Royal Pains, "No Man Is An Island": Drill bit

After being ready to dismiss "Royal Pains" a couple of weeks ago, tonight's was surprisingly entertaining, with a high concentration of Macgyver medicine, and even some comic relief moments for the brother that didn't completely annoy me. Still probably not enough to merit a full post, but I thought the uptick in quality worth mentioning. Anybody else still watching? (Based on the ratings, which are higher than "Burn Notice," and among the most popular things on cable this summer, somebody is.) If so, what did you think? Click here to read the full post

Royal Pains, "Strategic Planning": Should I get in the hot tub? Yeah!

Just got done watching the third (or, rather, second-produced, third-aired) episode of "Royal Pains" on Hulu. I don't have much to say about it, save three things: 1)I was glad to see Campbell Scott back briefly, 2)I was glad they finally started giving some background on Divya, and 3)It was weird to hear The Thermals' "Now We Can See," since it's now forever tied to the "Chuck" season two finale for me.

Beyond that? I think "Royal Pains" is the kind of show I'm going to have on while I'm cleaning my desk or doing some other mundane task, but barring some kind of major jump up in quality, I can't see myself finding things to blog about every week.

What did everybody think of this one? Click here to read the full post

Royal Pains, "There Will Be Food": The gluten glutton

Spoilers for episode two of "Royal Pains" coming up just as soon as I give you a severance check...

Even though I believe "There Will Be Food" was produced as the series' third episode, rather than its second, it felt like an extra pilot -- as if someone on the show or at USA felt they had neglected to establish the "give to the poor" aspect of Hank's new Robin Hood existence in the original pilot(*), and that they'd best do that quickly before telling other stories.

(*)That, of course, ignores the fact that the pilot already made clear that Hank was doing a public service by catering to these rich people, by keeping them from wasting hospital resources on minor problems.

Because they had to spend so much time on additional premise-building, and because the ballerina's case didn't offer any opportunities for Hank to do his Dr. MacGyver thing, "There Will Be Food" was less entertaining than the real pilot. On the plus side, though, I thought Mark Feuerstein was much more relaxed and engaging here than he was a week ago. Whether or not he's too bland to carry a series is still an open question, but a Hank who embraces this new life, even a little, is more interesting than a Hank who's always "aw, shucks, this isn't really what I do."

What did everybody else think? And are you surprised they did the Michael Westen-ish expositional narration at the top, and then did a long credits sequence with theme song on top of that? What is this, 1983? Click here to read the full post

Royal Pains, "Pilot": This is how it's done in Worsthampton

I gave my thoughts on "Royal Pains" in this morning's column. Anybody watch? If so, what did you think? Click here to read the full post

'Royal Pains,' 'Burn Notice' reviews - Sepinwall on TV

In today's column, I look at the return of "Burn Notice" and the debut of its new (and very familiar-looking) USA partner, "Royal Pains":

Imitation is the sincerest form of television. Once a network has a hit, it's going to do everything possible to copy it and copy it until viewers lose interest. It's why most of the shows on CBS involve the solving of crime with the help of electron microscopes, why every NBC sitcom of the late '90s was about attractive New Yorkers looking for love, and why tonight USA follows the return of "Burn Notice" (still the most fun you can have in front of your TV set in the summer) with the debut of "Royal Pains," which is more or less "Burn Notice, MD."

You can read the full column here. My interview with "Burn Notice" creator Matt Nix should be right above this post. I'll have some kind of post up tonight for "Burn Notice" and possibly a separate one for "Royal Pains," but given time constraints and how much I've already written, it may be a simple "What did you all think?" Click here to read the full post