American TV Imports

[David]

This thread was originally created to discuss American series that members had been watching, but as it grew interesting discussions about particular series became spread out and mixed up amongst other material. These posts have now been taken out and gathered into relevant threads so that what remains is a thread which can be used to discuss American series in general or to compare shows with one another.

If you want to discuss a specific show then you can follow one of the links below or start a new thread if none exists.

(In case anyone is wondering, no, I didn't have a strange psychic experience back in 2005 - I copied, moved and edited a post I made back then so that it could start the thread.)

Alias (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4074)
Band of Brothers (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5941)
Battlestar Galactica (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6298)
Bionic Woman (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6289)
Bones (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6317)
Californication (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6297)
Carnivale (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6310)
The Corner (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5217)
C.S.I. (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6321)
Damages (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6288)
Deadwood (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5627)
Dexter (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6285)
Dirty Sexy Money (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6338)
Dollhouse (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6319)
Eleventh Hour (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6343)
FlashForward (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?p=112257#post112257)
Friday Night Lights (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5359)
Fringe (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6332)
The Ghost Whisperer (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6325)
Heroes (Season 1) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=2250)
Heroes (Season 2) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4381)
Heroes (Season 3) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4851)
House (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=3804)
Homicide (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5482)
In Treatment (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6344)
Journeyman (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6282)
Lost (Season 1) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=1409)
Lost (Season 2) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=1987)
Lost (Season 3) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=2189)
Lost (Season 4) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4084)
Lost (Season 5) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5418)
Mad Men (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6335)
The Mentalist (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6316)
Oz (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6261)
Prison Break (season 4) (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4966)
Pushing Daisies (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4420)
Reaper (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6309)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6348)
Seinfeld (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6251)
Sex and the City (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5131)
The Shield (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6323)
The Sopranos (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=3576)
Star Trek (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=2126)
True Blood (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6160)
The Wire (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=4247)

[Bill]

Lucy Davis in Studio 60, Matthew Rhys in Brothers & Sisters, Ashley Jensen in Ugly Betty, Natascha McElhone in Californication, Eddie Izzard AND Minnie Driver in Riches... The British are coming!

[Bill]

In the past few months, I've been watching many more American imports than homegrown programmes. Here's a list:

Studio 60 At The Sunset Strip (More 4)
Californication (Five)
30 Rock (Five)
Heroes (BBC2/3 - see elsewhere)
Brothers and Sisters (C4/E4)
The Riches (Virgin, watched first two then gave up)
Scrubs Seasons 5 and now 6 (DVD then E4)
Entourage (Season 3 on DVD, which is now showing on ITV2)
Two And A Half Men (Paramount, Season 4)
West Wing Season 1 (DVD, still)

Is anyone else watching any of the above? Inevitably, I have opinions about all of them, which may emerge in due course.

[Hazel]

I usually DVD-binge Scrubs, but for want of better things on a Thursday I have been watching it in E4. It pains me to say this but the current series just isn't as funny anymore and I have grown a little tired of it. I really don't want to buy it on DVD but I am such a completist that I either get rid of the DVDs I have or just keep buying it like a mug. Is it just me or has it really gone past its previous brilliance?

[Bill]

I usually DVD-binge Scrubs, but for want of better things on a Thursday I have been watching it in E4. It pains me to say this but the current series just isn't as funny anymore and I have grown a little tired of it. I really don't want to buy it on DVD but I am such a completist that I either get rid of the DVDs I have or just keep buying it like a mug. Is it just me or has it really gone past its previous brilliance?

Yes, I think it has become a little tired and repetitive. I felt that watching Season 5 on DVD. I'm only on about Ep 4 of this series, having recorded them and transferred them to DVD. It's a show that's best watched in batches rather than once a week, but that obviously adds to the sense that we have been here before. What keeps me going are the continuing storylines, but they are a bit thin. Hopefully, JD won't be having any more flings with Elliott now!

The scales fell from my eyes watching the extras on Season 5. Since I work in TV, you'd think I'd be a bit less naive, but I was disillusioned at how many different variations they try out for each joke or set piece. It removed any illusion of spontaneity.

[Hazel]

That settles it for me, no more Scrubs DVDs - now, do I keep the ones I've got or just get rid? Hmmmmmmm.

[Bill]

Are you really saying you have to have all of a series or none of it? I'm pretty much of a completist myself, especially when it comes to certain US sitcoms, but it seems a bit drastic to get rid of the series you like just because you tire of the later episodes. For example, I recorded the first four series of Malcolm In The Middle (onto VHS), but then realised that, while I still enjoyed the show, I didn't feel the need to archive.

To show my anaility, here are all the US sitcoms which I have complete, either on DVD or VHS or both(!).

Cheers
Seinfeld
The Larry Sanders Show
Friends
Frasier
Soap
Curb Your Enthusiasm

[Minxminnie]

I'm a bit of a completist too. I like discovering series I never watched on TV and watching them on DVD: Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and my current obsession, The West Wing, which I never watched when it was on TV. I've got through three and a half series since June. :o

[Hazel]

Are you really saying you have to have all of a series or none of it? I'm pretty much of a completist myself, especially when it comes to certain US sitcoms, but it seems a bit drastic to get rid of the series you like just because you tire of the later episodes.

When it is a DVD series, yes, I do have to have it all or nothing. I get irritated if I only have some of it and can't watch it from beginning to end. Plus, if I go off a series at a later date, then I can't watch the ones I did enjoy without thinking "why did it get so bad?" It spoils it for me.

On DVD US shows I have (and keep up with)

Scrubs
House
CSI Vegas
Dawson's Creek (no laughing now)
Carnivale - a recent edition
Dexter - another more recent addition

UK shows

Shameless
Green Wing
Peep Show (though that's wavering much like Scrubs)
The Book Group
Early Doors
The Office
Extras
Queer As Folk


Hubby has -

Battlestar Galactica
Lost
Simpsons
Friends

I am sure there is something I have forgotten.

[David]

I'm not completist with these things. As far as American imports go I lack the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine since both took a while to get into their stride. But I do have all of The X-Files, even though it was ropey at the end and the complete Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5. I've been waiting for the price of Carnivale to drop (I rented it originally) before buying it for posterity. Also have Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[MarkC]

From the US I have complete sets of Babylon 5, Firefly, The X-files, Battlestar Galactica (new version), Buffy and Angel. Debating whether or not to get Heroes and I also have all the Farscape DVDs, but that was Australian.

I'm currently watching Charlie Jade on FX and Pushing Daisies on bit torrent.

From the UK the only multi-season show I have is Blake's 7, all the others in my collection are single seasons as the shows either didn't get a second series (like Ultraviolet, which should have done) or told a complete story to a conclusion (like GBH or Neverwhere).

[Hazel]

Angel.

I used to have this but then it all got a bit rubbish toward the end, roughly about the time that Darla had Connor, and I just eBayed the lot. Still think about the beginning of the series though - it was great, especially Doyle.

[David]

Firefly
Ah yes - forgot that in my collection. Another gone before its time. Also scattered Simpsons and all of Family Guy.

I watched the first Charlie Jade but didn't get on with it at all and didn't bother with any more.

[Hazel]

I toyed with buying the complete Firefly in Zavvi (what is that name all about?!) at the weekend for £16, as I liked Serenity - but couldn't bring myself to do it.

[David]

I toyed with buying the complete Firefly in Zavvi (what is that name all about?!) at the weekend for £16,
I bought it for about £14 on Amazon - less with your rental discount. If you liked Serenity you should get it, though of course a number of mysteries developed in the series won't be mysteries any longer after seeing the film!

[Grammath]

My Americophile tendencies are borne out in my viewing habits as well as my reading. I started early; my parents disapproved of my viewing "Taxi" when I was a kid for some reason, but I loved it.

It was more the sitcoms initially; mostly whatever Channel 4 put in their Friday evening schedule: "Cheers", "Roseanne" and especially "Frasier", plus "M*A*S*H*" on the Beeb, but more recently it is the superior drama the Americans produce.

I've enthused about "The Sopranos" and "Heroes" on the threads dedicated to the series and am re-watching "The West Wing" through the reruns on More4. The series is a fascinating insight into what the Americans wish the White House was really like; it's truly a fairy tale.

Like David, I thought "Californication" would be rather grubby and in some ways it is, but there's more to it than Mulder getting it on. I'm rather enjoying "30 Rock" after it on Channel 5 on Thursday evenings, a pleasntly fluffy contrast to "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in its view of TV land.

I was a late convert to "Scrubs", so haven't seen the first few series, but I agree from watching Season 6 on E4 that the formula seems to be getting a little tired. More episodes featuring Dr. Cox or the Janitor needed.

Similarly, I was late onto "Six Feet Under", but it is among my favourite viewing of all time. I'm trying to watch the final season at the moment, as and when my beloved employers' DVD rental scheme deigns to send me more episodes.

I'm also catching up on "House" thanks to Five US, although it makes an American doctor friend of mine seethe in its depiction of US hospital land.

They prefer to send me "Lost". I was hooked on Season 1, but found myself not bothering with Season 2 when it was on TV, so I'm renting it now. I don't have Sky, so couldn't watch Season 3.

All the best TV sci-fi is American, yes, even better than "Doctor Who". My name is Grammath, and I'm a "Star Trek" fan in all its incarnations. I followed "The X-Files" doggedly to the end too but only ever reached halfway with "Babylon 5". Another American friend is urging me to watch the new "Battlestar Galactica" - should I?

Similarly, as an unashamed ex-pot head, "Weeds" appealed to me too, and the presence of Mary-Louise Parker in the cast is a big plus to me. Intoxicants are probably needed to help appreciate the increasingly weird "Nip/Tuck" too.

I don't indiscriminately watch all things Yank. "Friends" left me totally cold, as does "My Name is Earl" and "Buffy/Angel". "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is a bit Emperor's New Clothes to me, but OK. I watched one episode of "Deadwood" and found it confusing.

[Hazel]

It was more the sitcoms initially; mostly whatever Channel 4 put in their Friday evening schedule: "Cheers", "Roseanne" and especially "Frasier", plus "M*A*S*H*" on the Beeb, but more recently it is the superior drama the Americans produce.

That pretty much sums up my childhood TV watching: Roseanne, Cheers, Eerie Indiana, My So-Called Life...Home Improvement...

Another American friend is urging me to watch the new "Battlestar Galactica" - should I?

Absolutely! David put me on to this and I did have concerns as I am not really a sci-fi, spaceship kind of person - but it is wonderful, absolutely wonderful: great acting, great storylines, drama, intrigue, the odd bit of blood and gore - I love it. In fact, David also hooked hubby on this and he loves it more than me now. Thank you David!

[Miriam]

Battlestar Galactica? Definitely! Terrific stuff. One word of warning - you need to start with the pilot episode - NOT with Series 1.

I'm hoping to start Battlestar Galactica in the New Year. I haven't got access to a dvd player at the moment so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in next year.

I have the Buffy/Angel/Firefly dvds as well as The West Wing, Band of Brothers, ER (but only the first couple of series) and, as yet unwatched, Sopranos boxset. I am tempted by My So-Called Life because I loved that show when it first came out. However I'm a little afraid it won't live up to my fond memories (as happened with Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks).

My all-time favourite though is The Wire. Has anyone else watched it? It's only been shown on FX in the UK. However I found I prefer watching it on dvd because you need to go back and watch a couple of times before you can really feel like you've 'got' it. A tiny detail of scene in Ep 2, series 1 might not be paid off until two series later. The acting is superb including some stellar performances from British actors who are unheard of over here. Charlie Brooker makes the case for The Wire on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ2iGYwdEi8) but be warned the swearing is exceptionally strong!

[FirelightSpirit]

I'd love to know where you all get time to watch all these programmes!

I started watching Brothers and Sisters earlier in the year, but gave up because I just don't have time. I think they kept changing the day it was on anyway, so that doesn't help. I've seen Lost and Desperate Housewives up to series three, but I'm not sure I'll bother with those any more. I wish the Lost people would just solve all the mysteries and get off the island already! And DH is boring me now. Perhaps my interests have changed.

I never got into Six Feet Under because the first episode was just too weird. Never watched The Sopranos or West Wing either, and I don't like Friends.

My sister loves Prison Break, as I've said elsewhere, and she also watches Heroes, but I don't think I have much patience for that type of show - no time to try it out anyway!

I have all of Quantum Leap on DVD and season one of Bones. Hopefully season two will be a Christmas present.

[Momo]

Some American series I have to think about right away.
I really love "Friends" and "Frasier", then "Cheers", "Sex and the City", "Dharma & Greg". Oh, and I used to like "The Cosby Show" and "It's a Different World" as well as "Fame" (movie and series). I'm sure there are more and I'll have to come back for that.

[tagesmann]

I tend to get my US shows via DVD. Over the last couple of years I have enjoyed...

Dead Like Me (2 series). Georgia drops out of school and gets a job then gets hit by debris from Skylab and is killed. She becomes a reaper and has to help dead people to move on. Very dark and funny.

The Dead Zone (5 series). Based on the Stephen King book. Starring Anthony Michael Hall and very well done over shorter seasons than is normal in the US.

Veronica Mars (3 series). Set in California, about a high school detective. Sounds like it shouldn't work but it does. The way teenage angst is portrayed is so well done. This is aimed at young adults but works for the rest of us as well. It is not a kids show and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Adrian]

Anybody watching Burn Notice? A CIA agent gets 'burned' (sacked) and has to find out why. It's one of the better hours on TV, and another show by Showtime, the network that did Dexter.

My all-time favourite though is The Wire. Has anyone else watched it? It's only been shown on FX in the UK. However I found I prefer watching it on dvd because you need to go back and watch a couple of times before you can really feel like you've 'got' it. A tiny detail of scene in Ep 2, series 1 might not be paid off until two series later. The acting is superb including some stellar performances from British actors who are unheard of over here. Charlie Brooker makes the case for The Wire on Youtube but be warned the swearing is exceptionally strong!
This.

[there's a meme floating round where, when you agree with what a previous poster said, you just quote it and say "this"]

Season 3 of The Wire just turned up so that's my Christmas viewing sorted. The second season was better than the first and this looks like it's going to be just as good.

[Adrian]

Altogether now, Bom Bom Ba-Dom Bom Bom. Hope Dexter is going OK, Hazel.

30 Rock is warming up pretty nicely. Tina Fey is great as the creator of the show and head production person of the show within the show, where she knocks heads with Tracey Jordan (who apparently plays himself, though I've never heard of him.) Head of the studio is Alec Baldwin, and he's quite happy to take the mickey out of himself. It's all good, apart from some lazy stereotypical casting of the "writers" of the show.

Traveler is one to avoid. Yes, I know, it should be one 'l' of a show. Two American Varsity housemates get conned and end up as suspects in a terrorist attack on a National Museum. The FBI, their parents, the media, the Mafia for all I know are after them. I gave up caring a long time ago.

[Grammath]

Agree with you on "30 Rock", Adrian. As a depiction of life behind the cameras, I much preferred this to "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", which I abandoned after half a dozen episodes and must go down as a blot on Aaron Sorkin's copybook.

[David]

I read that ITV1 has bought Dexter and will start showing it at the end of January.
That's interesting, isn't it? You'd have expected this to be C4 fare. Still, ITV are possibly angling for more American material: the new Bionic Woman serial is going onto ITV2.

[Hazel]

When Heroes started, my hubby went into overdrive; poking holes into it, laughing at the dialogue, laughing at the plot, laughing at the characters...you get the picture. I could barely watch a whole episode without his whining chiming in the background. He was constantly saying that it didn't even come close to Lost. By this point I had stopped watching Lost after it was lost to Sky TV, but he continued to watch it on download. So I vigorously defended Heroes despite having issues with it myself.

Anyway, yesterday I watched the first 8 episodes of Lost Series 3 - back to back, didn't get to bed till very late...well, actually very early really. And as much as it kills me to admit, hubby was right. Lost is vastly superior - the scripts, the characters, the drama, the action, superior in every way. Yes, they are still relying on the 'tell the viewer nothing' but it is done with such gusto that I can't fault it. To balance out the bonkers island, we still get fascinating and varied back stories for the characters - especially Mr Eko, who truly has the best back story, it could be a film in its own right. The drama around Lost's triangle of Jack, Sawyer, and Kate, is a million more times engaging than anything Heroes came up with. Those three act their little socks off and put the entire cast of Heroes to shame.

Brilliant stuff, and Desmond-like, I foresee a weekend of Lost looming as I wake, very tired, this morning.

[David]

And as much as it kills me to admit, hubby was right. Lost is vastly superior - the scripts, the characters, the drama, the action, superior in every way.
Ah, you task a man, Hazel, you truly task a man!

I certainly don't disagree with you that Lost is very high quality, but I can't go along with the scale of your contrast with Heroes! (I have a sneaking feeling you knew that!)

I think part of the problem is the way in which Heroes was promoted as the new Lost for people who'd lost faith after the constant dragging out of island mystery. They both feature large casts and intertwined personal stories, but otherwise they are more different than might have been imagined so not as easy to compare so starkly.

I think another problem here is that you watched Heroes over nearly half a year; you'd post about how you loved it when watching it but you'd gradually lose interest during the week, only for it to be stoked back up with the next episode. If you'd watched eight episodes of that back-to-back I suspect you might have reacted similarly to how you feel now in relation to Lost. I watched that week after week on Sky and really enjoyed each episode but lost the buzz a bit before the next one.

I think the moral in a way is that it's much better to watch these things on DVD, which is why I'm feeling conflicted about the last season of Battlestar Galactica, which has been one of the best series I've ever watched, but this will be the first time I've been able to watch it 'live' on Sky week by week. It's going to change my experience, but I know very well I won't be able to stop myself and wait!

Still, I do agree with you about the cast. The actors on Lost are definitely much better than on Heroes. So there you go - you've wrung one concession out of me! ;)

For when you finish remember there's actually a thread for season three of Lost, here (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=2189).

[Hazel]

I think part of the problem is the way in which Heroes was promoted as the new Lost for people who'd lost faith after the constant dragging out of island mystery.

That's certainly the impression that I got. Though now, I am less concerned with the island mystery than the relationships between the characters, and what each of their lives were like before being brought to the island.

I think another problem here is that you watched Heroes over nearly half a year; you'd post about how you loved it when watching it but you'd gradually lose interest during the week, only for it to be stoked back up with the next episode. If you'd watched eight episodes of that back-to-back I suspect you might have reacted similarly to how you feel now in relation to Lost.

I don't think so David. Heroes, I generally only enjoyed while watching and even then I was rolling my eyes at things, notably Peter Petrelli and his fringe. However, when watching Lost 1 and 2, I couldn't wait for the next episode each week, and this morning when I woke up, I had to restrain myself from putting it straight back on. Catching up with Lost again, has only highlighted what I was missing and thrown a long, dark shadow over my experience of Heroes. Sylar over Ben? Sylar was a mummy's boy - Ben is the real, creepy, scary, and slimy deal.

I have no intention of watching the 2nd series of Heroes, watching Lost didn't alter that decision, but, by gum, roll on series 4 of Lost.

[David]

I have no intention of watching the 2nd series of Heroes.
Goodness me! That seems odd - you made a lot of posts where you were engaged with what was going on. I'm very surprised you're just going to stop watching!

Ah well.

[Hazel]

Goodness me! That seems odd - you made a lot of posts where you were engaged with what was going on. I'm very surprised you're just going to stop watching!



I am an impulsive gal. I have been introduced to a lot of fantastic programmes this year (2007 clearly), mostly thanks to you David, and they have unfortunately cast a shadow over Heroes that dampened any enthusiasm I had for it.

[David]

I am an impulsive gal. I have been introduced to a lot of fantastic programmes this year (2007 clearly), mostly thanks to you David, and they have unfortunately cast a shadow over Heroes that dampened any enthusiasm I had for it.
Wimmin! :rolleyes:

(Note the protrusion in my cheek, vald! ;) )

Well, perhaps you're wise in that by all accounts the early part of the next season isn't up to the same standard as the first, but I shall certainly stick with it. I might even grow a floppy Peter-fringe in its honour...

:)

[Hazel]

I might even grow a floppy Peter-fringe in its honour...



As long as you don't start using it in place of actual words and emotion.

[Momo]

The problem with watching TV programmes on DVD much later than the programme was broadcast is that you never have anyone to share your joy with.You are so right. But I rather watch it late than never and in one big chunk than over several months and missing episodes etc.
By the way, I watched Band of Brothers a while ago and loved it, as well.

[Hazel]

I bought another of your recommendations, Band of Brothers, as a present for a friend.

They won't be disappointed MM, just make sure you can borrow it too.

Having HBO withdrawal! The Wire might be just the thing. And it's in the Amazon sale. :rolleyes:

Treat yourself - it is really excellent. It reminded me a lot of NYPD Blues - so if you liked that, you'll love this.

David, I hope you enjoy it too. By episode 3 or 4, I think you will be hooked. Till then, be prepared to be a little confused.

[Hazel]

I vaguely remember that Gram, though it is hard to get LaPaglia in Without A Trace out of my head. I don't know too much about the early days of The Wire, I am not sure if it was a slow ratings burner, but it definitely seems to have a big following now. Series 4 is about to be released on DVD, which I think is the penultimate series.

[Jeremy DEagle]

Has anyone been watching Blood Ties at all? Its a bit like Buffy for grown ups. Its strangely watchable despite being somewhat cliched and hole ridden.

I realise I'm miles out with its showing date as I've had it on Sky+ for ages...

[Adrian]

I'm so childishly happy about the return of Top Chef (http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/index.php) for series 3. I'm not a big fan of reality TV but on Top Chef they are actually doing something rather than sitting round a house or a jungle doing pointless tasks.

[Adrian]

Thanks Hazel. Much appreciated.

A mixed bunch of new US TV imports:

Pushing Daisies - A boy can bring living creature back to life but some other creature has to die in their place. But if he ever touches the living-again again, they die for good! Unless it's within 60 seconds. Or something. It's so sweetly sickly even House's black apprentice can't save it. And poor Jim Dale is stuck as the chorus doing an almost continuous syrupy voice-over and Anna Friel plays her hippy-drippy-trippy character. Not for me.

Six Degrees - Six characters bump into each other as they and their stories intertwine. Could be OK but I'm not optimistic. I see the guy who plays Omar (in The Wire) actually is scarred like that.

Dirty Sexy Money - Peter Krause takes over his dead dad's job as lawyer to a Kennedy-esque New York family. Best of the bunch, though there are so many children and nephews and nieces and their spouses it's hard to figure out who's who. But there's a Baldwin, and Donald Sutherland is head of the family at his oleaginous best.

[David]

Pushing Daisies - A boy can bring living creature back to life but some other creature has to die in their place.
I think I spot some writers/producers who enjoyed Carnivale!

[Adrian]

I think I spot some writers/producers who enjoyed Carnivale!
It's an old expression but Carnivale shits on Pushing Daisies from a great height.

The one thing missing from all these new US TV shows is that they are not made by HBO. Nobody swears; the so-obvious druggie in DSM cannot be seen to taking drugs; even death and the afterlife is sanitised in PD. And they still have those 'L' shaped bed sheets that cover the woman's chest but not the man's.

I'll stick to my DVDs of HBO and Showtime shows.

[David]

It's an old expression but Carnivale shits on Pushing Daisies from a great height.
Presumably without the fertilising benefits one could have hoped for...

[Adrian]

The Irish Sopranos are back! Yes, Showtime's Brotherhood (http://www.sho.com/site/brotherhood/home.do) is being repeated. Set in Providence, RI, it's about two Irish brothers: Tommy Caffee, a politician, and recently returned brother Michael, who would like to reclaim his criminal empire if it's OK with you! Actually quite the opposite, as he's one of the nastiest pieces of work you'll see on screen.

But obviously he loves his auld Irish Mam Rose, played by the only over-the-top actress in what is otherwise a top-notch crime/politics drama. Just don't mention the S word. It's good, but not that good.

[Royal Rother]

Of the US comedies Two and a Half Men is my current favourite.

Excellent script and the lines are superbly delivered - it has really surprised me how good Charlie Sheen is at sitcom.

[lucyb]

Anyone watching Moonlight?

[fireball]

Yes, lucy and it's a load of bollards.! A very poor "updating or RE-IMAGINING" of the far superior Canadian series from 1992 see ---> Forever Knight
http://www.foreverknight.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_Knight

And know doubt it will go on, while Bionic Woman's apparently, been given the boot. :rolleyes:

Journeyman is a slowly growing on me, a bit like Quantum leapish.....! :)

Another Forever Knightish thingie is a programme called (just started over here now into episode four).see this:http://www.fox.com/newamsterdam/

And yes he's a bloody cop!!!http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/steelclaw32/laugh1-1.gif what IS it with cops who can't die anyway.!? http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/steelclaw32/laugh1-1.gif

[David]

Journeyman is a slowly growing on me, a bit like Quantum leapish.....! :)

Well, don't get too attached! NBC didn't exercise its renewal option and that pretty much means it's gone the way of Bionic Woman.

[fireball]

Bugger.! :mad: Now I find out. :(

But there's a very 'lovely' whimsical series THAT has been renewed in a new series THREE, of the BRILL Eureka :D See http://www.scifi.com/eureka/ You have to see it to believe, it'll infect you. And you'll want more. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/steelclaw32/laugh1-1.gif

[lucyb]

Yes, lucy and it's a load of bollards.!


Ahem :o I rather liked it...

Of course I've never seen Forever Knight and the fact that I consider the PI in Moonlight to be whatever the male version of a absolute babe is probably helps a great deal. I'm not saying it's right up there with the Oscar winners but I definately don't thinks it's bad enough to compare it to motorway furniture!

[fireball]

Sadly, it's not far from,..."to compare it to motorway furniture' it's dire really. But you like it, so fair enough. :)

[My Friend Jack]

Journeyman is a slowly growing on me, a bit like Quantum leapish.....! :)


See this thread (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6282&highlight=journeyman) ;)

[Adrian]

I know it's not American but Underbelly starts this weekend. It's been dubbed by the media as "The Australian Sopranos," which ought to be the kiss of death for any TV series, but I'm told by reliable sources that it's worth catching.

As a big fan of Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read I'll be watching as it's set in his home town, Melborne. The Ozzies do some good TV (Blackjack with Colin Friel was screened a few years ago. It was co-produced (co-developed, co-financed, I don't know the terminology) by the BBC who decided to show each 90 minute episode on BBC1 at 11:45pm on a Monday night. And then never show it again.)

[Adrian]

A bunch of new US shows started recently...

Chuck started OK but might tail off. Chuck is a computer technician who gets all the US secret database downloaded into his brain. The CIA, the NSA, the FBI and all other TLAs are now either protecting him or trying to silence him.

Aliens in America is quite frankly confusing. A Pakistani exchange student starts at a US school, with the Americans living up to every bad stereotype. "So why did you guys fly those planes into those buildings??" and the teacher explaining that he practices "Muslimism" even though he's a Hindu. Is this for real or some PoMo ironic commentary on today's America? It's not funny so I don't particularly care.

Army Wives is the next cookie-cutter drama in the "Whatever Wives" formula. Womenfolk stay at home while the American heroes go save the world. It's saved by the one Army Husband.

By far the best is Mad Men, written by a Sopranos veteran. Set in a fifties advertising agency (Mad being short for Madison Avenue) it's a cracking drama of mainly unknown actors smoking and brylcreeming their way through life. Any show set in New York that has the opening titles be a man falling down to the ground off a skyscraper gets my attention.

[lucyb]

PoMo?

[Adrian]

PoMo?
Post Modern

[fireball]

Fair play to you Adrian, you mentioning and your honest opinion, I'm not by the way a Muslim, of "Aliens in America" was to me grotesque. I'm Brit living in
Victoria, Canada BC, and it was shown the American station the CW...
:
http://sp1.yt-thm-a01.yimg.com/image/25/m8/4124961765] of which also is it the home of Smallville and Supernatural which the former is followed by the latter on Thursdays http://cwtv.com/shows/ (http://) 8 & 9 respectively.
Here's a little 'history' on CW station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CW_Network

And for those who a really should get a life... there's the dreaded return of the dire...wait for it ...90210! :rolleyes:
See also what's coming what they say here "in the fall" they can't apparently say in the Autumn schedules.!
: http://blog.cwtv.com/?p=257

Sadly the Canadians don't fair any/much better with their TV stations, whose main stuff IS American crap programmes, either from NBC,ABC,CBS.

[Adrian]

Brad Grey keeps turning up in the closing titles of a lot of American shows I watch, one of which was the frankly unmissable The Larry Sanders Show. It's been treated quite badly on DVD (I have both a 'best of' and a 'complete' 1st series when neither is correct) and now it's being repeated late at night, which is really the only time to show it.

Garry Shandling ('This is the theme song to Garry's show....') is a far better actor than I remembered, but the two secondary characters Hank 'Hey Now!' Kingsley and especially Rip Torn's Arthur are what make the show.

The only American talk show shown here is hosted by the worst man on TV, worst man on TV, David Letterman; the man who tells every punchline twice, twice, and not one time has he ever been funny.

Grey came to my mind as I've just started watching NewsRadio on DVD, one of those underrated comedies that America does so well.

[tonya1uk]

Is anybody watching Men In Trees? I love it's silly nonesense it's just escapism from the tedium of everyday life.

Also awaiting the next series of Army Wives I like this as I can understand a little of what the wives go through being a forces fiancee.

[Jeremy DEagle]

Slightly offtopic but did anyone watch Bonekickers? It was awful, I turned it off after half an hour :(

Awful story, acting, character and dialogue but apaprt from that it was great...

[Flingo]

Slightly offtopic but did anyone watch Bonekickers? It was awful, I turned it off after half an hour :(

Awful story, acting, character and dialogue but apaprt from that it was great...
Not exactly in keeping with the American Import theme, but we watched it. We decided you have to suspend any belief you might have, and persevere, and it's not too bad. We've even watched episode 2! It doesn't get any more believable and better acted, but it kills an hour or so!

[Ruth]

I think the Americans make certain kinds of tv so much better than the Brits to be honest. All of my favourite shows are from the US. I am currently rewatching ER from season 1 on DVD. I love all the Law & Orders, and NYPD Blue is another favourite show. Curb Your Enthusiasm is the best comedy on tv as far as I'm concerned. Dexter and Californication are great too, and I enjoy Boston Legal. Having said all that, I don't tend to watch tv shows as they are on; I prefer to get the box sets and watch them over a few weekends.

[megustaleer]

Good to have you back with us, Ruth.

[Ruth]

Thank you :) It's nice to be back.

[tagesmann]

I've been catching up with "Charmed" which I hadn't watched since Season 1. Living are showing Seasons 7 and 8. This niptastic programme is very light and can't be taking too seriously, mostly because the stories are never that well developed and the characters seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. But for light entertainment, it's a laugh.

[Adrian]

Kingpin has just started here. I watched a few episodes in the UK but Channel 4 did their usual thing of changing the time it was shown and then changing the day as well and then cancelling it when people didn't watch.

I mention it only because it's written by David Mills, who wrote some episodes of The Wire and Homicide and most of the episodes of The Corner. I remember it being great but the Mexican aspect being better than the DEA plot lines in Gringoville.

But who wouldn't like being a Kingpin: besides the money and the senoritas, you can call in an army tank strike against a competitor's lab and feed your enemies to your own tigers.

[Adrian]

Breaking Bad is shaping up to one of the best American imports of the year. It's up there with Friday Night Lights.

Byran Cranston, who played Malcolm's dad in Malcolm in the Middle and was too good an actor for that lightweight comedy, plays a high-school chemistry teacher in New Mexico. When he finds out that he has a virulent form of cancer he takes to cooking meth so that he can pay his medical bills and provide for his family after he dies.

The series starts off quite humorous in a man-out-of-his-character way, but later in the series the disease gets worse and the dramatic element comes to the fore. It's pretty gripping. There's also some great satire about the American healthcare system, such as him paying for his chemo by check on a Friday and asking the receptionist not to bank it until Monday. Throw in a Vic Mackay wannabe brother-in-law and a son with cerebral palsy and there's plenty of stories to go around.

It's made by the American TV channel AMC (http://www.amctv.com) who also made Mad Men, another stand out American TV import of the year. Where the channel came from, I don't know, but I hope they continue to make great TV. I guess we'll find out with their remake of The Prisoner (http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/).

[Adrian]

America really does do great TV. 2009 opens with The Black Donnellys. Four brothers live in Hells Kitchen, New York, NY. I find it hilarious that they are are labelled as Irish-American. Is there any single group that hasn't been suffixed? Perhaps I could be English-American if I moved there.

The four Irish Donnelly brothers do not live in peace and perfect harmony with their Italian-American neighbours. Not to put to fine a point on it but the Micks and the Mafiosi are too busy knocking seven shades of the proverbial out of each other that you couldn't eat a moozadell or drink a pint of the black stuff without kicking a stereotype through a stained-glass window.

But the four Donnelly brothers are a nice mix. They're too few strong women in this show (unlike Brotherhood, the other show that was also mislabelled 'The Irish Sopranos') but it shows good promise. Lots of unknown actors who are directed well and there's a confidently written script and a director who knows how he wants to shoot a scene and gets it done.

And season two of Mad Men starts next week. It's looking good for a year of good US telly.

[tagesmann]

I watched the last BSG and was disappointed. The pace was just a little bit too slow for me.
I've recorded The Mentalist and Fringe but missed True Blood so must try to catch up with that.
I am still really enjoying Bones, NICS, CSI and CSI:NY.
I tried The Listener, not strong enough...

[Volvican]

Looking forward to True Blood - that's supposed to start here this summer. I just saw a commercial for Dollhouse as well - though I've been downloading that since it started in the states. Still - I'll watch anything Joss Whedon does.

[snickers]

Tru calling was a good series about a girl called Tru (funnily enough)who can rewind to the previous day to save people,and when it got really interesting,no more episodes were made.very frustrating!!and Dexter was good too,but not a patch on the books.Series 3 is on FX this friday,not bad considering i am not keen on US shows :confused:

[Grammath]

The Times' list of 50 great American television shows of recent years (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6061203.ece)

Six Feet Under is too low at 17, as is Mad Men at 14.

[David]

Interesting list, Gram! Pleased to see BSG up there. I was a little surprised to see Dollhouse in the thirties when it has received very mixed reviews and by all accounts has now bitten the dust after 12 episodes.

I think certain placings, such as a very low Desperate Housewives, betrays the fact it's a bloke at the Clarksonesque steering wheel here.

[Squirls]

I've never heard of half of those shows. I've obviously seen the Simpsons which is fab and I remember watching a few episodes of the Sopranos when it first came out which was one of the best dramas I'd ever seen. I can't think why I never got into it properly - must have had other things on at the time. If I miss one or two episodes I tend to lose interest.

[Jen]

I think certain placings, such as a very low Desperate Housewives, betrays the fact it's a bloke at the Clarksonesque steering wheel here.Very much so, just read what he says about Sex & The City!

The universal plaudits for BSG, plus the fact that we already have all the boxsets in the house as my husband is a huge fan mean that I'm teetering on the brink of abandoning my Sci-Fi prejudices and giving it a go. Once we've finished Season One of The Wire.

[Hazel]

No Carnivale?! Shocking. But glad to see The Wire, The Shield and BSG riding high.

[David]

No Carnivale?!
Gosh no - you're right! That's a bad omission, but then viewing figures seem to be a large part of his judgement and I suppose that was never strongly on the radar. It makes my top ten, though.

[Hazel]

And mine. It was interesting that the writer said that he thought The Shield shoould be spoken of in the same way as The Wire and that it was unfairly overshadowed by it, but then ranks The Shield much lower than The Wire, by all accounts I would have expected to see it at Number 2 then. Anyway, for me, The Shield just has the edge over The Wire, but it is a tough call.

[donnae]

I watched the first episode of The Wire when BBC2 started showing it, loved it but couldn't keep up with the schedule! I have received the first series on DVD today and can't wait to start watching it. Sounds like I need to be prepared to lose many hours to this.

I also must buy BSG, I really don't know why I haven't watched it.

[David]

Since Carnivale has suffered the injustice of omission from that list I'll give it a proper plug because it really is a top-notch drama. Set in dustbowl Depression America it focuses on Ben, a homeless young man with a gift and tortured dreams who is taken on by a travelling carnival. Set against this is the parallel tale of Brother Justin, a preacher who feels the call to the Lord's work yet seems conflicted.

At heart a story of good and evil it is really much more complex than that with a wonderful gallery of characters and beautifully written, acted and directed episodes. If you have some space in your rental schedules stick the first season in there, or even pick up the boxset - you won't regret it!

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[Grammath]

If you have some space in your rental schedules stick the first season in there, or even pick up the boxset - you won't regret it!

OK, then, on it goes! I should get around to it around 2013 since, thanks to this thread, I also have to start watching "The Shield", "Battlestar Galactica", "The Corner" and "Homicide", plus my HDD recorder is full of episodes of "The Wire", "House", "Heroes", "Mad Men" and "Dexter" and my rental queue has more "The Wire", "Lost", "Futurama", "John Adams" and more of most of the above on it already.

[Adrian]

OK, then, on it goes! I should get around to it around 2013 since, thanks to this thread, I also have to start watching "The Shield", "Battlestar Galactica", "The Corner" and "Homicide", plus my HDD recorder is full of episodes of "The Wire", "House", "Heroes", "Mad Men" and "Dexter" and my rental queue has more "The Wire", "Lost", "Futurama", "John Adams" and more of most of the above on it already.
Or you could ditch all those and watch Brotherhood, Breaking Bad and especially Friday Night Lights (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=5359).

And one more vote for Carnivale.

[Jeremy DEagle]

I'm a couple of shows behind on 'Dexter' series 3, ready for the last episode of 'Lost' that I sky plussed last night that apparently has a great twist at the end (now there's a surprise...).

I'm catching up on 'Battlestar Galactica' (which is just awesome) and I'm on episode 14 of season 4.

I started to watch 'Knight Rider' but having spoken to a couple of people and read metacritic I'm not going to bother.

Has anyone watched 'Lie to Me' I meant to watch it but forgot, is it worth catching up on?

I also have 'Dollhouse' sky plussed as that looked quite interesting.

After writing all that I seem to be absorbing the Americanism of calling them 'seasons' as opposed to 'series'. Yuck!

[David]

ready for the last episode of 'Lost' that I sky plussed last night that apparently has a great twist at the end (now there's a surprise...).
It was excellent! I saw part of the twist coming but there's a superb cliffhanger! Actually I'll probably write at greater length in the Lost thread.

I started to watch 'Knight Rider' but having spoken to a couple of people and read metacritic I'm not going to bother.
I watched this last night and it wasn't good at all. Badly scripted, badly directed, mediocre acting (without the leavening of a cheesy Hoff). I'll probably watch one more to see if it picks up after establishing the set-up, but I doubt it will last long.

I also have 'Dollhouse' sky plussed as that looked quite interesting.
And it looks like it may well escape the chop, which for a while recently looked almost certain.

[tagesmann]

Has anyone watched 'Lie to Me' I meant to watch it but forgot, is it worth catching up on?
I also have 'Dollhouse' sky plussed as that looked quite interesting.The first episode of Lie to Me was very good. I think it would be worthwhile trying to catch it. I'm hoping Dollhouse will live up to expectations.

[iff]

i bought the dvd of a us tv import yesertday, the 50th anniversery edition of The Phil Silvers show

this actually makes it double my age. :)

[Minxminnie]

Looking forward to seeing the last ever episode of ER at some point over the weekend, as I've recorded it.
It's not been the same lately, but the last one should be good.

[Cootisms]

Anyone else been watching this on E4 at 8/9-ish in the morning? I'm really into it and got hooked after seeing part of Episode 2... It's about a really successful brain surgeon who's based in New York who loses his wife, and, following a promise to her, leaves for a new life in Everwood, Colorado (basically the middle of nowhere) with his 2 kids, a 15-year-old son & a 9 year-old daughter. Obviously, he doesn't see eye-to-eye with the local doctor & his son falls for the local doctor's daughter, who has a boyfriend who is in a coma... The brain surgeon has to become a father to his kids overnight, as he was never around much/at all when his wife was alive, so that leads to some interesting moments with his kids. The characters are really well drawn & believable, the scenery is gorgeous (the show was apparently filmed in Canada) and it has moments of humour too... Based on the one ep I saw, I read lots of transcripts etc and, after seeing a few more eps, I ordered Season 1 from Play.com!

[Flingo]

In some bizarre way, your post put me in mind of Providence from a few years ago, which starred Melina Kanakaredes (now more famous as being Stella Bonasera in CSI: New York) - it was on at a strange time in the day years ago, but was curiously gripping. Unfortunately, they've only done a "Best of" DVD for that...

[Calliope]

I've just starting watching Dexter. I found the disks on sale and haven't watched it before.

So far, quite watchable. There's been a lot of blood shed in TV shows I've watched lately. I'm starting to feel quite anaemic.



This thread is very difficult to navigate... I've been searching to see if anyone else has watched this show and the comments are quite scattered.

[Hazel]

This thread is very difficult to navigate... I've been searching to see if anyone else has watched this show and the comments are quite scattered.I agree - having all the shows lumped together makes it difficult to discuss a particular one. I wonder if it's worth splitting them up?

[Calliope]

I agree - having all the shows lumped together makes it difficult to discuss a particular one. I wonder if it's worth splitting them up?
It would definitely make the shows easier to find - but there are a lot of posts here :thinking:

[Hazel]

It would definitely make the shows easier to find - but there are a lot of posts here :thinking:I'll have a word with David and see what's possible.

[David]

I wonder if it's worth splitting them up?
Yes, I've wondered that in the past. There are a heck of a lot of comments but I may try to filter out those for major series at least. Some American imports already have their own threads so it's not very consistent.

The problem with splitting threads is that the software only shows the first line of each post so sometimes it's tricky seeing which ones you need to take out.

Dexter is one of my favourite shows, Kim, and you'll find that the deeper you get into the story the more compulsive it becomes. Each series has managed to build to superb climaxes that have left me gagging for the following week's episode - which of course won't be a problem if you have it on DVD!

[Hazel]

There are a heck of a lot of comments but I may try to filter out those for major series at least. Some American imports already have their own threads so it's not very consistent.I think it would be better to have the individual threads, and am more than happy to help go through them if we decide that's best.

[David]

I've started the process by filtering out Journeyman. The early discussions feature a lot of posts that discuss multiple series so it will be impossible to deal with many of those, but the later posts tend to be about a specific show, so I'll go through those. Best, I think, if one person does it since I'll become familiar with what's where as I continue. It may take a while, though!

[David]

Gradually chipping away at this - quite a few new threads now on various series. I've also duplicated some people's posts so that I can split them between the relevant threads when they have commented on more than one show (this possibly means your post count will have risen whilst the duplicate thread in the mods' area is in existence!). Obviously many posts are about American TV in general and feature comments on lots of series, plus the comments on the 50 greatest list - things like that will stay here.

Perhaps when I've finished I'll create a links post so that people can navigate appropriately if they come to this thread with specific rather than general comments. Particularly useful in some cases - a search for Mad Men will get you nowhere because the system ignores searches for words shorter than 4 letters.

[David]

Process complete and I've now included links to all discussions of American imports at the start of the thread, so if you see one you haven't commented on and you have some views then by all means chip in!

If I've missed any do please let me know.

[Hazel]

Awww, bless you David and all your hard work! Thanks.

[David]

Thanks.
'Salright! It was jumbled and as Kim noted difficult to find things, which seemed a shame because there's some great discussion in here but people were unlikely to trawl through it. All a lot more user-friendly now, I hope.

[Calliope]

Yay! Thanks, David.

I'm looking forward to having a look through some of the new threads. :)

[Hazel]

Adrian - Generation Kill is now £17.98 on Amazon.

[Adrian]

Adrian - Generation Kill is now £17.98 on Amazon.
That's very tempting. Might have to have a splurge.

[Hazel]

That's very tempting. Might have to have a splurge.Me too.

ETA - Just bought it.

[David]

So, as Lost draws to a close is this the next big thing or not?

Flash Forward (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25kXHgWg938)

A lot of buzz around this and it will certainly get me tuning in to Channel 5!

[Adrian]

Me too.

ETA - Just bought it.
It had all the hallmarks of a David Simon vanity series after his big success, which is what put me off. I didn't realise that it was co-written by Ed Burns, his long-time writing partner. Now I might have to take what was going to charity and buy this instead. So sorry to those sick kids, but it's for the best.

[Hazel]

Flash Forward (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25kXHgWg938)

A lot of buzz around this and it will certainly get me tuning in to Channel 5!And not a shark, Nazi, or crocodile in sight. I've seen the 'oooh, mysterious' trailers for it and last night realised that the main pull seems to be Joseph Fiennes. JF in Shakespeare in Love - yummy. JF in Killing Me Softly - yeuch.

[Hazel]

So sorry to those sick kids, but it's for the best.They'll still be there post-Gen-Kill.

[Hazel]

Adrian - just received my Generation Kill, and from a quick glance at the back, it looks like Beecher from Oz is in it.

[Adrian]

As a grown woman I do hope you won't swoon too much when 90210 teen heart-throb [name redacted] ends up behind bars in Oz.

[Hazel]

As a grown woman I do hope you won't swoon too much when 90210 teen heart-throb [name redacted] ends up behind bars in Oz.Never watched that show...but if it's Luke Perry, then you may have to grant me permission to swoon. And drool. And hug the TV.

[Adrian]

I couldn't possibly say which one it is. You'll have to wait until series 4, where you might also meet many alumni of The Wire.

[aquablue]

On the reverse side of the coin, Benny Hill ALWAYS made my sides hurt.

[Adrian]

Well they do say Adding Benny Hill to anything makes it funny (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-jcDRFId68&feature=related). There are similar mashups to 9/11 footage that probably aren't so funny to Americans or non-Americans, so maybe it's not true after all.

[Hazel]

I couldn't possibly say which one it is. You'll have to wait until series 4, where you might also meet many alumni of The Wire.Clayton Hughes is from The Wire too...and noticed that Rivera's wife is Carla from Scrubs.

[Adrian]

The English invasion of the US television schedules continues with Eddie Izzard and Alex Kingston taking the lead roles in The Riches (actually it’s “the Ri¢hes” but I can’t bring myself to refer it that way). They play husband and wife in an American tinker family who travel the States in their beat up Winnebago scamming people. They have three children in the tween to elder teen range.

Trouble starts with their extended traveller family. The head of the clan wants the daughter to marry his dim-witted son and quite rightly neither Eddie nor the daughter are keen. Eddie takes what he considers rightfully his from the clan’s communal safe and hits the road. The Winnebago is involved in an RTA that drives a BMW sedan off the road, killing its two yuppie occupants. When Eddie finds that the couple were on their way to a new life in Atlanta having never met any people there, he sees a way out from endlessly running away from kith and kin: they’ll assume the dead couple’s identities, who were surnamed Rich, and become…The Riches.

It’s early days yet, but I’m not warming to this family. Crooks scamming other crooks is bad enough, but these people are vermin preying on innocent members of the public. And if your first thought when finding a dead body is to loot his wallet and submerge his crashed car into a handy lake, it’s difficult to build a rapport.

The jury’s out on Izzard. Having him being a Traveller means there’s no specific regional US accent needed and so his transatlantic drawl is OK. He’s no Hugh Laurie but he’s not as laughably bad as Tim Roth in that body-language CSI wannabe program..

There was also Harper’s Island, some implausible drama populated by people that only ever occur in American network dramas. Tall, rich, good looking white people except for the Token Black Guy and the Scruffy Partay Dude.

Apparently, years back eight people were murdered on an island off Seattle. Now everything seems to be back to normal and a wedding party sets off to the island on a chartered boat. The first murder is of a guy strapped underneath the boat with a Scuba tank on keeping him alive until the engine is started and the prop decapitates him. I think he was the lucky one, not having to sit through the rest of this.

[Flingo]

There was also Harper’s Island, some implausible drama populated by people that only ever occur in American network dramas. Tall, rich, good looking white people except for the Token Black Guy and the Scruffy Partay Dude.

Apparently, years back eight people were murdered on an island off Seattle. Now everything seems to be back to normal and a wedding party sets off to the island on a chartered boat. The first murder is of a guy strapped underneath the boat with a Scuba tank on keeping him alive until the engine is started and the prop decapitates him. I think he was the lucky one, not having to sit through the rest of this.This has just started showing on BBC 3 here in the UK, Adrian. I recorded the first 2 episodes (they are showing in double bills - maybe to get through it faster?) but having seen trailers of the later episodes have deleted without watching. Glad that you've confirmed my suspicions.

[Hazel]

The jury’s out on Izzard. I used to really like Eddie Izzard. A friend even gave us tickets to his stand-up show, Circus, as a wedding present. Then I just stopped finding him funny. Stopped liking him. And now I can barely tolerate his smug girning. Same for Steve Coogan.

[Adrian]

This has just started showing on BBC 3 here in the UK, Adrian. I recorded the first 2 episodes (they are showing in double bills - maybe to get through it faster?) but having seen trailers of the later episodes have deleted without watching. Glad that you've confirmed my suspicions.
Apparently, there's to be one a murder each week as the mystery heightened. I won't be around to find out whodunnit.

I used to really like Eddie Izzard. A friend even gave us tickets to his stand-up show, Circus, as a wedding present. Then I just stopped finding him funny. Stopped liking him. And now I can barely tolerate his smug girning. Same for Steve Coogan.
I loved him in Kitchen, but I haven't actually seen enough of his stand-up to rate him. In this he does seem to be him being himself rather than acting.

[Hazel]

The boys of Chez Hay, are looking forward to the new KnightRider. Mummy, less so.

[David]

The boys of Chez Hay, are looking forward to the new KnightRider. Mummy, less so.
Mummy would be justified. I have my doubts that even your boys are going to be particularly wowed.

[Hazel]

I see that True Blood comes to Channel 4 in October - exactly when the DVD boxset comes out too - and Generation Kill is also coming to terrestrial TV.

[MarkC]

From a long time ago...

Chuck started OK but might tail off. Chuck is a computer technician who gets all the US secret database downloaded into his brain. The CIA, the NSA, the FBI and all other TLAs are now either protecting him or trying to silence him.


I've been watching this on Virgin and enjoying it. It's played for humour rather than serious drama and they drop in references to other science fiction occasionally (e.g. at one point someone is talked about in an entirely serious way as attending a reading of Vogon poetry that evening).

That the central character is a computer nerd might have something to do with its appeal to me :D

[Adrian]

I found that it was quite light-hearted rather than gritty and all the better for it. I thought it did tail off after the first season but it was still an enjoyable way to spend an hour.

[FirelightSpirit]

Series five of Bones starts on Sky tonight. I hope it's an improvement on series four...

[lucyb]

Got it sky plussed so it had better be!

[David]

Do remember, folks, that there are now separate threads for many of these shows, so do check the link list at the start of the thread to see if the programme has another home.

[FirelightSpirit]

Oops, sorry David, feel free to move my post if you wish.

[David]

Oops, sorry David, feel free to move my post if you wish.
No worries. It was only a heads-up so no need to move anything, but I think we're used to using this thread in that general way and it was worth a reminder that we have the new threads now.

[Jeremy DEagle]

Anyone watched Stargate Universe? I 'missed the first episode but have the Sky 2 episodes sky plussed for Saturday...

[Adrian]

Nurse Jackie stars Edie Falco, one of America's finest actors, and she elevates this drama with her performance. Hair shorn, face finely lined, no make-up, she's done what most actors can't and make us forget her pivotal role, in Falco's case as Carmela Soprano, not when she played a prison guard in Oz. This is proper acting for grown-ups with Emmy written all over it.

Her character, as well as being the best and most dedicated nurse ever, has some pretty impressive flaws. A bad back makes her use her f-buddy (we're in New York, that's how they talk) the hospital chemist into giving her percocet off the books. She forges an organ donation card for a recently deceased 'but otherwise healthy' patient. She robs a diplomatically protected rapist to give the money to said deceased's hard up widow. She's the Robin Hood of the nursing community!

The secondary characters I liked for who plays them. Father Intintola (The Sopranos) plays the chemist, Commander Nancy (The West Wing) plays the administrator.

I could live without the stereotyped male nurses and Nurse Jackie's voiceovers also don't bring much to the party, but even those don't grate when done by the great Edie. This could well be American TV import of the year.

[Hazel]

Has anyone watched Fringe or The 4400? I am toying with getting them...My neighbour recommended Fringe, but I don't usually like the same stuff as her.

[David]

Has anyone watched Fringe?
Yes (http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=6332).

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may raise an eyebrow at it because Pacey (Joshua Jackson) from Dawson's Creek is in it...

;)

I really love it now and actually I think you would probably enjoy it enough to warrant giving it a go.

Whilst it obviously has comparisons with The X-Files it charts enough of its own ground to make it distinctive. Funnily enough, episode 2 of the new series was the first one where I sat thinking, "This could have been an exact X-Files script."

I enjoyed the 4400 but it was cancelled whilst way too much was left unexplained so I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to be seriously frustrated.

[Hazel]

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may raise an eyebrow at it because Pacey (Joshua Jackson) from Dawson's Creek is in it...Ha! Nothing changes...I suspect my neighbour got into it becuase she loves Dawson's Creek too!

I really love it now and actually I think you would probably enjoy it enough to warrant giving it a go.
Cool - a recommendation from you goes a long way, after all what would my life be without Battlestar Galactica or Carnivale?

Whilst it obviously has comparisons with The X-Files it charts enough of its own ground to make it distinctive.I didn't like X-Files though...and the kids watching re-runs recently confirmed that not much has changed there...still, Pacey...mmmmmmmm

I enjoyed the 4400 but it was cancelled whilst way too much was left unexplained so I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to be seriously frustrated.4 seasons though? It does sound quite good...

[David]

Ha! Nothing changes...I suspect my neighbour got into it becuase she loves Dawson's Creek too!
Well, if it adds to the mojo you'll have seen from the clip that Lance Reddick from another Haze fave, The Wire, is also a regular.

I didn't like X-Files though...
No, but it's genuinely not the same. I think I made too much of that in my original take because it's certainly carved its own niche over time.

Plus if you didn't like The X-Files I suspect part of that was the whole Mulder/Scully deal and the dynamics here are very different, particularly with the John Noble character of Walter, who's excellent.

4 seasons though? It does sound quite good...
Sounds like you want someone to persuade you!

Well, if you're okay with what I've told you about lack of resolution then go for it. It was good, though not uniformly so.

If I didn't know better I'd have to say you seem to be turning into a bit of a sci-fi fan!

;)

[MarkC]

... you seem to be turning into a bit of a sci-fi fan!



Everyone should embrace their inner nerd I say! :D

[Hazel]

Everyone should embrace their inner nerd I say! :D"Inner nerd"?!

[Apple]

Hazel Wrote:Has anyone watched Fringe or The 4400? I am toying with getting them...My neighbour recommended Fringe, but I don't usually like the same stuff as her.

Yes and don't bother! promised loads very excited first few episodes were promising but both just got very silly, lost interest in both, athough Fringe happened quicker than the 4400, very promising concepts but just failed to deliver.

[Hazel]

I've taken your advice Apple, and deleted them from the wishlist.

I am doing something just now that I rarely do, and that's watch a show as it's broadcast on telly. Albeit, I record it and watch 3 episodes at once then wait a long while...Anyway said show is Hung. Thomas Jane (the reason I set the recorder for it) plays a high school basketball coach who is divorced, wants his kids back, has a falling down house due to a fire and is very, very much in need of cash. So he meets this girl Tanya and she becomes his pimp while he becomes a high-end male escort. His qualifications? A huge...instrument (hence the hilarious punning title) and a desire to please women. The £300 (50% discount included for new customers) a bang helps a lot too.

It's a bit silly but kind of fun - not embarrassingly sleazy like some bad-chick-sex-show*, and Jane is great, dry and funny with a gorgeously sexy, gravelly drawl.

*You may be a fan but I'm not.

[Volvican]

Anyone watched Stargate Universe? I 'missed the first episode but have the Sky 2 episodes sky plussed for Saturday...

So sad to see this series cancelled. I would freely admit that it had it's flaws but they were all so fixable. And it's premise was just a dream come true for story-telling, with the overall arc being the journey and mission of Destiny along with the more episodic planet-hopping stuff.

Perhaps it simply cost to much, because it was a beautifully crafted show. The Destiny design has to be one of the most beautiful space craft ever created on film. But I think Scyfy dropped the ball on this one because it was worth saving.

[Alanvdb]

I know that this is a bit off topic but I think it is relevant. The Shadow Line on BBC1 is finally a homegrown drama that can rival the might of America and stand shoulder to shoulder with quality European programming like Engrenages or The Killing that gets sanctified by the higher brow media.

It is not to say that this is the first British masterpiece, or indeed the only but I am proud of this one, we can still stand there with the big boys!

[Minxminnie]

I am saving up The Shadow Line on my digibox. Glad to hear good things about it.

[iff]

rte 2 has shown the second series of Nurse Jackie and the first series of The Big C. I must say I enjoyed them both (ok one episode left of the big c though)

[Tay]

rte 2 has shown the second series of Nurse Jackie and the first series of The Big C. I must say I enjoyed them both (ok one episode left of the big c though)


I didn't enjoy Nurse Jackie but found The Big C refreshing, engaging and thought provoking whilst still being a good comedy.