A complete archive of The Medium is Not Enough’s reviews of TV programmes since 2005
In the US: Monday 11th January, 9pm, NBC
In the UK: April/May probably, BBC2
Well, after last week’s duller than dull affair, things could only get better. And they did. Woo hoo!
Spoilers after the jump.
In the US: Thursdays, 10pm, FX. Starts January 14th, 2010
Who doesn’t want to be a spy? Imagine the glamour, the excitement, the women/men you’d meet.
Of course, reality is going to be a whole lot different. It’s all going to be screwed-up people stuck in relatively normal workplaces, quibbling about expense accounts – at gunpoint.
That, at least, is the premise of FX’s new half-hour animated comedy Archer, which features the daring exploits of Sterling Archer, ace superspy for top secret organisation ISIS.
What kind of man is Sterling Archer? Well, imagine James Bond. Imagine his lifestyle, all the glamour, the excitement, the women – then imagine that instead of James Bond, you have an American, trust fund-holding, egotistical, self-centred, empty-headed, misogynistic jock douchebag with mummy issues.
It’s brilliant.
In the UK: Sunday 10th January, 9.30pm, BBC3. Available on the iPlayer
In the US: No air date yet, but probably BBC America again
Being Human, an everyday tale of a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf who house-share, was the surprise success of BBC3’s 2008 pilot competition. I loved it to pieces. It was great.
Although beaten at first to the series draw by Phoo Action, it got a series pick-up a few months later once it became clear that it was a vastly better show, thanks in part to an Internet fan campaign, and thanks again in part to people having seen Phoo Action.
Mostly recast, it soon became BBC3’s surprise drama success of last year. Now it’s back for a second series. Can it maintain the quality?
Not quite, and I’ll tell you for why – it doesn’t feel so real any more.
In the US: Monday 4th January, 8pm, NBC
In the UK: Some time in April on BBC2 by my reckoning
So it’s back after the Christmas break. It’s got a special two-hour premiere to launch itself back into everyone’s hearts, before returning to its 9pm time slot next week. House isn’t on (although the Fiesta Super Bowl is for the second half).
Surely the producers and writers are going to give us two hours of kick-arse goodness designed to make us all want to watch the rest of the season. There’ll be effects, great use of characters, coolness aplenty. It’ll zip past in no time and the ratings will go through the roof.
No. Wait. It’s another dull two-parter where not much really happens. Sigh.
Continue reading “Review: Heroes 4×12-4×13 – Upon This Rock/Let it Bleed”
In the UK: Sunday 4th January, 9.30pm, BBC1/BBC1 HD. Available on the iPlayer
In the US: PBS probably
Remember The Fast Show? There was a character, a zookeeper, who seemed perpetually surprised by his job.
And so it is with Wallander, the detective show starring Kenneth Branagh as the miserable Kurt Wallander, in which all the detectives and even the police officers seem perpetually surprised by the fact people do bad things. Now it’s back and everyone seems just a little bit more hopeless than ever.
And I use the word ‘hopeless’ advisedly.
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