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.

Rescue Me

UPDATED REVIEW: Asked if the channel ever told him to stop pushing boundaries so hard, Denis Leary said, “No, FX is absolutely the best group of people I have ever worked with. All they do is ask us to push the envelope even further.”

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10 Things I Hate About You

An ABC Family series based on the movie based (loosely) on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

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The First

Are we there yet? Everyone who’s ever taken kids on a road trip has heard that before. Parents everywhere are familiar with the whining and crying, the queries to stop for ice cream, the pleas to get to a bathroom. And then, after what seems like hours …

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The Neighbors

Strong fences make for good neighbors, they say. But for every rule’s there’s an exception. And the exception to this one has to do with … aliens.

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Midnight, Texas

Every small town harbors its share of secrets. But Midnight has more than most.

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Psych

UPDATED REVIEW: Murder She Wrote for Gen Xers, this mystery sendup is loaded with screwball comedy, deadpan delivery and obscure ’80s references.

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The Last Man on Earth

Well, not exactly. But close enough for Fox’s comedy standards. (Which won’t necessarily be yours.)

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GCB

Is GCB trying to demean your faith? Or just the “faith” of its characters? And how much does it even matter when there are so many other reasons not to give much weight to what it thinks?

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Extant

This summer sci-fi series is a surprisingly daring show for a network that has thrived for years on crime procedurals and salacious comedies.

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American Pickers

Mike and Frank look to turn people’s trash into other people’s treasures—and make a bit of coin for themselves in the process.

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Magnum P.I.

A rollicking adventure that gives viewers an hour-long diversion without giving them nightmares.

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Madam Secretary

While Madam Secretary has its problems, it’s better and cleaner than we’ve seen lately from any of the other Washington-based dramas.

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Bizaardvark

Nice and sweet, with a bit of bathroom humor mingling amid character lessons.

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Quantico

This show is clearly more preoccupied with who’s sleeping with whom than whether someone might be part of a sleeper cell.

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Altered Carbon

Netflix’s new dystopian drama leaves a lot to be desired and very little to the imagination.

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