Blog Posts by Ethan Alter

Although its version of "Skins" may have been an epic botch, MTV hasn't given up trying to transform a hit U.K. teen show into a stateside success. Last night, the network unleashed "The Inbetweeners," an Americanized version of the acclaimed and award-winning British comedy about a quartet of sex-obsessed teen boys dealing with the humiliations of high school life. The original series ran for three seasons on the E4 network and spawned a 2011 movie that became a big worldwide hit (it opens here in two weeks).

We're happy to report that MTV seems to have learned from the "Skins" fiasco, because "The Inbetweeners" is overall a pretty solid adaption of the still-superior original. That may not be entirely obvious from the premiere, which hews a little too closely to the original show's first episode (which is the same problem that plagued the pilot of the American "Office," by the way) but having seen a few of the subsequent episodes, the U.S. "Inbetweeners" does begin to establish its

Back in January, we included reality TV warhorses "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" on our list of reality franchises that needed to be benched. At the time, both shows deserved to make that list as they were each coming off career-worst seasons filled with boring characters (Brandon Hantz, anybody?), unimaginative challenges (setting up beach umbrellas... really?!), and a general lack of tension. Rather than watch these once-great shows continue to stumble downhill, we felt it best for all concerned that they take a prolonged break and return when they had some fresh ideas up their sleeves. But surprise, surprise: Ever since "Survivor: One World" and the 20th "Amazing Race" premiered in February, both shows have been back on their game. In fact, we actually find ourselves anticipating -- rather than dreading -- each new episode (for now, at least; there's still plenty of time left for these seasons to go south, after all). Here are the notable changes we think have improved both

It was a Christmas to remember -- though some, like Sir Richard Carlisle, would probably prefer to forget it -- at stately Downton Abbey on the Season 2 finale of the eponymous British import. (Overseas, this 90-minute installment aired as a standalone special, but PBS is billing it as the season finale. Either way, it's the last we'll see of the show stateside until January 2013, which seems like an eternity.)

Following the seismic events of the previous episode -- quick recap: Lavinia succumbed to the Spanish flu, Matthew learned he can walk again, he and Mary kissed, Sybil and Tom made their relationship public and secured her parents' grudging acceptance (if not approval), Thomas found his way back into the Downton fold, Bates and Anna got married just before he was arrested for the murder of his hateful wife, and Dr. Clarkson was a big idiot -- this one seemed a bit more subdued for much of its runtime; that is, until the last ten minutes, which offered a long-awaited