A bit of an odd collection of viewing treats this week:
- Mad Men – Haven't watched this week's yet.
- Community – Duff first half, but it pulled it together for the second half. Loved Avid's TV self-awareness that made him hide away this episode, because he'd been getting too much screen time in the previous episodes.
- 30 Rock – had its moments. Not as good as Community though.
- Dexter – so many twists! Great ending.
- Stargate Universe – still liking it. Still. Not loving it. But liking it. There were some beautiful bits of CGI in this week's ep, Robert Carlyle was acting for all his worth, and the music was great – very Vangelis/Blade Runner.
- The Thick of It – more political, less funny that previous episodes. And is Malcolm toning down on his swearing now it's Rebecca Front in charge?
- Ghosts in the Machine – Very good little documentary on BBC4 about ghost stories on TV. I've seen pretty much everything featured on it, surprisingly, and I thought they gave the Ghost Stories for Christmas too little time – I'd have loved to have seen more focus given to Andrew Davies's adaptation of The Signalman as well the later stories that weren't based on MR James stories. But good to see The Omega Factor getting a head nod. Still, for anyone who hadn't see The Stone Tape et al, bit of a spoiler-fest since they gave all the endings away.
- Dollhouse – Yes, I know I've given up on it, but I was told by Jonathan that last week's was excellent, so I thought I'd watch it. It was certainly a whole lot better than previous week's – except for any bit with Eliza Dushku in it – and it's nice to see Vincent Ventrega still getting work. But I'm not loving it either.
Otherwise, the backlog's growing.
What have you been watching though?
As always, no spoilers unless you're going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please. If you've reviewed something on your blog, you can put a link to it here rather than repeat yourself (although too many links and you might get killed by the spam filter).
October 30, 2009 | Reply
Dexter was indeed brilliant. I really felt gut-punched by the scene with Deb.
Mad Men was jarringly similar in places. And an absolutely pivotal episode. I never really expected what happened in it...
FlashForward was very solid. I am glad I stuck with the show because when the lead characters (the husband and wife) are in the background, it is actually quite good. There was a slight tinge of (very welcome) black humour to the past two episodes with the sequences set to music. I liked.
Being Erica had a brilliant episode. I am still a week behind with this show so it was "Yes We Can" where Erica gets a "do-over" day. Brilliant twist on the normal template and seeing more of Kai was great. A little hint of information about him was revealed... Are we to assume he is from the future?. Loved it.
Um, also saw Big Bang Theory with Wil Wheaton and was okay but not great. The previous week with the "eye of the tiger" sequence killed though. I think the next time I end up staring at a whiteboard with a colleague I will play that.
I tried It's Only a Theory (bbc 4) and was not pleased at the tone that seemed to be "well we have to make science entertaining so we will gently mock it without understanding it". But then again it gave science some airtime so maybe that isn't a bad thing...
I actually watched my first Dollhouse episode of the season. The title sequence seems creepier than I remembered. The episode itself had great directing and the dialogues weren't as cringe-worthy as I remember them being so.. yeah, it was as good as some of what I watch. But at the same time, there were a lot of questions and inconsistencies that undermined whatever message the episode was meant to impart.
HIGNFY was good. David Mitchell is a welcome guest on my tv. I want him and Ian Hislop shut in a room together just talking for an hour. It would be fascinating and intelligent discourse I am sure.
October 30, 2009 | Reply
Caught the first two games of the World Series. My team's not in it, and I have no interest in either team. All I'm rooting for is a full seven games so I can get my fix in before a long winter.
Had a revival of the bit torrent rebel alliance Wednesday night, with the intent of seeing the SJA's that have already aired. Never got around to them. Instead we watched a lot of Dame Edna, the recent Wanda Sykes special, Cinematic Titanic's skewering of the movie "Legacy of Blood". (CT is Mystery Science Theater 3000 reborn.) We also started the MST3K treatment of "The Crawling Eye", but abandoned that in favor of the cannibalism episode of 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' as a combination salute to Halloween and the Phillies' win in Game One.
I recorded Masterpiece Contemporary, which was showing "Endgame". But I only watched it for the opening David Tennant commentary.
'Sanctuary'is back and has reentered the queue; not sure I'd be sticking with it if it weren't for Jonathon Young playing Nicola Tesla, who's joined as a regular.
Still have not started the 6 part Monty Python documentary, but it's nice to know that it's there in the queue when I'm ready.
October 31, 2009 | Reply
Friday I watched this week's episode of "CSI: Miami". I don't watch the show, unless something's going to be out of the ordinary and this was that type of episode - Khandi Alexander returned as a guest star. (I always like to see how TV shows handle the return of former regulars, which is the reason I watched the series debut of the new "Melrose Place" when I never watched the original at all.)
But what was really interesting about it was that it highlighted this rift between Caruso and the girl who plays Callie. She got injured, to the point where it looked like she could die... and not once did Horatio go in to check on her. Khandi's character had to come out to the waiting area and let him know how she was, while the other star of the show had no problem visiting her! Sheesh......
November 2, 2009 | Reply
"Being Erica had a brilliant episode. I am still a week behind with this show so it was "Yes We Can" where Erica gets a "do-over" day. Brilliant twist on the normal template and seeing more of Kai was great. A little hint of information about him was revealed... Are we to assume he is from the future?. Loved it."
Just seen this one. Yes, I think you're right with your inference. Is it also possible that the person he killed was Erica?
November 2, 2009 | Reply
Yeah, I wondered about that. I can't remember if Kai recognised Erica when they first met or not. I think I would have noticed if he had but I can't be certain.
The show shines when it experiments. It's still clever and sassy when it doesn't of course...
November 2, 2009 | Reply
@toby: That was when it got really silly. They've been better of late, but it's still noticeable how few scenes they've shared.
@bob: No I can't either. It would also mean some issues need resolving if the rules laid down at the end of last season are to be obeyed.
November 3, 2009 | Reply
I enjoyed Murderland, though slightly unsettling not to feel I could trust Robbie Coltrane (-:
Loved Emma. Some anachronisms I'm sure (actually alot according to the guy in the DT)but I thought it captured the spirit of the book brilliantly, and Johnny Lee Miller made a very sexy Mr Knightley. First time I've ever found him sexy in fact... Also Tamsin Grieg stole the show as Miss Bates. She was wonderful.