After Hasbro brought the first phase of its Transformers toy line (now called “Generation 1“) to a close in 1990, the brand struggled for a few years to find a new direction. Generation 2, launched in 1993, mostly consisted of repainted versions of the old toys and had no original tie-in cartoon series of its… Read More I’d Say That’s Prime | Beast Wars: Transformers (1996) Series Premiere
When Hasbro debuted its Transformers toy line in 1984, the company followed the same playbook that had brought its G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero such explosive success over the prior couple years. In addition to the toys themselves, the company promoted the brand across multiple media, most notably in comic books and a television… Read More Prime Told Me There’d Be Days Like This | The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Parts 1-3 (1984)
Following in the footsteps of his pal Sylvester Stallone, legendary action star Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his debut as the lead in a television series with Netflix’s new action-comedy FUBAR. Notably, the show also marks the second attempt this year to adapt Schwarzenegger’s 1994 blockbuster True Lies into a television format. Of the two, this may… Read More Untrue Lies | FUBAR Season 1 (2023) on Netflix
Star Wars: Visions is a really great idea that, unfortunately, didn’t quite come together during its first season in 2021. Honestly, the first batch of episodes were mostly duds. Two years later, the series returns with an expanded focus that thankfully yields some improvement. The second season has a higher ratio of good, or at… Read More Follow the Light | Star Wars: Visions Season 2 (2023) on Disney+
The Netflix binge model, while obviously very appealing to viewers frustrated with the traditional weekly TV schedule, can sometimes do a disservice to shows that need time to build buzz and public awareness. The streamer’s terrific new political drama The Diplomat, for example, barely premiered two weeks ago yet already seems to have fallen out… Read More One Ambassador’s Plenty | The Diplomat Season 1 (2023) on Netflix
The Roku Channel debuting its new multiverse-hopping dramedy Slip soon after Everything Everywhere All at Once won the Best Picture Oscar, and as both Marvel and DC hype upcoming comic book blockbusters on the same theme, could be either a blessing or a curse. In the show’s favor, multiverses are, like, so hot right now,… Read More Every Orgasm All at Once | Slip (2023) Roku Channel Limited Series
When trying to imagine a visual metaphor that defines the essence of the state of Florida, the image of an alligator rising to the surface of a lake carrying a gun on its back just about nails it. I wish I had thought of it. That scene actually happens in an early episode of Netflix’s… Read More The Goddamn State Is Shaped Like a Gun! | Florida Man (2023) Netflix Limited Series
Revisited a much-loved pop landmark from the heart of the Baby Boomer era with a pointedly more diverse cast and a stronger focus on the female point-of-view, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies feels like it was explicitly (if not expressly) designed to inflame our current culture wars and drive the anti-“woke” crowd absolutely insane… Read More It’s Gonna Be Different This Year | Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023) Paramount+ Series Premiere
The prospect of Kiefer Sutherland returning to TV in a new conspiracy/spy thriller series will unavoidably draw comparisons to his long run on Fox’s 24. Fortunately, the creators of Rabbit Hole (or Rabbit/Hole, as the credits spell it) have put some real work into setting this show apart with a different milieu, a very different… Read More Corporate Espionage Is a Dirty Way to Get Rich | Rabbit Hole (2023) Paramount+ Series Premiere
Officially, the new Netflix thriller series The Night Agent is based on a 2019 novel by Matthew Quirk. If the TV adaptation follows it at all closely, the story seems to have been based in turn on the author watching a lot of Fox’s 24. At the very least, the Netflix show’s producers sure did.… Read More Maybe Someone Changed the Rules in Spyland | The Night Agent Season 1 (2023) on Netflix
The Video File Blog 