US TV

In the US: Mondays, 8/7c, Fox

In the UK: Virgin1 at some point

It’s back. Woo hoo? Not exactly. I’m almost getting tired of repeating myself* but by the looks of it, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, apart from having the most needlessly long, pretentious title of all TV shows, is pretty much the same as it was last season so that’s what I’m going to have to do.

All the same, there are enough new wrinkles in the set-up that it’s worth having a brief chat about the second season and whether it’s worth joining if you’ve not seen it before.

Continue reading “Review: Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2×1”

In the US: Showtime, Sundays, 9pm. Starts September 28
In the UK: Probably FX again, some time next summer

It can’t have escaped many people’s notice that the story-telling structure of intelligent – and unintelligent – American television has changed substantially over the last few years. As well as the impact of 24, which has made serialised television possible again, The Wire‘s use of Shakespearean rather than Aristotelian storytelling techniques has spread to other dramas, while premium cable channels and DVD box sets have made “slow burn” TV shows viable.

All of which makes reviewing just the first episode of a new series a pain in the arse – or ass – particularly with something like Dexter. One of the first shows to demonstrate there was life on cable outside of HBO, it’s now on its third season and continues to demonstrate that some TV shows can’t simply be judged on their first episodes, since all the goodies are in the evolving plot still to come.

Continue reading “Preview: Dexter 3×1”