For Television
Television can be a very difficult medium to review. Sit-coms, police shows, and even most dramas are basically the same show week after week, so how much new analysis or criticism can you come up with? Some shows, such as House, introduce so many varied issues — medical, philosophical, religious, personal — every week that it stands out as an exception. Compare that to CSI - an interesting show that’s convinced me to give up my life of crime, but so much the same every week that there’s virtually no character development. (Although I have to confess I don’t watch a lot of TV.) That being said, here are some suggestions:
- Does the show lend itself to weekly reviews or should you be doing periodic updates?
- Is there an ongoing story line that threads through all or most of the episodes? How does it play out? When is it successful and why? Or not?
- Do the characters evolve through each episode or over a season? Does the evolution make sense? What about the characters in general — three dimensional, complex, interesting, or cardboard cutouts of the tough cop, the corporate lawyer, the wise-guy.
- The narrative, although I know some people want a lot and others a little. You have to find a proper balance.
- Issues, trends, and societal themes the show explores. Are they well-examined, fairly explored, compelling, dramatic?
- What’s the genre and how well does this show stack up to others.
- Consider doing a genre review of the week — looking at four or five cop, comedy, drama, or (shudder) reality TV shows and comparing them.
- Specials, documentaries, made-for-TV movies can be reviewed like movies — check out those guidelines.
- Behind the scenes stories about a show, a network, actors, writers, etc.
Article comments
1 - jonas
this article is great help thanks!!