Kimputer's Weblog

During my last CSI review I had high hopes for this being the best season yet. Sadfully, the winning streak ended with the strong (and only) two parter (6.07/608 – A Bullet Runs Through It). After that, it goes down to the “normal” quality again, which by any standard is still high, of course. Running through its course at the same pace, it’s also safe to say, they didn’t put as much effort in this season finale as last year’s Grave Danger two parter.
Ah well, this is what you get if you get spoiled too much. At least the expectations for next season aren’t so high anymore.

Ever since sitcoms like Friends and Mad About You left the airwaves, TV wasn’t really something to laugh at (luckily, the Brits gave us The Office and Extras). Mostly crappy copies, or unoriginal cheap laughter. But finally NBC, even though it dropped as the number one network to the last place (18-49 demo, fourth place for total viewers), it has by far the best and most imaginative singe-camera comedy this year. The story outline is one to last for a long long time, but even without that, the scripts are unbounded by any limits, making every week another surprising discovery.
All the characters have been treated well, and recurring roles are a blast. Comedy wise, this is truly the gem of this year.

ABC’s Sunday hit drama series has continued to grow during this season, and now it’s even mature enough to compete in the coveted Thursday line-up next season. It’s still the continuing developing characters combined with exceptional writing that makes this series seem like a normal drama at first sight, but you’ll soon see it’s much more than that. And with that, just a look from a character can make it a smashing season cliffhanger. You really have to build someting strong to get this done properly, and so they have. If I were NBC, I’d move E.R. out of the way from its Thursday primetime spot to avoid a heavy bleeder.

Be it shorter seasons (from the regular 22+, down to 15), at least there will be another season after this one. It’s quite understandable the axe swung quite near though, since such a regular animated series as this doesn’t really do exciting stuff. Then again, it’s the day-to-day business and household problems that’s the strength of this series. Every episode features another mundane topic, but still nicely packaged in snickering laughter plaster. Continuity isn’t really the strenght of this show either, because personally I think it could’ve fortified a bigger fan base. But as it is now slowly rumbling on (probably for only one more year), it’s still nice to see normal topics like work, friendship, neighbors and living in general play out in such a cozy familiar setting.

In the true CBS sense, this procedural show is episodic in nature, with characters getting only the slightest hint of background. In this particular series, characters seems excessively cold and stiff (making it hard to let them grow on you). But the stories are entertaining enough to make this series, once again, not must-see TV, but still watchable nonetheless.
Still, I wonder, looking at CBS’s prime-time schedule, do they themselves notice they have the least versatile line-up (80% procedural cirime shows) all the networks ?

This midseason replacement on CBS already has a green light for a second season, doing favorably well in the ratings. From a strict entertainment angle, it only ranges somewhere in the middle. A mission based series, every episode is independently watchable, with only a few story points stretching in between. From a dramatic viewpoint, it’s not really strong, and it mostly hammers on the same subjects. This makes it definitely not must-see TV, but if you have enough time (and military is your genre), this might be something for you.

One of the UPN shows that survived the hack and slash fest for the merger with WB to form CW, and that wasn’t so surprising, having the best ratings for this network, and that on a Thursday no less. Since it’s still your basic comedy, based on Chris Rock’s experiences in his eighties youth, don’t expect anything as outrageous as his one man show comedy routines. It’s all neat, with stories confined to his life at home or at school, and the occasional imaginary fantasy outbursts. Some running gags feel more like repetitions of the same joke, and by the end, you can fill in some of the jokes yourself. For a comedy, it’s acceptable. But if you’re hooked on Chris Rock, you’ll feel a bit disappointed as it never reaches the “hilarious” level.

Answers are revealed and more questions pops up. It’s like a wild-goose chase, but the changing nature of it means you just can’t let it go. That’s still the strength of this series. The whole formula works, the continuing story, with flashbacks from only one character every episode. It even works for a guest star, the story is still so enganging it doesn’t even matter who is the star of the week. Meanwhile, all sorts of dilemmas continue to stimulate your brain, but you’re as close to finding the truth as a mouse is able to find the exit of a 2 million square foot maze. And as a tradition, the season finale opens a few more canisters of brain food, which we’ll only be able to taste in a few months when the next season starts. And they say those people on the island have it bad, how about us ?

Halfway through its tenth season, it’s the same quality you’d expect from the previous nine years. Sometimes plain dirty and flat in your face, sometimes sharp social critisism sugar-coated in a layer of sarcasm. In a world with stricter censors, they’re still able to pull off the most daring stunts, and they should be congratulated for that. Short seasons (7 eps per half year), but plenty of fun nonetheless.

Having an uninterrupted run since Januari, it’s also time for this season to end. All in all, another exciting day has gone by, and with 2 more seasons signed up, another cliffhanger is introduced to make Day 6 even more horrible.
The start of this day was quite personal and dramatic, and mostly held up till the end. During the last 2 episode it was clear the writers were rushing quite a bit (nitpickers are going to have a field day with this), and it’s a big question if they’ll pick up the pieces back up in Day 6 again. Adrenaline-wise though, it’s still somewhere at the top, though some room should be left for pity, because Jack Bauer will have a lot more to endure the next coming day.

It’s that time again. It’s May, and the TV season is about to end. First on my slate is Prison Break (the rest of the other series are nicely queued up on my big hard disk), and that’s because I wasn’t wrong when I reviewed it when it premiered. Not only did it proof to be equal to 24, even airing side by side after 24 resumed its fifth season (excellent move from the Fox network) made it obvious it actually surpassed it in quality. Main reason for that is the time spend with the characters. Getting to know them better means deeper and more meaningful drama can be created. Plus, writing in such a confined space, and keeping it as thrilling and surprising as this whole run has been, requires the extra excellence from the writing and production team.
All in all, Mondays were the most exciting hours at Fox, and I can assure you, with the adrenaline produced by those two series paired together, it makes it a better cardiac work-out than a full two hours on a treadmill. Try to beat that combination !

Only aired a few times, but it ABC already has a season renewal greenlight on it. With the magnificent J.J. Abrams having a small role as exec producer, I thought I might give it a try. ABC knows drama, and so does Abrams, but this show somehow feels a bit slow and bland. Maybe it’s because the premise is a bit weak. While other shows have at least a good base to work its way from, this one is about a bunch of unrelated friends, with Brian being single, and hence the dating game ensues. Blablabla. With shows about a plane crash on a mysterious island, or a group of upcoming surgeons in a Seattle hospital, or a Mormonic polygamist family, it’s hard to stay interested in such a mundane series. Sorry Abrams, gotta pass this one up.

A pretty revolutionary dramaon HBO (produced by Tom Hanks), starring Bill Paxton as the head of a big family. And I mean a BIG family. Main focus is the polygamy life-style, with involving family problems mixed with individual ones. This makes for a show with a wide variety of topics, and ranges from funny to frowning dramatic. With the characters built over the episodes, it’s fun to see how everyone evolves and what traits are revealed.
In a voyeuristic and curious way, a few episodes would be sufficient, but they’ve build solid story archs with many aspects shine the light on to last a few years. Definitely a winner (in the eye of yours sologamist truly).

Huff kinda grows on you (probably the reason it got renewed for a second season, even before the first episode aired). Things just seem to work pretty after while, even the extremes of comedy and drama this show mixes together. Then the characters do the same thing. How I loathed the obnoxious character played by Oliver Platt, but how you feel he’s definitely part of the show. The whole ensemble cast gets a piece of the action, while guest stars have their moments too. Sharon Stone has a stellar run that made me forgive her for Basic Instinct 2, and I can tell you, that really means something.
Even though the (abominable) Nielsen ratings will make any Showtime executive shudder in fear, hats off for leaving this quality show on their schedule.

Fox has always been a home for the higher quality comedies and they usually don’t churn out standard unfunny sitcoms like the other networks do (but decisions as of lately really makes you wonder. See Kitchen Confidential’s lightning fast cancelation). The Loop is one of those fresh, fast paced yet focused story, single camera comedy, with a hot chick co-starring to boot. With only a total of 7 episodes scheduled, and ratings somewhat mediocre, it’s a big question if this one will survive Fox’ quick judgement (but why, for Pete’s sake, is The War at Home still on your schedule ?).