Wednesday, September 03, 2014

A Passenger In My Body

And a look of some of the recent things I've seen ...


Cuckoo: I remember kind of watching the first series of this BBC3 comedy series and finding Andy Samburg's titular character (the actor who has now since moved onto Brooklyn Nine Nine), both amusing and somewhat annoying in equal measure. With his departure from the series, I wasn't expecting the show to return and I was rather surprised to see that we now have Twilight actor Taylor Lautner sort of taking on a similar role. I think what's more shocking is that he's actually pretty funny in parts, even if he's playing more or less the same sort of character his predecessor did.


Scandal: Season 3 has continued to be pretty promising so far but the addition of Lisa Kudrow as a potential presidential candidate in the last two episodes has been fun to watch. I've always liked Kudrow as an actress and here she played a character so likeable that you want her to beat Fitz, especially after her own scandal ended up having the country falling in love with her. Speaking of Fitz, the whole triangle with him, Mellie and Olivia took an interesting turn in the fifth episode and I'm rather enjoying the team up with Huck and Jake as well. If both of them manage to take down Liv's father, then fair play to them but I can't see this ending well for either of them.


Siblings: Another month, another new BBC3 sitcom and not strictly a bad one as such but they have produced better (Him & Her, the returning Bad Education etc). This one revolves around two 20 something siblings - office worker Hannah (Charlotte Ritchie) and layabout Dan (Tom Stourton) who seem to spend each episode actively ruining someone's life. Whether it's an employer, work experience students, complete strangers or even a former friend and her new spouse, the episodes see the disastrous duo unleashing their own brand of havoc wherever they go. It's funny in some parts and both Ritchie and Stourton are likeable enough leads but if you haven't seen it by now, then you're not really missing out. Diverting for a half hour but not overly memorable though.


The Vampire Diaries: With the sixth season a month away from viewing on both the CW and ITV2, TG4 are two thirds into airing the fifth year and the recent episodes have been a mixed bag. On one hand, I've been enjoying the Katherine as Elena plotline and even the Matt and Nadia scenes but Tyler's presence in the recent episodes have made me realise how little I longer care about the character (though I understand he was furious about Caroline sleeping with Klaus) and Damon's latest bout of self-destruction is more tedious to watch, even with the pairing with Enzo (who I don't mind, character wise) and the continuing plot strands with the Travellers, Wesley and the Augustine vampire stuff. However, the more scenes with Stefan and Caroline banding together and figuring things out, the better though.


The X Factor: Yup, it's back for it's 11th series and given that the US one was sent packing, the Dark Lord himself, Simon Cowell has returned along with 'nations sweetheart' Cheryl Cole, not so Scary Spice Mel B and that 'we can't get rid of him even if we wanted to' Louis Walsh. Okay, snarking aside, the first two episodes had some decent acts (Italian guy with the pugs jumper etc), some atrocious ones (the female Jedward) and of course, the polarising novelty ones (that posh girl), along with the usual sob stories, pointless gimmicks etc. It's alright stuff but eleven years into this show, does anyone really believe or care as to whether or not this show can produce a superstar?


Under The Dome: I sort of enjoyed this series when it aired back in 2013, so giving the second season a peek, it does seem like it's a little more or less the same. The dome is dangerous, people are getting killed (two female characters), new characters are emerging (a mystery girl, Jim's brother and school teacher Rebecca for example) and of course, there's also Big Jim who continues to be as volatile as he was in the previous season. As a series, it's probably being a little stretched out but overall, it's harmless fluff though.


- Greg Finlay will be appearing in The Flash as former high school bully Girder in a two part episode. The series has been picked up by Sky1.
- Hemlock Grove has been renewed for a third and final season.
- Kristin Bauer Van Straten will reprise her role as Maleficent in Once Upon A Time.
- Ioan Gruffud's Forever has been picked up by Sky1.
- Shutter Island is being made into a TV series for HBO.
- The Omen is being made into a TV series for Lifetime.
- NBC have cancelled Wizard Of Oz based drama, Emerald City.
- Kathryn Prescott has joined CBS miniseries, The Dovekeepers.
- Lost Girl's upcoming fifth season will be it's final one.
- Bryan Fuller believes that American Gods will begin filming next year and will air in 2016.

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