"High Maintenance" is a television show that tells the story of a marijuana delivery man in New York City. Each episode focuses on a different customer and their unique story, with the delivery man acting as a sort of conduit between them. The show originally started as a web series before being picked up by HBO.

DreamWorks TV and producer Steven Spielberg are hoping their latest entry into prime time television lives up to its name. Smash is about the making of a Broadway musical play which involves the life of Marilyn Monroe. But personal conflicts among the cast members prove to be difficult to work with as they deal with the everyday demands of theater life and this musical in particular. Debra Messing stars as Julia Houston who is the co-writer as well as lyrist and song writer on Smash. Messing, formerly seen on Will & Grace, is an award winner with a musical background. Angelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor, The Adams Family) plays Eileen Rand the musical's producer who has to juggle handling a messy divorce along with the difficulty that goes with producing a Broadway musical. Frank Huston, Julia's husband is played by Brian d'Arcy James (Broadway's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) is jealous of Tom Levett (Christian Borle from Broadway's Jesus Christ Superstar), Julia's partner and co-writer of Smash. The actress who finally gets the role of Marilyn is Ivy Lynn played by Megan Hilty from the Broadway production of 9 to 5: The Musical. Plenty of behind the scenes back biting helps keep this production on a bumpy road.

As he championed "the new journalism" in the late sixties, Tom Wolfe suggested no one ever would write anything truly compelling"”fact or fiction"”about the suburbs; he asserted, "There is no life there." During the New Depression, however, the suburbs have gone ghetto, suddenly teeming with life and depravity; and television writers are producing all kinds of compelling stuff about what they have discovered beyond the white picket fences. Witness Showtime's smash-hit "Weeds," the life and times of a "proper" suburban widow keeping-up appearances while she deals more dope than a six-pack of Mexican cartels. As in "The Office," the basic premise for "Weeds" is an import from Great Britain, adapted from the British film Saving Grace which showed a widow and her gardener conspiring to maintain the widow's lifestyle by supplying the locals with their favorite herbal refreshment. Critics frequently compare "Weeds" with American Beauty for its exploitation of the idea "Normal is the face we wear to cover how f***ed-up we are." By contrast with "Desperate Housewives," Nancy Botwin, our entrepreneurial heroine, has far more good reason for desperation than her difficulty achieving orgasm; she has a house, a mortgage, two sons, and a reputation. Since Bonfire of the Vanities tanked and "Weeds" flourished, Tom Wolfe may have to consider the distinct possibility that there is no life in Manhattan.

Of course, nerds, geeks, dorks, techies, and intellectuals of all advanced-degree descriptions deserve love and affection"”if only their lips could form the monosyllables, "Will you go out with me?" CBS's hit "The Big Bang Theory" explores this and other mysteries of the universe, putting a lab-coated coterie of Cal-Tech scientists directly across the hall from Penny, premier Pasadena waitress and aspiring actress. "The Big Bang Thoery" proves once again that excruciating self-consciousness and social ineptitude, unfortunately, are always funny; and GED holders may derive extra satisfaction from Penny's frequent mastery of difficult situations on the strength of common sense and hard experience. In its first seasons, "The Big Bang Theory" looked frighteningly like "My Boys" minus Wrigley Field, but the characters and show have evolved, and individual actors and actresses have put their distinctive stamps on their roles. Especially Kaylee Cuoco has found the right balance between ingenuousness and homegrown girl power in her portrayal of Penny. Audiences have noticed, giving "The Big Bang Theory" their nod for a People's Choice Award in 2010. At the 2011 Golden Globe Awards, relatively unheralded, deliciously diffident Jim Parsons took home a handsome statuette for his performance as physicist Dr. Sheldon Cooper, an immensely lovable uber-nerd supreme. And in January, 2011, giving "The Big Bang Theory" the ultimate vote of confidence, CBS extended the show's contract for another three seasons.

When Rob star Rob Schneider was a regular on Saturday Night Live he stood out from the rest of the cast because he was actually funny! He moved on to star or co-star in some funny films such as Duece Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Grown Ups, and The Hot Chick yet didn't quite hit his stride until now with his own TV sitcom. Rob is newly married to the young and beautiful Maggie (Claudia Bassols of Blackout, Emulsion) who is Hispanic and has a large and extremely close family in southern California. Her parents Fernando (Cheech Marin from Up In Smoke, Next Movie) and Rosa (Diana-Marie Riva from Castle, Everybody Loves Raymond) are upset because their daughter eloped to Vegas with Rob. Meanwhile Rob has problems of his own simply because his new bride is now living in his home. He has issues with his personal "stuff" due to having OCD and had been a bachelor until recently. The show has its moments but mostly insults Mexicans every chance it gets.

With much humor derived from some cast members of Saturday Night Live and with approval from Lorne Michaels himself, Portlandia was born. The name Portlandia refers to a sculpture with that title found over the entrance doors of the Portland Building which is situated in downtown Portland on Fifth Avenue. The show has the fast paced comedy touch that SNL is well noted for and cast members Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein help keep it moving along. With Lorne Michaels as executive producer and creative writing from Fred Armisen, Jonathan Krisel, and Carrie Brownstein the show appears to have a bright future. We see how popular restaurants along the famous Hawthorne District in Portland handle irate dinner guests when they leave rather nasty reviews on a website titled Yelp! Another episode finds how badly a one man performance can actually be at the Hollywood Theatre, a local historic building in northeast Portland. If it happens in or around Portland it might end up on the show in some fashion, most likely comedic in tone. Portlandia currently runs on the IFC (Independent Film Channel).