TV Review Summer 2006
Since tomorrow, the fall schedule will officially start (Season 2 of Prison Break), I think it’s about time to do an all-round summer review, roughly sorted from good to bad:
The 4400: Grown from two season, it’s really REALLY heating up. Tension is tangible, while drama is developed on a personal level. With one episode left, you know a big cliff hanger is coming up, and season 4 will not be a winding down road.
Monk: Consistently hilarious, some jokes just don’t get old. But the stories put forward keep being surprising, meaning I see some more Emmies coming this neurotic’s way.
Psych: Outline might put you off, thinking it’s a Monk copy, but early on, it proves to be able to stand on its own quite well. Pretty funny by itself, and story-wise, it’s pretty okay. A keeper, for now.
The Dead Zone: As I feared, it’s back to episodic story telling, and supporting characters are pretty much paper weights now, instead of assets, like the previous seasons. Still good enough to be on my weekly schedule though.
Weeds: Season 2 just premiered, but it looks like another promising start, for this short (only 12 eps) short (did I mention it’s only a half hour show ?) dramedy.
Last Comic Standing: As per previous seasons, quite a laughing fest, with a solid line-up and a well deserved winner.
Chappelle’s Show: With less than a handful of episodes, you can’t even call it a season. Also, you wonder why his DVD’s broke sales records. Some skits are funny indeed, but mostly, it gets old pretty fast.
The Contender: Business as usual. Train, diss your opponent, and call him out, concluded by a punching game (and a loser featurette). Testosterone filled reality tv. An excellent time filler.
The Closer: Continuing with last season’s trick, nothing much has changed. It’s an able time filler, since you’ve only got the weekly murder to rely on. Seems like nothing will grow further, but at least you know what you’re dealing with. Mildly funny, and mildly dramatic.
Brotherhood: Pretty slow character developing show, which has strength in subtle drama. Might be a bit too slow for some, but I see potential here and there.
Eureka: Nice try at a light-hearted sci-fi series, focuses mainly on the gagdet of the week and a bit of story recycling (if you’ve watched a lot of sci-fi before). Character development is not high on the check list, so it’s a time filler at best, since it doesn’t reach hilarity levels yet. Maybe the writers still have to hone their skills to adept to this small town setting, but I’m not betting any real money on it.
Nightmares & Dreamscapes: 8 seperate short stories by Stephen King. I fell asleep during story 2. Didn’t even finish them all. He might be able to write books, but the translation of his short stories to the small screen 45 minute format just isn’t something to write home about. Period.
Who Wants to be a Superhero: If this is called a reality show, then Superman eats Kryptonite for breakfast. There’s more acting involved than many badly scripted dramas combined together. It might be fun for some to laugh at freaky contestants, but in the long run, it can’t hold any real interest.
Blade – The Series: As much as the movies were brainless but entertaining, the series just isn’t able to capture anything positive from it. Low budget causes a lot of the damage, while uninteresting story lines and characters does the rest. This small screen daywalker version isn’t appealing on any level.