A complete archive of The Medium is Not Enough’s reviews of TV programmes since 2005
In the US: NBC mid-season show.
In the UK: Not yet acquired
Weddings are crap times to be single. With no partner, you’ll probably end up on Table 18 – The Singles Table. And that’s the entrance point for probably the funniest of the various sit-com previews that I’ve seen so far.
In the US: Mondays, 10/9c, NBC. Starting September 18th.
In the UK: Acquired by Channel 4, with possible More4 first screening. No date yet.
For a lot of people, this has been the preview we’ve all been waiting for – for roughly three years. Ever since Aaron Sorkin got thrown off The West Wing, addiction to the unique skills of one of America’s finest writers has had millions around the world craving even the slightest piece of new dialogue or characterisation.
Now comes a complete series, 13 episodes commissioned so far, with a cast to die for and a budget to match.
Has it been worth the wait? Erm, maybe.
In the US: Available on iTunes. One episode and one episode only.
In the UK: Fake a US address and get it from iTunes. Or something.
As discussed earlier this week, Aquaman is a dead pilot. It has ceased to be. Or to WB, which was its original destination. Then The WB network decided to merge with UPN to create The CW (it’s all a bit Reggie Perrin, isn’t it?) and Aquaman got squeezed out.
The question is: was Aquaman unfairly denied airtime? Should it be up in the Brilliant But Cancelled Hall of Fame?
No. It shouldn’t. It’s pants. Or should that be trunks?
Brotherhood (which I now belatedly realise is probably a bad play on words: brotherhood, brother hood. It’s about gangsters. Get it?) has improved a bit since its first episode, which was a bit of mish-mash.
The trouble is it’s now “Eat your greens” television: not desperately enjoyable, but very worthy, requiring a good deal of concentration, and talking about Really, Really Important Subjects. It wants to be The Wire crossed with the dirty local politics version of The West Wing, but doesn’t quite have the writing to make it on either count.
Psych‘s now up to its third episode, so it’s time to pass verdict.
Since the first episode, there have been a few changes, mostly for the better. Dulé Hill has more to do. The supporting cast has less to do and so spend less of their time trying very hard to be wacky. Attached junior blonde female detective has been fired and replaced with a single junior blonde female detective, providing a possible romantic interest.
Corbin Bernsen is providing an interesting father figure for the show. Instead of just being the forbidding Dad who could never show his son any love, he’s metamorphosed into one of those really manly, pre-meterosexual men of a certain generation, who can gut fish with a penknife and always have a stick of wood for stirring paint with. So instead of just seeming cold and uncaring, he’s now a far more sympathetic figure who wishes his highly slacker son could grow a backbone and take some responsibility for a change.
Said slacker, star James Roday, has toned his performance down a bit, too. My wife has also pointed out that while he might, at first inspection, look like he’s doing a Will Ferrell impression, he is actually doing something closer to Ben Stiller in some aspects.
I agree it is possible that there were Ben Stiller impurities in the homeopathic Will Ferrell tube.
As for the plots, basically, the show is Monk with a different angle. The look’s the same, the feel’s the same. It’s Monk. Which isn’t a bad thing, if you like Monk, but it’s not to everyone’s taste.
It’s untaxing, unchallenging, amiable, and slightly amusing – kind of the US light-comedy version of Midsomer Murders. An enjoyable enough way to while away your time.
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