TV reviews

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

Constantine in Legends of Tomorrow
Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

24 October 2018 Rob Buckley 14 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

With The CW’s new roster of shows almost out the way – there’s another Vampire Diaries spin-off, Legacies, due to start tomorrow, but that’s it for this year, as far as I know – it’s been a relatively quiet week this week. I ran through the first episodes of Charmed (US: The CW; UK: E4), Camping (US: HBO; UK: Sky Atlantic), The Rookie (US: ABC; UK: Sky Witness) and The Kids Are Alright (US: ABC) all in one go, and the latest season of Marvel’s Daredevil was this week’s Boxset Monday. But that’s comparatively few shows, I’m sure you’ll agree. I reckon NBC is sitting on some, waiting to unleash them when we least expect them.

Next week’s Boxset Monday is going to be Riverdale spin-off Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix), assuming that I manage to find the time at the weekend. But until then, I think I’m more or less bang up to date, unless Canada’s been secretly making new shows without telling me.

After the jump then, we can run through the regulars: Black Lightning, Doctor Who, Happy Together, The Last Ship, Magnum P.I., Mr InBetween, Pine Gap, Titans and You. I’ve also nearly got to the end of The Haunting of Hill House (oh, my nerves!). And just starting its fourth season this week is the world’s funniest and deliberately stupidest superhero show: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Oh the unicorn carnage.

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Daredevil and Fisk
Streaming TV

Boxset Monday: Marvel’s Daredevil (season three) (Netflix)

22 October 2018 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Available on Netflix

Well, that was a disappointment. And a relief. But probably not for the reasons you were thinking.

So, Netflix’s various Marvel superhero shows have been in something of a funk of a late. When they were first announced, everyone was sceptical. With all the best Marvel superheroes in the cinema, what was Netflix going to do with a bunch of also-rans like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist?

But under the auspices of Steven DeKnight and Drew Goddard, the first season of Marvel’s Daredevil blew everyone away. This was quality TV. Okay, the costume was a let-down but at least that was only five minutes at the end of the last episode and we could just about excuse the magic ninja, the extreme sadism and Daredevil’s ability to heal crippling injuries in a couple of days using only the power of meditation before that.

Then Marvel’s Jessica Jones came along and that was the end of that – it looked like Netflix was doing for superhero shows what it had done for Internet TV with House of Cards. Phew. We were in safe hands. Roll on the other two shows.

Since then, those of us following these shows have largely been in a state of perpetual disappointment. Maybe it would have been better if the first two shows hadn’t been quite so good, then we wouldn’t have been quite so disappointed. Marvel’s Luke Cage was okay, but not great. Marvel’s Iron Fist was awesome! Unfortunately, I’m probably the only person who thought that (screw you, haters). The much-anticipated second season of Daredevil was half-good, half-dreadful. The great big team-up of all four superheroes, Marvel’s The Defenders, was a bit blah thanks to a rushed conclusion and poor characterisation. Season two of Jessica Jones was season one of Jessica Jones again. Yawn. Season two of Luke Cage was a marked improvement over season one, but still not good enough to prevent it getting cancelled. Season two of Iron Fist was not only soporific, it was season two of Luke Cage as well, so it got cancelled, too.

The one bright star in the Marvel firmament was unexpected addition The Punisher.

So it was with low expectations but a certain degree of hope that I went into season three of Marvel’s Daredevil. Would it be as good as season one? Would it even be good?

I crossed my fingers, anyway.

Bullseye

Daredevil to hope

As I said, after 13 episodes, both relief and disappointment were the results. Disappointment, not because it was bad, but because it starts so well. The first six or so episodes are great. It then just turns into absolute rubbish. It’s stupid and almost unwatchable at times. Remember the Hand? Just as bad.

Oh the disappointment.

So why relief? Because thankfully, the final three or four episodes are great again. Woo hoo!

And it’s all by going back to the first season and what was good about the show. And by ditching that stupid costume. Spoilers after the jump.

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The Rookie
US TV

Review round-up: Charmed, Camping, The Rookie and The Kids Are Alright

18 October 2018 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Some TV programmes are worth great big long reviews. Some just aren’t. Four shiny new US shows missed out on being included in yesterday’s WHYBW since I hadn’t got round to watching them. I have now, but rather than do individual reviews, I’m going to review them en masse, because honestly, there’s not much to say about them. Oh well.

So, for what it’s worth, join me after the jump where I’ll review the first episodes of Charmed (US: The CW; UK: E4), Camping (US: HBO; UK: Sky Atlantic), The Rookie (US: ABC; UK: Sky Witness) and The Kids Are Alright (US: ABC).

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Pine Gap
US TV

What have you been watching? Including Pine Gap, All American and Light as a Feather

17 October 2018 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

At my TV signal, unleash Hell.

Gosh, what a lot of new shows there have been this week. I got the air date of Marvel’s Daredevil wrong – it’s out this Friday, not last Friday as I thought last week – which was some relief, but The CW has finally released its new wares onto the world and ABC has unveiled its second wave of shows. I’ve just not had time to review them yet.

Of the new shows, elsewhere, I’ve reviewed DC Universe’s Titans and passed a fourth-episode verdict on Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House; I’ve also passed verdicts on ABC (US)’s A Million Little Things and CBS (US)’s God Friended Me, The Neighborhood and Happy Together. But that still leaves a fair few other shows to cover. After the jump, I’ll be dealing with two of them: The CW’s All American and Hulu’s Light As A Feather. But HBO’s remake of BBC Four’s Camping, The CW’s remake of its predecessor The CW’s Charmed, last night’s new ABC shows The Rookie and The Kids Are Alright, and Amazon’s Matthew Weiner anthology show The Romanoffs will all have to wait. As will anything else joining them in the next couple of days, although I imagine I’ll be binge-watching Daredevil at the weekend. Or maybe Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – that’s this weekend, too, isn’t it?

However, joining All American and Light as a Feather after the jump is another new show, this one from Australia to add a little variety: Pine Gap. And, of course, there’ll be the current roster of regulars: Black Lightning, Doctor Who, The Last Ship, Magnum P.I., Mr InBetween, SEAL Team and You. One of those is for the chop – can you guess which?

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The Neighborhood
US TV

Third-episode verdict: The Neighborhood (US: CBS)

16 October 2018 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

In the US: Mondays, 8/7c, CBS
In the UK: Not yet acquired

Just as with Happy Together, I had high hopes for The Neighborhood, once I’d seen the first episode, since it too defied expectations. It sees typical white midwesterners Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs move into a tough(ish) suburban black neighbourhood in LA. Neighbour Cedric the Entertainer isn’t too keen on having white neighbours, so generally tries to be as antagonistic as possible to them; however, the rest of his family are more open-minded, bringing it a different kind of conflict.

The first two episodes managed to do more than simply be “hey, you’re white!” and “hey, you’re black!” jokes every 10 seconds. Instead, they were surprisingly insightful looks at the differences between black and white Americans’ culture, while being almost a comedy of manners about what can and can’t be said and by whom in modern America.

Episode two also saw a potential alternative discussion point for the show, with Cedric the Entertainer the voice of tough conservative black American parenting values and Greenfield the voice of softer modern white parenting approaches. Indeed, there were times in the episode where the words black and white never even got mentioned.

The Neighborhood

There goes The Neighborhood

So it’s a shame that episode three lived down entirely to my initial expectations for the show. Greenfield stopped being an equal, more a figure of fun for everyone to laugh at. The jokes were basically “hey, you’re white!”, “hey, you’re black!” and most of the comedy revolved around the characters laughing at, not with each other. On top of that, not the slightest bit of cultural insight.

Basically, a standard CBS sitcom then. In fact, I couldn’t make it to the end of the episode, it was so unwatchably awful and standard CBS sitcom.

Which is a shame, since Happy Together showed that CBS is clearly aiming for a new, younger, gentler, more diverse market than it has been before, and I’d hoped The Neighborhood would be a good pairing with it. It isn’t.

Oh well. Two goodish episodes ain’t bad, is it?

Barrometer rating: 4

The Barrometer for The Neighborhood