As mentioned in an earlier post of mine, I've become quite a fan of US TV drama & comedy series.  Thankfully, after everything I said in my last post about these things not being quickly available in the UK things are changing, and more quality shows seem to be finding their way here much sooner than they have previously.  This is a Good Thing.  Anyway, here's my thoughts on some of the things I've been watching lately

Heroes
So we're into series 4, but does anyone really care anymore?  This is apparently the most downloaded show, but I'm kind of at a loss to see why.  The writers don't seem to have a coherent plan, everything is fragmented and the whole Carnival thing (which started off quite promising and creepy) just isn't being explained enough... maybe the next ep with the return of Mohinder will sort things out?  Doubt it, but still...

Dexter
Again season 4, and still as good as ever, but I really think he has to be found out by his sister soon, and this series would be a good time to do it I think.  Best thing this year is the incomparable John Lithgow as Trinity... a revelation if you've only known him from comedy, he goes from civil to psychopath in the blink of an eye, and manages to be terrifying even when acting normally - he is this show's Hannibal Lecter.  Wonderful.

House
Most watched TV show in the world for one reason - Hugh Laurie.  Man is awesome, and deserves every plaudit.  What can I say, if you don't watch House, you really should.  Do your self a favour and get the boxsets and have a marathon.  Yeah, ok it has a formula, but it's the performances that make it compelling.

Castle
Only introduced to this a few weeks ago - it's Nathan Fillion's (of Firefly / Serenity) current project.  How can I describe it?  It is on the surface your typical ABC afternoon drama show, but after the first short season it has finally found it's stride and is a pleasure to watch.  Basic synopsis - famous author follows police detective around to do research for new book, helps to solve cases, bit of romantic tension thrown in for good measure.  That may well put you off but the show is carried ably by the two leads - Fillion with his wit and charm, and Stana Katic by being hot and funny.  This actress is one to watch, like a younger Courteney Cox meets Penelope Cruz (hang on, let me just visualise that...), with good comic timing.  It's entertaining in kind of a Moonlighting way, but without being as self-aware as that show.  Check it out anyway.

Flash Forward
The new "Lost"...? I never got into Lost but I'm trying hard with this one.  They seem to be throwing a lot more information around, which may or may not be a good thing.  I'll stick with it though, if only to see how they deal with the episode set on the day of the FlashForward next April.  That will be the decider I think...  I still reckon iit will turn out to be one of Derren Brown's "Events".

Stargate Universe
Robert Carlyle is the main reason I'm still watching this.  At the outset they said "people will die on this show", and I'm still waiting for them to jetison more of the annyoing cast - I think they lost one character and have stranded 2 on a planet (possibly, they sent them through a gate but they may have gotten back off-screen as it's not been mentioned since).  I'm still worried it's going to turn into "this week's dilemma / race-against-time", but it seems to still be teetering on the edge of being a great show.

Big Bang Theory
Hilarious, no other way to describe it.  The "Rocky" montage and the Wil Wheton ep were laugh-out-loud funny for me, which is rare.

V
Is this a right-wing dig at Obama?  The aliens are all good looking, have a united society (clearly Communism, right?) "come in peace" and literally promise "universal healthcare".  I think this maybe a parallel to BSG which was a response to 9/11 and Iraq.  Will be interesting to see how it develops - only 4 episodes coming before it disappears until March, so they have to come up with a massive cliffhanger to get people to tune back in.  

Breaking Bad
Only just started watching this, and good to see Channel 5 have picked it up in the UK.  Bryan Cranston (dad from "Malcolm in the Middle") plays a fifty-year-old chemistry professor who finds out he has lung cancer and only months to live.  Wanting to provide for his family he makes an ill-judged choice to use his chemistry knowledge to get into the drugs trade by cooking Crystal Meth... Best way I can describe the first couple of episodes is like a Coen Brothers movie - very funny but with a dark streak a mile wide.  This is definitely one to check out.  There are 2 seasons so far, the first only has 7 episodes so I hope C5 shows both back-to-back.

That's pretty much it - just these few shows go to demonstrate the massive gulf in quality between the UK and US.  Thank the lord for the internet.

Tags: geek, opinion, sci-fi, tv
Categories: Geek | General | Opinion | Reviews | TV