Month: September 2009

Canadian TV

Review: Being Erica 2×1

26 September 2009 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Being Erica 2x1

In Canada: Tuesdays, 9pm, CBC
in the US: Wednesdays, 10pm ET/PT, Soapnet. Starts January 20th 2010
In the UK: Season 1: Mondays, 10pm, E4. Starts September 28th. No word on season 2

Being Erica is one of the new breed of Canadian TV shows that are actually very good – good enough to compete globally and even be better than those from the US and Britain. Kind of like “Quantum Leap for girls”, it sees 30-something Erica Strange taken back in time by mysterious therapist “Dr Tom” to fix those parts of her past that made her the fabulous call centre operator with an MA in English Literature that she is today.

While it wasn’t the grittiest show in existence and answers about who exactly Dr Tom was or why he wanted to help Erica weren’t exactly forthcoming, season one was smart, emotional, made a decent stab at depth despite the fantasy element of its set-up and was genuinely moving at times.

Get watching UK viewers: it starts on E4 on Monday.

The first season saw Dr Tom’s unique, quote-laden therapy help Erica to get a decent job and a decent boyfriend, and to fix her relationships with her friends and family. By the end of it, Erica seemed pretty much fixed. However, she seemed to have broken ‘Dr Tom’ by breaking the rules he’d laid down for her therapy. As we go into season two, she has a new therapist, Dr Nadia, whom she doesn’t want, as well as a new mission.

More importantly, it’s time to pay for her therapy because she’s built up quite a bill.

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US TV

Review: CSI 10×1

26 September 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

CSI does The Matrix

In the US: Thursdays, 9/8c, CBS
In the UK: Five then everywhere. No airdate yet

Most people who watched the last season of CSI will have to admit it was a bit of a mess. While the quality of the writing was still strong and there were some very good episodes, it was hard to care about the show. New girl Riley still hadn’t evolved a personality; Warrick was gone, Sara was gone, Grissom went; Laurence Fishburne turned up and while he was great, he didn’t quite gel with the team.

The producers appear to have noticed that and are doing their best to rectify the situation with some tinkering to the cast and characters, something that made up the bulk of the season opener. The rest: a really quite awesome homage to The Matrix, appropriately enough. I hope they haven’t spent the whole CGI budget for the year on it.

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US TV

Review: The Mentalist 2×1

26 September 2009 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Simon Baker in The Mentalist

In the US: Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS
In the UK: Five. No air date yet

Out of all the new shows in the US last year, there was one big winner, the conclusive champion triumphing over all others: The Mentalist. Created by Rome‘s Bruno Heller, it sees former ‘psychic’ Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) join up the the California Bureau of Investigation to hunt down the serial killer, Red John, who killed his family and offer his unique services to solve other crimes while doing.

Jane isn’t a ‘real’ psychic, but uses all the powers of those frauds – cold reading, misdirection, observation, etc – to deduce who the guilty party is. Although it might not be called Sherlock Holmes, that’s essentially what Jane is – a man whose ability to observe and deduce is so powerful, he knows who the guilty person is within seconds and just has to spend the rest of the episode proving it.

Despite the Red John storyline, The Mentalist is essentially a standalone show in which every episode has little to do with Red John. Instead, unlike all those serial shows that were so hot a few years ago, The Mentalist made it to the top of the ratings through not requiring the viewer to know anything or to pay that much attention: instead, you can dip into and out of The Mentalist whenever you want, content in the knowledge that you’ll just get to see that nice Simon Baker being very charming and quite clever while solving a generic crime story.

And frankly, as pleasant as that is, I’m bored of that now.

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US TV

Review: House 6×1-6×2

26 September 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

House 6x1

In the US: Mondays, 8/7c, Fox
In the UK: Sundays, 9pm, Sky 1. Starts 4th October

The biggest accusation that can be levelled at House is that it’s formulaic. Every episode, someone comes down with the lurgi after a fake out sequence at the beginning where you’re not exactly sure who’s going to get ill. They turn up at House’s hospital. House and his team try to work out what the problem is, they misdiagnose a few times, then House (or someone) has a sudden moment of inspiration and the mystery is solved. All of this takes place while House makes various nasty and/or politically incorrect comments, messes around with his team and pops back the Vicadin.

Yes, they’ve messed around with that formula a couple of times, but that’s basically what happens each and every episode.

So I have to wonder what’s going to have to the show from now on, given this season premiere appears to be mucking around with the formula quite a lot.

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Sitting Tennant

Friday’s Sitting Tennant (from Sister Chastity): Behind the scenes of Voyage of the Damned

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Sister Chastity's Sitting Tennant

It’s Friday, my train is in 15 minutes, so it’s time for Sitting Tennant on the run. Figure that paradox out.

The winning photo this week is from Sister Chastity, and definitely features the phrase “I should be so lucky”. I’m just not sure who’s saying it.

So that gives us the following exciting scores, since the deadlock has been broken:

  1. Sister Chastity: 59.5
  2. Rullsenberg: 56.5
  3. Jaradel: 35.5
  4. Toby: 5
  5. Amy, Lauren: 4
  6. Rosby: 2.5
  7. Persephone, Sabine: 1

Meanwhile, over in witty captions, the new rule has come into effect so five points for everyone who took part. But the winner is Marie with her delightfully whimsical caption that brought a cheer to all our hearts. Even so, I still want Electric Dragon’s ray gun. Good luck this week, everyone!

  1. Marie: 162.5
  2. Toby: 156.5
  3. Rullsenberg: 112
  4. Jane Henry: 70.5
  5. Electric Dragon: 56
  6. Persephone: 45.5
  7. Jaradel: 38.5
  8. Rev/Views: 25
  9. Scott 2: 14
  10. Joe, Sister Chastity: 10
  11. Scott: 3
  12. Aaron: 2
  13. almostwitty.com: 1
  14. Stu_N: 1

Remember, you can submit as many captions as you like for today’s picture, with everyone who contributes getting 5 points and the wittiest getting 10 points next Friday.

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below or email me and if it’s judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery.

Every photo displayed on Monday (one per person who sends one in) gets a point, with a bonus point if it’s from the latest DT production; the best pic in the stash each week will appear on Friday and get three points.

You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Friday’s Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points.