TV reviews

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

US TV

Review: Life 2×1

2 October 2008 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Life

In the US: Mondays and Fridays, 10/9c, NBC. Moving to just Fridays from the 3rd.
In the UK: Still not yet acquired, unless Hallmark hasn’t told me something

There are so many cop shows out there that each needs its own gimmick to differentiate itself from the other. The traditional way of doing this is with the lead cop – Columbo, the down-at-heel, working class detective; Ironside, the detective in a wheelchair; Raines, the detective who imagines he can see dead people; and so on.

Life is no different, although it’s always had a confusing focus. On the one hand, Damian Lewis’s Charlie Crews could be ‘the Buddhist detective’, following some intensive reading of Zen books on enlightenment.

“Have you ever shot anyone?” a kid asks him on the subway when he sees Crews’ gun.

“Why would I do that? Violence against another is violence against everyone. Violence against everyone is violence against the self,” replies Crews.

But Crews was framed for a murder he didn’t commit and spent over a decade in jail. He’s picked up some odd skills and tendencies inside; he’s missed out on the Internet and other modern inventions; he’s also a multi-millionaire and a cop again after the lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment was settled. And now he’s out, he wants to find out who framed him then punish them.

“Yes, I have. And they all had it coming,” Crews further explains to the kid.

The ‘Buddhist, ex-con, multi-millionaire, out-of-time detective”? That’s not easy to get a handle on.

With that schizoid attitude, Life has always had a tricky time working out what to do with its life. Should it focus on the cases that Crews solves with his Buddhist insights? Should it focus on Crews or build up the supporting cast of not quite so interesting regular-type people? Should it stick with the general story arc of who framed Crews?

Lots of questions – has it worked out its happy place in the second season, and what is the sound of one hand pressing the buttons on a Nielsen box?

Continue reading “Review: Life 2×1”

UK TV

Review: The Sarah Jane Adventures 2×1

30 September 2008 Rob Buckley 8 Comments

In the UK: Mondays, 4.35pm, BBC1
In the US: The SciFi Channel again, probably

Last series of The Sarah Jane Adventures posed something of a dilemma. Obviously, being a spin-off of Doctor Who featuring a former Doctor Who companion, comparisons with the mother ship were inevitable. Thing was, the comparison invariably became "Don’t you think The Sarah Jane Adventures is more entertaining, more adult and more consistently higher quality than Doctor Who?" – even though ostensibly it was aimed at six year olds.

Now it’s back, packed with action, continuity references and Sarah Jane fun. So again we have to ask, which one’s better? We also have to ask, can we bear the shame of watching CBBC at our ages?

Continue reading “Review: The Sarah Jane Adventures 2×1”

US TV

Review: The Unit 4×1

29 September 2008 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

The Unit

In the US: Sundays, 10/9c, CBS
In the UK: Bravo and Virgin One at some point, probably the New Year

When you get to the fourth year of a long-running show, you have a choice. Do you continue with the same old formula (cf House), or be a bit brave and mix things up (cf Lost)? The Unit might be forgiven for going for the easy option, given it was on the cusp of being cancelled at the end of last year.

But this is a manly show of the first order, in which brave special forces soldiers (who definitely aren’t Delta, honest guv’nor) risk their lives tackling threats foreign and domestic while their wives go through equal hells at home. Easy option?

The Unit spits in the face of the easy option

Continue reading “Review: The Unit 4×1”

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 3

Third-episode verdict: Privileged

29 September 2008 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Time for a third-episode verdict on The CW’s Privileged, in which a geeky writer has to tutor filthy rich spoilt teenagers in return for unfeasibly vast amounts of partying and luxury, as well as near-unlimited amounts of boyfriend potential. It’s a hard life, huh?

After a reasonably promising but flawed start, the show dropped off a notch, becoming more than a touch tedious, in fact. The usual mix-ups with the boss that the tutor has to fix, the antagonising squabbles with the eldest daughter, the fights with her own sister: it’s already starting to become a formula. The geeky teacher is also too geeky to be plausible.

However, given that the geek tutor is supposed to be the heroine, it’s a surprise to find that the elder, eviler daughter, Sage, and the protective relationship she has with her sister, Rose, is actually the most interesting aspect of the show. It’s more multi-dimensional than just about any other facet of the programme, and the fact that Sage is a complete bitch, but will do anything for Rose, is smart, more emotionally intelligent than geek girl and doesn’t become bestest pals with her inside the first two episodes does lift the show out of being a complete cartoon. In fact, if they focused less on geek girl and more on evil sister, it would probably be a more interesting, albeit darker programme.

All the same, if The CW was looking for a new Gossip Girl, they’ve come to the wrong place, since this clearly isn’t as smart and the other relationships are flat and hollow in comparison with the more fully developed characters on the rival show. Diverting, but ultimately nothing too special.

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 3

Third-episode verdict: Privileged

29 September 2008 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Time for a third-episode verdict on The CW’s Privileged, in which a geeky writer has to tutor filthy rich spoilt teenagers in return for unfeasibly vast amounts of partying and luxury, as well as near-unlimited amounts of boyfriend potential. It’s a hard life, huh?

After a reasonably promising but flawed start, the show dropped off a notch, becoming more than a touch tedious, in fact. The usual mix-ups with the boss that the tutor has to fix, the antagonising squabbles with the eldest daughter, the fights with her own sister: it’s already starting to become a formula. The geeky teacher is also too geeky to be plausible.

However, given that the geek tutor is supposed to be the heroine, it’s a surprise to find that the elder, eviler daughter, Sage, and the protective relationship she has with her sister, Rose, is actually the most interesting aspect of the show. It’s more multi-dimensional than just about any other facet of the programme, and the fact that Sage is a complete bitch, but will do anything for Rose, is smart, more emotionally intelligent than geek girl and doesn’t become bestest pals with her inside the first two episodes does lift the show out of being a complete cartoon. In fact, if they focused less on geek girl and more on evil sister, it would probably be a more interesting, albeit darker programme.

All the same, if The CW was looking for a new Gossip Girl, they’ve come to the wrong place, since this clearly isn’t as smart and the other relationships are flat and hollow in comparison with the more fully developed characters on the rival show. Diverting, but ultimately nothing too special.