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US TV

Preview: Awake (NBC) 1×1

20 February 2012 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

Awake

In the US: Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC. Starts March 1
In the UK: Not yet acquired

Hello to Jason Isaacs! Welcome back to the blog.

Yes, Jason Isaacs has himself a new US TV show, this time on network TV instead of cable. In it, rather than a member of the Rhode Island Irish mafia, he’s a cop.

No, don’t turn off. The cop bit is the least interesting part.

He’s a cop, but he’s a cop who has a car accident in which his wife dies, leaving him to look after his teenage son.

Except when he goes to sleep, he wakes up in seemingly a parallel world in which his son died and his wife survived. And when he goes to sleep at the end of the day, he returns to the first reality.

I say reality because he doesn’t know which one’s real and which one’s a dream. They both seem equally real. Both his therapists want to help him, but will he give up on his wife or his son, assuming he can? Because for some reasons, the cases he investigates in the two realities are linked.

Here’s the first seven minutes of it for you to enjoy:

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US TV

Review: Last Man Standing 1×1-1×2

13 October 2011 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Last Man Standing

In the US: Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC

Today, I am feeling charitable. Here we have Last Man Standing (not to be confused with Last Man Standing), Tim Allen’s return to sitcoms, in which he finds himself out of work and his wife getting a promotion, so finds himself having to stay at home to look after the kids and the house. His character is a clueless embodiment of patriarchy and “manliness”, a man’s man who loves rooms that “smell like balls” and thinks men should only dance when people are shooting at their feet, who has no idea what Glee is, and takes babies to Blowdart and Shotgun emporia. It’s also a single camera comedy with an annoying laughter track and no fewer than five nuclear power stations flooding every set with over-lighting.

Normally, I would hate it and hit it with bricks.

And I do still largely hate it, because it’s barely in any way funny, largely trying to get by on obvious and offensive one-liners that really should be shot at and forced to dance.

But instead, I’m going to be charitable and claim it’s educational. Yes, educational. It may suck, but like all the new multi-camera comedies this season that are virtually laugh-free (e.g. 2 Broke Girls, Whitney), lots of Americans are watching it (13m in this case) and the kinds of people who are watching it probably need to know what a vlog is, understand that throwing giant fish they’ve just caught onto their children’s homework is bad, and need to know that it’s okay for men to stay at home and look after the kids.

Isn’t that nice of the producers – and me?

Here’s a trailer.

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Film

Question of the week: is it okay for things to be shit?

6 July 2011 Rob Buckley 11 Comments

Transformers 3

This was actually inspired by @snarkandfury: ‘I’m so tired of the “it’s only a kids film/TV show/property based on an 80s toy it’s supposed to be shit” defence. It’s never OK to be shit’ who I think was inspired by a recent discussion on this ‘ere blog.

So simple question/set of questions:

Is it okay for something to not have any artistic merit whatsoever and to be shit, provided enough people like it? Does artistic merit actually stop something from being as entertaining as something more visceral? Or is merely being enjoyed by people at a visceral level actually an artistic merit? And does all that get cancelled out and become null and void if it turns out that not only is something completely shit, it’s also racist, sexist and homophobic?

Answers below or on your own blog, please

News

NBC’s upfronts 2011

16 May 2011 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Well, it’s that time again when NBC unveils all the pilots it’s decided to order up for the Fall schedule, as well as some it’s keeping in reserve for January.

Unlike last year, when frankly, the idea of watching any of the new NBC shows filled me a feeling not unlike food poisoning, this year, NBC seems to have a feast of riches for us to choose from. So we have a remake of Prime Suspect with Maria Bello, a big hello to Jason Isaacs in the Inception-like Awake, a drama series based on the Grimms’ fairy tales, a series based on John Grisham’s The Firm, not to mention comedy starring Christina Applegate and Will Arnett, a remake of Channel 4’s Free Agents with Hank Azaria, a comedy based on Chelsea Lately’s autobiography and an Amanda Peet vehicle.

What to pick? What to pick? Oh, yes, here we go. The Playboy Club, a Mad Men-esque period crime drama targeted at women that’s also a bit of a feminist history. And as if that weren’t good enough, here’s three other good reasons for men to watch it, too:

  1. Amber Heard 
  2. Amber Heard
  3. Amber Heard

Every week.

If there’s a man among you all who isn’t going to watch it on those strengths alone, you need to hand your man licence back on the way out so that someone can re-train you.

Details and videos for all the shows after the jump.

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Audio and radio play reviews

Review: Doctor Who – 135 – Legend of the Cybermen

25 June 2010 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Legend of the CybermenFor the last two Big Finish releases, we’ve had something of a mystery. First, the Doctor winds up in 18th century Scotland where he bumps into his old companion (for he is old now) Jamie McCrimmon. Except something’s odd. Jamie doesn’t remember him and Scottish history has been strangely altered – Glasgow and Edinburgh have been destroyed and replaced by something that seems to be an oil refinery.

Then, after a short trip to a mysterious castle to collect the TARDIS over in the Companion Chronicles, the Doctor and Jamie head off for the Titanic, where again, history appears to be on the fritz since this Titanic is not for crashing.

What can be going on?

Well, it was pretty obvious from about halfway through Wreck of the Titan, but I won’t spoil it for you here. Needless to say though, following the revelations at the end of the play, something odd really is going on and the Doctor and Jamie are going to have to find out how to fix it.

This time, though, they’re going to have to fight the Cybermen to do it. But at least their old friend Zoe Heriot is along to help, in a conclusion that is both strange and really rather good. Warning: a few spoilers ahead for at least the first two plays, but I’ll do my best to avoid any biggies.

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