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.

Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter

Nobody ever said being the daughter of a bandit was going to be easy. But intrepid young Ronja is determined to make the best of her checkered lineage.

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American Crime

Truth is, American Crime is a “good” television show. But that’s a fact that can cut both ways.

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Castle Rock

Well crafted? Yes. Creepy? Certainly. But when it comes to content, Castle Rock’s a place I wouldn’t want to visit.

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Siberia

Siberia is a salacious drama masquerading as a reality show—a lot like actual reality programs, now that we think about it.

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Community

UPDATED REVIEW: Welcome to Greendale Community College, where everyone carries at least a minor in sexual deviancy and pop-culture references, and classes are graded on a steep downward curve.

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Whose Line is It Anyway?

Comedy is hard, no question. And clean comedy? It’s even harder, as the latest iteration of Whose Line Is It Anyway? proves.

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Falling Skies

UPDATED REVIEW: Don’t look now, but strange alien creatures have invaded. Again. Time to beat ’em back with a TV stick.

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Naked and Afraid

Some television shows bare their hearts and souls for everyone to see. This one bares almost everything else.

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Catherine the Great

HBO’s dramatic portrait of this Russian empress gives 18th-century debaucher a 21st-century makeover.

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The Colony

This Discovery Channel program is positioned as a post-apocalyptic experiment, with 10 volunteers serving as Guinea pigs.

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Big Time Rush

UPDATED REVIEW: Is BTR a tribute to The Monkees? Or merely a JONAS rip-off? (Nickelodeon wouldn’t do that, would it?)

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The Great Indoors

CBS’s new workplace sitcom pits Joel McHale against a cadre of sheltered Millennials. The result is sometimes funny, frequently tired and relatively clean.

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Inside Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer is one of the hottest comedians on the scene circa 2015. But she’s one of the foulest, too.

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Heroes Reborn

Heroes Reborn gives us a whole bunch of colorful superhuman characters, but it cares far more about their super-ness than their human-ness.

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Unbelievable

Unbelievable tells a gripping, horrific story and tells it well. But it shows us and forces us to feel it, too

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