Hank Stuever Quotes

While I don't like violent programs per se, I do like good storytelling, which made me a fan of shows like Breaking Bad and American Horror Story.

It seems to me conspiracy is at the heart of dozens of TV dramas currently on. Maybe that itself is some kind of conspiracy.

Never forget that I am paid for my troubles!

Whenever people ask me if it's okay to stop watching "The Leftovers," I always say OF COURSE IT IS.

Jarecki's 'Reagan' is a compellingly watchable and appropriately conflicted portrait...artfully nuanced and intellectually curious.

I'm a fan of half-hour shows that can be both funny and dramatic.

One of the dirty little secrets of my job is that I don't do ANY food or cooking shows.

The fastest way to bring financial ruin upon yourself is to go for a drive in the United States without proof of insurance and current license and registration.

I'm not much a TV reporter, as in someone who covers the daily machinations of the television industry, though I certainly follow it and weave it into my reviews and essays about the medium.

We all have to draw some lines. To preserve my sanity, I steer clear of cooking, professional sports and most imports, unless imported to us via PBS, Sundance, etc.

I like the anthology concept. I wish more shows would do it.

I do get lots of links to advance screeners, which helps, but there's no way I could do my job without the full-on cable subscription.

I love commercials. I love to hate commercials, too. I talk back to them.

As far as my personal nostalgia zone goes, I find I watch more of AntennaTV than anything else.

"Big Bang Theory" focuses on main characters who in other shows would only be auxiliary players hewing to stereotype: The gawky nerd who lives next door and says oddball things.

Mobster stories are always a harder sell for me. I don't romanticize organize crime the way others do, though I can be swayed.

I don't have scientific data, but I think plenty of perfectly nice weekends are being given over to the binge craze.

I'm pretty sure the world is in solid agreement that "The Wire" is worth watching all the way through.

Just as it's unfair to review a taco stand for not being a four-star restaurant, I also have to be mindful that not every drama on TV is trying to be "The Wire."

In the end, all critics should be guided by this one principle: Is this piece of work [TV show, movie, play, concert, album, restaurant] succeeding at what it set out to do?

My work is very much like the restaurant critic's - a number of factors come together to make for a strong review.

In fact, when it comes to TV, I'm not even sure what my real, true preferences are.

I have to confess I can't have the holiday season without "Hard Candy Christmas". For some reason, it makes me think of the sticky ribbon candy bowl my mid-western grandma always had.

I think the occasional appearance of the UFO is a very oblique pop-cultural reference that anyone who was alive and sentient in the late 1970s will get right away.