Television series
Rod Lott
"How to Make It in America" is HBO's Rodney Dangerfield: It gets no respect. As critics creamed over the tediously paced "Boardwalk Empire," this eight-episode wonder seemed to escape mass-media's gaze. I can understand why: Who wants to see a show about two guys trying to launch a line of jeans?

Television series
Rod Lott
Thank God for networks like Fox and The CW, because on the Big Three, shows like "Fringe," "Supernatural" and "Nikita" would have been canceled by now, if ever given a chance to air at all. By appealing to a smaller audience — but that most highly coveted youth audience — edgier fare can flourish without having to pull monster ratings.

Television series
Jenny Coon Peterson
Confession: I watched all seven episodes of “Downton Abbey” on DVD over the course of two days. Instead of reflecting on what that says about my laziness, let’s focus on what that says about this near-perfect British miniseries.

Television series
Rod Lott
Another quarter, another “Mystery Science Theater 3000” release from Shout! Factory. While hell on the wallet, fervent fans of the series know each set is worth every penny and then some.

Television series
Rod Lott
Bedlam Heights has an occupancy problem. Seems so few people wish to rent an apartment in a building that was once an insane asylum. Fewer when they learn the place is haunted by the ghosts of its former residents.

Television series
Rod Lott
IFC airs two comedies clearly too hip for the room ... which is why they’re on IFC, of course. Now that the first seasons of “Portlandia” and “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret” have hit DVD, those of us without the cable channel can see if we’ve been missing anything.

Television series
Rod Lott
How does a director go from shooting a Barbie-dolls biography of doomed vocalist Karen Carpenter to a prestige miniseries starring perhaps the greatest screen actress of her generation?

Television series
Rod Lott
As the years go by, I’m convinced Adult Swim will put just about anything on the air. Once home to some genuinely inventive programming, the late-night, big-people-only block on Cartoon Network increasingly airs shows that seem as if they required the haze of marijuana to be funny.

Television series
Rod Lott
Season three of “Justified,” which kicked off last night, has some mighty big boots to fill. The 13 episodes of the second season prove that, and if you didn’t see them, grab the triple-disc DVD set pronto.

Television series
Rod Lott
Two recent second-season Blu-ray releases of Fox's TV comedy hits are a show that everyone I know watches and an even better show that nobody I know watches. They are, respectively, "Modern Family" and "The League," and couldn't be more different.