TV reviews

A complete archive of The Medium is Not Enough’s reviews of TV programmes since 2005

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 4

Third-episode verdict: Fairly Legal

15 February 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

In the US: Thursdays, 10/9c, USA Network. Starts January 20th

Three episodes into "lawyer turns negotiator and lives on a houseboat" drama, Fairly Legal (I know there have been four now, but I’m playing catch-up), and the problems that were obvious in the pilot are still obvious now: this is a boring show, filled with largely uninteresting characters – with the exception of Sarah Shahi who’s overdosed on kooky.

Episode two, it has to be said, was marginally better than the first episode, since rather than the overblown implausibilities designed to fool us into thinking this might actually be an interesting show that the first episode hurled at us, this episode focused on some more plausible negotiations while giving us a sub-plot about the reading of Shahi’s father’s will. This left us on a cliffhanger… that was completely ignored in the next episode.

In fact, episode three went back to mine the silly of the first episode, while Shahi’s character continues to be kooky in a way the writers probably think is endearing – and fulfils USA Network’s "characters" remit – but which is actually intensely irritating.

So it’s time to leave Fairly Legal. This is average, mundane drama at best, with nothing to commend it beyond Shahi, who does what she can with the scripts. Fingers crossed she’ll end up on something better afterwards.

Carusometer rating: 4
Rob’s prediction: Will last to the end of the season but won’t be renewed

US TV

What have you been watching this week (w/e February 11)?

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Archer season two

It’s “What have you been watching this week?”, your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched this week. 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?

Regular recommendations; Cougar Town, House, Modern Family, Royal Pains, Southland, 30 Rock and Top Gear

This week’s backlog: Archer; Community; Episodes; Outcasts; and Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol. One day, I’ll get round to The Killing as well. Stupid BBC4 and it’s two episodes a week stunt scheduling.

After the jump, mini-reviews of last week’s Archer and Community as well as this week’s Being Human, Being Human (US), Chuck, Shameless, Smallville and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Continue reading “What have you been watching this week (w/e February 11)?”

US TV

What have you been watching this week (w/e February 11)?

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 8 Comments

Archer season two

It’s “What have you been watching this week?”, your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched this week. 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?

Regular recommendations; Cougar Town, House, Modern Family, Royal Pains, Southland, 30 Rock and Top Gear

This week’s backlog: Archer; Community; Episodes; Outcasts; and Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol. One day, I’ll get round to The Killing as well. Stupid BBC4 and it’s two episodes a week stunt scheduling.

After the jump, mini-reviews of last week’s Archer and Community as well as this week’s Being Human, Being Human (US), Chuck, Shameless, Smallville and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Continue reading “What have you been watching this week (w/e February 11)?”

US TV

Review: Mr Sunshine 1×1

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Mr Sunshine

In the US: Wednesdays, 9.30/8.30c, ABC

Imagine there’s a heaven. More exactly, imagine there’s a TV heaven, a TV heaven where all your favourite actors can go to when their existing series end. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Well, ABC has found it and it’s called Mr Sunshine. It stars:

  • Matthew Perry! Chandler from Friends! Yey!
  • Allison Janney! CJ from The West Wing! Yey!
  • Andrea Anders! The woman who lived next door to Joey on Joey and was in that Better Off Ted thing! Yey!
  • Jorge Garcia! Hurley from Lost! Yey!

How awesome is that?

Of course, it would also be great if TV heaven was a good show as well. Fortunately, Mr Sunshine is actually a very good half hour of fun, in which Perry – the somewhat grumpy Mr Sunshine of the title – has to try to manage a San Diego sports centre, juggling the constant demands of his very sunny best friend, his often high boss (Janney) and his friend (with benefits) Andrea Anders.

Cue the trailer – just imagine it has Jorge Garcia instead of the old Latino guy instead.

Continue reading “Review: Mr Sunshine 1×1”

UK TV

Review: Bedlam 1×1

11 February 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Bedlam

In the UK: Sundays, 9pm, Sky Living
In the US: Saturdays, BBC America. Some time in 2011

Think of Sky Living (formerly Living TV) and what comes to mind? Largely reality TV shows like Britain’s Next Top Model and daft psychic and ghost-hunting programmes like Most Haunted. So Bedlam is something of a departure for the channel: its first scripted drama.

Not much of a departure though, because this is essentially Most Haunted: The Even More Obviously Fictional Version. Featuring a host of young, pretty actors – and Will Young (yes, the winner of Pop Idol) – Bedlam is set in ‘Bedlam Heights’, a former mental asylum in which the patients were abused, murdered, etc, and which has now been turned into a block of luxury apartments by Hugo Speer (The Full Monty).

Can you see what’s going to go wrong here?

Speer’s daughter Kate (Charlotte Salt) lives in one of the flats with her pals Molly (Ashley Madekwe) and Ryan (Young). All seems to be going well until they find an old ring (no clues there) and Kate’s cousin Jed (Theo James) turns up. See, the thing is, former mental patient Jed can see dead people and it turns out there’s a lot of them at Bedlam Heights…

Cue the artistic, creepy trailer.

Continue reading “Review: Bedlam 1×1”