US TV

An archive of articles about US television programmes and production.

US TV

Review: Standoff

8 September 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Standoff

In the US: Tuesdays 9/8c, Fox

In the UK: Sky One from November

I’ve been busy this week, so I haven’t had time to review things as quickly as I’d have liked. Sorry. So we’re cramming a few reviews in today, starting with Standoff, which aired on Tuesday.

Not that there’s a load of good reasons to rush this one out, because despite the presence of the always wonderful Ron Livingston (Sex and the City, Office Space) and Gina Torres at the top of the cast list, this show is a bit of a dud.

Standoff, you see, has a double meaning. As well as being a drama about hostage negotiators, it’s also about negotiation within relationships. Oh, as they say, dear.

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US ratings: what’s going on?

7 September 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Here’s the top-rated TV shows in the US for the last week:

  1. CSI: Miami (CBS)
  2. Law and Order: SVU (NBC)
  3. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
  4. Prison Break (FOX)
  5. 60 Minutes (CBS)
  6. Two and a Half Men – 8pm (CBS)
  7. CSI (CBS)
  8. Without A Trace (CBS)
  9. Criminal Minds (CBS)
  10. CSI: NY (CBS)
  11. Justice (FOX)
  12. Celebrity Duets (FOX)
  13. NCAA Football: Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech (ABC)
  14. Bones (FOX)
  15. Big Brother (CBS)
  16. Vanished (FOX)
  17. California 500 (NBC)
  18. 20/20 – special (ABC)
  19. Celebrity Duets – 8pm (FOX)
  20. The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)

I’ve highlighted the shows that are running new episodes in bold (including sporting events, etc). Good to see Justice making a relatively good start with its first episode, and interesting to see Vanished hanging in there.

All the same, the top three shows are repeats. Of the top ten, eight are repeats.

And then there’s the craziness that CSI: Miami is number one and that The New Adventures of Old Christine is in there at all.

What is to be made of it all? I guess you could always argue that Fox still has fewer affiliates than the other networks so has a lower potential audience for its shows. Couple that with the fact it’s the only network running any big new dramas at the moment and it’s more surprising than anything except re-runs is in the top ten.

All the same, it’s odd. Let’s see what happens next week when House figures in.

US TV

Review: House 3.1

7 September 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

House

In the US: Third season, Tuesdays, Fox, 8/7c

In the UK: Repeats on Hallmark/Five at the moment. Third season January (probably)

Characters re-cast: 0

Major characters gotten rid of: 0

Major new characters: 0

Format change percentage: 10%

He’s back. God bless Fox and their decision to bring all their shows back in August and September. Gregory House is back with us again. The regulars are all back, too. But there is one big change from last year. Can you tell what it is yet?

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News

Eddie Izzard show gets a green light

7 September 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

RichesThat Eddie Izzard show I mentioned a while ago has been given the all-go signal from FX in the US. Now called Riches and co-starring Minnie Driver, it will run for 13 episodes, starting some time in the second quarter of 2007.

It’s supposed to be FX’s family show. However, they’ve already had to reshoot the pilot to lighten its tone. I wonder why? Here’s the plot…:

Series, formerly titled “Lowlife,” revolves around a family of traveling grifters who take the identity of an upper-middle-class suburban family.

“Riches” stars Izzard as Wayne Malloy, a father questioning the marginal life his family leads. Show follows he and his wife Dahlia (Driver), newly sprung from a two-year prison stint and now battling a drug habit, as they and their three children get accustomed to their new identities as the well-to-do Riches.

FX chief John Landgraf said “Riches” is the cabler’s first family show — “albeit a show and a family unlike any television viewers have seen before.”

Third-episode verdict: Vanished

5 September 2006 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

I’m so glad I invented this third-episode verdict thing. More often than I care to count, it’s proved its worth.

Take Vanished. Episode one? Silly. Episode two? Dull but not quite as silly.

Episode three? Ho, ho, ho. So magnificently stupid, it’s now passed through the other side of stupid and entered brilliant. Actually the first half was dire, but then the second half was just great. You know it’s silly. You know you’ve just passed Pluto on the way out of reality to somewhere far stranger, but you want to know more!

I won’t spoil it for UK viewers, since the episodes are going to air in October on Five US, but suffice it to say, if you’re familiar with Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’, you’ll know precisely who the bad guys are (I reckon). Fan-bloody-tastic. I was wondering when someone was going to use them.

Plus, our friendly visitor from Inner Toob has confirmed recently what I’d been hearing, too: we should hang around until episode 10 at least, because that’s when we’re all in for a big surprise. If what I think happens actually happens, Josh Berman and the rest of the production crew will deserve a great big tip of the hat for their ballsiness. Plus I was beginning to wonder why they’d chosen Gale Harold as the lead…

UPDATE: Vanished has recently had the seal of approval from Fox, which has commissioned another three episodes. Well, scripts for episodes anyway.