Articles by Rob Buckley

In the US: Mondays, 9.30/8.30c, ABC
In the UK: E4?

Samantha Who? was one of those show that came out last year, that wasn’t bad but which I didn’t think I’d stick around for. But my wife started watching it on E4 a few weeks ago and thanks to a realisation that Christina Applegate is one of the best comedic actresses on TV at the moment, we ended up watching the whole first season. And it wasn’t bad and it was quite funny.

Applegate plays Samantha Newly (there’s a clue in that name) who wakes up after a car accident with amnesia. She can’t remember any of her old life and discovers, much to her horror, that she was an evil bitch – which is something she no longer wants to be. Sam (I am) tries to build a new, nicer life, with the help of her formerly estranged parents, her best friends and her ex-boyfriend.

Most of the fun comes from the evil old Sam and the fact all the people who knew her can now tell her what they really thought about her. But new Sam is entertaining in her own right, as are the supporting characters – mainly Sam’s mother (Jean Smart) and her party-girl attorney best friend (Jennifer Esposito).

The second season is set a year after the first which is all a bit confusing since everything seems to have gone backwards – in fact, there’s more than a hint of déjà vu here…

Continue reading “Review: Samantha Who? 2×1”

In the US: Mondays, 10/9c, NBC

I can’t imagine the NBC planning meeting behind this.

B: “What have we got on Monday nights? We need something in the 10pm slot”

A: “Chuck at 8pm, Heroes at 9pm”

B: “Hmm. Tell me about Chuck”

A: “It’s about a guy, a regular Joe, who accidentally becomes a spy”

B: “Huh. Cool. You know – and this is a completely unrelated idea – how about we made a show for the 10pm slot about a regular Joe who accidentally becomes a spy?”

A: “Um. Don’t we already…”

B: “No, I won’t hear any complaints. Let’s commission it!”

So now we have on what turns out to be “Accidental spy night” in the US, a straighter version of the comedic Chuck in which Christian Slater turns out to have multiple personality disorder and one of those personalities is a spy. For real.

I did say it wasn’t a comedy, didn’t I?

Continue reading “Review: My Own Worst Enemy 1×1”