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History of TV: Behind ‘The Shield’ is a different kind of cop show

March 24, 2022

Television procedurals have long been the heart of primetime viewing: the decades-long Law & Order series, the never-ending Grey’s Anatomy, the 9-1-1s, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and everything by Wolf Entertainment. Twenty years ago, The Sh...

History of TV: The best of Irish television

March 17, 2022

Photo courtesy of Hulu. Looking for some solid television to pair with your Guinness this St. Patrick’s Day? Because I'm obsessed with everything Irish, for this week’s History of Television column, I’m doing it a little differently and rounding up s...

History of TV: How 'Orange is the New Black' redefined television

March 10, 2022

The year after the Collins English Dictionary declared “binge-watch” the word of the year, Orange is the New Black premiered on Netflix. In June 2013, we met Chapman (Taylor Schilling), Morello (Yael Stone), Red (Kate Mulgrew), Burset (Laverne Cox), ...

History of TV: The many lives of ‘La Femme Nikita'

March 4, 2022

I was a teenager the first time I watched La Femme Nikita, which is probably why it stuck so prominently in my memory. This woman was fierce. Yet…not. She was something we hadn’t seen a lot of on television or in film yet, though clearly craved, as s...

History of TV: MCU's powerful ‘Luke Cage’

February 25, 2022

First, we met the sardonic Jessica Jones. Then bullet-proof Luke Cage stepped on the scene in his quietly intense way like in Jessica Jones, then in his own show in 2016 before becoming part of The Defenders along with Jessica, Matt Murdock (Daredevi...

History of TV: The satirical smarts of 'Dear White People'

February 17, 2022

Dear White People marked Lionsgate’s second original series for Netflix (behind Orange is the New Black). The half-hour dramedy which premiered April 28th, 2017 and wrapped last year on its fourth season was adapted from creator Justin Simien’s debut...

History of TV: Live, in front of a studio audience 'The Jeffersons'

February 11, 2022

1975 signified the popularity of Betamax, VHS tapes and a turning point in American television: The Jeffersons. Its predecessor, Good Times (created by actor Mike Evans, writer Eric Monte and producer Norman Lear), featured a Black family from the pr...

History of TV: The ultimate show of 'Power'

February 3, 2022

The Power pilot sets up a whole vibe before introducing any characters, thus surrounding us in a world we’re instantly curious about — maybe even coveting — just like the scores of people behind the velvet ropes of Truth, James’s “Ghost” St. Patrick’...

History of TV: Why 'I Love Lucy' still has our hearts

January 28, 2022

I remember knowing who Lucy was before I’d ever even seen I Love Lucy. Likely because even though I hadn’t seen the 1950s classic, the clip of Lucy (Lucille Ball) shoving chocolate in her mouth while she and Ethel (Vivian Vance) struggle to keep up w...