CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Shawn Ryan
DVD Review: ‘Last Resort: The Complete Series’ Offers History of Doomed Show
Submitted by BrianTT on July 17, 2013 - 12:01pmCHICAGO – Around a year ago, I named Shawn Ryan’s excellent “Last Resort” the most-promising new show of the Fall season. I think I need to relabel that this year to “creatively promising,” for while I knew Ryan and his crew here had a chance to produce something special, I also worried that ABC was dooming it on Thursday nights.
TV Review: ABC’s Tense ‘Last Resort’ Delivers on Amazing Set-up
Submitted by BrianTT on September 27, 2012 - 11:27amCHICAGO – It may not look as post-apocalyptic as “Revolution” or “The Walking Dead,” but Shawn Ryan’s excellent “Last Resort,” debuting tonight, is just as much about the end of the world as those programs. It’s about what happens when training fails, structure collapses, and human emotion betrays.
Interview: Creator Shawn Ryan Deciphers ‘The Chicago Code’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 15, 2011 - 11:12amCHICAGO – Shawn Ryan produced one of the best cop dramas of the ’00s in “The Shield” and has proven that he will be a creative voice in the medium worth watching with his work on “Lie to Me,” “Terriers,” and, most of all, the new FOX drama, “The Chicago Code.”
DVD Review: Second Season of FOX’s Inconsistent ‘Lie to Me’ With Tim Roth
Submitted by BrianTT on November 15, 2010 - 9:30pmCHICAGO – FOX’s “Lie to Me,” the second season of which was just released on DVD, has fluctuated wildly in quality since the day it hit the air, a fact that was underlined when the great Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) came on-board and seemed to find the program’s personality, only to leave it and watch it drift again. Just when it seemed like “Lie to Me” would develop into must-see viewing, it would falter again and the incredibly-lackluster season two release doesn’t help.
TV Review: FOX’s ‘Lie to Me’ With Tim Roth Makes Early Return
Submitted by BrianTT on October 4, 2010 - 8:49amCHICAGO – FOX’s “Lie to Me” with Tim Roth and Kelli Williams proved to be a summer 2010 smash, finishing the just-wrapped season as one of the most-watched programs in key demographics. The tale of a team of professional human lie detector tests should still be waiting for the right moment to start its third season, but so few people watched the critically acclaimed “Lone Star” that it became the first casualty of the 2010 to 2011 season.
TV Review: Donal Logue Leads Pack of Misfits in Charming ‘Terriers’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 8, 2010 - 7:39amCHICAGO – FX continues their streak of quality programming that includes “Rescue Me,” “Justified,” “Archer,” “The League,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” with the very-promising-and-entertaining “Terriers,” a new riff on the private investigator drama with a spectacular pack of TV veterans both in-front and behind-the-camera.
TV Review: FOX Drama ‘Lie to Me’ Gets More Entertaining Every Week
Submitted by BrianTT on June 7, 2010 - 10:39amCHICAGO – The great television creator Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) has taken over “Lie to Me” and turned what was a pretty generic mystery-of-the-week show into something that’s deserving of your attention. Taking the great Tim Roth and making him much more than just a cog in the serial machine, the two new episodes of “Lie to Me” that air tonight and next week make for intense, excellent television.
DVD Review: Spectacular ‘The Shield: The Complete Series Collection’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 13, 2009 - 2:32pmCHICAGO – All seven season of the Emmy-winning, groundbreaking “The Shield,” easily one of the best programs of the ’00s, have been collected into one absolutely gorgeous set for “The Shield: The Complete Series Collection”. This time of year usually produces several complete series sets to essentially re-sell already available programs to holiday shoppers. This is one of the best.
TV Review: Improved ‘Lie to Me’ Returns With Promising Season Premiere
Submitted by BrianTT on September 28, 2009 - 2:20pmCHICAGO – When “Lie to Me” premiered earlier this year, the show simply didn’t work. But a lot has happened since then.
DVD Review: Perfect Final Season of ‘The Shield’ Gets Fantastic Release
Submitted by BrianTT on June 11, 2009 - 10:27amCHICAGO – There was no better show on television in 2008 than FX’s “The Shield” and the seventh and final season is now available on DVD.