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A limited series on SpikeTV, it’s actually the only series I’ve ever watched from the male oriented (WWE Raw, Extreme Sports and such) network. And what a surprise it was.
The outline is one of a kind. Marketed as a reality show, I wouldn’t really call it that (that would make it the second reality show I’m watching currently, and I would deny it anyways). See it as a more elaborate, longer running, larger scale version of Punk’d. It follows William Shatner with a few other supporting improv actors and a small filming crew invading Riverside, a small town in Iowa, to film a movie called Invasion Iowa, while the real purpose is of course to film what goes around it all. It’s not really an invasion, as the self-declared future birthplace of James T. Kirk welcomes an outrageous pompous version of William Shatner with open arms. What follows are well scripted pranks, while the crew has to keep its cover the whole while they’re filming the fake movie with much help of the locals.
The result is five hours of comedy filled with hilarious (and later on touching) moments that can’t be copied by combining the aforementioned unique ingredients.

The last few years have all been about revivals, and this is the latest one. Airing on the USA network, it’s Kojak, in the form of Ving Rhames. Besides the obvious lollypop sucking and the tough, yet soft in the inside attitude, there’s nothing that special to mention about this show. The show is written in a way that it doesn’t require a lot of acting skills for Ving. Too bad. Besides the change of color, the jazzy background vibe, there’s nothing that sets this apart from any other cop show (very unlike USA’s other offerings, like Monk and The Dead Zone). Hopefully the next few episodes will give me a reason to stick around, otherwise, I’m bailing out.

This is ABC’s midseason replacement for the cancelled NYPD Blue, from the same hands that lead it for 12 years (while being on the TV job for more than 40). This time Steven Bochco teams with John Badham, more familiar in the movie director/producer business.
Premise is not hard to guess, a cop goes blind, and we follow his hardships at work and at home. This dramatic role is on Ron Eldard’s shoulders, no stranger to drama, whose film career lifted off after an extended guest spot on E.R. (Sleepers, Deep Impact, Black Hawk Down, House of Sand and Fog). And it’s not there where the problem lies. Till now, the cases aren’t really surprising or interesting. Writing seems a bit tiresome, with no direction really getting off the ground. With this whole low key feeling, I’m afraid it will die a slow death soon.
That being said, the jury is still out though, as we try to get a better view (no pun intended) on how this will play out.

I never really liked Frasier, and it going off the air after 11 seasons and 5 consecutive Emmies didn’t bring a tear to my eye. Kelsey Grammer, however, keeps himself busy. Through his own production company, he’s been making TV series for all networks (Medium on NBC, Girlfriends on UPN), and this sketch show is made for Fox.
As the title may or may not suggest, Kelsey is probably working mostly behind the screen, showing up in only one or two sketches. The rest is done by a five headed crew.
Being literally a sketch show, there will be a lot of hits and misses, unlike sitcoms where you still have a story to rely on if a few jokes fail. For this particular sketch show though, you’ll be counting the misses most of the time. The first episode was a nice try, but after that, it gets tedious and even predictable. Again, if it’s going off the air (which may be soon, if the ratings keep declining like they do now), not only will I not be shedding a tear, I will finally be laughing.

Sometimes you see something you instantly like, and sometimes you see something you instantly dislike. Falling in the first category is BBC’s The Office. I only saw one sample episode distributed on a UK PC magazine, and it was enough to fly over the 2 seasons on DVD from amazon.co.uk. Falling in the second category is NBC’s remake. But it could be, because I’m spoiled. Maybe it works for the Americans who haven’t seen any of the original 13 gems (only 6 episode per season were made, plus one Christmas special), but for me it doesn’t.
First we have the documentary style, switching between interviews and casual capture on the surroundings, which was much more obvious in the original. Then we have Ricky Gervais, the star of the original, who had more feeling on how to interact with the camera. Replacement for the States is Steve Carell, but without Ricky’s excellent timing, delivery and body language, it feels more acted. The other characters suffer the same fate. The sense of reality is gone.
Then you also have the script, which was only slightly modified for the American viewers. All in all, it’s not enough to keep my attention, and my hand is already reaching for the table, where my DVD’s are lying.

It’s sad Tru Davies’ life saving gifts couldn’t save this series’ demise, clocking out at only 26 episodes. It’s even sadder when you see the last 6 episode packs more punch than the whole previous season. Twists and turns through different and fresh story telling devices, leading its way to the series’ finale, whille upping the stakes. Guess it’s fate telling us there can’t be too many good series running at the same time

While Fox beat NBC to the punch with The Next Great Champ, the idea was born at NBC’s side, shelling out some 2 million bucks per ep for this Burnett/Stallone produced reality show. Besides Fox’s quicky cancellation due to bad ratings, NBC’s version didn’t come easy either. Already suffering bad press with one suicide of one of the contenders, the ratings aren’t that much to write home about either.
While I’m not a reality show watcher, I thought I’d try this one, obviously because of the hosts (Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray) and the high testosterone topic (boxing), even though I’m not a sports fan either. But knowing NBC, and knowing how reality show works (usually lacking any depth), it’s actually the perfect series to watch at work. If you don’t pay attention, you don’t miss that much anyways. And to really watch it, you don’t need that much attention either. A win-win situation.
As for the quality so far, it’s pretty nicely directed, and while it follows a neatly laid out plan, it’s just enough not to get bored.

The online community is adamant this is one of the best sci-fi series ever to exist. The only fact I’ve collected so far though, is that it’s the longest running sci-fi series. So I had to try the new revival (since the original went from 1963 through 1989). The fact that it was leaked on the internet before the BBC screening a few weeks from now helped too.
Too bad what I found out wasn’t able to live up to its hype, at all. The first scene made it clear the budget was quite low. Lightning, filming techniques, special effects, it’s all sub-par. Then the acting isn’t that of high standard either. Then there must be at least one last thing to make this show last so long ? The storytelling ? Neupz, not that ingenious either. All this combined makes any scene easily comparible to Eastenders in all aspects, which means it’s not worth any of my time.
Conclusion is like the harsh reality we live in. Life was better when wondering who, I mean, what Doctor Who was all about.

Launched mid-season on THE home of procedural crime solving shows, CBS, it’s an able competitor. Taking a different angle (using math to solve problems), helps to elevate it above the other shows. A good cast helps too (though Judd Hirsch and Peter MacNicol are kind of typecasted, they carry a giant of TV history and experience). Then you have the Scott brothers (Ridley & Tony) overseeing the project to keep the production value high. They also have time to fit in social time in the b-story reel, definitely putting it ahead of static shows like CSI:Miami and NY, and NCIS). While the scripts are not perfect, with lots of room left for more depth, the formula is definitely there. Also, the math angle sometimes seems far fetched and quite unbelievable. Then again, so does succesfully zooming in a million times and getting all the details from a shoddy security video tape. The final argument to dump the aforementioned mediocre shows off the schedule, the female lead is quite the hot chick.

With a late cancellation axe coming down, several episodes were already filmed and produced with uncertainty of an US airing. Fox, not satisfied with the ratings, probably still wanted to squeeze every dollar out of it, sold the remaining six episode to a New Zealand station, so luckily, they have geeks with hardware and internet there too.
While I critised the formulaic structure during the beginning of season one, major improvement was seen at the end of it. Now that it’s cancelled, it’s extra sad the unpredictable factors keep improving the episodes during season 2. Guess we’ll just have to live with the short vision most high-up suits have at the studios.
And even more unfortunate is the fact that they added a hot chick this season, which we’ll be able to see only 3 more times. Her name is Lizzy Caplan.

Almost at the end of the ride, but I’m giving up anyways. Frowning upon one missed joke after another just isn’t fun. While the season began shaky, I thought I noticed improvement, but it was quickly replaced by long tedious unfunny dialogue and predictability. All characters converged to the same template, probably due to lack of imagination or just plain laziness. Even the February sweeps didn’t help, but luckily, there’s still enough other comedies on the air to keep the laughs going. Maybe somebody can warn me in the future, if he decides to move back to New York (or New York comes to Joey, as in, a guest spot from some old “Friend”).

After four years, Jack knows better than to tease us with “…and this… is the longest day of my life”, because every now and then, it WILL get worse. And so another long day has begun. While some time goes by inbetween seasons, the gripping storywriting doesn’t skip a beat. Quality of every aspect remains high. Writing, acting, and overall production value, with the occasional well-designed twist. It’s almost sad they action packed 4 episodes as the season opener, and hence, we’re already down a third of the day.

It has been quite a ride, these past three years. Working for the wrong side, working for both sides, and working for the good guys. That’s the action part. Then there’s the murdered fiancee, and the distant father, and the deceased mother. That’s the drama part. Then there’s the Rambaldi device, and the prophecies. That’s the mysterious part. The first season was quite episodic, but it was a nice build-up for season 2 and 3, where it slowly evolved into highly serialised storytelling that had the effect of a non-stop adrenaline rush, with a cliffhanger waiting to grab you every week. Guess people didn’t like it that much (sliding ratings), so J.J. Abrams must have succumbed to pressure from the big studio bosses. All that added depth is now gone, and episode for episode roll by feeling a bit like the same. It’s still strong writing though, but it’s just not the same. It’s gone from being great to just being good. Let’s hope the tides return soon.

The past years haven’t been really good, comedy series wise. Most quality shows were gone, leaving only Friends on the air. And so the laugh out loud moments were also gone since May (even as quality for this show was also slipping since season 5 and 6, while regaining only a bit of ground in the last season). Joey was supposed to pick up the thread in September, but it has grown stale in a very short time. This new mid-season replacement (for Father of the Pride), is finally what we’ve been waiting for. It’s a fresh comedy with a good variety of characters and storylines, very unlike Joey, where you can practically fill in the dialogue before it’s spoken. Here things actually happen, also very unlike the static scenario of Joey. It’s going to be a short season (13 eps.), but at least it’s qualtiy.

A product of the George Clooney/Steven Soderbergh partnership, it’s a 10 episode series on HBO. Something of a mix of soft-core The Office and the current batch of reality TV shows, following three actors through their hardships and joys in acting classes and actual jobs. While the title says unscripted, the dialogue may be, but certain storylines are clearly setup and developed. Mostly funny stuff, and here and there they’re trying to blend in some drama.
With the powers behind the show, it’s also fun to see backstage shots for the real and fictitious guest roles the actors landed, opening doors to lots of funny cameos (for instance other actors and directors). While the first four episodes were pretty solid, the fifth was a bit of a letdown. Another half a season to decide if it’s worth a second season.