I think Costner is an underrated actor in the right role but the trailers for this were off-putting, like the worst possible combination of Dallas, Bonanza, and a Yellowstone doc on Saturday afternoon PBS.

Whatever you think about the quality of either show, I'm interested in how Big Bang and Modern Family are both ending next season - two of the last network sitcoms to post huge ratings (at least earlier in MF's life) and become giant syndication hits, too. I'm genuinely wondering if there's anything left in network…

Turn Off the Dark was such a confusing mess. Even if they hadn’t seemed determined to burn piles of cash and kill the cast it still would have bombed.

She won her Tony for Bock and Harnick's The Apple Tree, which is an interesting anthology musical where the leading lady plays different roles in each act. Quite an acting feat.

Coven turned into such a mess. Deaths had no consequence. Characters changed their entire personalities for the sake of the plot. The answer to who would be the new head of the coven was an absolute cheat. It had a disturbingly flippant attitude to sexual abuse. I'm trying to think of an AHS story I hate more (Freak…

If the movies have taught me anything, it’s never to go to a cabin in the woods for a nice weekend with friends. And, if you must go, try to be the cute, harmless one with a streak of naivete (weirdly, Ash in the original Evil Dead might be the best example here).

It’s not terrible - I like Andre’s laidback evil delivery a lot - but the pacing in the pilot is so weird. It seems to speed up, slow down, backtrack, and repeat. Granted, as other people have noted, comedy pilots in particular tend to be rough.

Her cover of “Skylark” is a perfect version of the song, all soulful longing and hopeful melancholy.

She had a way of making old chestnuts feel incredibly fresh and exciting to compare with Sarah Vaughan or Ella or the best of Sinatra. For example, her version of the Gershwins’ “It Ain’t Necessarily So” takes a pretty tired standard and improbably turns it back into this slinky, sexy number.

I love his performance in Galaxy Quest. It has this very specific, weirdly calm vibe to it. 

However much you love a role, I'm sure it's frustrating for versatile actors to be continually asked about one thing.

He was great in The Band’s Visit - that shouldn’t have surprised me, he’s consistently great - but I hadn’t seen him on stage before.

Pine is a charming fellow who slides into smarm a little too easily if not handled right. A bit like Shatner, really.

Beyond was a surprisingly solid movie - the story was strong, it had an interesting villain (pretty rare for a Trek movie), and the cast was split off into interesting pairings. It was the first of the new Trek movies that felt like the better original cast movies to me.

Family Ties might actually make an interesting reboot. Once liberal, activist parents settled into middle age in comfortable jobs confronted with a conservative, business-first kid and a directionless kid (and, well, the other two). 

I loved Pratt in Parks and Rec but find him the least interesting Guardian. I actually thought he was slightly more interesting in the second movie, where his selfishness is more specifically addressed.

The first Alice made over a billion dollars worldwide, so it was at least a lucrative terrible movie.

I think Campion cast Paquin really well in The Piano - there was a spark of mischief and curiosity in her that works for that character. I’m not sure how much actual acting was involved.

Henry Thomas really doesn’t get enough credit for how much he makes that movie work.  There is just a perfect sincerity to his performance that really sells that relationship.  It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s remained a fairly successful character actor as an adult.  

Margaret O’Brien, who was around seven when she played the youngest daughter in Meet Me in St. Louis. It’s a performance that transcends the “cute kid” role and really becomes more layered and idiosyncratic. She’s like a great character actress in a kid’s body. Her scene smashing the family snowmen is genuinely…