Time for “What did you watch this week?”, my chance to tell you what I watched this week that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case we’ve missed them.
First, the usual recommendations: The Daily Show, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Portlandia, Sherlock, Suburgatory and 30 Rock. Do watch them.
But still in the viewing queue are the first episodes of The Finder, Eternal Law, Rob, The L.A. Complex and Arctic Air, none of which appeal to me in the slightest, but fingers-crossed, I’ll take the bullet for you guys on some time next week. And embarrassingly, I haven’t seen this week’s Sherlock, either. Yes, I watched Are You There, Chelsea? instead, just for you guys. I hope you’re happy.
A few thoughts on what else I’ve watched this week, though:
- Three Inches: around the time SyFy was working on Alphas, it was also developing this pilot with James Marsters and Naoko Mori of Torchwood (albeit in the supporting cast). Practically identical to Alphas but played for laughs, it’s about a mysterious, probably benevolent individual (Marsters) who assembles a team of superheroes with slightly rubbish abilities to solve crimes for the government, including the hero who can move things three inches with his mind. It’s easy to see why SyFy went for Alphas – this was rubbish – but at the same time, it’s clear that Three Inches had more heart in any given two minutes than Alphas did in any episode you care to name.
- The Firm: NBC’s TV sequel to the movie and book of the same name by John Grisham. NBC showed two episodes of it but it couldn’t maintain my interest for 15 minutes, not even when Juliette Lewis and most of the Canadian cast of Battlestar Galactica turned up. Basically, just lots of running around being chased by men in suits. It may make more sense to people who have seen the movie, mind.
- Portlandia: good, but not as laughter-filled as last season. Nice to see the feminist bookstore back, though.
In the glorious tradition of “things that I’ve recorded that I won’t watch because the commissioner decided to strip them and I don’t have the time to watch them”, I’ve just deleted the following from my DVR: Great Expectations and The Royal Bodyguard. I’ve taped the first two episodes of Borgen in the same tradition and confidently expect to delete them some time in the next couple of days.
“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?
