Another new idea - people tend to watch TV over the weekend so let's talk about what everyone's been watching on a Monday instead of a Friday. And since 24 and Lost are only a week out, moving to a Monday means you can talk about both shows, whether you're in the US or the UK.
The Winter Olympics and lack of Heroes meant there wasn't much new US TV week this week, but anyway:
Archer: Some more great moments as per usual.
Being Erica: Watched the end of season two at last. Overall, while they experimented a lot more this season, Erica's character arc felt less satisfying and the whole thing almost reset Erica's situation back to the start of episode 1 (that's time travel for you). Ethan's emasculation this season didn't endear the show to us either, since at least he was a decent love interest for her last year.
Being Human: Don't really remember last week's very much (that's how good my memory is), but this week's was scary in a different kind of way from usual (Mitchell). Not quite sure why Annie has flipped from wanting "door tuition" (you know what I mean) a few episodes ago to her current frame of mind, but Mitchell's arc has been great. Some odd directorial decisions mind.
Burn Notice: Not bad. The Chris Vance stuff is so much tag-on at the moment though.
The Deep End: Up to episode four, which was half dreadful, half fun. The romance between Australian guy and blonde girl is a little bit Sweet Valley High, but it's charming in its way; everything else, particularly the legal side, is like having a nail hammered into your head by someone thinking they're being zany.
Leverage: A good ending to the season, overall, but the lack of Gina Bellman for much of the season has been a problem for character arcs, and most of the characters have been treading water. Basically, not as good as season one.
Life Unexpected: A reasonable ep, but nothing spectacular, other than "Lux learns a lesson about responsibility".
Lost: Were those answers we just got? Or fake answers? Either way, a great Locke-focused episode. Nice that disability isn't regarded as an unhappy ending for him in the flash-sideways. And best name for alternative Locke I've heard so far: "The Locke-ness monster".
24: Someone kill Dana now. But at least half an episode of decent moments, with Jack doing a cross between Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and the guy in Metal Gear Solid. Still needs more excitement though.
But what did you watch? See if you can cast your memories back to last week, anyway.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention the following two new HBO shows that started up and which I can't be arsed to give full reviews to:
The Ricky Gervais Show: Heard The Guardian's Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant/Karl Pilkington podcasts? Thought they'd be better if they were all animated, with Ricky Gervais looking like Fred Flintsone? Then a) you're a nutter b) you'd be wrong.
How To Make It In America: Supposed to be a comedy about working class New Yorkers trying to hit the big time through whatever pie-in-the-sky business scheme they have (selling fake leather jackets, borrowing money off a violent cousin, selling black-and-white photos). Actually about as funny as reading stats about recessionary economics. Does have a few funny moments and okay as a drama, I guess, but not involving at all. Still, if you ever wondered what happened to Shassyn Sossamon (sp?) from A Knight's Tale, now you know.
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 blocked by the spam filter)
Not my conference call interview (although I was invited), but here's the full transcript of an interview with Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly (aka Cagney and Lacey) about Cagney and Lacey, their recent reunion on Burn Notice and more.
In the weird world of the USA Network, some shows don't have seasons – they have half-seasons. Burn Notice is currently in the middle of its third season, but because the gap since the last episode has been so long, on January 21st it's due to start "season 3.5". Yes, that's a half-season.
So after the jump, some exciting promos to thrill you all. This half-season is going to have guest appearances from Tyne Daly, Clayne Crawford, Chris Vance, Danny Trejo, Jason Vargas, Spencer Garrett, Tim Matheson, Seth Peterson, Rick Kelly, Carlos Bernard, Garret Dillahunt and more, but no firm details yet (as you might expect) on any of the plots, unfortunately.
And yes, that means a Cagney and Lacey reunion. See?
Oh, and Gabrielle Anwar: please eat some food. We're worried about you, love.
In the US: Fridays, 10/9c, USA Network. Starts October 23rd
You may remember that while watching Chuck recently, you thought to yourself, "Why that dashing and handsome young Matt Bomer - who plays the possibly, possibly not evil secret agent Bryce Larkin - is so dashing and handsome, he deserves his own TV series."
Someone at USA Network seems to have thought the same thing, because here comes White Collar, a show about just how dashing and handsome Matt Bomer is.
The ostensible plot of the series is that Bomer is one of the world's smartest white collar criminals. Forgery, art theft, con tricks: you name it, he's done it, although he's only ever been caught once. When the man who caught him - FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) - finds himself stumped in his hunt for another art thief, he turns to the first thief to catch his second thief.
But, in actuality, the show is merely about Bomer going around being charming to various women while looking pained because of his lost love, who appears to have run away.
Guess the intended demographic. Go on. I dare you.
About the blog
This is a UK media blog with daily news, views, exclusive reviews and good conversation. There's a bit of a bias towards the latest and greatest US TV, but we also cover British TV ranging from new Doctor Who to old Z Cars, Property Ladder to Big Brother, and BBC4 to S4C – yes, this blog is firmly part of the conspiracy to promote all things Welsh where possible, particularly Caerdydd.
Add in film, theatre, art, books, events and media journalism and you've (hopefully) got one of the best places on the web for media lovers. Oh yes, and there's The Carusometer, the ultimate guide to quality TV.
About me
I'm Rob Buckley, a freelance journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of. I've edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for trade magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and contributed sarcastic articles about television to the blink-and-you-missed-it "web site for urban hedonists" The Tribe. I'm freelance now and have contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly and TV Scoop. Have pity on me.
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