Network

Josef Adalian talked to a bunch of anonymous “executives and agents” about how to save network TV, and heard five basic suggestions:

After installing a new firewall, university caves to pressure from students and faculty

Well, does it?

Alan Sepinwall asks about Reaper: “Dammit, why must so many rookie shows this year get their acts together right when they’re about to be canceled?” It’s a good question. Reaper has been one of the most entertaining shows of the new season, but it’s always lived with the stigma of not quite living up to its potential. Tuesday night’s episode was a good one, as was last week’s. These two episodes went a long way toward solving the problems that have kept the show back: namely that it felt repetitive, the hero was too passive, and it lacked a good female character. Last night showed Sam getting more active, the underlying stories getting more interesting (and shaping the adventures-of-the-week into something better) and, finally, the female lead, Andi, learned that Sam is the Devil’s errand-boy. The fact that she didn’t know what was going on in any of the episodes was a big problem for the show earlier, since it meant the plots were hugely imbalanced in favour of male characters, probably hurting the show’s ratings with women even though the creators are female.