The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: New Girl

6 October 2011 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Tuesdays, 9/8c, Fox
In the UK: Acquired by E4

How much you’re going to love New Girl basically depends on how much you love Zooey Deschanel. The whole show revolves around her and her dorkiness and despite the opening episode managing to give the male supporting characters something to do, since then, their dialogue and plots have become less strong while Zooey’s has only got stronger.

"Coach" has been replaced by a new character who is at least more of an alpha male than Coach supposedly was, but not a better comic actor. Cece has more or less disappeared for now. This is most definitely the Zooey Deschanel show, right up to the new, title sequence of calculated kookiness.

Now I love Zooey and she is comedy gold. But they’ve super-saturated her character with dorkiness and she’s started to get ever so slightly irritating now. So, despite the fact this is a good comedy show and Zooey’s great, I’m going to have detox myself a little and give up. Your mileage may vary, so you should certainly give New Girl a try, particularly if you love Zooey Deschanel.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: will last at least a season, maybe more, but how much dorkier can they make her?

Thursday’s “Iron Mason” news

6 October 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Film

British TV

US TV

Wednesday’s “what are you thinking, NBC?” news

5 October 2011 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Film

Canadian TV

US TV

  • Brad Dourif to guest on Once Upon A Time
  • Chris Bauer to guest on Hawaii Five-0
  • Jon Favreau working on Tweaked
  • Michael C Hall/Showtime talks break down…
  • …as do The Simpsons/Fox talks
  • Ash Atalla sells I Lick My Cheese and another comedy to CBS
  • NBC cancels The Playboy Club, picks up Up All Night and Whitney for full seasons
  • Remake of French-Canadian Les Invincibles sold to Fox
  • Monday ratings: House, 2 Broke Girls down, Terra Nova, Hart of Dixie steady
  • ION acquires The Listener
  • The Coen Brothers developing a PI show for Fox
Sitting Tennant

Tuesday’s Sitting Tennant (week 36, 2011)

4 October 2011 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Ooh. Watch out Hebbie! Sister C is ready to strike!

  1. Hebbie: 255
  2. Sister Chastity: 250
  3. Erin C: 120
  4. Rullsenberg: 55
  5. Janice: 20
  6. esgaril: 10
  7. theriverlady, Toby: 5

Meanwhile, SK and Toby got the 10 points in last week’s caption competition. Well done to them and good luck to everyone this week.

  1. Rullsenberg: 200
  2. Marie: 180
  3. SK: 155
  4. Toby: 130
  5. Electric Dragon: 95
  6. Lisa G: 55
  7. Jane Henry: 50
  8. theriverlady: 35
  9. Virpi: 25
  10. Hebbie: 20
  11. Joe B, Janice: 15
  12. whoficwriter, Jeri: 10
  13. kallan: 5

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below or email me and if it’s judged suitable and doesn’t obviously infringe copyright, it will appear in the Sitting Tennant gallery. Don’t forget to include your name in the filename so I don’t get mixed up about who sent it to me.

The best pic in the stash each week will appear on Tuesday and get ten points; the runners up will appear on Friday (one per person who sends one in) and get five points.

You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Tuesday’s Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points, everyone who contributes getting five points.

US TV

Review: Homeland 1×1

4 October 2011 Rob Buckley 17 Comments

 

In the US: Sundays, 10pm, Showtime
In the UK: Acquired by Channel 4

Ah, thank heavens for cable TV. Although network TV has been producing some perfectly acceptable dramas this fall season, the miss rate has been a lot higher than the hit rate. Cable, however, with the obvious exception of Starz, has a far better success rate.

You know what else? Thank heavens for Israeli TV. Although you could argue over the merits of The Ex-List and Traffic Light for a while, they were at least a cut above the normal fare, and Israeli TV has at least indisputably given us the basis for the surefire cracker that was In Treatment. Now Israeli show Prisoners of War has given us the basis for Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis and adapted for US TV by former 24 producers Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon. 

Bearing more than a passing resemblance to AMC’s Rubicon, the thankfully faster-paced Homeland sees obsessive CIA analyst Danes convinced that returning war hero and former prisoner of war Damian Lewis has in fact been turned and is really working for al Qaeda. All she’s got to do is prove it, even though no one else believes her, not even her mentor, best friend and boss Mandy Patinkin. In fact, given she’s on anti-psychotic drugs, there’s a very good chance she actually is crazy. All the same, to prove her hunch is correct, Danes is going to do anything she has to – whether Lewis is innocent or not.

Here’s a trailer.

Continue reading “Review: Homeland 1×1”