A lot has been written this fall about female-centric comedy. A number of new sitcoms have been created or co-created by women and the fall's biggest comedy hit, 'New Girl,' was written by Elizabeth Meriwether and stars Zooey Deschanel. Before we all link arms and dance a jig of glee about the number of ladies in the realm of TV comedy, a few reminders are in order: First, this trend is long ...

['Sons of Anarchy' - 'To Be, Act 1'] The shocking ending of last week's 'Sons of Anarchy' episode made me wonder if tonight's hour would be dominated by Clay Morrow; even in absentia, the club president casts a huge shadow. For the most part, however, this week's gripping hour belonged to two of the people Clay has hurt most -- Tara and Jax. The scenes that featured those two characters ...

My colleague Mike Ryan is recapping 'The Walking Dead' here, and I highly recommend his weekly reviews, but I thought I'd offer a few thoughts on the show's second season below. By the second half of 'The Walking Dead's' Sunday mid-season finale, I was actively rooting for the zombies. Say what you will about the flesh-eaters, they know what they want and they briskly go for it. On an ...

Use this Thanksgiving break -- and Christmas too -- to rest up. Don't overdo it during the holidays. You'll need to be strong to survive the onslaught of good TV that is coming in the new year. The trailers below remind us that 'Justified,' the terrific FX drama starring Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. Marshal, comes back in January. Also returning that month: 'Portlandia' (Jan. 6), 'Downton ...

Once again, Ryan McGee and I have recorded two podcasts for your listening pleasure. In the first podcast, we talk about what we're digging about three lady-centric shows: 'The Good Wife,' 'New Girl' and 'Suburgatory.' As I said in a piece I posted earlier today, which re-examines several shows that debuted this fall, 'Suburgatory' has taken a big leap forward in quality and tonight's ...

Reviewing television isn't like reviewing any other form of entertainment: Every show on the air is a work in progress and can go from good to bad (and vice versa) in a matter of weeks. Assessing debut episodes is especially tricky, given that they have so much to accomplish and not a lot of time for all that set-up. Still, earlier this year, I felt confident enough about what I'd seen to make ...

['Sons of Anarchy' - 'Burnt and Purged Away'] Well, that had to happen. The pace of the generally compelling hour was excellent and though there were developments in quite a few story threads, they all had room to breathe. It was executive producer Paris Barclay's last time in the director's chair this season, and you could tell that his steady hand was on the tiller. Still, I'm betting ...

It's no secret that things have been tricky lately for the Peacock Network. Some of its returning shows have been struggling in the ratings and none of its new fall offerings have been breakout hits. That may be about to change: NBC debuts 'Smash' Feb. 6, and many critics who've seen it (including me) think it's one of the strongest new shows of the season. Below, Aol TV has an exclusive first ...

['The Good Wife' - 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot'] It was old home week on 'The Good Wife' last night. I don't know about you, but I did a little jig of glee when I saw that Patrick Breen and Linda Emond were back as Capt. Terrence Hicks and Judge Loera Kuhn. When they appeared in a crackling season 2 episode, I wrote at the time that I'd happily watch a military-law spin-off starring those two ...

In a new behind-the-scenes video that aired on HBO Sunday night, we got our first glimpses of the second season of 'Game of Thrones.' The show doesn't return until April, but we're sure this is the first of many preview tidbits designed to whet our interest for the next round of machinations in Westeros and beyond. What do you think, 'Game of Thrones' fans -- did it work? What am I saying? ...