Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Awkward.

UPDATED REVIEW: When MTV premiered The Hard Times of RJ Berger in 2010, network general manager Stephen Friedman said it “speaks to where we need to go as a network.” Awkward. now puts punctuation on his statement.

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The Shannara Chronicles

Wil, Amberle and Eretria want to protect the Four Lands from the Forbidding darkness. But their show already has its own demons to deal with.

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Kevin (Probably) Saves the World

This exceptionally silly show is surprisingly good, too—and in more ways than one.

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Reign

A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse to drag this horrible show away! Or maybe write a better one! With its hooves! (Signed, Mary, Queen of Scots)

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Gotham

The glimmer of hope in all this dimness? Mr. Gordon, of course, the guy with the super-flashlight.

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Pushing Daisies

Some people raise chickens. Others raise ferrets. On this new ABC dramedy, Ned raises the dead.

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I Hate My Teenage Daughter

We don’t hate this show. We don’t use the word hate around here. It’s a negative word, and we try to steer clear of negativity. Unlike this show. Which we’re trying really, really hard not to … well, you know.

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Amish Mafia

UPDATED REVIEW: Do the Amish really have their own mafia? Discovery says yes. So what follows here is a lesson in not believing everything you see on TV.

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Lost in Space

In an era of antiheroes and salacious excess, Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot strives for something brave: being a family show.

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The Path

While the Meyerists pride themselves on their self-control, this Hulu series shows very little.

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Salvation

Frankly, if I knew that I had six months left before an asteroid hit, I wouldn’t spend my time watching this show.

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CHAOS

Four CIA agents take on turbaned terrorists, international spies and their own agency’s red tape in this mash-up of The A-Team and The Office.

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Houdini & Doyle

What do you get when you combine Downton Abbey with The X-Files? Agent Scully in a petticoat? Not even close.

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Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23

UPDATED REVIEW: ABC suggests we not trust the young woman who lives in Apartment 23. We’d say the same thing about this show.

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Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders

This crime procedural may traipse around the globe looking for all manner of unsavory crimes to solve, but it sure looks a whole lot like its TV home.

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