matter-of-fact backdrop of middle-american suburbia. Characters stand out. Most are flawed, well layered, interesting, likable, and all drawn from masterful writing. This one is a treat, first pointed out by Myk.
Richard Lewis ("Leaving Las Vegas", "Robin Hood: Men in Tights").
Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Ed Begley Jr. ("St. Elsewhere").
Ratings:
IMDB: 77% Rotten Tomatoes: 86% (based on average audience rating of 4.3/5 as of Oct 2015). However it's important to note that the "critics review" (53%) is much lower than the audience score.
Length:
season 1: 10 episodes.
Notes:
A formally trained British actor, long associated with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, Captain Picard is also science fiction royalty. This Star Trek icon and fixture in Marvel's "X-Men" movie franchise, who has also been knighted by the Queen of England, brings some Hollywood star power to Starz network. Unfortunately critics hate "Blunt Talk", considering it a poorly written "waste of Patrick Stewart's considerable gifts" (Rotten tomatoes' "critics consensus"). In my opinion, Stewart really shines in serious roles rather than comedy, but his effort to depart from the type of roles he traditionally plays, by taking on "Blunt Talk", is still something we should appreciate. At times, his regal voice (which advertisers love) makes him seem a little stiff for comedy, but a genuine, natural, fun-loving nature works it's way through, despite his rather proper manner of speaking. He has a magnetic screen presence and the end result is quite entertaining.
season 1: 6 episodes. season 2: 13 episodes. season 3: 16 episodes. season 4: 16 episodes. season 5: 16 episodes. season 6: (current) 16 episodes.
Notes:
This is the oldest surviving "zombie show" for a reason: It's the most watched cable series in history, with recent seasons eclipsing viewership of any broadcast television series as well as cable. Is it great? Certainly not, but many aspects of it are pretty good, resulting in broad appeal. The characters are generally likable and the story line is interesting. Early seasons of the show drag a little, with notably slower-paced plot lines and long periods of inactivity, but the pace picks up in the third season. Later seasons still have "throwaway episodes" (my opinion) where little or nothing happens, but for the most part they are more action-oriented than the early ones. Definitely worth watching, but it probably won't top your list.
First Look: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Season 3
Synopsis:
Live action television adaptation of Marvel comic's "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division". A fictional spy agency that exists in the Marvel world of superheroes and aliens.
Wass Stevens ("House of Cards", "Brooklyn's Finest").
Ratings:
IMDB: 67% Rotten Tomatoes: 92% (based on 4.6/5 average rating as of September 2015).
Length:
season 1: 10 episodes.
Notes:
Not your typical cop show, this one features criminals on both sides of the law looking for ways to profit from crime rather than stop it. There is a pretty big discrepancy between it's IMDB audience and Rotten Tomato audience scores, but the IMDB rating includes a much larger sample size and is closer to the truth. Good but not great, this show doesn't take many risks. It features a relatively simple storyline, but has very strong character actors, including legendary New York nightlife icon Was Stevens.
Harry Lennix ("Man of Steel", "Ray", "The Matrix Reloaded", "The Matrix Revolutions").
Ratings:
IMDB: 82% Rotten Tomatoes: 87% (based on 4.35/5 average viewer rating for the first two seasons combined as of September 2015).
Length:
season 1: 22 episodes. season 2: 22 episodes. season 3: (current) 22 episodes.
Notes:
James Spader flourishes in this expansive lead role. His quirky mannerisms and distinctive voice, transition from humor to dramatic scenes seamlessly. If you had the pleasure of listening to Spader play "Ultron" in the last Avenger's movie, then you probably realize how much his voice can flesh out a character. Megan Boone does an excellent job as his co-lead, and the supporting cast is decent. It's an unusually beefy show, with twenty two episode seasons, but you'll wanna watch every one.
A political comedy centered on US government manipulation of events in the Middle East and South Asia. The story is told from the perspectives of a US secretary of state, a low level diplomatic functionary and a naval fighter pilot.
Star Power:
Golden Globe nominee Jack Black ("Kung Fu Panda", "King Kong").
Academy Award winner Tim Robbins ("Shawshank Redemption", "Mystic River", "War of the Worlds").
Tony Award and Emmy nominee Pablo Schreiber ("The Manchurian Candidate", "Orange is the New Black").
Five time Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee John Larroquette ("Night Court", "The Practice").
Ratings:
IMDB: 77% Rotten Tomatoes: 84% (4.2/5 based on average rating as of Aug 2015, season 1).
Length:
season 1: (current) 10 episodes. season 2: Show has been renewed
Notes:
This show takes the same approach as an old Tom Cruise movie "Lions for lambs", and gives you three distinct but overlapping perspectives on foreign relations and war. However it is definitely a comedy, not a serious look at the subject matter. The three main characters are very good, and the supporting cast is pretty funny. The Brink is somewhat vanilla and lacks the edginess possessed by many other high powered entries on cable recently. Fun show to watch, but there's nothing groundbreaking about it, which probably explains why critics are hard on it even though general audiences seem to like it.
