Monday, April 21st, 2008
10:00 The Evidence
11:00 Flight Of The Conchords
The Evidence. Episode 8. Another great episode from one of the best cop shows of the past decade. The opening minutes of the story show us the murder of a DJ, who seems to be a decent guy. As Bishop and Cole investigate the crime, the clues indicate that he may have been dealing drugs. But none of that matches with what we saw in the opening minutes. It's a genuine mystery, and as the story unfolds it's gets harder and harder to understand. The ending, however, is really clever. What a show: Great stories, two great leads, and San Francisco has never looked more beautiful on film.
Flight Of The Conchords. Episode 6. My favourite episode so far. With Coco and Sally out of the picture, the boys are single again and we get a completely self-contained episode. The band gets a shot at making some serious money, but Bret is having some body image issues (Murray, the manager, remarks that he's too small). There are several truly hilarious sequences. My favourite is the band meeting to discuss a new photo for band promotion where they discuss the pros and cons of using a photo that doesn't actually include the band but is still a nice photo of people having fun at a party. Murray has mistakenly circled two people in the photo because he thought they were, in fact, Bret and Jemaine. While not as good as last week's Business Time, the show has a great musical number called Bret, You Got It Going On. And a fake David Bowie appears several times (walking on the walls in one dream sequence).
The Evidence, Flight Of The Conchords
Doctor Who, Law And Order, Unhitched, The Evidence, Scrubs, Airwolf, The X-Files, Lost
Mon, Mar 10th, 2008
07:00 Doctor Who
08:00 Law And Order
09:00 Unhitched
09:30 The Evidence
10:30 Scrubs
11:00 Airwolf
12:00 The X-Files
01:00 Lost
Doctor Who. Season 28, episode 7. It's 1953 and televisions are being used to suck people's minds out. The Doctor dresses up, there's lots of running around, a wealth of one-liners and an FX-heavy ending. It's better than the Cybermen two-parter, but still not an example of the show at it's best.
Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 3. The strongest episode so far. Lupo, once again, is great fun to watch (breaking the rules to track down a bomber). There's a clumsy attempt to give Green a backstory, but this is Lupo's show all the way. Great work, too, from guest star Kevin Rankin.
Unhitched. Episode 1. Craig Bierko is well cast, Rashida Jones is underused and there are a few laughs. Not enough to fill out the half-hour, sadly, but enough to make me want to see what happens next.
The Evidence. Episode 7. Another very good story from this long-gone cop show. Bishop and Cole investigate the shooting of a paramedic who may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time (with her cameraman boyfriend) but all is not what it seems. As well as a good story, you have great chemistry between the leads, sumptuous visuals of San Francisco and the added gimmick of wondering how the evidence (shown to us in the opening scene) fits into the story being told.
Scrubs. Season 6, Episode 17. Ted, Todd and Jordan take centre-stage and we see how they fit into the big picture at Sacred Heart. All of Ted's scenes are laugh-out-loud hilarious in this episode. Hearing the character's thoughts makes him funnier than he already is.
Airwolf. Season 2, Episode 1. CBS' decision to "domesticate" Airwolf still galls me. Over twenty years later I'm still bitter and hurt that they took the best elements of the first season (dark-tone espionage stories and a loner hero) and revamped it as a more family-friendly action show. This season-premier (where Airwolf goes up against a corrupt small-town sheriff) is about as Knight Rider as it gets. And that's not what I want Airwolf to be.
But, since it is written by Donald Bellisario and features a superb guest cast (Lance LeGault, Jeff MacKay and James Whitmore Jr.), there is still a lot to like in the episode. The story moves fast and contains several memorable set pieces (the motorcycle chase at the start, the Airwolf-flips-a-truck nighttime rescue and the stunning action finale when Airwolf blows the Sheriff station to kingdom come. Bogan is one of the best Airwolf bad guys, and the fact that he killed Stringfellow's friend off-camera makes him seem all the more cold and efficient. Jean Bruce Scott makes a great impression in her first episode. Stringfellow is still the cool, brooding hero we remember from Season 1. His conversations with Bogan are superb, and show him to be clever and resourceful as well as tough and calculating. The climax gives all the bad guys gruesome deaths and the score throughout is sumptuous. A
The X-Files. Season 8, Episode 12. By keeping things low-key the show manages to deliver one of it's very best episodes. Ever. Death in the subway system sends Doggett and three others underground for the whole episode, while Scully monitors them from a control room. It reminds one of earlier X-Files tales, but in a good way. The science-fiction elements are kept to a minimum, the tension and action are ramped up, the character work on Doggett and Scully is top notch and the whole episode has a movie feeling to it.
Lost. Missing Pieces 4. Wow. Great insight into what happened while Michael was being held captive by The Others. Once again Elizabeth Mitchell is stunning, and we get some valuable insight into both characters.
Highlight? Airwolf/X-Files
Starsky And Hutch, Hunter, Andy Barker PI, The Evidence, Seinfeld
Mon, Mar 3rd, 2008
07:00 Starsky And Hutch
08:00 Hunter
09:00 Andy Barker PI
09:30 The Evidence
10:30 Seinfeld
Starsky And Hutch. Season 2, Episode 14. Despite some very corny elements (and a lot of improbably coincidences) this is a very strong (very dark) episode of the series. A 19 year old girl (with the mental age of 10) is raped en route to her birthday party. She also happens to be a close friend of Starsky and Hutch (and pretty much all the other cops in the city - sheesh!). Normally, making the cops personally involved in their cases annoys the frak out of me, but this is one of the few times that it is almost justified. Almost. The episode opens with a classic Starsky And Hutch scene. Hutch uses Starsky's clothes in a bundle to enter a laundrymat where hostages have been taken and Starsky is forced to burst in wearing nothing but a towel. It's a funny, silly scene. But it illustrates the appeal of the series: two friends having fun and lots of action. The rape storyline allows the show to pause for several "heartwarming" scenes before (at mid-way point) Starsky And Hutch have captured the rapists. At this point things take a surprising turn and we see how the system fails to protect the girl who was attacked. Our heroes frustration with the system takes up the latter half of the episode and makes for very enjoyable viewing, as they break down doors and cause a fuss until thay have bullied the DA into trying the case on their terms. There's a lovely scene at the end when the girl in question, having overheard lots of stuff about her at the hearing, tries to come to terms for the first time ever with the fact that she is never ever going to grow any older. She laments the cards that fate has dealt her. And it is Starsky who comes to the rescue, making a strong case for the joys of never having to grow up. Starsky is the perfect character to do this. And the scene is a gem. Great performances from Diana Scarwid and Paul Michael Glaser.
Hunter. Season 3, Episode 1. My favourite cop show of all time. Together with Columbo and Kojak (who I think of as being in slightly different genres). The third season premier offers up all that is great about the show: Scenes of banter/chemistry between Hunter and McCall, a well-told story for a case-of-the-week, and scenes with all the best supporting characters.
Michael Wren plays a reporter with a vendetta against Hunter, as a consequence of a run-in at the start of the episode. As the story unfolds, the reporter realises that someone is out to get him. At first he thinks it is Hunter. Hunter and McCall, meanwhile, are more concerned with solving the case they were working on at the start of the episode (as well as dodging the media storm that is new brewing up around Hunter since he started to appear nightly on the 6 o'clock news). There's a wonderful scene where the reporter, having survived a gun attack on his life, shows up at Hunter's home to have it out. As they talk, Hunter figures out that something is really going on and offers the hand of friendship. Only to take it away very quickly when the reporter continues to act like a jerk. The reporter leaves. Then pauses outside. Slowly, coming to the realisation that Hunter is not the enemy after all. It's a great scene. The two characters eventually reach a truce, but the story has a few more very enjoyable twists. Great performance from Alex Courtney at the very end. Hunter at it's best. A+
Andy Barker PI. Episode 6. It started strong, and will always hold a special place in my heart, but this series really faded out at the end. These final two episodes have been very light on laughs.
The Evidence. Episode 6. One of the best cops shows of the last decade. A solid buddy cop show, with great stories week-after-week. Which, of course, sank without trace in the ratings. Anyway, this sixth outing finds the boys on the trail of a stolen bottle of wine. The chemistry between the two male leads is fantasic, the series has a great visual style (lots of wide shots taking in the whole cityscape behind them) and a lot of strong guest stars.
Seinfeld. Season 8, Episode 21. Lots to love here. Mainly Kramer setting up a reality tour of his own life and taking people on a long arduous bus ride to nowhere. George also pretends to be new in the city so he can date a girl.
Highlight? Hunter.
