‘House of Lies’: Surprisingly On-The-Nose

Today Showtime released the first episode of its upcoming new series ‘House of Lies,’ and I’m disappointed. This show has some exciting pedigree to recommend it, and yet the episode, currently available on Showtime’s website (ABSOLUTELY NSFW. Let me repeat that. This episode is NSFW!!!), left me cold. I won’t rule out a series simply based on a pilot, especially when a series can drastically change between a pilot and even the second episode, but there are some substantial improvements that need to be made if I’m going to keep it on my busy Spring TV schedule.

The Second Commandment: Check Out Padam Padam

(Padam Padam is a Monday-Tuesday drama that premiered on December 5^th in South Korea on the new cable channel jTBC and is being subtitled in English by Dramafever. It is scheduled to air for twenty episodes).

I can say, in all earnestness, that Padam Padam epitomizes why I am so passionately devoted to the medium of television. It may seem a bit hasty to throw such praise around for a series that has just aired its first two episodes this past week, but when the directing, cinematography, writing, and acting is firing on all cylinders the way it has so far, I can’t help but get excited.