High-Def Digest: The Bonus ViewDan Hirshleifer, Author at High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

A Whole New Who

Dan Hirshleifer — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 17:00:52 +0000

Just like that, we have a new Doctor. Ever since Matt Smith announced that he would retire from the role, the internet has run rampant with rumors about who might play the twelfth incarnation of the character. Helen Mirren stated that it’s time a woman took the mantle, to which show-runner Stephen Moffat replied, “Isn’t...

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‘Community’ 4.13 Recap: “I Hear You’re Graduating Kiddie College”

Dan Hirshleifer — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:00:39 +0000

The execs at NBC has gone off their meds. First they fire Dan Harmon, leaving him to find out about the news secondhand. Then they renew ‘Community’, but in a shortened order. They delay the start of the season, dumping it towards the end of the regular programming season, where it runs awkwardly through holiday...

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‘Happy Endings’ 3.22 & 3.23 Recaps: “Ooh La La, Pepe Le Pew, French Stewart!”

Dan Hirshleifer — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:00:50 +0000

This may be the end. ABC has aired the final two episodes of ‘Happy Endings’ Season 3. These may be the final two episodes of the series forever, unless ABC offers a last minute renewal, or USA or TBS snaps the show up. If these are to be the end, at least they’re not a...

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‘Community’ 4.12 Recap: “What’s an Anarchist to Do Without Her Organization?”

Dan Hirshleifer — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:56 +0000

The fact that this season of ‘Community’ even exists is a bit of a baffling proposition. By removing Dan Harmon, the show’s creator and driving force, NBC left the series rudderless, and this season has been about finding its focus again. The best episodes have been simple, straight-up sitcom stories about students at Greendale. Rarely...

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‘Community’ 4.11 Recap: “And That Is What I Would Be Saying If I Gave a Crap”

Dan Hirshleifer — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:00:40 +0000

I know that I may sound like a broken record at this point, but this season of ‘Community’ has consistently been at its best when it keeps things focused on the group and keeps the group at Greendale. This was perfectly displayed in last Thursday’s episode, ‘Basic Human Anatomy’. Not only was it one of...

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‘Doctor Who’ 7.10 Recap: “How Do Sharks Make Babies?”

Dan Hirshleifer — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:00:15 +0000

Some ‘Doctor Who’ episodes, like last week’s ‘Cold War’, lay out exactly what they’re about in the opening scenes, and play that scenario out to the end. Others start you down one path, and then take an abrupt left turn and lead you down another. Saturday’s episode, ‘Hide’, falls into the latter camp. In 1974,...

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‘Community’ 4.10 Recap: “No One Wants to Screw the Group”

Dan Hirshleifer — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:00:12 +0000

Thursday’s episode of ‘Community’, called ‘Intro to Knots’, features Malcolm McDowell tied up in a chair for extended periods of time. Under Dan Harmon, this would have led to a smorgasbord of ‘Clockwork Orange‘ gags, but instead, we get a half-hearted homage to Hitchcock’s ‘Rope‘ that does no credit to either the original film or...

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‘Community’ 4.09 Recap: “Those Berries Made Us Real Talky… But Not Real Listen-y”

Dan Hirshleifer — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:00:32 +0000

It was bound to happen eventually. From time to time, ‘Community’ will do a show outside the norm, like the stop-motion Christmas episode, or the 8-bit episode that dealt with Pierce’s inheritance. At their best, these episodes can give us a whole new way of seeing the show. At worst, these episodes feel like a...

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‘Happy Endings’ 3.18 & 3.19 Recaps: “I’m Just Sitting Here with a Towel on My Lap”

Dan Hirshleifer — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:00:40 +0000

It seems like ‘Happy Endings’ has had a hard time figuring out what it wants to do this season. First, the show thrust Alex and Dave back together, which has had surprisingly little repercussions, given their history. Then Brad went through an employment crisis, only to come out the other end firmly maintaining the status...

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‘Doctor Who’ 7.09 Recap: “Mutually Assured Destruction”

Dan Hirshleifer — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:00:09 +0000

‘Doctor Who’ has a long and storied history. In fact, November of this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the show’s premiere. However, there’s a marked difference between the first run of the show, now referred to as “Classic Who,” and the current run, often referred to as “New Who” or “NuWho.” While many...

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‘Happy Endings’ 3.16 & 3.17 Recaps: “They Play Jinx in Prison?”

Dan Hirshleifer — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:00:12 +0000

Another week, another two episodes of ‘Happy Endings’. This past week saw a feud between sisters, a feud between two food truck owners, and a feud between Brad and Robo-Brad. All in a day’s work for this wonderful, bizarre show. In ‘The Incident’, Max’s hairstylist dies, so he goes to Alex and Jane’s, Krisjhan (RuPaul),...

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‘Doctor Who’ 7.08 Recap: “A Nice Story”

Dan Hirshleifer — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

‘Doctor Who’ has been quite mythology-heavy lately, and it was high time the series gave us a nice one-off story that we could simply sit back and enjoy. Saturday’s episode, ‘The Rings of Akhaten’, provides us with just that, but it’s not quite as satisfying as I would have hoped. Clara asks the Doctor to...

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