Year: 2010

What have you been watching this week (w/e September 10)

10 September 2010 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

Him and Her

I’ve just about caught up with my backlog, with only this week’s Dark Blue and the first ep of Hellcats to watch. I’ll be reviewing the first ep of Nikita next week – let’s just say for now that it was pretty dreadful and Maggie Q and trees are made of the same material:

  • Covert Affairs: Very dull this week, but at least Anne Dudek got something to do for a change. Interesting revelation at the end.
  • The Gates: Has gone very dark, which is nice, and at last the werewolves’ secret is out. One of the better shows of the week, but not quite sparkling enough to recommend unreservedly.
  • Him and Her: BBC3 thing with Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani that sees an unemployed 20something couple getting up to not much in their flat. In fact, they never actually leave it and not a lot actually happens – it’s more a comedy of relationship observations. Not laugh out loud funny, but should provoke wry grins from anyone who’s ever lived with someone else; definitely worth tuning in for the next episode at least.
  • Mad Men: About five episodes in and despite the first ep being a bit lacklustre, I’d say this is the best season so far. Very much enjoying it and the pacing’s improved a lot.
  • Persons Unknown: Caught the last two episodes. Wow. That was a complete waste of time, it turned out. I almost liked the ending, but it wasn’t satisfying enough to justify the previous stupidities and since the creators promised there’d be no unanswered questions at the end, I think they need to be sued for breach of contract. Odd to see Robert Picardo turning up as an evil mastermind, complete with That Mitchell and Webb Look evil hair and costume.
  • Scoundrels: It’s finished now, by the looks of it. Didn’t go out with a whimper or a bang – it just sort of stopped. Overall, it was okay, but never really found itself. Hopefully the cast will go on to better things.

But what have you been watching?

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).

Review: Terriers 1×1

10 September 2010 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Terriers

In the US: Wednesdays, 10pm, FX

You know, I can remember a time when practically every TV show was about private detectives. Riptide, Tucker’s Witch, Simon and Simon, Magnum PI, The Rockford Files – no one did cops, it was always private detectives. Now they’re rarer than an ice cream at the Arctic.

But look, here comes one! It’s called Terriers and stars Donal Logue (Life, The Knights of Prosperity) as a shabby, unlicensed private detective who deals purely with the small-time – until an old friend asks him to find his daughter. Then things start to get big.

With Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit) as exec producers, you’d presumably have high hopes for Terriers. Indeed, it has some fun dialogue, a decent plot and gritty edges. So why has it got the worst launch ratings of any FX show ever and why was I yawning all the way through it?

Continue reading “Review: Terriers 1×1”

Friday’s Sitting Tennant (week 32, 2010)

10 September 2010 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Erin C's Sitting Tennant

Ms Rullsenberg's Sitting Tennant

Sister Chastity and Toby's Sitting Tennant

It’s Friday so you’re going to need something to keep you occupied over the weekend. Here, have some pictures of David Tennant sitting down, provided by Erin, Rullsenberg, Sister Chastity and Toby. You may notice there’s only three pics, but that’s because Sister Chastity and Toby have started sending the same ones in. They still get the points though.

  1. Erin C: 225
  2. Rullsenberg, Sister Chastity: 215
  3. Toby: 150
  4. Rachel: 90
  5. Sabine: 65
  6. Karen: 35
  7. dreamer-easy: 30
  8. Dawn: 10
  9. kellyann06: 5

Don’t forget Tuesday’s caption competition (fingers crossed, that’s the right link this week). And as a bonus, since there were only three this week, here’s a picture of David Tennant that had to be rejected from the Sitting Tennant competition for obvious reasons.

David Tennant not sitting down

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. Don’t forget to include your name in the filename so I don’t get mixed up about who sent it to me.

The best pic in the stash each week will appear on Monday and get ten points; the runners up will appear on Friday (one per person who sends one in) and get five points.

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

Some weird old title sequences

10 September 2010 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Normally on a Friday, I like to look at old TV programme with a weird title sequence (“Weird old title sequences”) or sometimes just one that’s a bit hard to find these days and which I rather like (“Lost Gems”) – and then I cobble together a brief precis of it and its good points.

This week, I’m going for something slightly different. Someone’s put together a montage of 10 rare title sequences from the 1960s – so rare I’ve not heard of half them and which look like Lost Gems in some cases – so I thought I’d let the vid speak for itself.

The programmes, most of which have ridiculously cool title sequences and starred people who became famous later on, included are:

  • Johnny Staccato with John Cassavetes
  • Mr Broadway with Craig Stevens
  • 87th Precinct with Robert Lansing
  • Checkmate with Doug McClure
  • Suspense Theatre
  • Amos Burke Secret Agent with Gene Barry
  • Hawk with Burt Reynolds
  • T.H.E. Cat with Robert Loggia
  • The Baron with Steve Forrest
  • Man In A Suitcase with Richard Bradford

Enjoy!