Community

What have you been watching this week (w/e October 9)

9 October 2009 Rob Buckley 12 Comments

So, there’s been lots on tele this week – what have you been watching?

As mentioned on Monday, I’ve give up on quite a few new shows this week, including Eastwick, The Forgotten and Mercy, as well as – after nine years – Smallville. Since then, I’ve also decided to give up on:

  1. Hank, on the general grounds the second episode was excruciatingly bad
  2. Oh my God, after eight years, CSI: Miami, on the general grounds that I’m tired of having my intelligence insulted every week
  3. Three Rivers: started on Sunday, I tried watching it, but found after 10 minutes not one good thing about it – it’s Casualty but everyone needs a transplant at the end of it.
  4. Psych – a huge backlog of episodes that we have no inclination of watching is God’s way of telling you a show isn’t entertaining any more. No character development and it’s not even very funny, either. Oh well.
  5. Dollhouse – absolutely rubbish second episode suggests this thing isn’t going to get any better.

That means, beyond what I’ve reviewed this week, I’m still watching:

  • Trauma – a smart-ish programme underneath but with Bruckheimer-level accidents slapped in the middle that are so over the top, you actually laugh out loud. I’m hanging on in there for week three, but I think I’ll be dropping it after that
  • Being Erica – the addition of the new mythos element is interesting, but the overall show is starting to flag a little for some reason – not enough Doctor Tom, I suspect
  • Mad Men – I’m still a week behind, but last week’s (Seven Twenty Three) was a cracker
  • Supernatural – last week’s was a little daft and had an obvious denouement. And Jared P sucked as (spoiler) the devil
  • CSI – The character-building continues and interesting to see them build a story that references things all the way back in season one, to show the consequences of actions nearly a decade later
  • Dexter – A good episode overall, but I’m not sure if it’s got much of a message left to impart. Still enjoyable, though.

I’ve still got a backlog of viewing (Community, this week’s Mad Men , this week’s Supernatural, Micro Men, The Middle, this week’s CSI, the Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm) – let us know what you think about any of them or anything else you’ve seen this week.

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 1

Third-episode verdict: Community

5 October 2009 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Thursdays, 9.30/8.30c, NBC

Well, of all the new shows so far this season, we have an undisputed winner in the quality stakes: Community, NBC’s Thursday night comedy about a bunch of disparate losers who join a community-college study group and learn something about life in a Breakfast Club stylee.

After three episodes, we’re getting to see the show’s colours: a love of the bizarre and outrageous crossed with one-liners. The first episode was a whirlwind of jokes and character moments that were really very clever and funny, but the second and third episodes have steered slightly away from one-liners in favour of the downright bizarre. We still get the character moments, but what moments.

Episode two, in particular, built through the episode towards a denoument that was extraordinarily odd yet also heart-waming; however the show cynically undercut that heart-warming moment, but still managed to keep it heart-warming, leaving you admiring its cleverness.

Episode three was even more bizarre, with Jeff having to go on movie course run by someone who’d taken Dead Poets’ Society way too much to heart, and Abed the Palestinian with Asperger’s producing a student movie about his life that was awe-inspiring in its oddness. And let’s not forget the raps and the krumping during the credits.

It’s interesting to see that each episode involves a different class, with Spanish and film-making getting the first couple of outings, and social psychology being the pick of the week next episode. This should give it a flexibility of format to prevent it outstaying its welcome. 

It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s got a great cast – it’s almost as good as 30 Rock. Give it a try.

Carusometer rating: 1
Rob’s prediction: I fear cancellation, but if there’s any justice in the world, it’ll keep going.

What have you been watching this week (w/e October 2)

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

As you may have guessed, I’ve been watching quite a bit of tele this week and you should have seen the result in a big wodge of reviews. However, on top of this I’ve also seen:

  • Accidentally on Purpose: Episode 2, which was truly dreadful so I’ve given up on it. E4 viewers steer clear of it when it arrives on our scene
  • The Vampire Diaries: Episode 2, to which I can only say, ditto.
  • Hank: review later
  • The Middle: review later
  • The Fixer: Little bit daft, but interesting to see MMA on a mainstream UK show
  • Supernatural: As excellent as always, and nice to see Hector off The Unit getting a job as an archangel
  • House: weird. No instant reset button. A good twist at the end, too (although I did see it coming). No longer can House be accused of being formulaic
  • CSI: Miami: back to insulting our intelligence. I knew it couldn’t last longer than a week
  • Community: last week’s was absolutely sensational, with an ending as well written as 30 Rock. It’s really must-see TV already
  • Mad Men: I played catch-up (not seen Sunday’s though), but the last-but-one episode was excellent

So I’ve still got a big pile of programmes to watch as you can probably tell. Any I should avoid?

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

What have you been watching this week (w/e September 18)

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Well, the new season has really started in earnest in the US, and there are some new shows in the UK, too. I’m working my way through them at the moment, so between now and Monday, you should be getting full reviews of

  • House (a weird two-hour special in which House seems to become nice)
  • Cougar Town (Courtney Cox’s new show)
  • Modern Family (supposed to be very funny)
  • The Mentalist (very yawn inducing)
  • Accidentally On Purpose (slightly awful so far, even though it does star Jenna Elfman)
  • The Good Wife (whatserface off ER going back to work after politician Chris Noth cheats on her)
  • FlashForward (everyone in the world gets a vision of what their life will be like in six months)
  • Smallville (kneel before Zod!)
  • The Vampire Diaries (a third-episode verdict probably. If I can stomach watching two episodes back to back)
  • CSI (Sara’s back and that other one is off!)

But…

  • Merlin bored me enough that I stopped after 10 minutes, so I won’t be watching that any more
  • Gossip Girl finally got too silly last week, so I gave up on it, too
  • I’m figuring the number of people interested in The Beautiful Life round here wouldn’t be that great, so I avoided watching that, too
  • The Fixer was rubbish for about 30 minutes then got really good
  • I’m slowly catching up with Mad Men and as lovely as it is, I’m not finding the character interest at the moment to draw me in – am I suffering from quality TV ennui?
  • Last week’s Supernatural made up for the slightly disappointing season opener with a good ending.
  • I’ve still to watch this week’s episode of Supernatural as well as Community.
  • And virtually everything else I’ve already reviewed.

But how about you?

UPDATE: Doh! I’ll be reviewing the first episode of the new season of Being Erica (very intriguing) as well. I knew I’d forget something.

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

What have you been watching this week (w/e September 18)

25 September 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Well, the new season has really started in earnest in the US, and there are some new shows in the UK, too. I’m working my way through them at the moment, so between now and Monday, you should be getting full reviews of

  • House (a weird two-hour special in which House seems to become nice)
  • Cougar Town (Courtney Cox’s new show)
  • Modern Family (supposed to be very funny)
  • The Mentalist (very yawn inducing)
  • Accidentally On Purpose (slightly awful so far, even though it does star Jenna Elfman)
  • The Good Wife (whatserface off ER going back to work after politician Chris Noth cheats on her)
  • FlashForward (everyone in the world gets a vision of what their life will be like in six months)
  • Smallville (kneel before Zod!)
  • The Vampire Diaries (a third-episode verdict probably. If I can stomach watching two episodes back to back)
  • CSI (Sara’s back and that other one is off!)

But…

  • Merlin bored me enough that I stopped after 10 minutes, so I won’t be watching that any more
  • Gossip Girl finally got too silly last week, so I gave up on it, too
  • I’m figuring the number of people interested in The Beautiful Life round here wouldn’t be that great, so I avoided watching that, too
  • The Fixer was rubbish for about 30 minutes then got really good
  • I’m slowly catching up with Mad Men and as lovely as it is, I’m not finding the character interest at the moment to draw me in – am I suffering from quality TV ennui?
  • Last week’s Supernatural made up for the slightly disappointing season opener with a good ending.
  • I’ve still to watch this week’s episode of Supernatural as well as Community.
  • And virtually everything else I’ve already reviewed.

But how about you?

UPDATE: Doh! I’ll be reviewing the first episode of the new season of Being Erica (very intriguing) as well. I knew I’d forget something.

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please