Dare to re-enter 'The Twilight Zone'?

This month's release of The Twilight Zone's first two seasons on high-def Blu-ray has given me a hankering to review this estimable '50s classic. My current thinking is to cover the first season's thirty-six episodes in six groups of six. (The fact there are three sixes in that sentence is a good sign, considering we're talking about Rod Sterling's classic...)

Each episode's review will only be approx 200-words long, meaning each of the six reviews will be a manageable 1200-words. The only drain will be on my viewing time--finding the hours to watch multiple episodes every week, ideally. But I think that's just about manageable, now a few TV shows are reaching their end. And if it proves too time-consuming, or the response isn't great after the first batch-review is released, I don't have to continue past those first half-dozen episodes...

What's your feeling on this little endeavour? Is anyone willing to buy/rent The Twilight Zone (ideally in its luscious new Blu-ray format) and watch along with me, to help grease the wheels of the comments? As always, your thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

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'Rubicon' reviews: rescinded

I've decided to stop reviewing Rubicon, which is currently airing on BBC4. There weren't enough comments or page-hits to justify my time with it, and the show hasn't gripped me as I expected it to. It was something of a risk reviewing this AMC drama, as it's been almost a year since it premiered in the US and has been cancelled for almost as long.

I get the impression most people saw Rubicon when it aired in the US, or chose not to bother watching because they knew it has no future. I was hoping BBC4's audience would be larger, so a club of UK-pace viewers would form, but that hasn't happened. As I've resolved to do this year, if a review hasn't made much impact with readers after a month or so, and takes valuable time away from me writing other things that are more popular, that's a prime reason to halt reviews.

I'll continue to watch Rubicon at my own pace, however. If the finale's particularly good, I'll comment on it here. Ditto if it's atrocious, really. But for all intents and purposes... it's Rubigone. Did you see what I did there?

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Did I April Fool you?

Yesterday I posted an article about the BBC's plans to create a channel for the over-50s called BBC5, replacing BBC4, which would be rebranded BBC4Kids. It was, of course, utter nonsense. My attempt at an April Fool, because every year people wondered why I never bothered to do one.

My BBC5 prank seemed to fool some of you (who contacted me via Twitter or e-mail), and a few people in the comments appeared to get sucked into my lie -- if only temporarily! Hopefully you read and enjoyed it. Be on your guard next year, as my deviousness will only increase...

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

Just a few words to say that I'm in the middle of a strange period of activity, where there are less regular shows to review suddenly (Chuck's on hiatus till 11 April, Fringe isn't back till 15 April, No Ordinary Family finishes next week), but my time's being taken up mainlining lots of shows for Obsessed With Film.

I recently watched the first 90-minutes of The Kennedys miniseries (primed for a review Friday) and Bored To Death's first season, while Game Of Thrones and Mildred Piece screeners are on the way. Plus, I had to compile the 20 TV Pilots We Want To See Feature.

So while it's been uncharacteristically quiet around here in March... I'm just as busy, if not more so! On the positive side, this means there will be a small explosion of fresh reviews over the next few weeks, starting with Starz's Camelot from this Friday. I've also been catching up with a few other things -- like my Caprica viewings (two episodes left!) and my infamously delayed Firefly review (860 words done!)

Anyway, that's how things stand right now. I thought you may like to know.

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Dan's Media Digest: 5 Years Young Today

Today, Dan's Media Digest celebrates its 5th birthday! Yes, I've been writing here, almost every single day, for five years. Hasn't time flown? I'm now in my 30s! That's scarier than it perhaps should be. A few remarkable stats:

30,000,000 words written (est.)
2,571,000 page hits (as of 20 Mar 11)
4,592 comments left (by myself)
4,350 posts published (est.)
2,045 TV episodes reviewed (est.)

I'm so pleased DMD still exists and remains popular with you good folk. Only this week new records were set thanks to my Ben Richards interview (160+ comments, a huge amount of Facebook/Twitter clicks*, incoming traffic from dozens of forums), so it's great to see DMD's still capable of attracting new readers. In 2011 I also unveiled the blog's second template revamp in its lifetime, and DMD3's new "clean blue-white" look appears to have gone down well, which is a blessed relief.

(* Actually, I just noticed my Glee competition was more popular on Twitter/Facebook, but this Outcasts interview is a respectable second.)

DMD: A Brief History

I first got into blogging after frequenting screenwriting some blogs in 2005; memorably those belonging to Danny Stack and Robin Kelly. Originally dismissive of the concept behind blogs (which sounded like "online diaries" to me), I was nevertheless inspired by the idea of communicating with likeminded folk in an easy way (i.e. no HTML coding headaches), so I decided to create my own!

Dan's Movie Digest (yes, you read that right) was born on 20 March 2006, as a blog focused on film reviews, news and occasional features.

However, I soon saw a gap in the market for a UK TV blog, while also noticing a problem competing with the existing movie blogs because I wasn't going to the cinema as often, or buying DVDs as regularly. The movie onus of DMD didn't feel as distinctive, so I decided to specialize with the more accessible TV.

I therefore changed the name of the blog to Dan's Media Digest -- handily keeping the "DMD" acronym! Clever, huh.

For some unexplained reason, DMD started to draw around 800 daily visitors in the late-summer of 2006, and by early-2007 that had increased to around 1000 hits each day. For a homespun personal blog, written from someone with no real reputation online as a "critic", it wasn't to be sniffed at.

From there, page-hits have snowballed every year. DMD now attracts between 90,000-130,000 visitors every month -- depending on what time of the year it is, or what I'm choosing to cover

5 Blogging Boosts

There have been many events and developments that have helped DMD improve and draw more of an audience since it began. The top 5 that spring to mind are:

Sony: The good folk at Greenroom were the first people to contact me about reviewing movies for their client, Sony Home Entertainment. A simple arrangement (reviews and competitions in exchange for links), it's been a fruitful and productive partnership. I know a few regulars here have benefitted from winning the occasional prize. (I still envy Matt getting his hands on a T-600 skull-case in the Terminator Salvation competition.)

Screeners: I've been trying to get access to screeners for a long time, and the breakthrough didn't come for any particular reason. It just happened, really. The BBC now send me screeners on request, although other broadcasters prefer to grant access to an online streaming service, which I don't really like using. I'm an A/V enthusiast, so a tiny window of low-quality audio/video, watched on a computer monitor, just doesn't appeal. I'm in believer in seeing TV the way it's intended to be seen: on a TV, ideally with surround sound and HD. I can't understand the appeal of watching TV shows on laptops or phones. So most of the time I hang fire for a regular broadcast still, with a few exceptions (i.e. shows I'm eager to see, or know will be tough to fit into my schedule at broadcast pace.)

Brushes with Celebrity: One memorable surprise was when James Griffin (creator of New Zealand's TV series Outrageous Fortune) unexpectedly left a comment on my review comparing his OF pilot to the US remake Scoundrels. He even asked questions and was genuinely interested in replies. DMD also helped get me some interviews with Doctor Who's Russell T. Davies, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, in conjunction with some writing for Ain't It Cool News. All pretty cool stuff. I only wish I had more time to go chasing interviews like that, instead of having them fall in my lap! More recently, Ben Richards (Spooks, The Fixer) agreed to an interview about his sci-fi series Outcasts.

Obsessed With Film: I was head-hunted to run a TV section of OWF's revamped website in May 2010, but left after a month over creative differences. But then I rejoined with a different arrangement in September 2010 and things have gone a lot smoother. I now just post occasional TV news pieces and OWF get the exclusives on my pilot/premiere TV reviews. It's hard to be hands-off with developments at OWF sometimes, having spent so many years as editor-in-chief of this blog, and I sometimes have to bite my tongue over a few decisions made, but the opportunity has definitely seen my writing spread further online. There are many of times when a Google search for a particular TV review delivers something I wrote for OWF as the first item found worldwide, which is pretty cool.

One Million. DMD breaking through 1,000,000 hits was a notable day back in October 2009. I've been involved with a few online ventures since 1997, but nothing ever got beyond 10,000 hits before I'd shut them down, or get bored. DMD has been a much happier experience, probably because I'm older and wiser. Yes, it's true: the older you get, the more your experience, perspective and maturity has a positive effect on how you digest and process the media. Sorry if you're under-25, but it's just true. You'll agree when you're in your thirties, too.

I've always had a knack and passion for writing, but I can definitely pinpoint a "Eureka!" moment once DMD was becoming a success and I'd found my voice. The interesting thing is that it's still evolving. I'm my own worst critic, so I often read reviews that are only 6-12 months old and shake my head in disbelief, knowing I could do better today. That quest to improve is a big part of the driving force behind DMD, and I certainly hope I never hit a comfortable plateau.

Top 5 Commenters

I appreciate absolutely everyone's comments here, don't get me wrong, but there's a core group of people I consider "the regulars", who tend to comment nearly every day. Or if not, I know they're reading every day quite dutifully. And of that revered group, there's definitely a handful of diehard "veterans" who seem to have been coming here almost from the start of DMD back in 2005. Or maybe it just feels that way!

Bob. Or "The Bob With No Surname". Even his family refer to him this way. A Brit living abroad with a Dexter obsession. Prone to leaving comments of great length, which makes me feel extremely guilty if my response is anything less than four paragraphs long.

Matt Murrell. Winner of "Britain's Neatest Beard" (2007-2009), fan of The Wire, with a suspected fondness for penguins. Always leaving great comments that give me something to consider, or wish I'd thought to mention myself in the above post. Damn him.

Dom Robinson. Manchester's very own Nathan Barley? Umm, in a good way. I think. I spent a number of years reviewing movies at Dom's DVDFever website in the early-'00s. For some reason he can't resist me, so keeps commenting here.

Moretears. A Canadian, perfectly placed to criticize both UK and US media without bias. For some reason, I can't help thinking Moretears is a woman, which is what happens when you use gender-ambiguous usernames online. I hope she he doesn't mind.

RevViews. A fellow blogger who used to champion DMD in its very earlier days, which I was always very grateful for. Revs isn't quite as productive when it comes to comments these days, sadly, but I know he still reads, and he's well worth a mention for his earlier input and support.

Again, I had to pick 5, so apologies if you're also someone who comments here with regularity. I had to pick 5! Big thanks also to people like Laura, Jemmerzem, Alex, Readysetgo, David, ILikeTrees, Kristopher, Chris Howard, Neil, Natalia, Shelly, Kevin, Jozz, 4Leaf, etc. If this was DMD's 10th or 15th birthday, you'd probably have been included in this list. I'm sure you understand. If not, well, leave a mean comment below.

Regarding comments, the reason I value them is because people could easily leave their thoughts on other blogs with a larger audience. I guess the appeal of DMD is that your comment actually gets read by everyone (not skimmed over by 80% of readers), and people will generally reply. I know I always do my best to respond to as many comments as I can, which it's luckily still possible to do. Well, outside of that crazily-popular Outcasts interview thread!

So there's something to be said for blogs with undoubted popularity and some reach, but still a little quieter in the commenting stakes.

I also appreciate everyone helping draw people here, intentionally or not. It really does have an affect if you "like", "favourite", "share", or "re-tweet" posts, even if you don't get to see it happening. Rest assured, it does. You may just attract one person to this blog who may otherwise never have found it, and that person could in turn get 10 friends to start visiting. Etc, etc.

So, thanks everyone. It's been an amazing five years. I hope the next five are equally as good, if not better.

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Introducing: DMD3

The overhaul of Dan's Media Digest, to celebrate its fifth year, is finally here! Yes, after a few months work, DMD3 is officially L-I-V-E! So what are you waiting for? Take a look around, click some links, get comfy!

Hopefully, your first impression is: ooh, wider, cleaner, cooler... um, bluer.

The Big Changes...

Width: The blog is much wider, which is particularly apparent when you visit each post's unique page (stretched from 480px to 610px). As an added bonus, this extra space means I can embed bigger images and videos!

Social Networking: If you're a devoted Twitter/Facebook user, you'll find it's easy to "like" or "retweet" posts with a simple click! Yes, you no longer have to follow my Twitter stream or Facebook page directly in order to "push" DMD content to your friends, followers, or contacts. You can also flag stuff to Google Buzz and StumbleUpon from within each post. The success of this feature relies on people using it, so I hope everyone with Facebook/Twitter accounts take advantage. If you rarely have time to leave comments here, one-click appreciation like this is a GREAT alternative. It lets me know things are being read, enjoyed and disseminated. Other social networking sites may be linked to in the future.

There are other changes in DMD3, but they're mainly aesthetic, which I don't think will cause much concern. Changes like having a three-column footer, to store some sidebar content. No big deal, right? I'll continue to tinker with colours/sizes in the weeks to come, naturally.

Developments on the horizon...

Menu Navigation: The navigation bar at the top of the page has extra categories to choose from, but these will soon be positioned as drop-down menus. This will make it easier to access specific features of DMD from the top menu (competitions, trailers, polls, etc) without having to stare at a confusing Label Cloud, or enter a search query.

Current flaws...

Search. The search bar doesn't appear to work yet. I'm hopeful this will be fixed soon, or an alternative Google-powered search bar inserted instead.

Labels. The biggest flaw with DMD3 right now is that there are no labels attached to posts, meaning it's harder to investigate the archive for reviews on the same subject. Again, this will hopefully be fixed very soon, but in the meantime I'll link to relevant labels myself within new posts, and urge you to use the Label Cloud in the sidebar, or the LinkWithin-powered "related articles" at the foot of posts.

Sharebox. There's a handy social networking "sharebox" floating on the left-side of every post's unique page. I've noticed that it may slightly overlap the written content if your monitor is set to a certain resolution (1280 x 800, say). I haven't investigated this too much yet, but improvements will be made to ensure it's anchored away from the text. If there's a problem for you, please get in touch and let me know what your screen resolution is.

The loss of 'Read Me'..

One bone of contention may be the removal of the "Read More" capability, otherwise known as "peek-a-boo posts". It was quicker to access posts using that feature in old-DMD, but I've decided to remove it and force you to visit each post's unique page. Cruel, huh?

Why, you scream? Well, ditching "Read More" has resulted in a faster loading time for the main page, and I can see which pages are popular much easier. See, people using the "Read More" jumps never registered as a "hit" for that specific post being read, as it was technically part of the front page.

Anyway, I don't think the delay when you jump into each post's page is long enough to worry about. It may annoy a few people, but it's not a big issue in my mind. Most other blogs work the way DMD3 is now.

Beta-testing & feedback...

I have tested DMD3 in FireFox3 and IE8 (using Windows Vista), but if you're using a different OS/browser to me, please let me know if something isn't working properly, or looks strange. If your browser is particularly old and you're having problems -- well, sorry, you'll just have to upgrade your own software.

All feedback is welcome (good or bad), but please be constructive and polite about any criticism. And keep in mind, there's always a period of adjustment with major revamps like this! If you tend to dislike change, or didn't think DMD needed to be upgraded to begin with, then you're probably going to grumble for a month or so. I can understand that. But I'm pretty sure that DMD3 is a step in the right direction to bring it in-line with contemporary blogs/sites and will rapidly improve in the months to come.

If there are any genuine concerns and issues about DMD3's new look, let me know. If I agree with your quibbles, and the problems you identify are an easy fix, I'll adjust things. But, broadly speaking, I like the general look and functionality of DMD3, so the core changes are likely to stay. Unless there's a deafening outcry about something, of course!

A big thank you...

Finally, none of this would have been possible without the efforts of coding maestro Franklin Manuel of Bloggermint. DMD3 is based on a readymade template he created, which he kindly tweaked to my specifications, at no cost. What a nice man! His hard work is much appreciated, and he's done such a good job I'll probably pester him for improvements every few months! Sorry, Franklin, it's the price you pay for being so talented...

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Season's Greetings

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Turkey was eaten, wine drunk, presents opened, children placated, television watched, and games played -- right? Blog-wise, the next week's going to be pretty slow going, with only a few things actually planned. My review of Whistle & I'll Come To You went up today, my review of the Doctor Who festive special will be up soon, I may have to double-bill Peep Show this week, and the return of Primeval will be covered at the weekend. In-between those events, who knows what's happening! As I said last week, everything's in flux for me right now. Keep checking the blog for updates, but don't expect much until 2011 rolls up...

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Happy Halloween!

I haven't planned anything special to celebrate Halloween here, sorry. To be honest, it's always too much hassle to organize themed events ontop of everything else. The best I can do is offer this link to some wonderfully sinister artwork by Joshua Hoffine (an example of which can be seen above). Oooh, freaky. Have a look, if you're feeling brave. Otherwise, feel free to chat amongst yourselves in the comments below about all things Halloween-y. Are you watching a scary movie tonight? What's the scariest television show you've ever seen? Maybe you have a real life spooky story you'd care to share?

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The tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that my week off has been spoiled by a bad case of toothache, necessitating an emergency weekend trip to the dentist for some antibiotics. My tooth should be extracted on Wednesday (second time lucky, having failed to be anaesthetized the first time), so hopefully that will be an end to the matter.

The knock-on effect for DMD has been that a lot of shows passed me by this week. I hope to review the recent episodes of No Ordinary Family and Merlin soon, then I'll try and review last week's Mad Men. I've decided to start following Fringe at the UK pace, as Sky1 are only a few weeks behind Fox and I can watch in HD. I will probably double-bill Boardwalk Empire later this week, having missed last Sunday's episode. I did manage to catch the mid-season premiere of Stargate Universe, funnily enough, and it was as dawdling and tedious as ever – even allowing for the fact it was the conclusion of a storyline I haven't been watching. It's a pity, because I do like the show's visuals and tone, even if it's essentially aping Battlestar Galactica on Stargate sets.

Anyway, that's been my week -- a bit of a nightmare and busier than usual.

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OWF: Top 10 Horror Movies

Obsessed With Film have a "31 Days Of Horror" season this October, in the runup to Halloween. As part of the themed reviews, interviews and articles they have planned all month, I've compiled a list of my 10 favourite horror movies. And it's now online to be read! What are you waiting for? I'd love to read your comments on my choices.

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Touching the brakes

Longtime readers will know that I take a week's break every 3 months or so. And that time has come again. Until 10 October, there will be less updates, or delays with some regular reviews. I'll still be blogging, and there's a chance some of you won't even notice a change, but this will be a more relaxed week for me. My reviews of Fringe's "The Box" and This Is England '86 Part Four have already slipped, but I hope to get them done either later today or tomorrow. All reviews this week will either be late, briefer than usual, or possibly skipped in favour of a double-bill catchup next week. It's hard to predict the exact repercussions, but now you know why updates may be a little irregular. Thank you.

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Hit Me Baby, Two Million Times!

Dan's Media Digest has just sailed past 2,000,000 page hits! Amazingly, DMD celebrated smashing the 1,000,000 barrier only last October, so that means the blog's done in one year what previously took three! I wonder if Twitter has been instrumental in the surge of new visitors...

Whatever the reason for the boost in traffic, I'm humbled and grateful that more people continue to find this corner of the blogosphere, and (most importantly) revisit and leave intelligent comments. I don't get much time to heavily promote DMD online, instead relying on word-of-mouth and incoming links from other blogs, sites, and Twitter feeds. So thank you if you've done your bit to recommend DMD to people, or have ever linked here.

Your input and support helps keep me engaged with the blog, and keeps me focused in the struggle to keep DMD going while juggling other concerns. Unlike many of my peers, I'm only able to blog so much because I have a fulltime job that's relaxed enough to let me fill some spare time with blogging. God knows what'll happen if I change jobs!

So thanks again if you've ever visited DMD and helped spread the good word. I wonder where we'll be in September 2011...

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Re-obsessed

You may remember I joined Obsessed With Film back in May, but left after a month because of erratic progress with their redesign and an unclear direction. "Creative differences", you could say. A few promises were broken and the "vibe" didn't meet expectations. It was partly due to the circumstances of a troublesome revamp that alienated their readership in unexpected ways -- which they addressed in a manner I didn't agree with, so felt it was best to leave amicably.

Since then, OWF have been keen to reacquire my services, having made improvements that's gone down well with their readership, and promising to accommodate my every need. And because I'm still itching for a new challenge (and appreciate editor Matt Holmes's persistent schmoozing!), I've decided to give OWF a second chance, with changes to our original deal and a greased palm.

Once again, I've promised that OWF will get exclusive TV premiere reviews (linked to from DMD, so reviews are never more than a click away). But they won't get regular episode/finale reviews now, except in special circumstances. OWF will mainly get a smattering of daily news, perhaps of broader interest than what I post here (as DMD focuses on my personal tastes). In some instances the news will largely mirror content at DMD, if slightly rewritten.

I hope you'll check out my work at OWF, again. I was pleased to see many of you making the trip to OWF earlier this summer. Your support meant a lot to me. Since the summer, OWF has a better look, a working RSS feed, and there are cool "content switch" tabs that give visitors one-click access to specific articles. That way you can filter out the film content to get at the TV content, or vice versa. Handy, huh?

OWF attracts an incredible 250,000 visitors every month (on average), so the audience there is enormous compared to DMD. It will be great to have my writing read on a larger stage. The only problem OWF has is wheedling comments out of that tight-lipped quarter-million. As a one-man blogger, my visitor-to-comment ratio is far healthier than OWF's -- surprisingly. Maybe that's just how it goes with "personal specialist blogs" versus "websites with multiple writers and broader content"? Is it the personal touch that people value and respond to? I don't know. Thoughts?

That's pretty much it for this announcement. DMD won't suffer too badly from this, because the majority of my writing will always be found here. I'll be linking to most of my OWF articles, too. At the very least, everything OWF-related will be "retweeted" by me on Twitter -- so, that's another incentive to follow me! I'm hoping OWF will bring opportunities that aren't easily achieved at DMD without an exhausting amount of groundwork (like interviews), so that's exciting in itself.

So yes, I'm back for a second attempt, my "contract" renewed month by month this time, so if things collapse I'll go back to giving DMD my full attention. But hopefully that won't happen again!

The fun resumes tomorrow, Saturday 4 September -- check it out!

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Incoming TV: autumn/winter 2010

It's September, so that means a lot of TV shows will be returning after their summer break in the US, and the UK also like to launch a lot of new programming at this time of the year. Below is a list of the shows I'll most likely be watching and/or reviewing in the following few months, and my gut expectations for them. It's subject to change, because some shows likely to be returning for autumn haven't been officially scheduled yet, but this is how things stand currently:

Martin Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire

BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO/Sky) I'm very interested in this period drama set in Atlantic City, given the caliber of its cast and crew (Martin Scorsese producing-directing, Steve Buscemi headlining). I'm hoping Sky show this within a week of its US broadcast, but if not I'll be following the HBO schedule. Unless it's not particularly engrossing and I can afford to wait awhile, as I did with The Pacific. US TX: 19 September / UK TX: February 2011. LIKELY REVIEW

CAMPUS (Channel 4) The Comedy Showcase pilot was okay, but needed work. I doubt I'll be reviewing this every week, but perhaps the first episode. UK TX: TBA. UNLIKELY REVIEW

CHUCK (NBC) There's no chance I'm going to wait for Virgin1 Channel One to show this series, because that'll be summer 2011 if they stay true to their lax scheduling. So yes, expect reviews of season 4 at the US pace, a few days after the premieres. US TX: 20 September / UK TX: 14 October (Living) MUST REVIEW

Michael C. Hall returns as Dexter

DARK BLUE (Five USA) Undercover cop drama. It doesn't sound immediately appealing, although there's a certain allure because statuesque beauty Tricia Helfer co-stars alongside Dylan McDermott. It's also from the creators of CSI, which isn't a franchise I watch, but it has some quality. I'll perhaps check out the pilot, but doubt I'll tread any further unless it knocks me on my arse. UK TX: TBA. UNLIKELY REVIEW

DEXTER (Showtime) As always, I'll be reviewing this juicy crime drama as it enters its fifth year. I hope it continues the return-to-form standard of season 4, but I think the raw chill of its first two seasons can't be revived. US TX: 26 September. MUST REVIEW

What is The Event?

THE EVENT (NBC/Channel 4) This is the new US show I'm most excited about (I need something to obsess over now Lost's gone, damn it!), but I'm cautious because the premise feels like it could be too much of a drawn-out tease. Or, like, FlashForward, just not conducive to episodic television. Channel 4 might only be weeks behind NBC, so it's possible I'll switch to UK-pace if the show doesn't sink its hook deep enough. US TX: 20 September / UK TX: 22 October (Channel 4) LIKELY REVIEW

FRINGE (Fox/Sky1) I'll be following this sci-fi series again, although I'm growing a little bored by it. I just don't think the parallel universe story is as fresh and exciting as most people seem to think. The news that season 3 will alternate between both universes is interesting, but I get the feeling the show's becoming too focused on its mythology. I used to like the random X-Filesian episodes, when done well. Anyway, if my schedule becomes difficult to cope with, Fringe might not be reviewed in as much detail. If you think that's a shame, please comment on the episodes I do cover, to show there's an audience for it. US TX: 23 September / UK TX: 5 October LIKELY REVIEW

GLEE (Fox/E4) I'll probably continue my reviews of Glee, unless the workload becomes too much, or the show doesn't evolve in any interesting way. I also hope E4 stay 6 days behind the US broadcast, but if they don't I'll probably just wait for them anyway. Glee's a fun show, but not something I'm desperate to see immediately. US TX: 21 September / UK TX: January 2011 LIKELY REVIEW

Book 'em, Danno!

HAWAII FIVE-O (CBS/Bravo) I'm not sure if I'll review beyond the pilot episode, but I'll be watching the first batch of episodes. I'm intrigued by the fact the producers have a background in sci-fi (Fringe, Star Trek, etc), but have felt compelled to remake an exotic cop show most famous for a theme tune and the catchphrase "book 'em, Dano". This may become one of those undemanding and entertaining shows I watch every week, but don't feel compelled to write about. US TX: 20 September / UK TX: TBA. UNLIKELY REVIEW

HIM & HER (BBC3) A brand new relationship comedy about two twentysomething lovers who rarely leave their bedsit. I've seen the first episode, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think it's one of the best BBC3 comedies since Pulling. UK TX: 6 September. POSSIBLE REVIEW

HUMAN TARGET (Fox) I enjoyed the action-packed first season, despite the fact it stuck to a pretty rigid formula. The shake-ups for season 2 (essentially adding two new female characters) bodes well, and I get a feeling this show will improve immeasurably. I'm not sure I'll have time to review every single episode, so there's a chance I may just wait for Syfy to air this in the UK. Undecided. US TX: 17 November. POSSIBLE REVIEW

THE INBETWEENERS (E4) I've never reviewed this teen-comedy weekly, having only covered it as a two-series box-set before now. I'm really not sure if I'll have time, but will probably post some kind of response every week. UK TX: 13 September. POSSIBLE REVIEW

THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET (Channel 4) I didn’t like the Comedy Showcase pilot that much, but I'm interested to see if this can improve because the talent involved are very good. UK TX: TBA. POSSIBLE REVIEW

Oil and cons in Lone Star

LONE STAR (Fox) This drama is about a conman who leads a double-life, trying to steal control of his father-in-law's oil business, while keeping that side of his life a secret from his oblivious girlfriend. I've heard good things about the pilot, although this sounds like a movie more than a TV series to me. I'll probably check out a few episodes, but it'll have to be very special to keep me with it. UK TX: 20 September POSSIBLE REVIEW

MAD MEN (BBC Four) In a surprise move, Mad Men is getting its UK premiere months earlier than usual. That does add to my burden, but I'll definitely be following season 4's episodes, although I'll probably stick to my schedule of posting reviews a few days after they air in the UK. The show tends to need some extra think-time. UK TX: 8 September MUST REVIEW

MERLIN (BBC1) I really enjoy reviewing this show -- partly because each episode usually gives you something to say, but also because it's one of the more popular reviews I do. And it's nice to write something knowing it'll be read and commented on by a very healthy number of people. I hear that series 3 is darker than before, which suits me fine. Series 2 was far better than series 1, so hopefully this show will continue to get better and better as it matures. Quietly excited by this underrated fantasy. UK TX: 11 September. MUST REVIEW

MISFITS (E4) One of the best TV debuts of 2009, I'll definitely continue reviewing this teen superhero drama. The disappointment of Howard Overman's Vexed has me a little concerned his earlier work was a fluke of some kind, but I'm still expecting good things. A Christmas special will also air almost immediately after the final episode. UK TX: November (TBC) MUST REVIEW

Maggie Q kicks ass!

NIKITA (The CW/Living) Similarly to Five-O, expect a pilot review from me, and we'll see where things go from there. I suspect this will be something I watch but don't review, even if it has more to offer than Maggie Q in various skimpy outfits. That's possible, right? US TX: 9 September / UK TX: 7 October UNLIKELY REVIEW

NO ORDINARY FAMILY (ABC) I didn't like the pilot, but it might improve. I get the impression it'll be an easy show to review, so I may cover it until I get bored. Or maybe it'll really impress me after a shaky start and I'll make it a must-see? Who knows. US TX: 28 September. UK TX: 2011 (Watch) POSSIBLE REVIEW

PEEP SHOW (Channel 4) I'd like to review every episode, but it depends on how tight my schedule is. At the very least, I think I'll make some kind of comment every week. UK TX: November. POSSIBLE REVIEW

PHONESHOP (E4) I didn't like the pilot that much as part of the Comedy Showcase, so I'll probably just sample the first episode of this full series and see how it goes. UK TX: October UNLIKELY REVIEW

THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH (Channel 4) I've heard bad things about this miniseries, so I'll watch episode 1 and see how I feel. But my gut tells me I won't bother reviewing it. UK TX: 16 October. UNLIKELY REVIEW

Rubicon: slow burn mystery

RUBICON (BBC4) I had intended to review this at US-pace in the summer, but various things prevented me. Okay, so I just wasn't in the mood for a chilly conspiracy thriller in August. But now it's been picked-up by BBC4 in the UK, which promises a slightly autumnal schedule and glorious HD. I will therefore review this show at UK-pace, but I'm not sure if it'll hold my interest long enough to complete the series (I hear mixed thing about its pacing and style). UK TX: TBA. POSSIBLE REVIEW

RIDE-ALONG (Sky1) You know I'm not a particular fan of cop shows, but this one has a certain buzz about it because it's from Shawn Ryan (The Shield). I may watch the pilot, then make a judgement call, but my gut says I won't be bothering. UK TX: TBA. UNLIKELY REVIEW

Shane Meadows' four-part TV sequel

THIS IS ENGLAND '86 (Channel 4) I'd like to review this every week, but it again depends on time. At the very least I'll cover the first part, and see how it goes. UK TX: 7 September. POSSIBLE REVIEW

TREME (Sky) This post-Hurricane Katrina drama set in New Orleans still doesn't appeal to me, beyond the fact a certain quality is guaranteed because it comes from the mind of David Simon (The Wire). UK TX: TBA. UNLIKELY REVIEW

UNDERCOVERS (NBC) I'll check out a few episodes, but I'm not very excited about this. The fact it's JJ Abrams' latest TV projects just confuses me, because I expect something more interesting than a rather lazy spy series focusing on a married couple. It just feels like NBC wanted a particular kind of show (a less comedic version of what Chuck's become for them, really), and get JJ Abrams just tossed this off for them. I hope I'm wrong and the actors have crazy-hot chemistry together, but I'm not feeling it based on the previews. But I'll review a few episodes, to test the water. US TX: 22 September. POSSIBLE REVIEW

V (ABC) The first season wasn't great, but there were a few characters and performances that kept me interested. Season 2 will be make-or-break, and some of the plans certainly have me intrigued (such as getting original V actress Jane Badler involved). I'm cautiously optimistic that, with a break and time to reassess the creative direction, V could get the recipe right for its second year. I'll probably be reviewing this at the US pace. US TX: November (TBC) LIKELY REVIEW

The zombies attack on Halloween, natch

THE WALKING DEAD (AMC/FX) A definite highlight of the autumn season. I'm just not sure if I'll be watching at US or UK-pace. US-pace means I'll be right there with the majority of other reviewers, but UK-pace will means sweet HD. Decisions, decisions. US TX: 31 October / UK TX: 5 November. MUST REVIEW

WHITECHAPEL (ITV1) I enjoyed the first series of this three-part crime drama, but the concept behind the second doesn't fill me with hope (copycats of The Krays -- really?) That said, I'll probably review the first episode and decide from that if it's worth continuing with. UK TX: 11 October POSSIBLE REVIEW

There are other shows I might find the time to review the pilots of, and a few may impress me enough to become regularly slotted for review (like "sim-com" The Trip with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, NBC's Community on Viva, and Episodes with Stephen Mangan and Matt Le Blanc), but the shows above are the ones I feel drawn to already. A list of confirmed premiere dates is below, in chronological order:

6 September (Mondays)
Him & Her (BBC3)

7 September (Tuesdays)
This Is England '86 (Channel 4)

8 September (Wednesdays)
Mad Men (BBC Four)

9 September (Thursdays)
Nikita (The CW)

11 September (Saturdays)
Merlin (BBC1)

13 September (Mondays)
The Inbetweeners (E4)

19 September (Sundays)
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

20 September (Mondays)
Chuck (NBC)
The Event (NBC)
Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
Lone Star (Fox)

21 September (Tuesdays)
Glee (Fox)

22 September (Wednesdays)
Undercovers (NBC)

23 September (Thursdays)
Fringe (Fox)

26 September (Sundays)
Dexter (Showtime)

28 September (Tuesdays)
No Ordinary Family (ABC)

31 October (Sundays)
The Walking Dead (AMC)

17 November (Wednesdays)
Human Target (Fox)

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10 Questions, lots of answers!

Thanks for all your feedback to my "10 Questions" post last week. This kind of impromptu market research helps me gauge everyone's interests and levels of interaction here, which is especially important before the new TV season begins.

It's already made me realize there's an appetite for interaction with posts untied to reviews and news. In fact, last week the amount of commenting was abnormally high for posts on "foreign TV waiting times", "generational awareness of old movies" and "accents". So I guess posts of that nature are feeding a hunger? Expect more stuff like that, going forward.

I always threaten to start halving how many TV shows I review, but my workaholic nature usually prevents me going through with it. But once again, I intend to try and cut-down this year, or perhaps review some of the older shows in less detail (literally a paragraph or two) -- to make way for longer reviews of new content. For e.g: less on Fringe's bread-and-butter episodes, but more on The Event. Sound fair?

As usual, it's all very fluid and I'm naturally very changeable. There may be periods when there's a dozen shows on-air and I'm struggling to keep up (so a few will get short shrift), but other weeks might be more relaxed (usually owing to hiatuses, or after I've decided to ditch shows I'm not enjoying) and that allows me to cover everything easily. I don't know for sure how things will pan out until mid-October, usually.

Next month I'll upload a list of the new and returning shows I'm hoping to cover this autumn at DMD, making it as comprehensive as I can at time of writing.

Thanks again for the invaluable comments and feedback last week, everyone!

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Raiders Of The Lost Generation

I travel on public transport every weekday, and occasionally like to share overheard conversations from fellow passengers that relate to TV or film. To that end, here's a transcript (only slightly embellished for comic effect) of a mild argument I overheard from two teenagers (a redheaded girl and her pink Mohican haircutted boyfriend).

Mohican: Why would I want to watch old movies? Old movies are pretty shit.
Redhead: No, they can be good! You should watch, like, the old Indiana Jones films.
Mohican: Ugh, no way. I've seen 'em.
Redhead: You haven't seen them.
Mohican: Well, I've seen the last one.
Redhead: That's the last one. That one wasn't good, but the old ones are so cool.
Mohican: But they were made back in the '80s, or something!

I think what troubled me about this moment of eavesdropping is that both people were probably 18, although the Mohican guy could pass for 25, and it suddenly dawned on me that there's a generation of people (born after 1990) who seriously haven't seen many films pre-1989. Even worse, isn't Indiana Jones an established classic that EVERYONE has seen? It kind of blew my mind to consider that, no, some people have only seen Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and, because of how bad it was, have NO intention of seeing the original trilogy. Curse you, Lucas!

Basically, it annoyed me to realize that (a) some people are so limited in their tastes and consider "old movies" inherently crap, and (b) that modern sequels tarnish the originals in the minds of today's young moviegoers. Are there kids out there who haven't seen the original Star Wars, so just think about Jar Jar Binks and a CGI Yoda when they think "Star Wars"? Quite possibly.

And yes, it also made me feel very old, and I'm only 31. But clearly there's a generation gap opening up below me. And yes, when I was 18 back in 1997, was I interested in the movies of the '70s? Well, not so much. So maybe I'm being a hypocrit here, but... c'mon, THAT GUY HASN'T SEEN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, BUT IT'S LEGAL FOR HIM TO BUY ALCOHOL, DRIVE A CAR, AND VOTE!

It's just not right, is it?

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10 Questions

It appears to be a slow day today (he says, tempting fate), so if you'd like to help me out with some market research that would be great...

1. Do you ever read reviews here of TV shows you're not watching? If so, why? If not, do you revisit old reviews once you've seen the episodes yourself?

2. Are there any review you always read, but don't comment on? If so, why?

3. Do you prefer reading reviews of shows that aren't covered so widely online (e.g Persons Unknown, The Deep)?

4. Are you primarily drawn here for the reviews, or for the news?

5. Would you like me to resurrect the test-run feature "Open Thread", where I'd cover a show very briefly just to provoke comments? If so, what shows do you think should be covered that way? Would shows I watched but didn't review (Justified, The Good Wife) be popular as open-threads?

6. How do you keep abreast of updates here? Direct visit to the blog? Using a RSS feedreader? A click-through from Twitter or Facebook? Etc.

7. Are you aware I'm on Twitter and DMD has a Facebook page? If so, do you interact that way? If not, why not?

8. Do you like the quantity-to-quality ratio at present? Would you be happy if there were LESS reviews every week, but an increase in quality?

9. Would you read non-spoiler reviews of shows before they air on TV? Or would you just ignore reviews of that nature until you've seen them yourself?

10. Are there any general improvements, changes, or ideas you'd like to mention yourself, based on how you think DMD is currently operating?

Thanks for your help! It all helps me keep focus on what's working, what's not, and how to improve things.

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