General TV Analysis
Articles exploring issues or themes across multiple shows, or about the medium of TV itself
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Showdown! Doomsday Clock vs. HBO’s Watchmen
Spoiler Warning! If you haven’t read Doomsday Clock in its entirety or watched all of the Watchmen TV Show and you wish to do either, don’t let this article deprive you of a spoiler-free experience, as it contains major ones for both. If you’re still here, then you’ve done your research, so let’s continue. You […] More
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Black Goo: The Stuff of Dreams
There is an entity that appears in our favorite science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories—a living substance that elicits both disgust and excitement in the human imagination. It’s related to the bad black barf and black blood TV tropes, but while those examples are relatively inert and formless, ‘black goo’ refers to a class of […] More
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The Decade of Damon Lindelof
There’s something very fitting about this decade being bookended by shows Damon Lindelof was at the helm of. In January of 2010, television fans were abuzz about long-time ABC hit Lost coming to an end. As 2019 comes to a close, Watchmen, Lindelof’s third hit series to air in the past 10 years, is the […] More
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The 2010s Ended the World As We Knew It: The Decade in TV
When we first started talking about end of the decade coverage, I said that I didn’t feel like I had much of a sense of this as a decade. Certainly I don’t in the same way as one might for various decades in the 20th century, from those I lived through (the ‘80s and ‘90s) […] More
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The Boys and the Rise of the Graphic Novel in Film and TV
I never read, I just look at the pictures – Andy Warhol Finally! The mainstream is starting to understand the untapped potential of alternative comic books and graphic novels. With the recent success of The Boys, which had a second season greenlit before the release of the first, it got me thinking about the long […] More
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I Put A Spell On You — Witches in TV and Film
Halloween is almost here; I hope you’re ready to quake with fear. Snap the twigs and burn the hair, I hope you can handle a little scare. Crack your bones and tear your skin, something wicked stirs within. Eat your soul and fly to hell, can you hear the witch’s bell? Now that I’ve hexed […] More
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Time Travel in Dark: Back to the Past
Time travel is all the rage lately. It’s been used in everything from the latest series of Twin Peaks to Avengers: Endgame (spoilers ahead for both of those…you’ve been warned). The Netflix TV show Dark has many good qualities but what impressed me most was the way it utilised time travel. It manages to do […] More
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“You Are Good Enough”: Soap Operas, Mental Illness & Me
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and here at TV Obsessive, we want to highlight some of the television shows and characters that spoke to us directly about this sensitive subject. This week, Martin Hearn looks at UK soap operas, what various storylines are doing to remove the stigma around mental health, and how they’re […] More
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The Surprising Quality of Canadian Comedy: A Primer for Americans
One of my favourite exchanges from The West Wing is a typically Aaron Sorkin back-and-forth between Amy Gardner and one Donatella Moss, who’s just been informed she was actually born in Canada, and was therefore endowed with certain inalienable rights. “Canadian, huh?” Amy asks. “Yeah,” Donna responds. “You feel funnier?” “No, but I am developing […] More
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An Uncertain Apocalypse: Part 1 (On Twin Peaks, The Leftovers, and Mr. Robot)
Hello Friends. As a David Lynch and Twin Peaks enthusiast I have spent the last 25 years seeking out content that engages me in the same way that Lynch’s work does while waiting for him to produce more work. This searching has largely taken place in a cinematic space, through the back catalogues of historical […] More
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On the Appeal of Nordic Noir
If you live in the UK and you’re reading this on Friday 29th June 2018, I’m going to hazard a guess that you’re either waiting to watch or have just seen the final ever episode of The Bridge (Bron|Broen). I can barely wait to see how, in my opinion, the greatest ever non-English-language TV drama […] More
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Through the TV of Future Past – Musings on Nostalgia
So.. I’m feeling nostalgic (again – jeez, I’m only mid-40’s). It’s a weekend and I’m not in the mood for my current shows – the likes of Jessica Jones, Travelers, or Altered Carbon – besides that, I am trying not to give in to the trend of binge watching, letting myself marinate in a one-a-week […] More
