TV Show Mini-Reviews

[Sol]

New Louis Theroux series extreme Love started tonight, the first one Extreme Love: Autism was very enlightening and I would heartily recommend giving it a watch.

It also contained this picture:

[buzzmong]

Ty. He's a bit like sand. He gets everywhere.

[spoodie]

Anyone catch that one-off Gervais show, Derek? I thought it was very good. Not hilarous, but amusing and also very touching.

[Roman Totale]

Not sure if anyone is watching the new series of Game of Thrones, but it's very enjoyable so far. The real highlight of the show so far, head and shoulders above the rest, is Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister - fantastic character, great lines and brilliantly acted. Only downside to that is that scenes without him feel so much poorer.

Also it may just be me, but I'm sure there are at least 1 million new characters who haven't been mentioned before. I feel like an awkward Alzheimer's sufferer - I don't know who these people are but I'm afraid to speak up and embarrass myself. I'll just go with the flow for now and hope someone offers me a Werther's.

[spoodie]

I'm waiting until GoT season 2 finishes before I start. That way there's no waiting when you simply must see the next episode. It's that kind of show.

[Sheriff Fatman]

I keep telling myself I should give Game of Thrones another go. I got four episodes into the first series and just couldn't be bothered to watch any more - it just seemed to plod along. I understand that it was building a little depth of character, but there comes a point where *something* needs to happen (beyond chucking in some jail-bait looking girls' bewbs).

[deject]

The Killing (US) Season 2 has been much more interesting than the dodgy police work in season 1, I'm liking the conspiracy/mob storyline a lot.

Eureka FINAL SEASON is starting off by pulling out all the stops with the crazy and the last second deus ex machinas, true to form.

Awake is a great show, though the ratings seem to be terrible. A shame really because the concept and execution of the show is excellent.

[Roman Totale]

Awake is a great show

Not heard of this one before, but it certainly sounds like an interesting premise. I'll give it a tester sweep.

[deject]

Jason Issacs is pretty good and yeah the premise is super interesting. I don't know how sustainable it is but we may not get a chance to find out as the rumors are that it won't be renewed.

[spoodie]

Hello to Jason Isaacs

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=jason+isaacs

[tandino]

The Newsroom is great so far. Mrs Tandini and I rarely agree on something unless it's a bit special. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1870479/

[Anery]

Continuum

Cop gets sent back in time from 2072 to 2012, continues to chase down terrorists from her era who have also time travelled.
Is actually interesting.

[bomberesque]

Been watching some new stuff this week. Well, new to me anyway;

Alcatraz - about prisoners coming back from the past. not a terrible premise but ultimately a bit boring

Touch - about a kid who seems quite damaged but writes numbers everywhere. then stuff happens around those numbers. his dad (Keifer Sutherland) spends his time being the sympathetic single dad and running round trying to unravel the mystery. It's quite a good premise but I found myself unwowed by it. This (like alcatraz) seems to be trying to ride the wave of stuff like lost. Thing is that was Lost was good where this I'm afraid isn't very.

bringing me to something that I have been wowed by

Sons of Anarchy - absolutely mental depiction of life inside a biker Gang in the wonderfully named town of Charming. Quintessentially American, bawdy, really quite violent most of the time, verging well into proper nasty at times, but humorous and caring as well. Clay (Ron Perlman) is the gang's leader, his step son (Jacks, played by some dude I've never seen before) is the biological son of the gang's original leader, who seems to have been a bit of a philosopher but died on the road, leaving behind a biker's manifesto that forms the backbone of the plot arc. Clay is now married to Jacks' mum, played by Katie Sagal (her out of the old Married With Children) only you're not someone's wife in the club, you're their "old Lady". sounds misogynistic and maybe it is but Jemma is no wilting violet, a true matriarch, as we find out in the second series. Club is family and family comes first. Clay is aging and at some point won't be able to ride anymore (if you can't ride, you can't lead), Jacks is up and coming, VP of the club and with the ear of the younger members plus more than a few of the old guard who remain loyal to his dad. Both are outlaw crims but Jacks is more of the philosophical anarchist looking for life and freedom whereas clay is a balls out arms dealer and hoer shagger. Jacks' idea of the straight and narrow is fronting up a porn business. the main plot arc is their clash of heads in a contest to push their club in the direction they see fit. It's clear from the outset that there's more to Jack's father's death than it appears and I'm fairly sure we're going to find out at some point that Perlman had him killed, probably with the involvement of Jack's mum, although that is less clear (but she's definitely keeping a big secret for him). I've finished the 2nd series and it's bloody brilliant up to there.

plus, they just started screening True Justice Segal's TV cop series over here. the tag line is "Some lines should never be crossed" ... a better summary of Segal's career I have never heard. I've warmed up the PVP. I'm expecting it to be beyond terrible. should be fun

[Sheriff Fatman]

American Horror Story

Described as an anthology series, each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a disparate set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle and end".

Currently coming towards the end of its second season, this ain't too bad for a TV horror series. As you'd expect, being a TV show, it isn't really that scary but it does manage to be quite spooky and, whilst it does rely on horror clichés a bit, it also has a few good ideas of its own. The first season does suffer from looking a bit like a TV movie and a standard haunted house story but a solid cast and decent script keep it going at a fair lick. The "stars" of this series aren't that great, they do well enough, but they are played off the screen by the supporting roles (Zachary Quinto, Jessica Lange, Denis O'Hare and Mena Suvari are a few you might recognise).

Second season is again a fairly clichéd asylum story but the success of the first series has clearly meant more money and time has been given to it. The daytime TV stars of the first series have gone and the under-used (presumably due to budget) supporting cast are promoted to main billing. They are joined by some other useful actors and this, combined with a much higher production standard, makes this season much the better watch.

Worth a sweep for filling the spare hours over Christmas hols, but nothing spectacular, except tfor the younger version of the maid in season one:

Alexandra Breckenridge

[Roman Totale]

I need some TV popcorn for the eyes, so I might have a look at that.

Things I've been watching:

Modern Family

American sitcom following three different households of a family: The patriarch (played by Al Bundy) who has married a Colombian woman who is much younger than him and has a young son; his daughter and her husband who tries to be a "cool dad" with their 3 kids; and his faaabulous son who has adopted a Vietnamese baby girl with his partner.

It all sounds rather cliched, but I like it. The humour is quick, the characters are likeable, and the acting is spot on. I don't think it sets the world on fire (and I did check it out because of the rave reviews), but it's enjoyable stuff.

Luther

For some reason I've always slated this without ever having watched it. I think that was a combination of some terrible trailers on the BBC and me being a judgmental cupcake. The thing is I really like Idris Elba so I decided to give it a go - it's really good! I think I ploughed through the first series (6 episodes, an hour long each) in a couple of days. Pretty standard police procedural with a maverick cop, but it feels fresh. Plus it's only £5 in HMV.

[Roman Totale]

It has taken me a long, long time to get into it, but holy shit is Breaking Bad good. It originally failed my 3 episodes test a while ago, but given the huge critical acclaim it receives I decided to re-investigate - definitely worth it. Still not got around to watching The Wire though...

[Mr. Johnson]

Speaking of things that took me long time to get into*, I started watching Life on Mars recently. As a cop show it's okay, nothing new there really but I like the 70's theme; everything was so ugly back then. Also, they all sound like Pnut.

*yourmomlol

[Dog Pants]

Oddly enough Mrs Pants just started watching Life on Mars. I love it. Really need to get around to watching Ashes to Ashes.

[Sheriff Fatman]

I really liked Life on Mars. I wouldn't expect much from Ashes to Ashes, mind.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Life on mars is bloody brilliant, but ashes to ashes just never clicks with me, not sure I've even watched the first episode through.