TV reviews

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

US TV

Review: Traffic Light 1×1

10 February 2011 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

Traffic Light

In the US: Tuesdays, 9.30c/8.30c, Fox

Poor Alex Breckenridge. She never has much luck with Israeli imported TV formats, does she? One of the best things about both Dirt and Life Unexpected, she was also the best thing about The Ex-List, one of the first TV show formats to be imported by the US from Israel (the other being In Treatment). The Ex-List lasted all of four episodes before getting canned, but alas, poor Alex, she was in the pilot for Fox’s new rom com, Traffic Light, back when it was called Mixed Signals, and then she got recast. Not even an episode this time.

Still, if it’s any consolation to her now she’s on True Blood, this one looks like it’s going to last about four episodes too, especially since it’s currently in the practically-dead Running Wilde‘s time slot.

Based on the popular Israeli sitcom, Ramzor (which is apparently very funny if you can speak Hebrew), Traffic Light – which had a better title back when it was Mixed Signals – feels like an odd mix of a lot of the other rom-com sitcoms out there right now, particularly Rules of Engagement, Perfect Couples and Better With You. It sees three guys, one heavily married, one considering moving in with his girlfriend and one perpetually single, trying to navigate their friendships and their relationships, all while slightly disapproving, slightly dull women look at them as they mess up and embarrass themselves.

You know who else doesn’t have much luck with TV series these days? Kris Marshall – yes, him off the BT ads and My Family. He’s in this, too.

Cue two almost identical trailers, one with Alex, one without, all with Kris. By the way, these contain all but three of the jokes in the first episode, so you can save some time by watching them.

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US TV

Review: The Chicago Code 1×1

9 February 2011 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

The Chicago Code

In the US: Mondays, 9/8c, Fox
In the UK: Acquired by Sky 1/Sky 1 HD. Coming soon

‘Gritty’ seems to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To many, it means ‘realistic’ – that it depicts the seamier, less pleasant parts of life. To others, it just means ‘looks a bit grimy’.

The Chicago Code – formerly called Ride Along – is gritty. A cop show set to a backdrop of corrupt Chicago city politics, it wants you to believe that it’s gritty in the sense of realistic. But to be honest, although it has Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit) as show runner and principal writer, in a post-Wire, post-Southland world, it doesn’t really succeed – it just looks a bit grimy.

It’s not half-bad and it features the likes of Jessica Beals, Jason Clarke (Brotherhood) and Delroy Lindo, but it’s not as cutting edge as it likes to think it is. Here’s a trailer, followed by a featurette in which you get to hear Clarke’s normal Australian accent.

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The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: Portlandia

7 February 2011 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

In the US: Fridays, 10.30/9.30c, IFC

We’re three episodes into Portlandia and it’s still proving a rewarding, if not totally uniform experience. Essentially a skewed look at the kinds of weird and typically ultra-liberal people allegedly supposed to inhabit Portland, Oregon, it’s a lighter version of the League of Gentlemen, mostly fun characters played by the same actors, but with the occasional bit of horror thrown in for good measure. Happily, viewers of That Mitchell and Webb Look, worried that characters would here be repeated ad nauseum and milked dry, needn’t worry, since most characters have lasted two episodes at most. It’s pretty much all-new, every episode.

Episode one has proven to be the highlight of the series, with some excellent tunes and great sketches, although it wasn’t completely perfect. Since then, it’s become more of a wry, rather than laugh-out-loud show. This vid is pretty much typical of the show. Here, rock singer and guitarist Aimee Mann has fallen on hard times and is now cleaning houses for a living:

It’s that kind of wry, odd, left-leaning humour that typifies the show. However, there are just plain fun characters (a couple whose business is putting pictures of birds on things and a bicycle messenger) and some plain disturbing ones, too (a with a slightly abusive relationship where Fred plays a female character and Carrie Brownstein plays the male character).

You really have to be of a certain niche to enjoy this “to the max” but it can be very funny stuff and it is one of the funniest and best observed shows on the box at the moment.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Might get a second season but don’t bank on it.

US TV

What have you been watching this week (w/e February 4)?

4 February 2011 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Working Class

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?

As usual, a simple recommendation to watch Cougar Town, Michel Roux’s Service, 30 Rock, Top Gear and The Daily Show – watch them, they’re good, but I’ve not got a lot to say about them than that.

As usual, I’ve also got a slight backlog: last night’s Archer; last night’s Community; this week’s Episodes; and last night’s 30 Rock.

But other than that, after the jump, mini-reviews of last week’s Archer, this week’s Being Human and Chuck, last week’s Community, last week’s Episodes, and this week’s Fairly Legal, Portlandia, Royal Pains, Shameless, Southland, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and Working Class

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The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 3

Third-episode verdict: Being Human (US)

2 February 2011 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Mondays, 9/8c, SyFy
In Canada: Mondays, 10E/P, Space

So we’re three episodes into the Canadian/US version of Being Human and things have started to get quite a bit better. Episode one was largely a retread of the original UK pilot, but diluted, made more obvious and more cliched, with largely poorer acting. Episode two continued in the same vein, being a mix of pilot and the original first episode.

However, episode three saw a first blow for true originality in the show. While its b-plot was largely a retread of the "Mitchell invites everyone to meet the neighbours" episode, we got a new a-plot about an adult who had seen vampire Aidan kill his father when he was a child and is now a cop. Aidan, who is largely the focus of the show, then has to decide how to deal with the situation – does he sort it out himself or leave vampire boss Bishop to sort it out for him? Suffice it to say, there is an unhappy ending to this.

Where Being Human (US) differentiates itself here is by tapping into far more vampire lore than the British original. Unlike the British blood addicts, these vampires have super speed, super strength and they can influence people’s minds – even wiping their memories if necessary. Which does at least make the whole "being human" thing a little harder than "where am I going to get my blood fix today?"

Werewolf Josh also gets to man up in this episode, something I thought had gone missing from the pilot episode, and ghost Sally gets to have some fun with an 80s ghost (yes, another thread from the original). The actress who plays Sally is by far the weakest link here and it’s hard to actually like her character she’s so charisma-free.

The show suffers from a few other problems as well: Bishop (Mark Pellegrino)’s strange hair colour; a general blanding of things; and a lack of depth. However, provided Being Human (US) continues to plot its own path while steering away from the standard vampire cliches, it should actually prove a watchable series in its own right. It might never be as good as the original, but it’ll still be better than the average SyFy series.

Carusometer rating: 3
Rob’s prediction: Should run for at least a couple of seasons