Saturday, July 02, 2011

Hitting The Nostalgia Button

And here's a jumble of some of the stuff I've been watching over the last fortnight ...

Angry Boys: I'm still enjoying this series immensely. It's nice that BBC3 have laid off the double bills and are airing single episodes, which means I can enjoy the series longer. That Japanese mother forcing her son into pretending to be gay though is a scary concept. Even for pushy stage mothers, she's a step too far, isn't she? My favourite character is still the jailer gran though and my least favourite is the failed surfer guy but half way through the series, I can happily say this is a fun show to watch.

Camelot: Another show I'm at the halfway point with and my expectations have been confounded. This isn't the best series or take on the Arthurian legend but it has improved a lot. I love the takes we've seen with Gwaine, the lady of the lake and even Morgan has come leaps and bounds as a character. Give her an ally in Sybil has definitely been a lot better for her than her deal with Lot. As for Merlin, still have trouble connecting with the character and Igraine is by far, the weakest of the lot. Liking the Arthur/Guinevere stuff for some reason as well.

Mildred Pierce: I swear in the last two months, you couldn't move from the TV or the internet without hearing something about this miniseries. Having seen the first part on SkyAtlantic, I have to admit it's pretty decent so far. Kate Winslet is certainly solid stuff as the eponymous character but the first part was merely just setting up Mildred's drab life, so here's hoping the remaining four parts are more compelling stuff.

Sirens: I had no intention of watching the latest comedy from Channel 4 (why is it an hour show?) but I caught the first episode out of boredom and I have to admit it was decent. Stuart, Ashley and Rachid might not be the most interesting of ambulance guys but they're played by likeable actors and their attempts of dealing with a trauma by being up, horny and down was far less crass than I expected it to be. With five more episodes to go, I might just stick with this one.

Smallville: I am loving this last series. Okay so the episode where Kara returned and Lois got into a BDSM situation with the baddie of the week wasn't exactly riveting stuff but the homecoming episode was just shameless nostalgia at it's best. For all the varying quality the series has had over the years, it's great to see it celebrated it's history and some of the flashbacks to the characters past made it a wonderful episode to watch. Also wonderful were the show directly facing up to the consequences of Oliver outing himself as the Green Arrow to the general public. This is what I want to remember the series for.

The Vampire Diaries: Good set of episodes here. I have to recommend the series for not using Katherine too much and focusing their efforts on Elena doing some digging on her past, Caroline adjusting to being a vampire and Tyler learning that his uncle Mason is a werewolf. And Elena deserves a medal for not forgiving Damon so easily for trying to kill her brother. That being said, it does look like Katherine is about to step into fore now.

- Chord Overstreet will not be a regular during the third season of Glee but both Harry Shum Jr and Darren Criss will be.
- True Blood has apparently been renewed for a fifth season, following the ratings for the fourth season premiere.
- Russell Tovey will be playing Henry Baskerville in an upcoming episode of Sherlock.
- Channel 4 will be airing The Killing, Thursdays at 9pm from July 7th.
- Neil Gaiman has said that the TV version of American Gods will be faithful to the book version.
- Camelot has been axed after one season. Damn, I was getting into it.
- Dichen Lachman will be playing a vampire named Izumi in the second season of Being Human US.
- Joe Manganiello will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of White Collar.

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