So pleased to report that I'm going to be writing about The Lowdown every week for Episodic Medium. This show hits a lot of my sweet-spots: shaggy neo-noir, Harjo, Hawke, and stories set not far from where I live. My review of the first two episodes is free! www.episodicmedium.tv/review-the-l...

Kimmel’s choice to focus his criticism on Carr and not the station groups—he has mentioned it indirectly—is not surprising, but it does make you wonder what the Disney lawyers hoped he would do.

I know the full review is behind a paywall (Subscription Drive runs until 9/30!), but I made sure to put my proposal to refer to the big one as Xeno and the little one as Morph in front of it so it can reach the public. They need to know. My #AlienEarth finale review is up at Episodic Medium:

Self-regulation is a founding principle of broadcasting, especially in streaming and cable. Everyone trying to navigate to that magic window of audience and/or advertiser acceptability.

The basis of this argument is the belief that if Kimmel's ratings were higher, Sinclair and Nexstar wouldn't have been willing to play politics with the show. Which should raise a logical question: how much higher do we think they'd need to be for this to be the case?

Arguably the show that made me a media scholar (after I convinced my undergrad advisor to let me write about it for my thesis), and there’s no better tribute to it than a Mo Ryan deep dive. Can’t wait.

In Canada, the pilot aired in one part, because IIRC CTV hadn’t actually put it on their schedule and thus didn’t simulcast the premiere initially. They changed course once, y’know, it was a massive hit.

What a cross-sectional moment controversy-speaking this is.

Research calls.

Have you ever purchased makeup or beauty projects based on your fandom? If you are 18 years or older, please fill out this 10 minute survey for a research project on embodied fan identities. Share widely! Contact with any questions: [email protected]. utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Subscriber counts on a newsletter are misleading: many don't open emails, some have unsubscribed, etc. But it still feels good to know 10,000 people showed an interest in the work we do at Episodic Medium. No better time to join us than our subscription drive: www.episodicmedium.tv/month-to-mon...

That feeling when #OMITB canonizes its pronunciation as “OMIT-B.”

I am not a proponent of actively screwing over students as pedagogical practice, but I AM a proponent of laying a trap in a low-stakes assignment early in the semester to teach them a lesson, provided that can be undone at a later date once the lesson has been learned. Allow me to explain.

Lemme just dust off the polemical term paper I wrote 13 years ago about the rise of affective, fan-oriented television journalism and its impact on discourse right quick.

Comments have been sparse on my coverage of #ThePaper, but maybe everyone was just waiting to join the conversation once I reviewed the finale which made me extra punchy? Thoughts on a confounding end to a hamstrung season for Episodic Medium subscribers.

I never should have asked that monkey’s paw for a return to the vibes of late 2000s/early 2010s recap culture, huh? (More seriously: the work Alan has done in the space of TV criticism has been unquestionably formative, and supporting that work is vital for all of us who do it.)

Comments have been sparse on my coverage of #ThePaper, but maybe everyone was just waiting to join the conversation once I reviewed the finale which made me extra punchy? Thoughts on a confounding end to a hamstrung season for Episodic Medium subscribers.

It was a pleasure to hang with @memles.bsky.social for Decoding TV last night and chat about some of the great Emmy awards that were given out as well as how disastrous the telecast was (please excuse the technical issues for first few mins) youtube.com/live/BSZQ6i4...

For TV fans, the production of this year’s #Emmys was confounding, but you just have to remember: they are producing them for people they believe don’t care who wins. My newsletter on the conspicuous contempt that defined an evening of strong winners:

Broadcasting LIVE right now with @memles.bsky.social to discuss tonight's Emmy Awards ceremony! Come join us and let us know what you thought. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSZQ...

Lorne Michaels WOULD thank his network's parent company, wouldn't he? #Emmys

Reactions to the #Emmys so far: -Some really deserving awards and a handful of (refreshing) upsets! -The Boys and Girls club bit is morally reprehensible -If all goes to plan, @memles.bsky.social and I will broadcast live RIGHT AFTER the show on Decoding TV. Subscribe! youtube.com/@decodingtv

A reminder that Slow Horses ALSO beat Shogun for Writing last year under similar circumstances. #Emmys

Not thanking Sarah Polley? #Emmys

You know that you're making some choices when Conan O'Brien placing Bob Newhart in a sealed box with only three hours of air seems in better taste. #Emmys

If you're looking for a place to discuss the #Emmys and aren't sure Bluesky is going to hit the spot, no better time to become a Loyal Viewer of Episodic Medium to join our Discord and chat along with the community tonight. $80 a year until 9/30, then $100 a year after.

I like to live dangerously, which is to say I willingly subject myself to a Netflix original film that depicts the filming of a reality dating show knowing I am almost certainly going to lose my mind. (Casting Harry Jowsey in a bit part is some good intertexuality, points for that).

The remnants of the 2010s A.V. Club have shared the space of newsletters too long without collaborating, so I invited @kphipps3000.bsky.social and @scotttobias.bsky.social from The Reveal to chat the blurred lines of "TV Movies" in the streaming age. Crossover episode!

Shoutout to Best Buy for keeping track of my 2019 Gamers Club Unlocked-discounted preorder of a video game being released at the tail end of 2025.

Our friend @memles.bsky.social invited @kphipps3000.bsky.social and I to talk about the odd case of TV Movies in the streaming age. Please enjoy this Reveal/Episodic Medium crossover event! thereveal.film/the-tv-movie...

It's clear #ThePaper wants to use its first season to figure out Ned Sampson, but episodes like these act as though they had 22 episodes to do so. They only had 10, and the impacts of that are felt as they get deeper into the season.

The remnants of the 2010s A.V. Club have shared the space of newsletters too long without collaborating, so I invited @kphipps3000.bsky.social and @scotttobias.bsky.social from The Reveal to chat the blurred lines of "TV Movies" in the streaming age. Crossover episode!

"THERE'S NO PUN! THERE'S NO PUN!" - me responding to the average 2025-era #MatchGame prompt.

Really, -really- didn’t like the Strange New Worlds season 3 finale. Some of the sloppiest, most half-assed writing I’ve seen in a long time.

It's nice to be known, much as it was nice for Episodic Medium subscribers that @erikadams.bsky.social was reviewing this personal attack of an Only Murders in the Building episode instead of me. www.episodicmedium.tv/review-only-...

The answer to Amanda’s question: not yet!

Not sure whether my followers here reflect much in the way of hometown connections, but for any tennis-inclined Haligonians.

13 years ago Erik took over my Office beat, and now he's AT IT AGAIN, that scoundrel. (But seriously, really nice to have a fresh set of eyes on the show as it continues its charming if challenging grasp at longevity).

There's a deep, resonating pounding of steel/metal happening on campus at various intervals, and I just keep thinking it's this legend.

Okay, so I realize that I am the problem here, but the diegetic function of "Golden" raises serious questions about what HUNTR/X fans think Rumi's verse is about that I don't know the film ever contends with.

Peacock's decision to switch gears on the release of #ThePaper means we know they at one point thought the end of the season's fourth episode was the place to force viewers to wait a week. Today's review for Episodic Medium subscribers considers what that would have been like.

Important Rock Star: INXS anniversary content from CBC Nova Scotia.

I want to know what Deadline thinks live-action means.

I want to know what Deadline thinks live-action means.

Album of the Year at the Video Music Awards has us so far from the Light, y’all. #VMAs

Every time I’m ready to blame the #MatchGame writers for their terrible questions, a contestant gives an answer so awful that I think maybe the casting team is worse?

An end of an era: I’ll miss my TiVo, but we were freed of a cable/internet monopoly and the time had come.

Look, I understand your doubts. I don't blame you for being skeptical. But #DexterResurrection was Legitimately Good. I swear. @alexm247.bsky.social's review of the finale, which sticks the landing, is up for Episodic Medium subscribers.

#ThePaper’s pilot tries to thread a needle between setting up the show it is and connecting to the show that was. My review at Episodic Medium, where I’ll be reviewing the rest of the season over the next week and a half or so.

#ThePaper’s pilot tries to thread a needle between setting up the show it is and connecting to the show that was. My review at Episodic Medium, where I’ll be reviewing the rest of the season over the next week and a half or so.