The Medium is Not Enough

In the US: Mondays, CBS. Starts September 24th

In the UK: Channel 4/E4. No air date yet

Newsflash! Guys who understand science are all nerds! They have no social skills and they have pathetic hobbies! They can’t talk to girls, either!

And blonde, cute women: they’re dumb! Dumb as posts! They’re into astrology and go for men with really big muscles and no personalities! They certainly don’t know anything about science or computers and look down on anyone that does! But they’re always warm and empathetic and never frightened by odd, stalker-like behaviour!

Welcome to the world of Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, CBS’s latest foray into the world of obvious comedy and relentless stereotypes.

Continue reading “Preview: The Big Bang Theory”

In the US: Mondays, 10.30pmET/PT, Showtime. Starts August 13th

In the UK: Five/Five US. No air date yet

You’ve got to hand it to David Duchovny. Let’s face it, he’s not as young as he was. He’s not exactly decrepit – far from it – and time has treated him very well. But it’s not the early 90s and those calls for him to star in things like The X-Files and, more relevantly, The Red Shoe Diaries aren’t coming in as often as they used to.

Faced with that problem, what does he do? He exec produces his own show, in which he stars as an irresistible 40-something who spends every waking moment sleeping with women less than half his age. And a few others as well.

Nice one, David.

Continue reading “Preview: Californication”

In the US: Tuesdays, 10pm, FX

In the UK: Not yet acquired

Do we really need another show about lawyers? Haven’t we had just about every insight possible now into law, the lawyers, victims, etc?

And indeed, it’s tempting, at first, to assume that Damages is a show about lawyers. With a name like Damages, you might think it’s about the corrosive effect the law, crime, etc have on those who have to deal with it. To a certain extent you’d be right.

But Damages is really just a psychological thriller that happens to have the law as a backdrop. Starring Glen Close, Rose Byrne, Ted Danson and Tate Donovan, it’s a show about lawyers, all right. Really nasty, ruthless, backstabbing lawyers.

Continue reading “Review: Damages 1.1”