Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
06:30 Rules Of Engagement
07:00 Miss/Guided
07:30 Samantha Who?
08:00 Out Of Practice
Rules Of Engagement. Season 2, Episode 10. Very funny. Jeff arranges a week-end away for the two couples (because he gets his own trip paid for) and Russell has to wear Audrey's clothes to a meeting (Trust me, it makes sense in context. Sit-com sense.) Audrey, meanwhile, is overly conscious of being naked in front of Jennifer. All the plots generate laughs, the cast are on top form and you could not ask for a better episode of an old-fashioned sit-com.
Miss/Guided. Episode 3. Chris Parnell gets a lot of screen time in this one, so it's not just Judy Greer carrying the show this week. Parnell is funny, as his character tries to track down a mysterious blogger who has suggested that he may be gay. The episode contains one moment of sublime slapstick when the heroine is repeatedly whacked by a car door while trying to check her appearence in the car window, and - overall - it's a good, amusing episode. Also, like the central character, the show has it's heart in the right place. The closing conversation between Becky and one of her students shows that this sweet (somewhat unfortunate) lady teacher really does make a positive impression on the kids she looks after. Yay, Becky!
Samantha Who? Episode 11. Much better than last week. It's sadly lacking in laugh-out-loud moments, but a strong storyline has Timothy Olyphant showing up as a new suitor in Samantha's life.
Out Of Practice. Episode 17. Krista Allen (of What About Brian? and Baywatch) guests as a woman that both of the brothers are interested in. And a vague telephone message leads to confusion at a restaurant (in typical Out Of Practice fashion). It's very funny. And, unlike the usual episode, where random circumstances conspire against the brothers, this is a case where their sister sets it all up (to get revenge) and sits back to watch it all happen.
Highlight? Rules Of Engagement.
Rules Of Engagement, Miss/Guided, Samantha Who?, Out Of Practice
Out Of Practice, The Detectives, NCIS, Seinfeld, Voyager, Lost
Thurs, Mar 20th, 2008
06:00 Out Of Practice
06:30 The Detectives
08:00 NCIS
11:00 Seinfeld
02:00 Voyager
03:00 Lost
Out Of Practice. Episode 16. Fred Dryer guests as Lydia's date. They want privacy in her apartment, for dinner, but Ben and Oliver are trying to get them out so they can lift the floorboards and retrieve a stolen snowglobe (trust me, it makes sense in context) and Crystal is hiding out after a fight with Stewart. As usual with this show, there's lost of running around and hiding from people and stuff. Good fun. Lots of laughs.
The Detectives. Season 4, Episode 2. Briggs and Louis are lost on the Yorkshire Moors. One handcuffed to a dead body, the other handcuffed to a toilet door. That sequence (which dominates the middle third of this episode is one of the funniet things I've ever seen). The first third revolves about the boys fighting over a women they both claim to have slept with, while the episode drags somewhat in the final third when they fall foul of some strange rural folk. Great episode though.
NCIS. Season 4, Episode 14. A complete change of pace, makes for a less enjoyable outing than usual. Jenny takes center-stage and we finally get a pay-off (of sorts) for all the undercover work Tony has been doing behind everyone's back. Because nothing much is resolved - and this feels merely like a set-up to future episodes - there is less satisfaction than usual.
Seinfeld. Season 9, Episode 4. Kramer is storing his blood in his appartment! I love it.
Voyager. Season 7, Episode 1. Superb conclusion. As usual, Voyager two-parters start off very strong and get better. Janeway, Tuvok and Torres are undercover on a Borg ship. As Borg. Shudder. Susanna Thompson does some of her finest work here. Janeway totally kicks ass in major confrontation scenes with the Borg Queen, and the episode ends with a Borg Cube under the control of the totally cool Korag.
Lost. Season 4, Episode 8. The story of Michael's time off the island. Lots seems to have happened in a very short time. Hmm. The show makes a clumsy attempt to cover up for the absense of Malcolm David Kelley and the story has a rushed feel to it. Never mind. Harold Perrineau carries the episode very well, we have lots of contradictory stuff to mull over for the next few weeks and it ends with several genuine shocks. Yay Lost!
Highlight? Voyager
Flight Of The Conchords, CSI, House, NCIS, Out Of Practice, New Amsterdam, Stingray, Lost
Thurs, Mar 6th, 2008
07:00 Flight Of The Conchords
07:30 CSI
08:30 House
09:30 NCIS
10:30 Out Of Practice
11:00 New Amsterdam
12:00 Stingray
01:00 Lost
Flight Of The Concords. Episode 1. Very funny. We meet two guys from New Zealand (Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie) who have a band, a really bad manager (Rhys Darby) and a crazy fan (Kristen Schaal). This first story shows us what happens when one of the guys starts to date the ex-girlfriend of the other guy. There are several musical numbers, done as fantasy sequences, and there are a lot of laughs. Good show.
CSI. Season 5, Episode 20. Paul Guilfoyle owns the screen when Brass goes to LA on the trail of his daughter's friend. Guilfoyle is superb, as Brass sees up close the life his daughter has chosen for herself. It's a painful story. Literally. Watching a father watch his daughter in these circumstances is hard to, well, watch. And, while the crime-of-the-week aspects of the episode are predictable and flawed, the human-element is pitch perfect. The performances are pitch perfect. You never feel like this is something you have seen on TV before. You feel that it is real. If Guilfoyle ever gets a spin-off, I'll watch it. Especially if Donna Murphy is in it, she makes a great partner for Brass.
House. Episode 4. Grim outing for Dr. Greg and the team. Babies are very sick. One baby dies halfway through the episode, and since we've gotten to know the parents at this stage it's a death that is not easy to watch. A lot of this episode is about the character of Cameron, as we see that she is too soft and makes mistakes (her handling of the parents, for instance). Wilson, too, is soft. Covering for Cameron with the bereaved parents. And House, of course, goes after both of them. Particularly Cameron. He is horrible to her at the very end. It's a good episode. There's a crisis, and we get to see all the regulars gathered around the whiteboard trying to figure out what is going on. Cuddy gets a lot of screentime in this one, and House gives us a pretty succinct description of her character.
NCIS. Season 4, Episode 12. The team investigates a murder in a small town. McGee seems to like a very cute small town girl (who ends up solving the case for them) and - in the episodes shocking final seconds - we learn that somebody is tailing Tony and his new girlfriend. Frak! Frak! Frak!
Out Of Practice. Episode 15. Constance Zimmer and Stephanie Lemelin in the same episode! Cool. Two of my favourite actresses in one show. I love when that happens. Lemelin plays the girl who moves in next door. Ben's interfering family try to set him up with her. Repeatedly. Meanwhile his ex-wife (Zimmer) is back in town, and staying at Ben's place. Ben tries to keep this a secret from his family which leads to lots of running around, confusion and whatnot. It's a funny episode, and ends with a great character moment for the usually-weak Ben.
New Amsterdam. Episode 1 has a lot of scenes that weren't in the original pilot. And some are missing (including two I really liked). And they have changed the order of things, too. Hmm. It's still a good pilot. Very epic and romantic. And, if you can get past the idea that a cop can drop dead without being identified (and later leave a hospital completely un-noticed!!) then it's a ride worth taking.
Stingray. Season 2, Episode 5. Stephen J. Cannell's stylish action show from the '80s delivers another classy episode. Samantha Eggar is receiving death threats. It's not hard for the viewer to guess who is responsible. But the joy in this show is the style with which the tell each story. Lots of silent action, fast cuts in the editing and thoughful looks from series star Nick Mancuso. This time out the quick cuts in the editing are left out and the soundtrack is all classical music (instead of the usual electronic fare). And there is lots of it. Not much dialogue, but lots of classical music and endless close-ups on statues and disfigured gargoyle faces. Mancuso underplays everything (even the fight scenes, I think) and the final scene, between him and Eggar, is superb. I don't think TV ever delivered a cooler hero.
Lost. Missing Pieces 2. We get to see what Hurley was doing just before his "date" with Libby. Not much.
Highlight? Stingray.
