US TV

An archive of articles about US television programmes and production.

Tuesday’s delightful box news

7 April 2009 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Doctor Who

  • Someone else returning for the finale [great big spoilery spoiler]

Film

Books

Music

British TV

US TV

US TV

Review: Cupid 1×1

6 April 2009 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Sarah Paulson and Bobby Canavale in Cupid

In the US: Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC

I’m getting an eerie sense of déjà vu here. ABC’s newest ‘romantic dramedy’ (yes, that is a genre, apparently), Cupid, is about a man who claims to be the Roman god of love, Cupid, sent to Earth by the other gods to give 100 couples true love before he can return. Sounds kind of original, doesn’t it?

I’ll tell you why I’m getting déjà vu. For one thing, not more than half a year ago, The CW was running Valentine in which Eros/Cupid along with Aphrodite and a bunch of the other Greek gods were out and about trying to bring people together in true love to avoid their own extinction. Okay, that died a death on the grounds of scheduling, not being very good, Jaime Murray, etc, but Cupid really isn’t that different.

But the other big déjà vu score comes from the fact this is a remake. There’s already been a Cupid – a mere 10 years ago – on the same network, with the same writer and the same scripts, just a different cast.

You’ve got to love it, haven’t you?

Continue reading “Review: Cupid 1×1”

A few things learned from TV last week: 24, The Mentalist, Chuck, Supernatural and House

6 April 2009 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

24
Although I was generally in favour of TV companies being allowed to place products in TV shows – they really need the cash these day – I almost made a 180º turn on that after watching last Monday’s 24. Product placement is one thing, but when you have nearly two minutes of a show turned into a training video for Cisco’s WebEx digital signature system, I think we’ve gone too far.

Chuck
Yvonne Strahovski looks like a tiny little girl playing dress-up when she’s next to Tricia Helfer.

House
Even if a show is formulaic, if it knows it formula well enough then it can be very clever in how it plays with that formula.

The Mentalist
Even if a show is technically a ‘procedural’, it doesn’t actually have to follow any known police procedures. Ever.

Supernatural
Even if an episode’s concept isn’t totally original (Stranger Than Fiction, etc), you can still make a damn fine and clever episode from it, even when you’re in your fourth season.

Monday’s “passing of the glove” news

6 April 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Doctor Who

Film

Theatre

  • Russ Abbot steps in to replace Rowan Atkinson in Oliver!

British TV

US TV

US TV

Preview: Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

3 April 2009 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Krod Mandoon

Hmm. Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. There’s a title to conjure with.

It’s a comedy produced by BBC2 in the UK and Comedy Central in the US and stars Sean Maguire of The Class and Meet the Spartans and Matt Lucas of Little Britain fame, as well as a predominantly British cast (putting on US accents in some cases). Parodying fantasy novels and TV shows, there’s a touch of Monty Python and the Holy Grail about it and it’s premiering on both channels this month:

The series, set in an ancient fantasy realm, follows reluctant hero Kröd Mändoon, a “thin-skinned and underconfident freedom fighter” in his struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor.

I’ve turfed up some previews and interviews for you, so you can see what you think of it. Looks a bit silly and some of the jokes fell flat, but it did make me laugh, so could be promising. More info at the Comedy Central web site.

Cast

  • Sean Maguire as Kröd Mändoon: “The reluctant leader of a rag tag band of inept freedom fighters toiling away in obscurity”
  • Matt Lucas as Chancellor Dongalor: “The lovably sociopathic Chancellor of the lowly province of Hessemeel”
  • India de Beaufort as Aneka: A “beautiful pagan warrioress whose weapon of choice is sex”
  • Steve Speirs as Loquasto: An oafish servant, “who belongs to a race of pig-like creatures known as Grobble”
  • Kevin Hart as Zezelryck: A young warlock, “whose greatest magical gift is spinning a line”
  • Marques Ray as Bruce: “The jailhouse lover of Kröd’s late mentor, General Arcadius”
  • John Rhys-Davies as Grimshank: The leader of the resistance
  • James Murray as Longshaft
  • Alex MacQueen as Barnabus