Articles by Rob Buckley

About Rob Buckley
I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
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Third episode verdict: Happy Hour

22 September 2006 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Not much’s changed since the first episode of this one, which didn’t overly impress me. It didn’t help that Fox showed episode two and episode three out of order, resulting in some very odd behaviours for the characters.

I do kind of like it. As mentioned, there’s an inner sadness to most of the characters that does make you feel sorry for them and if you forget the laughter track, it’s actually an interesting drama with occasional comedic moments. But as a sitcom, it’s really not very good.

Avoid if you’re looking for laughs; watch if you want to see the tears of supposed clowns.

US TV

Review: The Wire 4.1-4.2

22 September 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The Wire

In the US: Sundays, 10pm ET/PT, HBO

In the UK: Coming to FX later in the year.

Characters re-cast: 0

Major characters gotten rid of: 0 since last season’s cull

Major new characters: Dozens. Really.

Format change percentage: 75%

A new season of The Wire is always a disconcerting time for fans. What’s it going to be about this year? Who’s going to be in it from the regulars? The first season was a relatively simple affair: cops chasing drug dealers, although as always with The Wire, it’s never that simple. Season two flipped that round completely and turned it into a cops investigating the demise of working class life in once-industrial cities. Then season three started to look at the politics of policing as well as the politics of the police.

Now season four is dealing with the public education system and local politics. As with all seasons of The Wire, it’s is a slow-burn long-term plot with sub-plots that can only pay off episodes later. And it’s a cracker.

Continue reading “Review: The Wire 4.1-4.2”

Third episode verdict: ‘Til Death

22 September 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

I was waiting for the green shoots of comedy to emerge from the distinctly average pilot. Unfortunately, it looks as if someone has come along, planted some uranium pellets and some salt around the green shoots and killed all greenery in a 100 mile radius. There’s still a few laughs per episode and if you found Everybody Loves Raymond endlessly entertaining, you’ll probably love it, but I’d recommend everyone else to stay away unless they have a nice lead-lined suit to keep them going.

The Unit – it does get better

22 September 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Turns out, as hoped, that the first episode of the new season of The Unit was a blip: the third episode, The Kill Zone, is an absolute cracker. Loads of adrenaline on The Unit side, coupled with some interesting political comments on the home front, with the US army’s policies towards next of kin, funeral payments, etc, put under the microscope.

And yes, it was written by Lynn Mamet. Should be airing October 3rd in the US, which is when season one begins airing on Bravo in the UK, coincidentally.