US TV

Review: Breaking Bad 1×1

Breaking Bad

In the US: Sundays, AMC, 10pm/9c

In the UK: Not yet acquired

Brace yourself. In just five paragraphs’ time, I’m going to be using the word Chekovian.

Okay, science geeks. Who here among us has never considered using their terrible knowledge for evil instead of good? Come on, fess up. You know you want to.

Only me, hey? Oh well… Woo ha ha.

Nevertheless, as you can probably tell from films like Revenge of the Nerds and Falling Down, there’s a whole lot of rage pent up in the nerdlier parts of the US population. And here’s comes a TV show from Vince Gilligan, former producer of The X-Files, about a high school chemistry teacher who decides to get rich by making crystal meth.

At this point, you might be tempted to switch off the show or not even tune in. But I think that would be a mistake.

For one thing, while it’s by no means an easy show – in many ways it could be described as Chekovian – it is darkly comic in multiple joyous ways.

But secondly, it’s from AMC. This is the channel’s second scripted drama series, the first being Mad Men and you know how good that is.*

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US TV

Review: Cashmere Mafia 1×1

Cashmere Mafia

In the US: Wednesdays, 10/9c, ABC
In the UK: Not yet acquired

Trying to get that vital ‘female’ demographic to watch television is tricky. The answer apparently is Sex and the City. You know, a show about women, by women and starring women that women actually wanted to watch. That’s got to be a fluke. A one-off. There’s no way any other plot or situation would work, is there?

Thus we’ve had Women’s Murder Club, Lipstick Jungle and now Cashmere Mafia, all variations on Sex and the City in which varying numbers of women unite together to advance their careers, fend off the evil oppression of men and discuss relationships and stuff.

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US TV

Preview: Swingtown

Swingtown

In the US: CBS mid-season replacement. No fixed airdate yet

In the UK: Acquired by ITV1/ITV3. No fixed airdate yet

There’s an odd trend of late on US TV. No, not the hiring of British actors for just about every TV series (are we cheaper than Americans, I wonder?), although you’ll see that on display here, too (Jack Davenport!!!). I mean the recreating of modern times past to examine the change in social attitudes. Whether it’s just that everyone’s been watching Life on Mars or there’s something deeper at work, I don’t know. But what with Journeyman diving off into the 70s and 80s at a moment’s notice, Mad Men recreating the early 60s in minute detail, and now Swingtown trying to capture the magic (?) of the 1970s’ wife-swapping parties, it’s clear a certain amount of historical navel gazing is part of the US networks’ current plans for the world of entertainment.

There are a few problems with Swingtown, however, that separate it from the glorious Mad Men and the thoughtful Journeyman. Not the least of these is the fact it is all about wild, promiscuous sex and yet it’s very, very boring.

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Tuesday’s travelling news

Film

British TV

  • BBC to dramatise Anne Frank’s Diary
  • Stephen Fry to make a travelogue visiting every US state (maybe not Hawaii and Alaska though)

US TV