iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app

Maureen Ryan
GET UPDATES FROM Maureen Ryan
 
Before joining AOL/Huffington Post as TV critic, Mo Ryan was the television critic for the Chicago Tribune. She serves on the board of the Peabody Awards and has served on the AFI Top 10 TV Shows of the Year committee three times. Favorite shows ever: It's tie among Battlestar Galactica and Deadwood and Friday Night Lights and Mad Men and Lost and 28 other shows she's going to remember in a minute. She is probably watching Doctor Who right now.
More from Maureen Ryan on Le HuffPost

Entries by Maureen Ryan

'Arrested Development' Returns: Jessica Walter On The New Lucille

(1) Comments | Posted May 23, 2013 | 12:44 PM

A lot of bad moms have surfaced on television in recent years, but very few of them have been as entertaining as "Arrested Development's" Lucille Bluth. In fact, the only TV mom who can hold a candle to the matriarch of the dysfunctional Bluth clan is Malory Archer,...

Read Post

'Mad Men' Recap: 'The Crash' Taps Into Old Themes

(92) Comments | Posted May 22, 2013 | 4:18 PM

mad men crash

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen the Season 6, Episode 7 of AMC's "Mad Men," titled "The Crash."

This message is brought to you by the Partnership for a Drug-Free Midtown Manhattan: Speed kills!

Don't believe...

Read Post

Best 'Arrested Development' Moments, As Picked By The Cast (VIDEO)

(0) Comments | Posted May 20, 2013 | 1:48 AM

Ask any "Arrested Development" fan for their favorite moment and chances are they'll come up with the scene or joke in a matter of seconds. However, it's a little harder for the cast, who spent three years living and breathing the show, to pick just one.

Will Arnett, GOB Bluth...

Read Post

'Supernatural' Season 8 Finale Looms But Things Are Looking Up For The Winchesters

(25) Comments | Posted May 14, 2013 | 5:10 PM

supernatural season 8

In the midst of "Lost's" rocky middle spell, a critic once described herself as being in "a loveless marriage" with the ABC show; and for a while, that was a fitting way to describe my relationship with "Supernatural,"...

Read Post

'Mad Men' Recap: Dread Spreads Among Unsettled Characters

(213) Comments | Posted May 13, 2013 | 1:35 AM

mad men man with a plan

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen the Season 6, Episode 6 of AMC's "Mad Men," titled "Man With a Plan."

After last week's episode -- an intense, eventful hour that threw...

Read Post

'Community' Season Finale Should Be Its Series Finale: Why Some Shows Need To Die

(97) Comments | Posted May 10, 2013 | 1:49 PM

community finale

We should find out today whether "Community" has been canceled.

I hope it is.

It gives me no pleasure to say that. But it's time for some real talk about holding on to things that should be allowed to die. [Update:...

Read Post

The Best 'Arrested Development' Guest Stars, As Picked By The Cast

(7) Comments | Posted May 10, 2013 | 10:14 AM

Everybody has a favorite "Arrested Development" guest star ... even the cast.

"I love Liza [Minnelli]. I just loved working with her. I love her as a person. She's just fantastic. She's just so great. She was up for anything and she's back in this season," Portia de Rossi...

Read Post

Riker's Chair Moves On 'Star Trek' Will Mesmerize You (VIDEO)

(203) Comments | Posted May 9, 2013 | 12:09 PM

If you've ever wondered how "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Commander Riker sits in a chair, you now have an answer: like a boss.

Even if you're a devoted "Star Trek" fan, you may never have noticed how Riker (Jonathan Frakes) takes charge of certain sitting situations....

Read Post

'Community' Season Finale Sneek Peek: Jeff Is Graduating And Darkest Timeline Returns (VIDEO)

(6) Comments | Posted May 8, 2013 | 1:44 PM

We don't know yet whether Thursday's "Community" season finale will also be the NBC comedy's swan song, but we do know that a key character has enough credits to leave Greendale Community College for good.

In HuffPost TV's exclusive clip (above) from Thursday's episode, "Introduction to Finality,"...

Read Post

'Mad Men' Recap: A Classic Episode Brings Big Changes For Don And Peggy

(270) Comments | Posted May 6, 2013 | 2:34 AM

madmenforimmediaterelease

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 6, Episode 6 of AMC's "Mad Men," titled "For Immediate Release."

"Everybody loves astronauts." -- Ted Chaough

Oh "Mad Men." That's the stuff!

"For Immediate Release" was packed wall-to-wall with...

Read Post

'Happy Endings' Finale Sneak Peek: Penny's Mom And Big Dave Are Back

(0) Comments | Posted May 3, 2013 | 2:05 PM

The "Happy Endings" finale airs tonight, and there are many, many reasons (some of them mentioned in this ah-mah-zing list) we're hoping against hope that the gang returns on some network, someday.

The six-person "Happy Endings" ensemble is a well-oiled machine, but as you can...

Read Post

'The Americans' Cast Talks Finale Secrets, Wigs, Slaps (VIDEO)

(38) Comments | Posted May 2, 2013 | 10:50 PM

The cast and executive producers of "The Americans" sat down on April 26 for a panel discussion of the FX drama at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, and we've got the entire hour on video for you.

If you're a fan of...

Read Post

'The Americans' Finale Scoop: Executive Producers On What Happened And What's Next

(11) Comments | Posted May 1, 2013 | 11:06 PM

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen the Season 1 finale of FX's "The Americans," titled "The Colonel."

Watching "The Americans" evolve over the course of the show's first season has been a gratifying process. It not only provided Keri Russell,...

Read Post

Matthew Rhys on 'The Americans' And His Sexy Undercover 'Staches

(7) Comments | Posted May 1, 2013 | 9:47 PM

It's hard not to look at the array of cover identities Matthew Rhys has used on the FX network spy drama "The Americans" and not conclude that they should star in a Web spinoff called "The Porn Identity."

"That's brilliant!" Rhys said with a laugh, when pitched...

Read Post

'Psych': Shawn Spencer Is Running For Office In Exclusive Sneak Peek (VIDEO)

(1) Comments | Posted May 1, 2013 | 3:04 PM

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) of "Psych" has been a Santa Barbara resident for years, but does his status as a longtime resident mean he'd be a good mayor?

Possibly not, if his behavior as a mayoral candidate is anything to go by. In the Huffington Post's exclusive...

Read Post

Margo Martindale On 'The Americans' And The Spy Life

(6) Comments | Posted May 1, 2013 | 1:59 PM

It's hard not to think of FX, at least in part, as a Margo Martindale delivery system.

Martindale delivered an Emmy-winning performance as Harlan County crime matriarch Mags Bennett in the second season of "Justified," and fans of the actress were thrilled to learn last...

Read Post

Noah Emmerich of 'The Americans' On The Quiet Spy Fighting The Cold War

(4) Comments | Posted April 30, 2013 | 6:39 PM

americansnoahemmerich

A good portion of the taut first season of "The Americans" revolved around a simple question: What's going on in the mind of Stan Beeman (played by Noah Emmerich)?

The FBI agent has been drawn deeply into the dangerous machinations of the Cold...

Read Post

'Inside Amy Schumer' Review: A Sly Take On Modern Love And/Or Sexting

(22) Comments | Posted April 30, 2013 | 3:06 PM

amy schumer

The first episode of "Inside Amy Schumer" (10:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, Comedy Central) is promising, but the second is even better.

The first episode of the show, which mixes standup, sketches and interviews by Schumer, is available online, and it's...

Read Post

'Mad Men' Recap: The AMC Drama Takes On A Historic Event

(147) Comments | Posted April 29, 2013 | 3:55 AM

mad men flood

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 6, Episode 5 of AMC's "Mad Men," titled "The Flood."

Since it debuted, "Mad Men" has been very good at misdirection.

In fact, when I've dinged various episodes in...

Read Post

'Vikings' Finale: Michael Hirst Previews The End, Plus First Look At Ragnar And Lagertha's Dangerous Trips (VIDEO)

(105) Comments | Posted April 25, 2013 | 10:30 AM

The season finale of History's "Vikings" sees both Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) and his wife Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) taking potentially dangerous trips.

In Sunday's episode, King Horik (Donal Logue) asks Ragnar to travel to Gotaland (modern-day Sweden) in order to resolve a land dispute, and the new alliance between...

Read Post