Pop Vultures

Tidbits for Monday

Good news for Dexter fans, it’s been renewed for two more years, continuing Showtime’s dominance over HBO in the original series category. Who would have ever guessed that a show about a serial killer would last five seasons? Speaking of HBO, they’ve picked up Curb Your Enthusiasm for yet another season. Fans of dry, ironic comedy [...]

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Monday Tidbits: The Return!

The hard work is done, and I am thrilled to present the new, shiny Pop Vultures. We’re back, baby! If you’re seeing this in an RSS reader, pop on over and let us know what you think of the revised site. Along with the new layout (and colors, and logo, and pretty much everything I could [...]

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5 Great Plot Twists

Sometimes, there is a fine line between surprising the audience with a completely unexpected plot development and jumping the shark, but when a show does it right, the viewers will be discussing it for weeks, and sometimes years, after the fact. I’m not talking about some “Bobby in the shower” kind of plot twist, either. [...]

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5 Best Television Opening Credits

I am still obsessed with opening credits, but this week I’m switching the focus from the theme songs to the actual images. While most shows simply set a bunch of clips to music, a few recognize the power of an unforgettable opening, something that is visually stunning or humorous or just plain cool, all without [...]

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Dexter: The Dark Passenger Rides Again

Sunday night marked the end of the second series of Dexter, and I think I finally have my thoughts in order. This show consistently works on so many layers that I can’t trust my first response; I must consider why I react as I do. After all, as I’ve noted before, this is a show [...]

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The Week in Review: TV Haiku

One busy weekend, and already it feels like I will never catch up again. Well, not until January, at least, when I will suddenly have to sit through old episodes of The Cosby Show or TJ Hooker in order to find something to write about. There’s something to look forward to. In order to save time, [...]

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Vicarious Cruelty and Other Happy Thoughts

Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn’t have in your home. ~David Frost Mr. Frost is right, you know. At the moment, I have an episode of Dexter waiting on my hard drive and watching that will likely be the high point of my [...]

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Dexter, my boy

My television obsessions come and go, though I like to think that this is due less to a fickle nature than to the difficulty in maintaining a consistently good program over several years. My first obsession, the show that I refused to miss, was Twin Peaks. Fortunately, my friends shared this love, and we spent [...]

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