On paper, Criminal Record, AppleTV+’s new crime thriller, sounds like a sure bet. The series, which twists and turns through a rehashing of a past murder investigation that might have landed the wrong man in prison, stars the exceptional pairing of Peter Capaldi in the role of grizzled elder Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty and […]
Author: Jean Henegan
What If? Season Two Review
I will admit to not be a huge fan of season one of What If?, the animated MCU series that allowed for a bit of fun to emerge into the convoluted world of Marvel – and that allowed some of our dearly departed characters the chance to appear in some more stories (even if not […]
Doctor Who – The Church on Ruby Road Review
You know your enjoying the latest incarnation of Doctor Who when your only complaint is that the latest sonic screwdriver is a bridge too far in terms of qualifying as anything in the realm of a “screwdriver.” Because that is such a minor quibble to have in terms of the story, characters, and aesthetic of […]
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is built on a pretty interesting premise: What would happen if, in modern times, the children of the Greek gods were made aware of their parentage and found themselves in a tug-of-war between various gods for control of Mount Olympus? After all, what adolescent – and despite broad appeal, these […]
The Crown Season Six (Part Two) Review
When discussing the final batch of episodes in The Crown’s sixth and final season with a friend, he mentioned something that got me thinking about how the series slowly, over the course of the last four seasons, fell apart. He lamented that the latter seasons of the series couldn’t manage to capture the heart and […]
Top Ten TV Shows of 2023
It’s that time of year again. The temperature is dropping, the days are growing shorter, and 2023 is drawing to a close. Which can only mean one thing: It’s time for Pop Culture Maniacs’ annual TV Top Ten list! This year in television was a tumultuous one, as it was for all of Hollywood, with […]
Doctor Who – The Giggle Review
“The Giggle,” the last of the three 60th Anniversary Doctor Who specials was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, we got to see another clash with the Toymaker – and see a stellar guest starring turn from Neil Patrick Harris. On the other, Russel T. Davies opted to play fast and […]
Culprits Review
Culprits, a new British thriller, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s a show that knows the story it is telling isn’t particularly novel – we’ve all seen stories like this one before – but it’s determined to provide us with exceptional performances, great direction, strong fight choreography, and compelling characters in order to take […]
Doctor Who – Wild Blue Yonder Review
What a wonderful surprise at the close of the episode – Wilf (the late, great Bernard Cribbins) reunited with the Doctor once more! Sure, we knew Cribbins would be appearing this season, but I hadn’t expected him to be around at this stage of the game (with hopefully another appearance in the finale of these […]
Slow Horses Season Three Review
Slow Horses, the British spy series that has, calmly and quietly, becomes the best thing on AppleTV+ by a mile, is back for another round of intrigue and head-shaking screw-ups as the team of Slough House try to outsmart their latest adversaries and try not to take down all of MI5 with them. If you’ve […]










