Year: 2011

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: Endgame

2 April 2011 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

In Canada: Mondays, 10pm ET/PT, Showcase

Episode three of Endgame – in which a Russian chess grandmaster solves crimes all from within the confines of his hotel – has rolled round, so time for a third-episode verdict. Episode one was of course very good, while episode two was a little disappointing in comparison.

Episode three, while again not as funny as the first episode and veering towards the Canadian mean of happy endings and everyone being quite nice, still proved entertaining, thanks almost entirely to star Shawn Doyle since barely anyone else gets any decent characterisation. A novel twist that might be emerging, though, is the idea that the guest star of the week (Michael Shanks from Stargate in this case) effectively could be the ‘guest sleuth of the week’, with Shanks doing much of the legwork to help solve the mystery.

The lead character is still very stereotypically Russian, this week going for KGB conspiracies and exercises with kettle bells, but the show’s gradually finding its feet in terms of making him a little more plausible. It could do with more innovation, some of the humour from the first episode and a bit more of an edge again, but it’s worth watching I think.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Should last a season at least, but nothing’s certain after that

US TV

Review: Body of Proof 1×1

2 April 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

ABC's Body of Proof

In the US: Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC
In the UK: Acquired by Alibi to air this year

In an effort to improve our quality of service, before watching Body of Proof, please complete the following questionnaire:

1) Do you like shows about strong, capable women?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Duh!

2) Do you like shows in which strong, capable women are called brilliant by every passing person in case you didn’t get the hint the first, second or tenth time?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Um…  

3) Do you like shows in which strong, capable women are shown they can’t have everything and have unsupportive husbands and lose custody of their daughters because they work just so damn hard at being brilliant to support the family but that just makes them an absentee mother rather than a good provider?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Would that really happen?

4) Do you like shows in which brilliant high-flying neurosurgeons give up their brilliant careers after having car accidents and killing patients because they worked so damn hard and end up becoming brilliant medical examiners who just aren’t content to examine dead bodies but instead have to go round and interview witnesses while police officers look on dumbly and shout at them for breaking the rules, but who are ultimately proved right?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Isn’t that kind of clunky and/or CSI?

5) Do you like crime shows in which at the end, the brilliant amateur detective gathers all the witnesses together, explains whodunnit, the clues that led her to that conclusion and then gets the police to escort the criminal away, while everyone tells her how brilliant she is and how wrong they were to judge her?
a) Yes
b) No
c) What is this? 1937

If you answered mostly b), do not watch this.
If you answered mostly c), my aren’t you a cynic?
But if you answered mostly a), have I got a show for you. Here’s a trailer

Continue reading “Review: Body of Proof 1×1”

Friday’s “Who’s the fool?” news

1 April 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Are they real or are they fake?

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US TV

Preview: Camelot 1×1

31 March 2011 Rob Buckley 13 Comments

In the US: Fridays, 10pm, Starz. Starts April 1
In the UK: Acquired by Channel 4 for second half of 2011

Ladies and gentlemen, Torchwood has a new home! It’s Starz in the US!

What do you mean you knew that already? Ah, I see the confusion. Yes Torchwood: Children of Earth is coming to Starz in July. But I’m talking about the heart of Torchwood: Chris Chibnall, the man who made seasons 1 and 2 of Torchwood what they were. That is, largely unbearable.

You see Chibbers is the showrunner and co-creator – with Michael Hirst of The Tudors – of Camelot, a Starz TV series about the legend of Arthur and Merlin that stars Joseph Fiennes as Merlin, some young bloke as Arthur and Eva Green (Casino Royale) as the evil Morgan La Fay.

And it’s every bit as good as that first season of Torchwood. In fact, in true Chibbers style, it’s so bad it’s painful. Here’s a trailer and there’s a longer one here – brace yourselves: these are the best bits they could find.

Continue reading “Preview: Camelot 1×1”

US TV

The (new) new Wonder Woman costume

31 March 2011 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Wonder Woman

So what are we all thinking about the new version of the new version of Wonder Woman’s costume? As you may recall, after NBC released some official photos of the costume, as worn by Adrianne Palicki of Friday Night Lights fame in the pilot – which also stars Elizabeth Hurley, Cary Elwes and Jason Bruening of Knight Rider – there was a certain amount of feedback along the lines that it was terrible: plasticky, a bit porny and very impractical. More than that, some said it was unpatriotic, since it didn’t have the stars from the US flag on it, as per Wonder Woman’s original costume.

So NBC have retooled the costume slightly – here’s an after and before photo:

Wonder Woman: after and before the costume redesign

And here’s Adrianne Palicki wearing it in action:

Adrianne Palicki on set

Better? Worse? And given that the script by David E Kelley has Wonder Woman, the famous CEO of Themiscyra Industries, loving ice cream, Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’, sleepovers and pining over lawyer Steve Trevor, could this get any worse anyway?