TV reviews

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

US TV

Review: Heroes 4×6 – Tabula Rasa

20 October 2009 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Tabula Rasa

In the US: Monday 19th October 2009
In the UK: Looks like February now

Ah, if only all Heroes episodes could be this good. While not entirely faultless, Tabula Rasa had everything that made season one so good: decent characterisation, a good script, some really cool uses of powers and some actual heartwarming moments – as well as, praise the Lord, a decent cliffhanger.

More after the jump.

Continue reading “Review: Heroes 4×6 – Tabula Rasa”

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: The Middle

15 October 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

In the US: Wednesdays, 8.30c/7.30c, ABC

We’re in a comedy boom. Suddenly, there are decent comedies everywhere – as well as a few rubbish ones like Brothers and Accidentally on Purpose.

ABC has most of them: it’s got Cougar Town and Modern Family, although NBC has the best – Community. It’s also got The Middle.

Most years, The Middle would do well for itself – in fact, it’s already had a full season pick up – because it’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty good.

Okay, it’s not really what you’d call funny. It’s accurate. You sit there through every episode thinking, “Oh yes, I recognise what this pithy look at middle class, middle America life is getting at. These situations are very familiar to me, and no doubt everyone who’s ever had to deal with life in The Middle.”*

But it’s not something you really laugh at. The producers try to make you laugh. They’ve assembled a good cast. They try to come up with funny situations. And you can sit through every episode with a wry-ish smile on your face. But laugh? Not so much.

The jokes just never seem to hit home, because they’re just too silly. The characters are all pretty unappealing and despite their everyperson situations, they’re hard to identify with.

It’s so very near the edge of great, but it never quite gets there.

So, despite this actually being okay, I’m dropping it in favour of other shows. Bad luck The Middle.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Will last a season at most but not get renewed

* Okay, I’m not American, don’t have kids and I don’t live in Indiana, but some things are universal.

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: Trauma

14 October 2009 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Mondays, 9/8c, NBC

Time for a third-episode verdict on “Jerry Bruckheimer’s Casualty” aka Trauma. After an opening episode that made it hard to spot the wheat (most of the writing and characters) from the chaff (the colossal, ridiculous explosions and accidents), Trauma settled into a second episode that did more or less the same thing again – but with fewer explosions.

Episode three, however, was a far better beast. There’s still the Casualty/House gambit of setting up an obvious accident then substituting a less obvious accident later on – in the world of Trauma, the obvious accident is the mysterious arrival of a car from nowhere which then ploughs through pedestrians/the wall of a house/whatever.

But the whole episode was considerably less over the top and gave us a kind of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead view of a typical police drama: while the exciting hostage negotiation is going on, we found out what the paramedics have been up to the whole time and they’re pretty impressive, as it happens.

The third episode also saw the characters begin to work dramatically for me. Until now, they’ve just really been types and case studies, but they’re starting to becoming more real now. Cliff Curtis’s chopper pilot is still the most interesting character (although not necessarily for the right reasons), although Anastasia Griffith’s promiscuous but authoritative lead paramedic comes a close second. The others need work, but are getting there.

I’m very tempted to keep watching, now the writers are getting on with telling stories rather than establishing the characters, but it’s not engrossing enough that I’m guaranteed to. In all likelihood, I’ll give up. But it’s good enough that I’m split on the decision.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Very expensive (c$3m per episode) so liable to get cancelled very soon. But better than Mercy and a lot of the other new dramas, so deserves more of a chance at life than them.