In the US: Sunday 8th November, AMC
In the UK: BBC4 still haven't bought it…

That's it. It's over again for another year. Damn those AMC people. But 1963 and season three of Mad Men have ended, and we're going out on a high.

Continue reading "Season finale: Mad Men (season three)"

Read other posts about: Mad Men

Just in time for the news that it's just been acquired to air on Fiver in the UK comes the season finale of 10 Things I Hate About You. As mentioned in previous reviews, this isn't really much like the movie, with just a few plot elements and characters the same, but it's not bad in and of itself. Nothing too remarkable, but still reasonably funny with some interesting quirks and characters.

However, things have perked up in the last three episodes, making it a much more appealing show altogether.

Continue reading "Season finale: 10 Things I Hate About You"

Of all the shows arriving on our screens over summer, the surprise big hit has been Royal Pains. A charming comedy-drama about a New York ER doctor who ends up working as a 'concierge doctor' to the rich of the nearby Hamptons, it's as languid as a Long Island iced tea, with no big pyrotechnics, no screaming melodramas, only MacGyver-esque medical procedures and reasonable people having relatively normal relationships – against the general insanity experienced by the rich.

While it hasn't avoided the occasional escape from reality and House-ian "bizarre diseases of the week" to diagnose, it has remained whimsical fun with a compelling cast throughout. With a second season now assured and with so many sub-plots coming to a head, a cliffhanger ending was inevitable. What was surprising is that the creator of Charmed and the show's exec producer Constance M Burge managed to avoid Wiccans for a whole season – until now.

Continue reading "Season finale: Royal Pains"

Read other posts about: Royal Pains

God, so many season finales, I left off CSI from the last batch. So let's add it to this one, which includes old fave CSI: Miami and newbie The Mentalist

Continue reading "More season finales: CSI, CSI: Miami and The Mentalist"

Read other posts about: CSI

Erk. So many finales, so little time. With the upfronts happening at the same time, and with actual work to do, how am I going to review them all?

I know. How about one great big entry that gets rid of a whole load of them in one go, albeit with The Mentalist and CSI: Miami still to come?

So after the jump, brief spoiler-ridden looks at the finales (and preceding seasons) of 24, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, Eleventh Hour, Gossip Girl and Prison Break.

Continue reading "A round-up of some of the finales I haven't yet covered"

Read other posts about: 24, 30 Rock, My Name is Earl, Prison Break

Supernatural's a bizarre aberration for The CW. While most of the shows on the network are aimed at girls and young women, Supernatural - although clearly having some appeal for that demographic in the form of the two leads - is very much a horror show with a clear(ish) target of young men and boys.

Now despite this fact, and the fact it's not exactly the most trumpeted of shows, Supernatural is probably the second-best if not the best show on the network (Gossip Girl being perhaps the best despite a disappointing second season). And this fourth season has, despite the odds, probably been the best so far.

Continue reading "Season finale: Supernatural"

Read other posts about: Supernatural

This is it! This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Superman versus Doomsday - the thingie wot killed him in the comics! The ultimate smackdown.

Oh. That really wasn't ultimate at all, was it?

Continue reading "Season finale: Smallville (season eight)"

Read other posts about: Smallville

Wow. Okay, one obviously saccharine moment, but when Hugh Laurie does upset, he really moves you, doesn't he?

Continue reading "Season finale: House (season five)"

Read other posts about: House

Well, you've got to give them one thing: they sure know how to write a cliffhanger on Lost.

Continue reading "Season finale: Lost (season five)"

Read other posts about: Lost

The Unit's a strangely schizophrenic show. On the one hand, it tries its level best to be realistic about the US special forces, its procedures, what it must be like to be married to a special forces soldier and so on. It's quite conservative - about the only conservative show on mainstream TV other than 24 and maybe 30 Rock (debate anyone?)  - yet will quite happily have a Latino president. It's also quite ruthless, with our heroes frequently making quite nasty decisions (yes, we will sell you, helpful lady, into prostitution) to get the job done.

But it's also depressingly escapist and silly at times, with this season's David Mamet cluster-f*ck of the Unit being forced to retrieve the spear that was used to stab Jesus, and being visited by the spirit of departed Unit member Hector.

I kid you not.

So was the finale of season four one of those times when silliness outweighed true grit?

Continue reading "Season finale: The Unit (season four)"

Read other posts about: The Unit