Monday’s “Dylan Moran’s US sitcom, Arrow casts The Flash and scenes from The Tunnel” news

Doctor Who

  • Peter Davison confirmed for 50th anniversary celebrations
  • Watch acquires BBC America Doctor Who documentary

Film casting

Trailers

UK TV

New UK TV shows

  • Images from Sky/Canal+’s The Tunnel

New UK TV show casting

  • Philip Glenister, Bernard Hill et al join BBC1’s From There To Here
  • Casting on BBC1’s Jamaica Inn, BBC2’s A Poet in New York and ITV’s Lucan

US TV

US TV casting

New US TV shows

  • ABC developing historically tone deaf, alternative reality show The Thirteen
  • Dylan Moran to write and star in ABC sitcom
  • Fox orders: The Middle Man from Glenn Gordon Caron and Ben Affleck
  • NBC developing CIA comedy

New US TV show casting

What did you watch this week? Including The Almighty Johnsons, Suits, The Newsroom, The Bridge (US) and Strike Back

It’s “What did you watch this week?, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this week that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.

The usual “TMINE recommends” page features links to reviews of all the shows I’ve ever recommended, and there’s also the Reviews A-Z, for when you want to check more or less anything I’ve reviewed ever. Reviewed this week elsewhere: Ironside and Trophy Wife.

In my preview queue is a couple of shows: Back in the Game and Welcome To The Family, but I have no idea when I’ll have the time to watch and review them – fingers crossed for Tuesday or Wednesday, though.

Shows I’m watching but not necessarily recommending
Under The Dome
Only one (?) more to go. This had better be good, because it’s all been a big waste of time so far. Not much Rachelle Lefevre this week, either…

Under the Dome TV Schedule

The Bridge (US)
Problematically, where the show is slavishly following the original, it’s still not doing it as well; where it’s tweaked it, it’s usually been to the detriment of the show; and where it’s gone completely off-story, it’s been significantly weaker and less interesting. But at least Sonja wasn’t so rubbish this week, unlike last week – for those who didn’t watch the original, (spoiler for both shows)in the original, Saga was shot at the safe house, guarding the son, rather than being hit by a car on the way to the safe house.

The Bridge TV Schedule

Strike Back (Cinemax/Sky 1)
More fun violence, but quelle surprise, another strong woman dead. A good character moment, though, even if it was a tad too late.

Recommended shows
The Almighty Johnsons

A really cracking episode and surprisingly eerie at times. The revelation at the end was a good nod to fans and actually quite unexpected. Fine acting by Michelle Langstone, too. Probably the best episode of all three seasons, I reckon.

The Almighty Johnsons TV Schedule

The Newsroom
I’m really not sure what they’re trying to do with the show now. It’s just all over the place. I almost get the feeling that Sorkin is trying to turn it into a comedy. That might almost be a better option, since there were some fun Sloan moments at least.

The Newsroom TV Schedule

Suits
On the one hand, nice to see a show where everyone actually seems to enjoy their jobs. On the other, Louis is getting more and more implausible and Mike is turning into a bigger and bigger dick. Some good individual moments but I’ll be glad to see the back of Hessington Oil.

Suits TV Schedule

“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?

Friday’s “A new Harry Potter movie series, Starlings cancelled and transgender at The CW” news

Watch out for strange men in ski masks

Film

Film casting

Trailers

  • Trailer for Grudge Match with Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Kim Basinger et al
  • Trailer for The Homefront with Jason Statham and James Franco

UK TV

New UK TV shows

US TV

US TV casting

New US TV shows

Classic TV

Nostalgia corner: Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969-70, 2000-2001)

Back in the 1960s, crime stories were all the rage (well, crime stories and spy stories. But crime stories particularly.) Finding a way to differentiate the main characters and give a series a unique selling point compared with others was often a challenge.

Possibly the most differentiated – and indeed interesting – crime show of the 60s was Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (known more prosaically in the US as My Partner The Ghost because focus group research suggested viewers wouldn’t understand the word ‘deceased’). Its premise was simple: two down-at-heel British private investigators, Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt) and Marty Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope), are investigating a case. The bad guys don’t like this and think they’re getting too close so they kill Hopkirk.

Except that doesn’t stop him. Hopkirk is so dedicated to his friend, Jeff – and so keen to bring his murderers to justice – that he returns as a ghost to help solve the case and stop the bad guys. Unfortunately, it takes him too long and after the bad guys are rounded up, a curse dooms Hopkirk to walk the earth as a ghost in an eternally spotless white suit for 100 years.

So Hopkirk stays on to help Jeff solve further cases as best he can, despite being intangible and invisible to everyone else. Cue catchy theme tune and 25 more episodes.

Continue reading “Nostalgia corner: Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (1969-70, 2000-2001)”

Thursday’s “Breaking Bad spin-off a go, Endemol to remake Spiral for the US and John Oliver returns to Community” news

Film casting

Trailers

  • Trailer for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom with Idris Elba

Theatre

  • Maxine Peake to play Hamlet

French TV

UK TV

US TV

US TV casting

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting