Cheers & Jeers

by Damian Holbrook
TV Guide Magazine

Cheers to reboots that fit right
Turns out nostalgia works best when injected with a new attitude (like the high-tech fun of paper-clip cowboy MacGyver), enhanced by a charismatic cast (like Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford in Lethal Weapon) or embraced as an old friend (Fuller House, Gilmore Girls).

Cheers to comedies
for being more than just a laugh. By treating gender, addiction, depression and race as realities instead of “very special” issues, Transparent, Mom (with Allison Janney and Anna Faris), You’re the Worst, Atlanta, black-ish and Insecure proved the best humor is inclusive — and informative.

Jeers to superlong hiatuses
Even though there’s more TV than most humans can handle, it’s still not OK for some shows to take a year or more off in between seasons. And yes, we’re looking at you, Game of Thrones, American Crime Story and Fargo.

Jeers to sophomore slumps
Granted, it would’ve been a herculean feat for UnReal and Mr. Robot to top their dazzling first seasons, but we expected more than Melrose-ian antics on the Everlasting set and that slower-than-dial-up pacing from Elliot’s (Rami Malek) hacker squad.