TV reviews

Well, it got a little better, but not a lot. We’re three episodes into Warehouse 13 – aka The X-Files meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Friday The 13th: The Series – and nothing very remarkable has happened. The characters are gelling a bit better than in the first episode, and there’s a slightly interesting arc around a possible warehouse break-in, but the plots are very so-so, the dialogue is only average and everything, of course, ends nicely by the end of the episode.

If you like shows like Eureka, you’ll probably like this, but if you’re looking for something more challenging, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.

Carusometer rating: 3
Rob’s prediction: Will probably last as long as Eureka, but really shouldn’t

There are probably ten things you shouldn’t do before watching ABC Family’s remake of 10 Things I Hate About You but the main one that comes to mind is watch the original movie. After watching the first episode, I decided I’d buy a copy of the movie off iTunes and give it a re-watch. And it’s bloody brilliant: it’s literally laugh-a-minute, very clever, has great performances, and even follows The Taming of the Shrew quite closely. Go get yourself a copy right now to see what I mean.

The TV series, while not bad, throws away most of the things that made the movie so distinct, including the whole The Taming of the Shrew plot and any references to books (seriously). Now we just have two sisters, one a bit smart and indie, the other a bit dumb and popular, whose dad is ridiculously over-protective. It’s funnyish in an OTT way – the dad even makes the sisters submit to urine tests when they get back from nights out to make sure they haven’t been drinking/taking drugs – and Lindsey Shaw is really good. But it’s essentially just another high school comedy with a cast over-acting for all they’re worth.

If you don’t mind relatively obvious, high school comedies with some very slow-burn, obvious romances, 10 Things isn’t bad, and Kat, the smart indie sister, is at least a decent role-model. But given its pedigree, I’d have hoped for something a whole lot better.

Carusometer ratings: 3
Rob’s prediction: It won’t ever excel or reach any heights, but I imagine it’ll last a season at least 

Three episodes into Hung and it’s turning out that the everyday story of a guy with a big dick who turns to prostitution to make ends meet (ho ho) isn’t about as much as I thought it was about. At first glance, it looked like it was a caustic look at gender relations.

But now, I’m not so sure. It seems more like Dmitry Lipkin’s last show, The Riches, and is merely a cynical look at what happens to not desperately bad people when they’re down on their luck. Here, we have a teacher who would be a male prostitute, and a poet who would be his pimp. Except neither’s very good at it, and they’re both getting shafted (ho ho) by everyone else. Are they supposed to toughen up or find their soft interiors and each other? Does the man need to embrace his femininity to succeed, while the woman embrace her masculinity to triumph?

I’m not even sure the show’s going to attempt to answer that question. Yet, I’m inclined to hang around to find out. It’s well made, relatively engaging, and thankfully short at a half-hour per episode. There’s the occasional touch of Fight Club soul-searching and social satire. And it might just answer those questions it’s raised in the end.

But it needs to get a move on. 

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Will probably make it to the end of the season, and even get renewed. But it needs to find its feet soon or those chances will begin to dwindle.