In the US: Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC
In the UK: ITV1 from early in 2007, with repeats on ITV2.
You all watch Lost, right? So what do you love about it? The mystery? The weirdness? The romance?
Oh. You love the flashbacks, where it turns out that everyone really knew everyone else before they got on the island? And you’d really love a show that’s exactly like Lost‘s flashbacks?
Well, here you go. Have Six Degrees. And guess what: it’s by the creator of Lost, JJ Abrams.
Not much’s changed since the first episode of this one, which didn’t overly impress me. It didn’t help that Fox showed episode two and episode three out of order, resulting in some very odd behaviours for the characters.
I do kind of like it. As mentioned, there’s an inner sadness to most of the characters that does make you feel sorry for them and if you forget the laughter track, it’s actually an interesting drama with occasional comedic moments. But as a sitcom, it’s really not very good.
Avoid if you’re looking for laughs; watch if you want to see the tears of supposed clowns.
In the US: Sundays, 10pm ET/PT, HBO
In the UK: Coming to FX later in the year.
Characters re-cast: 0
Major characters gotten rid of: 0 since last season’s cull
Major new characters: Dozens. Really.
Format change percentage: 75%
A new season of The Wire is always a disconcerting time for fans. What’s it going to be about this year? Who’s going to be in it from the regulars? The first season was a relatively simple affair: cops chasing drug dealers, although as always with The Wire, it’s never that simple. Season two flipped that round completely and turned it into a cops investigating the demise of working class life in once-industrial cities. Then season three started to look at the politics of policing as well as the politics of the police.
Now season four is dealing with the public education system and local politics. As with all seasons of The Wire, it’s is a slow-burn long-term plot with sub-plots that can only pay off episodes later. And it’s a cracker.
Ah. Gossip. Don’t we just love it? The Daily Record now has Freema Agyeman raving about how nice David Tennant is and how she’s asked for a clause in her contract stipulating an on-screen kiss.
I’m edifying the world today.
I was waiting for the green shoots of comedy to emerge from the distinctly average pilot. Unfortunately, it looks as if someone has come along, planted some uranium pellets and some salt around the green shoots and killed all greenery in a 100 mile radius. There’s still a few laughs per episode and if you found Everybody Loves Raymond endlessly entertaining, you’ll probably love it, but I’d recommend everyone else to stay away unless they have a nice lead-lined suit to keep them going.
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