Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
06:00 K-Ville
07:00 Journeyman
08:00 Stacked
09:30 Damages
10:30 Extras
K-Ville. Episode 7. An absurd and overly-convoluted storyline ruins some otherwise good elements. It's great to see Cobb and Boulet working an ordinary case (one that has nothing to do with the background of either one) - and they have a great chemistry as a cop duo - but why does the case have to be so darn silly? David Denman gives a great performance as a father searching for the daughter he lost two years earlier, but the web of implausible happenings surrounding her location makes my eyes roll rather than well up with tears.
Journeyman. Episode 11. Once again, the storytelling strikes a superb balance between what is happening to Dan in the past (Christmas, 1979) and what is happening to his wife and brother in the present (Christmas, 2007). The heart to heart conversations between Dan's wife and Dan's mother is the standout moment for me, in an episode of excellent moments.
Stacked. Episode 18. The first funny episode in ages. Two plots work side by side. Harold (the regular customer played by Christopher Lloyd) has his usual seat taken by a stranger to the bookstore and obsesses about it for the whole episode, while in the other plotline Gavin (the owner of the bookstore) is caught between a major online poker game and a previous obligation to his son and ex-wife. Pretty much all the cast shines and there are a ton of winning one-liners.
Damages. Episode 13. A stunning season finale. The location of the video tape is the single cleverest thing I have seen on TV all year. That alone is worth the price of admission, but factor in all the twists and turns that this final chapter delivers and you have one of the finest hours ever shown on TV. It's as good as Veronica Mars or 24.
Extras. The final episode is equal parts sad and funny. Andy is at the top and he starts his spiral downwards. Maggie, however, is at the bottom and even she goes into a downward spiral. Some of it is very funny indeed (even if we are now used to the formula and have a fair idea how Andy's inept lies will come unstuck) and some of it is unrelentingly bleak. It never easy watching character we love suffer. Andy deserves his fate, but Maggie is sweet and it's hard to see her fall. However, the ending is terrific and this series will be missed.
Highlight? Damages.
Damages, Extras, Journeyman, K-Ville, Stacked
Back To You, Cavemen, Damages, Extras, Friday Night Lights, House, My Boys, Rules Of Engagement, Samantha Who?
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
05:30 Friday Night Lights
06:30 Damages
07:30 My Boys
08:00 House
09:00 Samantha Who?
09:30 Back To You
10:00 Rules Of Engagement
11:00 Extras
11:30 Cavemen
Friday Night Lights. Episode 22. For once, the football drama that doesn't usually feature many football scenes devoted lots and lots of the episode to "The Big Game". And, we got to see some of the plotlines we've been following all season come to fruition. Others, strangely, just faded away. So, on one hand, I was delighted to see so much quality time devoted to the Taylors and a couple of great conversations between Tyra Collette and Lyla Garrity, on the other hand I was disappointed that the Lyla-Jason romance/break-up got almost no screen-time. Neither did the Tyra-Lance (I mean Landry) storyline. Had this been a series finale, it would have sucked, but it wasn't. And it was a cool episode devoted almost exclusively to Eric Taylor.
Damages. Episode 8. In the middle of this tangled web of lies and double lies, we get to Larry's story. Larry has been secretly working with the bad guy all along and in this episode, this information is brought to the attention of Patty Hewes. And, in what is definitely Patty's best scene so far, she goes to his house and takes him down, right in front of his family. Awesome. Meanwhile, after an episode of enduring the The Worst Assistant Ever, Ellen finally grows a pair and (in another very cool scene) fires him. Sure, it's probably a sad moment, since it's symbolic of her selling her soul or something, but it was still cool to watch. A great episode. My only complaint? The actual mechanism of getting Patty to find out that Larry was a double agent was a bit clumsy and simplistic for a show this complex. We are asked to believe that Ray Fiske, a very clever guy, would fall into her trap that easily and mention the exact amount of money she mentioned to Larry earlier? I don't think so.
My Boys. Episode 22. The best new sit-com of 2006/7 ended it's first run with one of the best season finales I have ever seen. It was funny, it had heart, it gave all the regulars something important to do, it brought back several characters from earlier episodes and - most important - it faded to black on a truly awesome cliff-hanger.
House. Season 4, Episode 7. The a-story was called "ugly" and it featured a disfigured boy. The b-story looked at House's inability to get past the good looks of his beautiful co-workers. When described it sounds gauche, yet the exection was flawless from start to finish and the result/juxtaposition made for another perfect episode of House.
Samantha Who? Episode 5. While this was the weakest installment so far, it was still very funny, and Samantha was still utterly adorable as she set out to resolve her "Daddy-issues".
Back To You. Episode 7. Once again, the writers find a clever way to keep the characters together in a non-work setting. And, since this is a very funny emsemble, it leads to a lot of laughs as they chase a raccoon around a suburban house. Patricia Heaton has started to grow on me, I must admit, but the star of the show is always Ty Burrell.
Rules Of Engagement. Season 2, Episode 8. While not the best episode so far, this is probably the first where all the storylines were equally good. My favourite was Russell's: he stayed in an elevator for several days to meet a cute girl he had spied, everyone he met thought this was a really romantic gesture, but when he met the girl again, he was maced for his trouble. But, across the board, this episode generated a lot of laughs. And it's great to see a battle-of-the-sexes storyline that doesn't rely on Jeff behaving like a dimwit for the first twenty minutes to keep it in motion.
Extras. Season 2, Episode 6. Not with a bang, but with a whimper? Wow. While there was still a lot to enjoy here, this series finale of Extras ended things in a very ordinary way. The Robert De Niro cameo was cool, but the storyline of the sick kid didn't deserve all those scenes. It basically took up the whole episode, when all the laughs for it were in the first scene. Disappointing, to say the least. One duff episode? And it's the last one!
Cavemen. Episode 5. Oh, dear. A major backward slide with the least funny episode so far. Nick was annoying and Joel was boring in this one. Andy's story, however, got some laughs thanks to the incredibly hot Stephanie Lemelin. Andy, she discovers, has quite a lot of road rage and it gets her in the mood very fast whenever he cuts loose. Andy, of course, is oblivious to this. Lots of laughs to be had, leading to my favourite line in the episode: "Why don't we wait out all this traffic? Pull into one of these cheap motels!"
Highlight? My Boys.
Damages, Extras, House, Logan's Run, Samantha Who?, The Big Bang Theory
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
07:30 The Big Bang Theory
08:00 Damages
09:00 Samantha Who
09:30 House
10:30 Logan's Run
11:30 Extras
The Big Bang Theory. Episode 5. We get to see where Penny works for the first time. Leonard, meanwhile, shares a night of matter-of-fact passion with fellow scientist Leslie. Leslie's second episode is funnier than her first, but the highlights of the episode are Leonard's attempts to decipher Penny's innocent comments for hidden meanings.
Damages. Episode 6. Lots of surprises in this outing. David seems to be falling into the clutches of a psycho, and an attempt is made on Gregory's life from an unlikely source. But the episode belongs to Ted Danson who gives a stunning performance when his character wrestles with his self-image and decides to write a memoir to correct the public's mis-conception of him.
Samantha Who. Episode 2. The top-rated new show of the season hits another one out of the ballpark. Applegate is funnier than I've ever seen. And Samantha is an absolutely adorable (and somewhat manic) character. My favourite parts are whenever she makes her point and then speaks for a little bit too long: "By the time you and I are out of court this place is going to be called Chapman, Funk and Newly. Or just Funk and Newly. [pause] Newly and Funk. [pause] Either way." Dialogue like that is delivered with pitch-perfect gusto from Applegate. Her performance, plus snappy writing, make this an unmissable show. Samantha is the craziest heroine we've had on TV in quite a while. It's great.
House. Season 4, Episode 4. One of my favourite new regulars bites the dust in a good episode about a woman seeing ghosts. The reasoning behind House's dismissal of Henry made perfect sense and the two of them were in perfect sync right up to the end. I'll miss Henry, he brought a whole new dynamic to House's relationship with his team-members. Oh, and it's great to see Cameron back for several scenes. But my heart went out to Foreman as he realised nobody wants him. Because he's... too much like House.
Logan's Run. Episode 3. Logan must team up with his enemy Francis when both of them are hunted through the wilderness by a crazy couple. There's lots of running through the woods, good guest performances from Mary Woronov & Horst Buchholz, but the best parts of the episode are the conversations between Logan and Francis. They debate the ethics of the City of Domes that Logan escaped from, and make promises to one anther that (suprisingly) are honoured in an excellent conclusion.
Extras. Season 2, Episode 5. Ian McKellen guest-stars and Andy has major problems appearing in a "gay play" but the episode highlight occurs early on when Andy tries to chat up a passing woman (to prove a point) and ends up shoving an exploding bottle of sparkling water into his own mouth.
Highlight? House.
