House

US TV

Review: 3 Lbs 1×1 (US: CBS)

15 November 2006 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

3 Lbs

In the US: CBS, Tuesdays, 10pm ET/PT. Also available on Innertube.
In the UK: Airing on BBC1 towards the end of 2007, with possible pick ups on UK Gold

When a project’s been sitting around for two years and has already had the main character recast after a failed pilot, you suspect things are wrong with it. But when it’s rushed forward to replace a failed drama – in this case, Smith – there comes the suggestion that maybe it’s not going to be too bad.

3 Lbs is a combination of various other hospital dramas, in particular House and MDs, but it does have a few sprinklings of originality. Starring Murder One’s Stanley Tucci, Good Morning Miami‘s Mark Feuerstein and Torchwood‘s Indira Varma, it focuses on that much neglected organ: the brain.

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US TV

Review: House 3.1

7 September 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

House

In the US: Third season, Tuesdays, Fox, 8/7c

In the UK: Repeats on Hallmark/Five at the moment. Third season January (probably)

Characters re-cast: 0

Major characters gotten rid of: 0

Major new characters: 0

Format change percentage: 10%

He’s back. God bless Fox and their decision to bring all their shows back in August and September. Gregory House is back with us again. The regulars are all back, too. But there is one big change from last year. Can you tell what it is yet?

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Ask Auriello on Scrubs, 24, House and Ricky Gervais

31 August 2006 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

TV Guide‘s Ask Auriello column has a few interesting bits of news for fans of the big US TV shows. There be spoilers in them there hills, so I’ve distilled the most interesting, non-spoiling news out for you:

  • If Zach Braff does leave Scrubs at the end of the next season, the show will carry on without him, potentially with Turk as the lead
  • A former president of the United States is going to return to the show in the next season of 24. I don’t mean Bill Clinton, incidentally. But I might mean Martin Sheen. Or I might not. Gee, non-spoiling news is hard.
  • Kim Raver might make an appearance as Audrey on 24 next season, despite starring in The Nine.
  • Never trust a tabloid, US or otherwise: Ricky Gervais says none of the stars of The Office are going to appear in the US version, despite claims to the contrary. Plus there are definitely going to be no more episodes of the original series.
  • Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer from House have started dating. Ooh.

There’s other spoiling news about House, 24 and a few other shows you might watch, but I will say no more.

Some of my favourite TV characters

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley 23 Comments

Okay, so Scott’s already got in on the act and Lisa looks like she’s raring up to do her own posting elsewhere, but here’s a list of some of my favourite TV characters in response to Jess Whedon’s. In no particular order.

  1. Neil Burnside, The Sandbaggers. Lots of explanation over here.
  2. David Creegan, Touching Evil (US version). Lots of explanation over here.
  3. Stringfellow Hawke, Airwolf. Because he was just so hard
  4. Callisto, Xena: Warrior Princess. One of the few villains to have a good – and sympathetic – motivation. Plus how many characters get to die yet end up a god?
  5. Chandler, Friends. Fantastic until he got neutered by Monica.
  6. Lieutenant Castillo, Miami Vice. Even harder than Stringfellow Hawke. That’s how hard he was. The less he said, the harder he got.
  7. House, House. Do I really need to explain this one?
  8. The President, The West Wing. Moral, dynamic, powerful and a complete nerd who speaks Latin. We need more characters like this. He made me want to be American, anyway.
  9. Turlough, Doctor Who. Slippy, weasly and great fun – for three stories. Then he went off the idea of killing the Doctor. Oh well.
  10. Anya, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just endlessly entertaining.
  11. James T Kirk, Star Trek. Well, he was great, wasn’t he?
  12. Spock, Star Trek. And so was he.
  13. Lynda Day, Press Gang. And so was she. Pretty much like most editors you’ll meet, in fact.
  14. DI Rosie Campbell, The Paradise Club. I just loved this posh, Oxford-educated police officer trying to spew out police slang, be street and it all going pear-shaped, every time.
  15. Chloe Sullivan, Smallville. Smart, funny, loyal, brave, and willing to put up with a constantly broken heart for the sake of friendship – the best sidekick a superhero could want
  16. Tony Hancock, Hancock’s Half Hour. The funniest man who ever lived.
  17. Avon, Blake’s 7. Seriously, just watch any episode and you’ll understand.
  18. Jarod, The Pretender. A genius who could be anyone he wanted to be. Great character, shame the show got silly.
  19. Nasir, Robin of Sherwood. Britain’s answer to Lieutenant Castillo.
  20. Austin James, P.R.O.B.E. Another genius, this one scientific. From the brain of Isaac Asimov and pretty much like all his other characters, James was the proto-House of his day

I’ve left a load out, I’m sure of it. But that’s a good crop to be getting on with. Depressingly few women in there, though. How do we up the quota? Give me suggestions!

UPDATE: And Stringer Bell from The Wire! He’s a drug-dealer, but he goes to economics classes in the evening. You’ve got to love that.