Month: September 2009

US TV

Review: Accidentally on Purpose 1×1

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Accidentally On Purpose

In the US: Mondays, 8.30pm, CBS

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Beautiful blonde media type is on a girls’ night out with her sister when she bumps into an aimless slacker, who’s out with his equally slack friends. They hit it off, they dance, they go back to his place together. And they don’t use a condom.

Lo-and-behold, just a few weeks later, blonde media type lady finds she’s pregnant, decides to keep the baby then realises she has to carve out some kind of relationship with the baby’s father – and his friends.

Yes, it’s Knocked Up. Except it’s also CBS’s new sitcom, Accidentally On Purpose, a vehicle for Dharma & Greg star Jenna Elfman.

But while it’s not the funniest show in the world or the most original, it has just enough heart – and just enough Jenna Elfman – to make it watchable. Just about.

Continue reading “Review: Accidentally on Purpose 1×1”

What have you been watching this week (w/e September 18)

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Well, the new season has really started in earnest in the US, and there are some new shows in the UK, too. I’m working my way through them at the moment, so between now and Monday, you should be getting full reviews of

  • House (a weird two-hour special in which House seems to become nice)
  • Cougar Town (Courtney Cox’s new show)
  • Modern Family (supposed to be very funny)
  • The Mentalist (very yawn inducing)
  • Accidentally On Purpose (slightly awful so far, even though it does star Jenna Elfman)
  • The Good Wife (whatserface off ER going back to work after politician Chris Noth cheats on her)
  • FlashForward (everyone in the world gets a vision of what their life will be like in six months)
  • Smallville (kneel before Zod!)
  • The Vampire Diaries (a third-episode verdict probably. If I can stomach watching two episodes back to back)
  • CSI (Sara’s back and that other one is off!)

But…

  • Merlin bored me enough that I stopped after 10 minutes, so I won’t be watching that any more
  • Gossip Girl finally got too silly last week, so I gave up on it, too
  • I’m figuring the number of people interested in The Beautiful Life round here wouldn’t be that great, so I avoided watching that, too
  • The Fixer was rubbish for about 30 minutes then got really good
  • I’m slowly catching up with Mad Men and as lovely as it is, I’m not finding the character interest at the moment to draw me in – am I suffering from quality TV ennui?
  • Last week’s Supernatural made up for the slightly disappointing season opener with a good ending.
  • I’ve still to watch this week’s episode of Supernatural as well as Community.
  • And virtually everything else I’ve already reviewed.

But how about you?

UPDATE: Doh! I’ll be reviewing the first episode of the new season of Being Erica (very intriguing) as well. I knew I’d forget something.

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

What have you been watching this week (w/e September 18)

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Well, the new season has really started in earnest in the US, and there are some new shows in the UK, too. I’m working my way through them at the moment, so between now and Monday, you should be getting full reviews of

  • House (a weird two-hour special in which House seems to become nice)
  • Cougar Town (Courtney Cox’s new show)
  • Modern Family (supposed to be very funny)
  • The Mentalist (very yawn inducing)
  • Accidentally On Purpose (slightly awful so far, even though it does star Jenna Elfman)
  • The Good Wife (whatserface off ER going back to work after politician Chris Noth cheats on her)
  • FlashForward (everyone in the world gets a vision of what their life will be like in six months)
  • Smallville (kneel before Zod!)
  • The Vampire Diaries (a third-episode verdict probably. If I can stomach watching two episodes back to back)
  • CSI (Sara’s back and that other one is off!)

But…

  • Merlin bored me enough that I stopped after 10 minutes, so I won’t be watching that any more
  • Gossip Girl finally got too silly last week, so I gave up on it, too
  • I’m figuring the number of people interested in The Beautiful Life round here wouldn’t be that great, so I avoided watching that, too
  • The Fixer was rubbish for about 30 minutes then got really good
  • I’m slowly catching up with Mad Men and as lovely as it is, I’m not finding the character interest at the moment to draw me in – am I suffering from quality TV ennui?
  • Last week’s Supernatural made up for the slightly disappointing season opener with a good ending.
  • I’ve still to watch this week’s episode of Supernatural as well as Community.
  • And virtually everything else I’ve already reviewed.

But how about you?

UPDATE: Doh! I’ll be reviewing the first episode of the new season of Being Erica (very intriguing) as well. I knew I’d forget something.

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

Friday’s “BBC news’ not so impossible task” news

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Film

British TV

US TV

US TV

Review: The Forgotten 1×1

24 September 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

In the US: Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC

For every hit like the CSI franchise that Jerry Bruckheimer produces, there’s a flop like Eleventh Hour or a Justice seemingly waiting in the wings to cancel it out.

You could already hear the sound of extreme flopping from The Forgotten before it even got to our screens. Featuring five citizen investigators who try to identify missing bodies for the police, the pilot for the episode starred Rupert Penry-Jones and Reiko Aylesworth and was officially classed, even by those in it, as ‘not very good’.

With a quick recasting of those two leads that saw Penry-Jones replaced with Christian Slater (just off previous flop My Own Worst Enemy) and Aylesworth with no one at all (they just dumped the character), the pilot was reshot and now here it is.

And it’s still rubbish.

Since ABC haven’t gotten around to creating a promo for the show that features Christian Slater, here’s one with Rupert Penry-Jones; I’ll have a Slater clip later for you. Close your eyes and pretend it’s him for now though, because it’s basically the same.

Continue reading “Review: The Forgotten 1×1”