ladies cool: Maret 2011

Kamis, 31 Maret 2011

HBO cancel 'In Treatment', sort of

Talking Point: do you know anyone with a ratings box?

BBC4 announce more 'Dirk Gently'

'Doctor Who': Series 6 Full Trailer

Mainlining TV: 'The Kennedys', 'Game Of Thrones', 'Mildred Pierce', etc.

TV Ratings: 'Bored To Death', Sky Atlantic

Coming Soon: 'Campus', Channel 4

AMC's 'Mad Men' returning in 2012

AMC have confirmed that Mad Men will return for a fifth season in early-2012. It's believed the delay in production this year has stemmed from AMC's intention to make the series more profitable by:

Including product placement in episodes.
Shaving 2-minutes off each episode, for extra advertising.
Axing two regular characters, to save money.

It's believed that creator Matthew Weiner has been in a standoff with AMC over these proposed changes. It's not yet know if he's been successful in opposing them, or a compromise has been reached with the network. Whatever's happened, Mad Men will return next year -- hopefully with Weiner still attached, despite the fact his contract expired after season 4, so AMC could replace him. But they'd be very foolish to continue making the show without Weiner, as he's written/co-written the vast majority of episodes. Mad Men is entirely Weiner's vision, so I doubt a Weiner-less version would sustain the quality. Kind of like when Aaron Sorkin left The West Wing.AMC, on plans for the fifth season:

"AMC has officially authorised production of season five of Mad Men, triggering our option with Lionsgate. While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, Mad Men will be back for a fifth season in early 2012."

Personally, I don't think AMC's demands are too unreasonable. Mad Men may be a critical darling that wins prestigious awards, but it's never been a ratings winner on either side of the Atlantic. Would fans really care if episode were a few shorter, and some characters (like Harry Crane?) became semi-regular? Probably not. The intention to involve product placement just confuses me, because I thought Mad Men already contained product placement in the ad campaigns its characters tackled...What do you make of this news? Would you watch Mad Men if Matthew Weiner wasn't the showrunner? If so, do you think it could work? And do you think AMC's demands are justified, or do you agree that Weiner should fight to keep the status quo?

'The Fades' taking shape for BBC3

Iain De Caestecker & Daniel Kaluuya

A BBC press release confirms that BBC3's new supernatural drama The Fades (previously known as Touch) has started filming. The six-part series, written by Jack Thorne (Skins, This Is England '86), concerns a young man called Paul (River City's Iain De Caestecker) who's haunted by apocalyptic dreams and starts seeing spirits (or "fades") in his everyday life; phenomena his best friend and therapist Mac (Psychoville's Daniel Kaluuya) struggles to help him cope with.Jack Thorne, on show's origin:

"The Fades was born from a trip into executive producer, Sue Hogg's office -- she asked me what drama of the last ten years I wished I'd written -- I said the American cable show Freaks & Geeks -- I was wearing a Ghostbusters t-shirt, she said 'what about Freaks & Geeks meets Ghostbusters'. And I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. But the further we've gone along, and it's been five years since that meeting, the more seriously we've taken the fantasy and the mythology and so the comedy is subtler and a newer, fresher, hopefully more exciting show has emerged. I feel so lucky to be part of the team that's bringing it to the screen -- everyone from our location manager to our FX supervisor are so committed and we have such an amazing cast -- I'm quite literally in dreamland right now."

Kate Harwood, BBC Controller of Drama Series & Serials:

"The minute I read Jack Thorne's script I realised we were in exciting new territory. This is a vision of great imagination and I am thrilled that we have such a talented cast and that we have director Farren Blackburn and a brilliant team who can bring this vision to life... or half life!"

The Fades will co-star Miranda's Tom Ellis (a teacher suspected of killing his missing wife), This Is England '86's Johnny Harris (a mentor when it comes to tackling the forces of darkness), This Life's Daniel Nardini (a woman with an extraordinary ability), Skins' Lily Loveless (Paul's twin sister Anna), Ashes To Ashes' Claire Rushbrook (Paul and Anna's mum), Theo Barklem-Biggs (a policeman), Day Of The Triffids' Jenn Murray and Kick-Ass's Sophie Wu.The Fades will arrive on BBC3 later this year, as a co-production with BBC America.

'Primeval' series 5 to debut 24 May

'BORED TO DEATH' SEASON 1; mildly noirish, not very moreish

'GOOD DOG' 1.1 - "Pilot"

Poll: who's your favourite fictional captain?

Howard Overman plans 'Misfits' changes

Spoilers for series 2 of Misfits ahead. You have been warned! The Christmas special of E4's teen superhero drama Misfits ended with a scene that appeared to promise new super-powers for the five young characters. In a recent interview with creator Howard Overman by SFX, this was confirmed...Howard Overman:

"American shows like Lost are prepared to end their series' on huge, game-changing cliffhangers, which make the audience desperate for the new series. Too often on British TV we tie things up in a neat package, because quite often you don't know whether you're getting another series before you finish filming, but we were lucky that Channel Four had already commissioned the third series while I was writing the second."

On giving the characters brand new abilities:

"They're all going to have brand new powers. Nobody will have the same powers as in the second series. It's quite daunting because they've had their powers for two series, and you've got to come up with a whole new set of powers. We're very much constrained with the type of powers we can do because you have to think about what works in terms of the character and story, as well as what's achievable on our budget. We set up the idea that the powers are always linked to personality, so even now the characters' choices are influenced and reflect the characters' personalities, or else it just feels a bit arbitrary."

On the likelihood of the characters returning to community service:

That's the look of the show. They're on community service and their jumpsuits are their de facto superhero costumes, so I will be finding a way to get them back in the jumpsuits fairly quickly."

On series 3's basic structure:

"There's one slightly bigger storyline towards the end of series three. I think there are two big stories in all because we've got eight episodes this year. One is a sort of mid-season break. It won't become like other shows where they're saving the world, although in one episode they kind of do save the world."

Overman also confirmed that he won't be writing every single episode of series 3. Misfits hasn't been scheduled yet, but considering the previous two series have aired around October/November, that's a safe bet. Can anyone predict what the gang's new powers will be, considering they still have to be an extension of their personalities? It seems more than likely Simon will be given time-travel, if he's destined to become Superhoodie -- right?

'FRINGE' 3.18 - "Bloodline"

I wonder if the idea of an accelerated pregnancy was pursued because the writers weren't sure they'd get a fourth season, so decided they should draw as much of the current narrative together as possible in the remaining time. "Bloodline" was one of those episodes that offered things we've seen before (inscrutable doctors kidnapping someone to perform a bizarre medical procedure, as Fringe Division tried to locate the victim), but it was a notable episode for how much it enlightened the alternate characters, and pushed Fauxlivia (Anna Torv) into a brand storytelling direction.

In case you'd forgotten (as it's been weeks since we were last in the alt-universe), Fauxlivia is pregnant with Walternate's (John Noble) grandchild, after sleeping with his son Peter in the other universe. "Bloodline" set up the possibility that Fauxlivia's inherited viral propagated eclampsia (VPE), a lethal virus that killed her sister during childbirth, before she's kidnapped by mysterious doctors and taken to a secret location to have her pregnancy accelerated. Meanwhile, Fauxlivia's colleagues at Fringe Division did their utmost to find her, with Lincoln (Seth Gabel) and Charlie (Kirk Acevedo) coming to suspect kindly cab driver Henry (Andre Royo) is the abduction. When it became clear that's not the case, Lincoln and Charlie were nevertheless perturbed by Henry's story of having helped Fauxlivia escape, and his belief she's suffered recent memory loss. It's enough to plan the seed of a theory that, as Charlie once absentmindedly speculated, their Olivia was once replaced by the Olivia from the other dimension...As I said, Bloodline wasn't offering us much that felt original, as I recall Olivia being kidnapped by scientists and having to escape back in season 1, and this storyline felt similar to how things played out there. But it was still an entertaining ride, brilliantly performed by Torv -- particularly because the stakes for Fauxlivia were so high because she could die if forced to give birth. It was also fascinating to speculate on who wanted to expedite her pregnancy, and the twist that it was a secret operation sanctioned by Walternate, worked well. Perhaps it should have been obvious in retrospect, given the very limited options, but I guess I was too distracted by Fauxlivia's plight to give it too much thought.It was also a nice touch having Walternate earn our admiration earlier in the episode, by restating his policy never to experiment on children, only to show he's not above risking the life of his own grandchild's mother. But you have to now wonder why Walternate's was in such a rush: simple impatience? A desire from the writers to get the story moving quicker without nine months of waiting? Or is Fauxlivia's love child going to be capable of operating the Doomsday Machine, if Peter becomes a dead-end?One lasting effect of "Bloodline" was moving many of the alt-universe characters to a position of mistrust. Charlie and Lincoln are now very suspicious of Walternate, knowing he sanctioned the exchange of Olivia's without telling them, and they'll perhaps come to realize the situation with the alt-universe isn't as black-and-white and the Secretary has made it seem. Will they collaborate with our side one day? Olivia should also be worried people are after her baby, even if we know the danger has actually passed.

Overall, Bloodline had much to recommend it, particularly in Torv's tough performance, but also because it deepened the emotional stakes of the season. Lincoln admitted he loves Fauxlivia (which complicates the whole love story element of the series, now he's been added to the Olivia-Pete-Fauxlivia triangle), the birth of a child undoubtedly means big changes to the makeup of the show (especially when Peter learns he has a son), and Walternate's grip on the propaganda he's been feeding everyone is undoubtedly going to slip now he's exposed as a liar to key Fringe agents.The great thing about Fringe this season is how it's found a way to make the characters and their tangled relationships rise above the simpler pleasure of sci-fi craziness. It was missing this level of emotional complexity and humanity in its earlier seasons, but I'm so glad it's found a more compelling voice now. And respect to Fox for giving Fringe a fourth season, allowing this confident voice to continue, despite the fact its Friday night ratings have fallen to lows of around 3.5 million.Aside

More alternate universe fun: Francis Ford Coppola directed Taxi Driver, not Martin Scorsese; The West Wing's about to begin its twelfth season; and Henry reads "Opus The Penguin" comic-strips, not "Opus".

written by Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen / directed by Dennis Smith / 25 March 2011 / Fox

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.19 – "No Ordinary Future"

Just prior to its first season finale, Heroes did an episode that leaped into the future to show viewers exactly why its characters must stop a city-wide explosion in New York. It was a clever idea, although its existence signaled the characters would triumph in the end, as the writers just wanted an hour to speculate on the road untraveled. No Ordinary Family attempted something similar with "No Ordinary Future", but because its own season arc is small-scale and hazy (a mysterious company are trying to develop super-powers is all we have) it was forced to attach things to a standalone story.This inability to deliver something ambitious and relevant to Dr King and Mrs X's (Lucy Lawless) roles as villains on the show was, unfortunately, the big failing of an episode that might otherwise have been excellent. Still, this penultimate hour was brisk, entertaining, and comfortably the most appealing hour No Ordinary Family's given us all season. What a pity the show's started to deliver its most enjoyable episodes now it's almost certainly cancelled.

Continuing from episode 18's cliffhanger, Stephanie (Julie Benz) found herself disintegrating mid-run and appearing a few days into the future, where she witnessed a SWAT team closing on her house. Inside, Jim (Michael Chiklis) was attempting to smuggle JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) out of harm's way as the armed men moved in to arrest them, with Stephanie unable to help because she's invisible (conveniently and illogically), before being catapulted back to the present-day after a few minutes. The concept behind the episode was duly established: Stephanie played temporal detective by jumping into the future (at risk to her health) for a few minutes at a time, to deduce why, how, and when her family's secret is exposed to the world.In the present, Jim was involved with trying to catch dirty cops responsible for gunning down his colleague in cold blood, with the help of George (Romany Malco); Daphne became more uncomfortable over boyfriend Chris's (Luke Kleintank) demands that she use her mind-control for immoral purposes; and Mrs X resurrected shape-shifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader) in order to have her pose as a doctor to get information on Katie's ((Autumn Reeser) super-baby pregnancy.To be honest, none of the subplots were especially engaging when viewed separately, as the situation with Katie was simply laying groundwork for the finale's events (plus involved the cheat of bringing Victoria back to life), and the situation with Katie's pregnancy has arrived annoyingly late in the year. Elsewhere, Daphne's frustrating situation with Chris has been covered a few times already, so this was just the final go-around before a lasting solution -- which was admittedly rather touching, with Daphne agreeing to erase Chris's memory of her super-power, only to realize she's accidentally expunged their entire relationship. The look on Daphne's face when she saw Chris's affection for her drained from his face, knowing she's sacrificed a relationship and confidant in order to protect her family, was nicely done by Panabaker.But it's the central time-travel story that demanded the most attention, of course. I really liked how it dovetailed with Jim's investigation into a dirty cop at the precinct, and the way current events merged with Stephanie's glimpsed futures. Sure, it made no sense that Stephanie was invisible whenever she visited the future, and it was awfully convenient that a "Future Stephanie" was always absent (thus avoiding paradoxes – like wouldn't Future Stephanie know about Past Stephanie's existence?), but I don't know anyone who watches No Ordinary Family for water-tight plotting. It's all about the warm family dynamic and playfulness with the superhero genre. So the basic idea of Stephanie trying to solve a mystery backwards did what was intended, and in the process we got to see a special effects highlight of the season: Jim flipping a van into the air, having it somersault a few times, before crashing on the other side of a street. Impressive.

It wasn't the best penultimate episode you could hope for, in terms of how it pushed the pre-existing storylines along, but it managed to deliver a few nuggets of information we'll need for the finale: JJ's duplicitous teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) has gone missing from school, and Mrs X has decided to let Victoria steal Katie's unborn super-baby and raise it as her own. I continue to enjoy how the show deals with issues of family (kids, babies, marriage, sibling rivalry) to anchor everything on relatable issues. We all have families, after all.It's a shame ABC originally gave No Ordinary Family a full season commitment, then trimmed the order down to 20. The show would have been more successful with a 13-episode order, giving the writers a focus, before potentially being given a back-nine. That's how Chuck has often staved off narrative tedium, by essentially have two mini-seasons every year. Instead, No Ordinary Family went down the familiar path of having too much mid-season slack (which didn't help people encouraged to give it a second chance, who tuned in to see filler), thus prompting ABC to reduce their total order. Then, ironically, with less episodes has come tighter focus on a nearer endgame, and a run of great episodes that aren't being seen by many people.

If you're not already aware, the finale will air on 5 April.
When did "zooping" become the verb to describe Stephanie's high-speed movement?

written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer / directed by Milan Cheylov / 26 March 2011 / ABC

TV Picks: 28 March – 3 April 2011 ('32 Brinkburn Street', 'Bored To Death', 'The Cube', 'Lewis', 'Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience', 'Louis Theroux', 'The Runaway', 'Spiral', etc.)

Webcrawler: A Brief History Of Title Design

20 TV Pilots We Want To See [Obsessed With Film]

'COMMUNITY' 2.19 – "Critical Film Studies"

I don't review Community, but it's been a particularly slow week so I thought I'd alleviate the tedium with a quick, impromptu review of this week's episode "Critical Film Studies", which was a very clever and well-written half-hour. The premise was very simple, as Jeff (Joel McHale) conspired to get Abed (Danny Pudi) to a surprise Quentin Tarantino-themed birthday party that Britta (Gillian Jacobs) had organized at the diner she works at, only to discover Abed's a changed man who no longer bases his life on pop-culture. Instead, after being given the opportunity to be an extra in the Cougar Town, Abed's attempt at method-acting channeled a fully-developed personality he calls "Chad" that made him realize he's been wasting his own life. But the emergence of "Chad" (giving Pudi the chance to play a debonair character) put the success of the costumed Tarantino shindig in the air, as Jeff tried in vain to make Abed realize that it's okay to be obsessed with pop-culture references.Community is a comedy that often has dialogue with its fanbase (partly because creator Dan Harmon is so prevalent on Twitter), and understands the pro's and con's of being a committed fan. "Critical Film Studies" posited some interesting questions about how fans interact and communicate these days, where social common ground has started to shift away from sport and more towards film and TV. Abed's the ultimate example of a person who's become utterly consumed by the media, to the extent that it's the prism through which he communicates to the wider world. The character appears to have some degree of autism, which further exacerbates the problem. But I'm sure many people reading this blog are somewhere on Abed's spectrum: a person who quotes movies most days, or understands certain aspects of the "real world" via how a TV show explains it to them. Hopefully people keep a healthy balance between reality and fiction, but it's true that the media's become so ingrained in our lives it's started to become our lives. (So writes the man running a TV blog.)Some of the best stuff in "Critical Film Studies" was the two-hander between Jeff and Abed in the posh restaurant, with Jeff trying to make Abed realize that human communication is all about lying and how talking via references is a perfectly understandable way to filter the world and your thoughts. The only complaint with this episode is that, if we're honest, it wasn't especially funny. There was comedy value in seeing the cast dress up as their favourite Pulp Fiction characters, of course -- Chang (Ken Jeong) as a boxer Butch, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) as mustachioed hitman Jules, Britta as Mia (with some great dance moves), Troy (Donald Glover) as the loud-shirted Pumpkin, Annie (Alison Brie) as Honeybunny, and Pierce (Chevy Chase) as The Gimp ("... I'm hot and my balls are touching a zipper") -- but it was otherwise pretty light on the big laughs and aimed for something more soulful.Anyway, those are just a few thoughts I felt like sharing. There was also some great direction from The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade, who once co-starred with McHale in the US version of that sitcom, and who appears to be embracing his film-making future after the recently-released movie Submarine. More power to him, as he appears to have unexpected skill in delivering slick visuals and a deep mood. The opening with Jeff wandering into the restaurant to find Abed, leaning on voice-over, was really evocative; setting the tone for an unusual episode about how the media has a hand creating who we are, how we behave, why we let it influence us so much, and if we're okay with that.written by Sona Panos / directed by Richard Ayoade / 24 March 2011 / NBC

Trailer: 'Angry Boys'

Fox renew 'Fringe' for a fourth season

Talking Point: would you care if the BBC cutback on late-night and daytime programmes?

Jump the Blast #12 - 'Chuck'

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.18 - "No Ordinary Animal"

Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz are signing onto other pilots, ABC have announced this show's last clutch of episodes are going to bounce around the schedule, so I think it's safe to say No Ordinary Family has its neck on the chopping block. That's a shame, as it's a harmless and likeable superhero show the whole family can sit down to enjoy, which is actually doing very well in the UK (where it's shown on digital channel Watch, and grabbing solid ratings every week.) If only the same were true of its American performance, but clearly its native audience would prefer something edgier that takes risks. I can understand that, as I often wish No Ordinary Family was slightly less cutesy, too, but it's just nowhere near as disappointing as the ratings would have you believe.

"No Ordinary Animal" was another standard episode in terms of storytelling and construction, but it contained a handful of genuinely exciting and, for this series, fairly radical changes. Cumulatively, this was probably the best episode the show's done. Jim (Chiklis) and George (Romany Malco) were trying to catch a killer who appears to be targeting "supers" and has some kind of animal traits himself, as the police are convinced the murders are vicious dog attacks. Turns out Dr King's (Stephen Collins) recently injected Death Row patient Lucas Winnick (Eric Balfour) has joined his boss Mrs X (Lucy Lawless) in a mission to clean up the city of its itinerant supers, and is playing assassin. Matters are complicated when Lucas discovers the Powell family have powers (as they're not on Mrs X's list of supers), meaning Jim and Stephanie (Benz) must protect their kids from harm.Meanwhile, there were some functional subplots with JJ (Jimmy Bennett) being pressured by his teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) to complete difficult equations, unaware Litchfield is being passed this data by Dr King; while Daphne (Kay Panabaker) was encouraged by her boyfriend Chris (Luke Kleintank) to use her mind-control so they can skip school and go see an outdoor concert. Neither were particularly interesting on their own, but both knitted with the more important stories that are being told -- with JJ's equation revealed to be the secret to ensuring super-power permanency, and Daphne's life being put in danger from Lucas. The latter also prompted a series highlight in terms of special effects, with a Jim vs Lucas super-fight that was surprisingly enjoyable and actually better than most fights Heroes ever gave us.But while this episode wasn't really anything special, it involved a handful of developments that made it standout from the crowd. Katie (Autumn Reeser) suddenly demonstrated telekinesis, coming to the later conclusion that she's inherited some of ex-boyfriend Joshua's powers because she's pregnant (a surprise that, frankly, was so predictably it was irritating they didn't reveal it until the end), and the show actually endangered the Powells in a credible way. In fact, the moment when Lucas managed to punch his claws into Stephanie's stomach and leave her dying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood made for a a genuinely tense situation. One that enabled Chiklis to shine as his character contemplated losing his wife, and cemented Balfour's villain as someone who's an unmistakable threat instead of a trivial villain-of-the-week.

After receiving some super-serum "miracle cure", Stephanie recovered, but in the final shot it appeared the serum has boosted her ability to an unprecedented level as she literally disintegrated during a late-night run. I assume she's travelled so fast she's jumped forward in time, so hopefully episode 19 will give us an entertaining look at the Powell family's possible future together. Katie as a mother with a super-baby? JJ and Daphne as twentysomethings? There's lots of potential.Overall, "No Ordinary Animal" was one of the better episodes of this likeable show, if only because it gave the mythology a noticeable shove towards the finish. It's still a very soft show that feels like it should be airing in the afternoons, but it's efficiently done and plays to the strengths of its talented cast. I like this family, I enjoy their mini-adventures, I like how it's refused to become a tangled mess by keeping things fairly grounded. Was a better show possible with this premise and cast? Oh, definitely. But I'm sure a second season would have ironed out some flaws and reassessed a few things.Asides

A reminder: in a change to the schedule, the penultimate episode will air on 25 March at 10pm. The finale will actually air on 5 April.
Unintentional hilarity: check out the crowd watching that outdoors concert, as they each appear to be dancing to a completely different song.
Katie keeps comparing Joshua to Wolverine, and Lucas is definitely based on Sabretooth. I think the stage is set for those two to fight, don't you think?
It seems that Chris is becoming a bad influence on Daphne, by encouraging her to abuse her abilities so much. It'll be interesting to see if their relationship fizzles out over this, or if Chris is understandable just excited to have a super-girlfriend.

written by Zack Estrin & Jon Harmon Feldman / directed by Greg Beeman / 22 March 2011 / ABC

'CHUCK' 4.19 - "Chuck Versus The Muuurder"

We're approaching the season finale, but Chuck's spinning its wheels a little, and after this episode it appears recent events with Director Bentley (Robin Givens) were just mini-arc that's not going to play a major part of the brewing Vivian Volkoff situation. "Chuck Versus The Muuurder" was yet another "bottle episode" (taking place entirely on the standing sets, to save cash), which seem to appear with increasing regularity these days. The basic concept of "Chuck-does-Cluedo" wasn't too bad, but I found myself largely bored until the story started to tighten towards the end and gave us a strong finish that rescued the entire episode.

This week, General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) allied Director Bentley with Chuck (Zachary Levi), Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and Casey (Adam Baldwin), in order to continue her project to find new Intersect agents. Four candidates were duly interviewed and tested at Castle, under Chuck's management: gifted hacker Lewis (James Francis Ginty), who has developed an English accent after a semester in the UK; genius Josie (Karissa Vacker), a woman with excellent intuition; swarthy Damian (Mousa Kraish), an agent who resembles a stereotypical Arab terrorist because of years spent undercover in the Middle East; and Brody (Stephen Pollack), a young man with many physical and psychological similarities to Chuck already.At the Buy More, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) had to deal with the kidnapping of Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) by rivals Large Mart, in retaliation for Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) stealing their store's piglet mascot, Kevin Bacon. Elsewhere, Devon (Ryan McPartlin) found himself conflicted over Ellie's (Sarah Lancaster) interest in her father's super-laptop and neural research, as it's proving to be a joyous distraction for his wife, but one that might contain a dangerous surprise.Forgiving the fact that being an Intersect is supposed to send you insane (something Chuck's protected against because he has a unique "governor" his father made him), which calls into question the concept of turning agents into Intersects, it was a fairly amusing idea to have Chuck try to find a likeminded comrade. It's just a shame the four candidates were underwritten and caricatured (another terrible English accent, an almost offensive racial scaremonger), and I'm confused about how the CIA are going to create more Intersects anyway. Isn't that technology beyond them? Bentley only managed it last week because Orion's all-purpose laptop was apparently capable of embedding an Intersect, but they're not in possession of that device now. So what was the plan here, exactly? It seems that Chuck's losing the grasp on its own lore these days, in the pursuit of plots that haven't been told yet.

Second of Strahotness: cool in a crisis

The bulk of "... Versus The Muuurder" was an Agatha Christie-esque murder-mystery scenario, with various candidates turning up dead, with the eye of suspicion passing over the remaining few. There were only five viable suspects from eight, but Alex Katsnelson and Kristin Newman's script did a surprisingly good job keeping you guessing about the culprit's identity. This was a necessity of any murder-mystery tale, and I was relieved to see this episode managed a few twists and surprises that worked and, more importantly, made sense. In some ways, this was probably the best plotted episode of Chuck in a long time, as the show isn't really known for its intricacy. I'm not saying "... Versus The Muuurder" was a mystery worthy of Hercule Poirot, but in the context of Chuck it was put together with some skill. Sadly, the subplots were a yawn. The Buy More story about a rivalry over kidnapped mascots was so tonally at odds with the murderous events in Castle that it just felt annoying. The episode should have had the courage to focus on the murder storyline, rather than provide light relief with a cute pig. The guest stars could have done with the extra time to build their characters, and the sense of claustrophobia would have been helped.

And the situation with Ellie just doesn't make much sense to me still. I can suspend my disbelief over many things, but quite how she's somehow able to access and understand her father's research into neural programming is beyond me? Is she a brain neurologist? No. Has she ever shown herself to be particularly computer literate? No. In this subplot she discovers that her father was working on a way to have knowledge implanted straight into a human brain. Well, what's new? It's evident he succeeded because that's exactly what the Intersect is -- all the government's top secrets burned onto a human mind. I'm not sure what they're getting at here, although the concluding scene with the laptop scanning Ellie as she slept, identifying her as "Agent X", got my attention. Are we about to see Ellie become even more powerful than her brother? But if so, there's not much threat there. I still suspect Vivian Volkoff is destined to become an Intersect, seeing as how she's been setup as the "twin" of Chuck whose own father is leading her down a very different path.Overall, this wasn't a terrible episode, just underwhelming for the most part, although the reveal of the Castle killer was handled so well it glossed over some weaknesses. It was also fun seeing Chuck step up to become a leader in his team's eyes, and eventually win the respect and approval of Bentley (who, it turns out, was a pretty redundant character this season.) But a disappointing bunch of wannabe-Chuck's and a tedious Buy More subplot drained a lot of goodwill. I just hope the remainder of this season starts getting a move on with the Vivian Volkoff storyline, now Chuck's aware she's stepped up to become his nemesis.written by Alex Katsnelson & Kristin Newman / directed by Allan Kroeker / 21 March 2011 / NBC

TV Ratings: 'Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena', Sky1

Talking Point: which current TV show deserves a movie adaptation?

State of the Blog: record-breaking

There was a great response to my post about a campaign to get BBC2's Whites back on TV, but that paled into insignificance compared to the deluge of hits my interview with writer Ben Richards (Outcasts) had last week. The comments are still trickling in, approaching the 200 mark!I think that breaks records for DMD, which is great, for a few reasons:

It all helps promote DMD online in various forums.
I genuinely believe more UK TV talent should engage with their audience in this manner (ideally before their show airs, too.)
It draws a large number of newbies to DMD, so hopefully a percentage will stick around. It's always great to shake things up and get some new opinions and perspectives here.

From reading the interview's many comments, people clearly appreciated Ben Richards answering a few early questions himself, and it was certainly a surprise to see that the vast majority of commenters loved (nay, adored) the show.Cutbacks!You may have noticed I've stopped reviewing some shows in recent months. Being Human USA was an understandable case, as it was recycling so much of the original for my taste (although I did a catch-up review); The Event has been on the precipice for ages, but its limp relaunch pushed it into an abyss; but Glee was a bigger surprise because it's in the throes of a second season. Usually, if I've stuck with a show for a whole year, I'll continue until its dying breath (just ask ABC's V.) But things are a-changing, folks, and I'll be ditching shows quicker from now on.This is partly because (a) I'm growing tired of a few established shows in their middle-age, (b) I need to make room for new shows that are premiering this year, and (c) I get the feeling people appreciate the extra news or feature-based content I don't often have time to do with so many reviews. For example: many of the recent Talking Point posts have received 40+ comments, my pieces on Whites and Outcasts practically went viral, my recent "10 Ways To Improve 10 O'Clock Live" post received a notable amount of page-hits, and a few videos about greenscreens were surprisingly popular. There's clearly an appetite for variety here, so I'll keep that in mind.However, DMD's a TV review blog at heart. That won't ever change. It's the driving force behind what I've always wanted to do here. Diversifying more will just help keep me fresh, so the surviving reviews are better.Lack of contentWe're at that funny time of the year where many shows have reached (or are about to reach) their end, but new shows for spring/summer aren't seamlessly taking over. If you look at my "On The Box" widget in the sidebar, I'm down to 3 shows being reviewed weekly. It was closer to a dozen in February!To compensate, I may start reviewing a few shows I wouldn't ordinarily write about. Or do some special one-off reviews. I may also return to a few shows I've dropped, just to fill gaps occasionally. But more likely, I'll use the free time to post things that aren't so expected; like more Talking Points (which have gone down a treat in 2011), a weekly Poll, continue the Jump The Blast meme, and maybe a few other unique features. As always, your suggestions are welcome for ways to take up the slack, before new shows like Doctor Who and Camelot start up in April.Ideas for features, thoughts on the blog, opinions on recent output, suggestions for future reviews, off-topic questions? The floor is yours...(P.S - I'm unable to comment here during working hours again, as Disqus have done something to their coding that prevents older browsers from working properly. As always, I DO read every comment, but any response from myself will be delayed.)

'FRINGE' 3.17 - "Stowaway"

This episode did little to dissuade me that Fringe hasn't hit a rough patch since mid-season, but the freak-of-the-week was an interesting source of empathy: a woman called Dana Gray (Caprica's Paula Malcomson) who, after surviving a family tragedy, realized she can't die. As if to compensate for a somewhat forgettable story attached to an intriguing concept, the episode was reinforced by the continuation of last week's crazy William Bell twist and a familiar face joining Fringe Division...

I liked how the title alluded to the two situations unfolding here. Dana was a suicide hotline telephonist who, after surviving two lightning strikes, developed super-magnetized atoms that prevent her body decaying or suffering enough damage to bring about death. Her desire to be reunited with her dead family led her believe the only way was for her soul to "stowaway" with that of other people's at the moment of death, by encouraging depressed people to go through with suicide bids. This idea of a soul hitching a ride bled through to the B-story, with William Bell's consciousness having now possessed Olivia (Anna Torv) while he tries to find a suitable, permanent host body (ideally a severely brain-damaged patient with no hope of recovery.)This is unquestionably an inventive way to bring William Bell back onto the show, seeing as Leonard Nimoy's character seemingly died at the end of season 2, but I'm still having a tough time swallowing it. I know it may seem crazy that I can accept so much of Fringe's pseudo-science every week, but draw the line at this latest twist, but it's somehow true. It just seems like a jarring way to bring Bell back without having to worry about Nimoy's availability or health issues. Still, Anna Torv's croaky performance (while still unintentionally hilarious at times), wasn't quite as bad as it threatened to be from last week's cliffhanger. Torv's proven her acting chops this season (playing two very different characters) and, while I doubt her Nimoy impression marks a career highlight, she's making the best of a ludicrous development. But it's still damned unsettling to see Torv flirt with Jasika Nicole like a lecherous old man, with Walter (John Bishop) giggling like a schoolboy beside him, so I'll be glad when Bell's consciousness is hosted by someone else -- preferably male. What's Zachary Quinto up to?Of side interest was the "our side" debut of Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel), a character we've only previously met in the alternate-universe as a key member of the Fringe team. In our world, Lincoln's a skeptical Federal Agent who gets embroiled in the Dana Gray investigation, going from bewildered Scully to a fascinated Mulder -- primed to become a semi-regular consultant. As one of the many people that prefer the alt-Fringe team, I'm glad Lincoln's set to become a bigger part of the series in both universes. The series doesn't really warrant more than three investigators (even Astrid's been cooped up in the lab this season, after playing a more active role in the field last season), but Lincoln will hopefully be used sparingly and cleverly. It's fun to try and predict if he's been brought in because something's about to happen to Peter's character and Fringe will need a temporary partner for Olivia? Or will Lincoln suffer some kind of mental trauma that means Bell's consciousness will be placed inside him?

The core storyline, trying to find and stop Dana from helping more people to die, eventually resulting in a bomb threat aboard a train packed will 300 people/souls, wasn't one of Fringe's best. The mystery itself was spoon-fed well and Malcolmson was fantastic as the conflicted Dana. However, I was a tad confused Dana didn't perceive her inability to die as a gift from God, who may want her to do good in the world using her "super power", particularly as she's evidently inclined to believe in New Age mumbo-jumbo.Overall, "Stowaway" was mostly average with enjoyable wrinkles and moments, but the A-story didn't hold my attention all that rigidly, and I was disappointed the return of William Bell didn't kick the mythology into top gear. We've been led to believe that Bell/Bishop are an unbeatable scientific duo, but this episode didn't get me excited about their reunion. Maybe it's because there's too much distraction with Torv playing the role. If Nimoy were in these scenes, I'd have been happier seeing him make gauche jokes about placing his consciousness into Gene the cow and letting Astrid milk him. How about you?Asides

First there was Olivia. Then there was Fauxlivia. So do we now have Bellivia?
The flaw in William Bell's plan to survive death: if he hears a bell, his consciousness starts to slip. Thank God there wasn't a fire drill at Harvard.

written by Danielle Dispaltro (story by Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner & J.H Wyman) / directed by Charles Beeson / 18 March 2011 / Fox

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