Only in 24, mind, but it’s going to be Wayne Palmer (D B Woodside), former president David Palmer’s brother, according to Variety. I wonder if that naughty affair from season three is going to catch up with him…
24
US TV
24 movie given the greenlight
After much mulling, musing and moaning, there’s finally going to be a 24 movie, according to Variety. Kiefer hasn’t signed up for it yet, although frankly the producers would be insane not to spend a good part of the budget, if necessary, to get him on board.
A couple of notable facts
- It’s not going to real time. Neither is it going to be 24 hours long. Let’s face it, a 24-hour movie wouldn’t be a great attraction. However, it is likely that part of the film will be in real-time, so if you can imagine the first hour being set-up and the second hour being continuous, you’ve got a good idea of how it’s supposed to work
- Parts of it could be shot in London. Clearly, that won’t be the real-time part because having Kiefer standing on the Northern line platform for seven minutes, waiting for the train, only to realise he really needs the City branch which means going up to Euston then coming back down again just isn’t that interesting.
It’s going to occur between seasons six and seven (because you just know there’s going to be a season seven). Since they work something like 26 hours a day, nine days a week while they’re filming and rely on the two or three months they get free between seasons to catch up with their sleep, expect a certain degree of tiredness, hallucinations, irritability, sudden mood swings, etc, in the main characters’ performances
US TV
Season finales: Alias, 24, The Unit
Today’s finales guide is going to look at the silly spy shows of US TV.
Alias
Pants. I missed the Rambaldi episode. Instead, the finale dealt with a whole load of silly things, as you might expect with Alias. Various character arcs get resolved, both happily and happily, but ultimately you get the feeling the last five years was all for nothing. Oh well.
Disappointment factor: 5/10.
24
Not the most tense of seasons, but by no means the worst (season 3?), this year’s 24 does have the most tense finale of them all. How does Jack get out of that one? Maybe Dale or Professor Zarkov can fashion a ‘ray’ to save him. Anyway, brace yourself.
Tension factor: 10/10.
The Unit
After a terribly impressive 12th episode that took virtually none of the conventional paths in the standard “bomb in the building that needs defusing” scenario, the finale proved to be a terrible piece of silliness that went for guns and ammo plus francophobia in preference to sensible plotting. The conclusion makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, either. It’s not a cliffhanger, so the tension factor’s low, but you really wish there’d been a better choice of episode to round off a good first season.
Tension factor: 4/10
Fox announces its Autumn line-up
In the wake of NBC and ABC, here comes the line-up for Fox’s Autumn schedule. Not many surprises here, particularly the demise of Stacked.
Returning
24
American Dad
American Idol
America’s Most Wanted: America Strikes Back
Bones
Cops
Family Guy
House
King Of The Hill
MADtv
Nanny 911
Prison Break
The Loop
The O.C.
The Simpsons
The War At Home
Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy
Axed/Ended
Arrested Development
Free Ride
Head Cases
Killer Instinct
Kitchen Confidential
Malcolm in the Middle
Reunion
Stacked
That ’70s Show
The Bernie Mac Show
TV reviews
The US season finales are upon us: Smallville, Supernatural, Prison Break, The West Wing
A good finale to a TV series can keep you watching even the biggest rubbish imaginable. They can be exciting, tense and a whole load of other things.
Stress, of course, is a major health hazard. Therefore, so that UK viewers can brace themselves to an appropriate degree, I’ll be giving near-spoiler free guides to just how tense and exciting each of the major US TV shows’ finales were, starting today. US TV shows don’t end all at once: they’re spread over a period of three weeks or so, so there’ll be another couple of updates to come after this over the next week or so.
Smallville
Pretty tense, but not quite as tense as previous seasons’. Some good moments, some irritating moments and one excellent moment. Yes, Chloe and Clark finally get to smooch. Ha, Lana! I’m expecting a typical Smallville memory-wipe next season, though, so the tension will be only temporary at best.
Tension factor: 7/10
Supernatural
The finale was a couple of weeks ago and was actually quite good. Bleak, nasty and with almost no hope for the “sexy supernatural ghosthunters”. Since it’s part of an ongoing plot, I’ve no idea how quickly things will revert to X-Files “monster of the week” or whether there’ll be a format change coming with the move of the show to The CW.
Tension factor: 8/10
Prison Break
It’ll be no surprise for anyone to hear that the motley band of inmates manages to escape in the last episode. Or that it all goes a bit pear-shaped. But there are a good collection of other surprises and the ending is actually my one solitary recurring nightmare. Obviously, with them out of prison, there’s going to be a complete change of format in season two, so it’ll be worth tuning in to see what season two will be like “After the Prison Break”.
Tension factor: 9/10
The West Wing
Since the show’s been cancelled, no tension at all here. The finale was written by John Wells, who’s been responsible for most of the worst episodes of the show of late. It had a couple of okay moments and a few resolutions of ongoing plot lines, but not many. A flat ending to a former favourite.
Disappointment factor: 8/10
In the coming guides: CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, House, Numb3rs, 24, Scrubs, Lost, The Unit (assuming it has a finale soon – they’re showing two episodes every Tuesday now)
Incidentally, in compiling this guide, I watched CSI: New York for the first time in ages because the episode on last week looked like it should have been the finale. But it wasn’t. Anyway, the show’s still dull, it turns out, but I’ll bite the bullet, take one for the team, and watch this week’s episode, too.