Welcome to the TV Roundtable, where some of TV Club’s writers tackle episodes that all deal with a central theme. Now through July: TV we loved as kids.

The grade above is not a particularly good grade. But it’s not a particularly surprising one, either. In fact, it’s a grade you could accurately apply to most seasons of Saturday Night Live. The 39th season featured a lot of great sketches, and a lot of terrible sketches, and a lot of unmemorable ones. That describes…

Welcome to the TV Roundtable, where some of TV Club’s writers tackle episodes that all deal with a central theme. Now through July: TV we loved as kids.

The first season of Inside Amy Schumer was some of the best TV of 2013 because it asserted its voice almost immediately—and the show spent its first 10 episodes honing that voice. Inside Amy Schumer and its star are worthy additions to Comedy Central’s rich ecosystem of comedic voices. The sketch show’s second season…

So let’s get this out of the way: “Mama Said Knock You Out” is a good episode of the show, but hot damn did that first half have some serious problems. Even putting aside the horror show that was the Grant kids (and not “horror” in the show’s usual, face-licking ways), there were a lot of stops and starts throughout…

Lost, “The Man Behind The Curtain” (season three, episode 20; originally aired 5/9/2007)

House, “Three Stories” (season one, episode 21; originally aired 5/17/2005)

The Opening Ceremonies won’t air until tomorrow, but NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics kicked off tonight. It’s not inherently an anticlimactic way to start things, but it’s certainly a curious one. Without a doubt, the reasons for this are economic in nature: While those perusing this site might miss new…

Welcome to the TV Roundtable, where some of TV Club’s writers tackle episodes that all deal with a central theme. Now through March: some of our favorite episodes of all time.

Taken as a whole, the two-part first season finale of Ground Floor is both a logical conclusion to all that came before it while vastly widening the show’s storytelling potential upon its return. There’s no guarantee of such a second season, mind you, as of this time. But “The Decision,” which started last week and…

Welcome to the TV Roundtable, where some of TV Club’s writers tackle episodes that all deal with a central theme. Now through March: some of our favorite episodes of all time.

For most of the history of television, the barrier to syndication—and to profitability—has been 100 episodes. The shows that have made it to that mark are an unusual group. Many were big hits. Some found small cult audiences. Still others just hung on as best they could and never posted numbers quite low enough to be…

As my colleagues here have noted over the past month, it’s been a hellaciously good year for television. But that level and depth of quality means that for every show rightfully celebrated, there are at least two upon which little light shines. But even beyond that, there are shows that are simply good. Being “simply…

For 2013’s best-of-TV list, The A.V. Club’s TV writers got together to discuss the shows that got us talking the most over the past 12 months. But even after that discussion, there were plenty of other shows we wanted to highlight, new series and returning favorites that were good but just short of great. What follows…

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d…

For 2013’s best-of-TV list, The A.V. Club’s TV writers got together to discuss the shows that got us talking the most over the past 12 months. We’re unveiling those shows, one per publication day, culminating in our picks for the top three of the year. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites of the year in our …

When it came time to highlight the best television of 2013, The A.V. Club found ourselves in a bit of a bind: No single list could illustrate the depth and breadth of quality TV that debuted on American screens this year. But there is no “best” without a “worst,” and for every Enlightened, Orange Is The New Black, or …

Trying to analyze season-long themes for South Park is a fool’s business, since Trey Parker and Matt Stone usually have little idea what they are going to satirize at the outset of each production cycle. But a clear through line has emerged in the past four episodes: The Game Of Thrones-based cycle of episodes and…

For 2013’s best of TV list, The A.V. Club’s TV writers got together to discuss the shows that got us talking the most over the past 12 months. Between now and December 20, we’ll be unveiling those shows, one per day, culminating in our picks for the top three shows of the year. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites…

Since 2007, TV Club has dissected television episode by episode. Beginning this September, The A.V. Club will also step back to take a wider view in our new TV Reviews section. With pre-air reviews of new shows, returning favorites, and noteworthy finales, TV Reviews doesn’t replace TV Club—as usual, some shows will…