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.

9JKL

Josh treats his neighbors like family. Why? Because that’s what they are in a sitcom that’s both sweet and rough around the edges.

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Twisted

Well, at least ABC Family got the name right.

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90210

We’re sure there are folks who live in the 90210 area code who have solid families, strong values and wear their purity rings without irony. They don’t make it onto this tawdry retread of a show, though.

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24: Live Another Day

Jack Bauer is back, ready to give more than he gets in another day of gorrific world-saving mayhem.

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Friends With Better Lives

Friends with the best lives don’t let friends with any sort of lives watch Friends With Better Lives.

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The Crazy Ones

Legendary comedian Robin Williams returns to the small screen. Is that a good thing?

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The Last O.G.

The Last O.G. might be one of the last things you’d want to flip on with kids in the room.

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Of Kings and Prophets

It seems disingenuous to say this show will help people wrestle with their faith when it revels in so much carnal content.

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Hand of God

Vox calls this Amazon series “excruciatingly terrible television.” The L.A. Times says it features “miraculous acting and little else.” Plugged In adds …

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The Killing

AMC’s stylishly noir murder mystery is now on Netflix. It still features a compelling cast of police and suspects and red herring twists. But it paints an even more brutal and heartrending picture of pain and tragedy.

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iCarly

Year after year, iCarly wins a Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Award. So it’s clearly a fave among tweens. Should parents feel the same way?

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Beauty & the Beast

The CW’s Beauty & the Beast bears little resemblance to the animated Disney classic.

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Born This Way

Born This Way has its problems, but at its core it’s a deeply hopeful show that humanizes a group of people that, for too long, have been marginalized.

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Jersey Shore

Drinking, swearing, hooking up … and lots and lots of Snookisms. MTV’s Jersey Shore relocates to Miami, but the song is still the same.

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The Librarians

The title might not sound very exciting. But you should know that these librarians specialize in the Danger Decimal System!

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