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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

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

TV’s All-Time Greatest Himbos

By Judy Berman on

Damn those short HBO seasons. This year’s True Blood run seems like it just started, yet we’re now only three days away from the finale. We enjoyed this season a great deal, the Vampire Authority’s internal intrigue providing a welcome break from Sookie Stackhouse’s supernatural love triangle — not to mention a surprisingly insightful commentary on what happens when church and state mingle. But one character whose development has remained fairly unexamined this season is Sookie’s brother, Jason. Originally presented as an empty-headed looker with a womanizing streak, he’s recently turned the himbo stereotype on its head. To celebrate his under-the-radar evolution (and the fact that he’s still sometimes a little too stupid for his own good), we’ve collected a selection of TV’s all-time greatest male bimbos — or “himbos” — most of whom aren’t nearly as multi-dimensional. … Read More

Television

25 of the Best Dance Numbers in TV History

By Michelle Rafferty on

Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Bunheads is having one of those freshman seasons where everything is struggling just a little bit to come together. But since this isn’t an uncommon attribute of other shows we’ve come to love (Parks and Recreation, for starters) and because we are really enjoying the show’s ballet numbers (which are surprisingly seldom), we’re sticking it out. Having found ourselves unexpectedly enthralled with the dance aspect of the show, we’ve decided to highlight our favorite performance so far (an environmental allegory!) as well as the other dance sequences in TV history that have left us amazed, amused, and flat-out inspired to get up and move our legs in time. Have a favorite we missed? Let us know in the comments! … Read More

Television

10 Incredibly Awkward TV Sex Scenes

By Michelle Rafferty on

Sex on television can be fairly unrealistic. For instance, it’s not possible for someone as cute as Zooey Deschanel to bomb with someone as equally cute as Justin Long (see New Girl episode #8). That said, the bottom line rings true: sex isn’t always pretty. Time and time again we learn that scented candles and starfish lingerie straps prove useless in diffusing the awkwardness of human intimacy. Which is why this Valentine’s Day we’re cutting through the hoopla and spotlighting some of the biggest romantic misfires in television history (no pun intended). And since we’re not total curmudgeons, we’d like to point out that, sometimes, bad sex is beautiful. It can blossom into true love, bring a couple closer together, or even save a friendship. Just click through and see for yourself. And be sure to add your own favorite awkward couplings in the comments! … Read More

Television

TV Sidekicks Who Stole the Show

By Romy Oltuski on

Every Batman has his Robin, every Don Quixote his Sancha Paza — and any sitcom protagonist is nothing without his comedic, ego-boosting sidekick. It’s a symbiotic relationship — every main man needs a sounding board; every sidekick needs a star’s spotlight to bask in. But every so often a supporting actor entirely outshines the headliner. Browse through the sidekicks we think add more to their shows than their dominant counterparts, and tell us who you’d add in the comments. … Read More

Television

10 Shows We Wish Would’ve Quit While They Were Ahead

By Romy Oltuski on

Last night House returned in its eighth season on Fox to less than stellar ratings. We don’t know about you, but we’re not surprised. What more can possibly happen on this show? The last season ended with a crash, literally, when Gregory House drove his car into long-time crush Cuddy’s house, and this season begins with his release from a short stint in jail. He’s already done the rehab thing. He’s already done the almost dying thing. So what now? Perhaps a DNR would have been in order at the conclusion of Season 6. But we know how House, and even more so, producers, feel about letting go. Below the jump, we’ve rounded up a few other series that should’ve walked away a few seasons before they did — and some that still haven’t. Add to our list in the comments! … Read More

Television

10 Series Finales That Featured the Return of Beloved Characters

By Kirthana Ramisetti on

This week, the long-running WB-turned-CW drama Smallville airs its two-hour series finale. No doubt the most anticipated moment of the episode will be the return of Michael Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor. The actor, who left the series in 2008, finally decided to come back due to the intense outcry of fans, who lobbied long and hard for the bald villain to bid adieu before Clark Kent flew off the airwaves forever. There are a variety of reasons why actors return to shows they had departed, including wrapping up storylines and honoring the series that launched them into stardom. Here is a look back on other actors who came back for the swan songs of their respective series. (Needless to say, there are spoilers ahead.) … Read More

Television

The Best Musical Episodes in TV History

By Caroline Stanley on

When we got wind yesterday that Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes was planning to do a musical episode during the second half of the season, we were surprised. But after doing a little research, we discovered that it wouldn’t be the first or even the second hospital-based series to do so — both Scrubs and Chicago Hope previously aired episodes where doctors randomly burst into song. Curious about what else is out there, we decided to do a little more digging. Check out ten of the best examples of musical TV episodes we could find after the jump. … Read More