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Television

10 TV Villains Who Haunt Our Nightmares

By Judy Berman on

NBC’s Revolution premiered last night, and judging by the pilot, the nicest thing we can say about J.J. Abrams’ latest effort to recapture his Lost success is — hey, look, Giancarlo Esposito’s in it! And so far, the role he’s playing isn’t much different from that of Gus Fring, Breaking Bad’s cruelest yet most soft-spoken antagonist. Whatever you think of Revolution, Esposito is unparalleled in his portrayal of dark characters, the slow-simmering evil he captures lingering with us long after we turn off the television and go to sleep. So, in his honor, we’ve compiled a list of the scariest and creepiest villains on TV. Find out whose mind games, occult origins, and outright insanity haunts our nightmares… Read More

Television

9 Signs a Teen TV Show Has Exceeded Its Expiration Date

By Judy Berman on

Glee, whose fourth season premieres tonight, is at a crossroads. At this point, the once-revolutionary musical comedy-drama has alienated most of the critics (and, judging by its falling ratings, some of the viewers) who once rallied around its quirky storylines and underdog characters. Perhaps that’s why, during May’s upfronts, creator Ryan Murphy announced that the show will be a bit different this year, splitting its focus to both remain at William McKinley High and follow some newly graduated characters to performing arts school in New York. Whatever the cause behind the change turns out to be, the show is clearly experiencing some growing pains. So, while we hope Glee will get it together in Season 4, we think it’s only fair to provide viewers with a (spoiler-filled) guide to spotting a teen TV show that has exceeded its expiration date. … Read More

Comics

‘Buffy’ Universe Introduces First Gay Male Slayer

By Judy Berman on

Move over, Willow (and Andrew) — there’s a new gay character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, and he’s breaking gender boundaries, too. Out reports that the Buffy comics, which picked up where the TV series left off and are now in the midst of Season 9, will introduce Billy, the first-ever… Read More

Television

Classic TV Shows That Deserve a Reboot

By Emily Temple on

Wonder Woman has really been jerking us around lately — first a reboot script was passed on by everyone, then after a tentative pickup, NBC dropped the show after one pilot episode starring Friday Night Lights‘s Adrianne Palicki. But now, we just might see a reboot after all — styled as an origin story, a la Smallville. So we’re (tentatively) excited! While we’re waiting to see if anything actually materializes, we’ve put together a list of a few other classic TV shows that we think deserve a reboot. Click through to check out which shows we’d like to see again (and again), and let us know which you’d choose in the comments! … Read More

Television

20 of the Best Closing Scenes in Television

By Michelle Rafferty on

After recently taking a look at some of our favorite TV pilot opening scenes, we decided it would only be fitting to look at some of our favorite closers across history. Some are wholly satisfying for their sense of closure after a long ride with characters we came to know and love, while others are equally poignant for their ambiguity, often thanks to early cancellation. Although these are just the final moments, revisiting these scenes has been enough to make us laugh, cry, and get thoroughly freaked out all over again, and we hope that perhaps they can provide you some healthy catharsis, too. Have a favorite we missed? Let us know in the comments — and beware that this post is, for obvious reasons, full of spoilers. … Read More

Pop Culture

Watch Buffy, Lisbeth, and Katniss Star in ‘BAMF Girls Club’

By Judy Berman on

The women on Bad Girls Club have nothing on our favorite fictional heroines. Sure, they can drink and swear and get into brawls and generally cause a ruckus, but can they save the world from vampires and demons approximately once per season? Can they survive a dystopic teen death match? Are they master hackers who torture and/or set fire to every deranged misogynist they encounter? Nope, and that’s why we much prefer BAMF Girls Club, a hilarious new web series that finds Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Lisbeth Salander (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), Michonne (The Walking Dead), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), and Bella Swan (Twilight) sharing a house and stepping into the reality TV spotlight. In the first episode, which you can watch below, Buffy and Hermione get awkward about witchcraft and, to our great relief, we learn that Bella’s only there for the purpose of hilarious contrast. … Read More

Television

10 Fictional TV Duos We’d Like to See Team Up Again

By Emily Temple on

This week we heard a delightful bit of news: apparently, Beverly Hills, 90210‘s Kelly and Dylan — um, excuse us, Jennie Garth and Luke Perry — are rejoining forces to develop a new sitcom, currently being shopped around to networks. Could it be a post-spinoff spinoff? Or a whole new show? Whatever it is, we’ll probably watch it. Inspired by this re-coupling of a classic TV pair, we’ve put together a list of fictional TV duos that we’d really like to see team up again, no matter what the project. Come on, you guys. If Kelly and Dylan can be in it for the long haul, so can you. … Read More

Television

TV’s Greatest High School Nerd Transformations

By Michelle Rafferty on

With the recent Bunheads finale, the fast-approaching end of Awkward’s second season, and a promising Inbetweeners reboot, we confess we’ve gotten caught up in a lot of teen angst these past few weeks. So since we’re in the state of mind, we decided to look at some of the great high school series in television history and their nerd spawn. Like the teenage protagonists of the aforementioned shows, these characters all started out uncool, insecure, and/or sartorially challenged. And then of course, they grew up. You can click through for some before and after shots we dug up, and hope you’ll let us know about any great geek transformations we might have missed. And now, we’ll be making our way back to the couch for more adolescent love triangles, camera phone farce, and woefully instructive tales of sex.  … Read More

Television

’90s TV Teachers: Where Are They Now?

By Judy Berman on

Fixated as we are on our own childhoods, we tend to look back on our favorite ’90s TV kids and teenagers fairly frequently. But recently — and perhaps this is just us showing our age — our thoughts have turned to their teachers. While Mr. Feeny, Ms. Jacobs, and Coach Cutlip didn’t get nearly as much screen time as the kids on Boy Meets World, Dawson’s Creek, and The Wonder Years, they made more of an impression than their students might like to admit. Find out what’s become of ’90s TV teachers, from series regulars who shared their wisdom (or just their anger) with the younger generation to the most memorable of guest stars, below. … Read More

Television

25 Behind-the-Scenes TV Photos That Will Mess With Your Mind

By Judy Berman on

Last week, we took a look at some of Hollywood’s most mind-blowing behind-the-scenes movie photos, and that post left us wondering whether those images might have equally impressive TV equivalents. Good news: they do. Despite the fact that film budgets tend to run higher than their small-screen counterparts, television has plenty of its own magic that’s ripe for elucidating (or, you know, ruining). After the jump, we collect 25 behind-the-scenes TV photos that are sure to change how you see your favorite shows. Find out how Breaking Bad gets its famously crazy point-of-view shots, witness True Blood vampires on set in broad daylight, learn what those Mad Men are really smoking, peek into the not-so-intimate bedroom of Friday Night Lights’ Mr. and Mrs. Coach, and watch living characters hang out with dead ones (or just their pint-size doppelgängers) in our gallery. … Read More