'HAWAII FIVE-0' 1.1 - "Pilot"

The premiere-heavy week continues over at Obsessed With Film, with my review of CBS remake HAWAII FIVE-0, starring Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park.

"A remake of Hawaii Five-O (1968-80) that wisely avoids making too many changes (they even avoid updating the classic theme tune too drastically, sticking to an orchestra), the new-look Hawaii Five-0's pilot understands why its progenitor was a hit for 12 years and doesn't overcomplicate matters. It's a throwback, but one that will surely find an audience because, if you love buddy cop shows, this is a robust example." Continue reading...

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'GLEE' 2.1 - "Audition"

Check out my review of GLEE's second season premiere, over at Obsessed With Film. Is the all-singin', all-dancin' phenomenon back to its best?

"The breakout hit of last season returns, having conquered the world and iTunes charts for the past year. Musical "dramedy" Glee was beginning to wilt in the second half of season 1, with the writers recycling many of the same character arcs, and papering its cracks with an increase in musical numbers -- so after a summer break to reassess things, has Glee come back revitalized with some new tricks up its sleeve?" Continue reading...

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'THE EVENT' 1.1 - "I Haven't Told You Everything"

Head over to Obsessed With Film for my review of NBC's new mystery thriller THE EVENT, which is being hyped as a replacement for ABC's Lost. Where have we heard that before..?

"Ironically, this pilot was more a collection of different events, told out of sequence via extensive flashbacks. Basically an hour of teasing and provocative incidents, guaranteed to keep you watching for the superficial thrill of unfolding intrigue, but with little emotional weight to anything. As the start of a sci-fi mystery series hoping to replace Lost in audience affections, it succeeds in its aim to pique interest and ensure you watch episode 2, which will hopefully place more emphasis on the characters." Continue reading...

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'CHUCK' 4.1 - "Chuck Versus The Anniversary"

Over at Obsessed With Film, I review the distinctly average fourth season premiere of spy-comedy CHUCK, featuring '80s favourites Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) and Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV).

"The good news: Chuck's had so many would-be series finales (as the threat of cancellation forever snaps at its heels) that every season premiere tends to result in a necessary revamp of the show. The bad news: these revamps tend to become resets, and the status quo is reestablished soon after. Now in its fourth season, I get the feeling Chuck played its best hand last year (certainly the finale was a great place to end the story), and is perhaps running out of ideas. "Chuck Versus The Anniversary" wasn’t awful, but it wasn't great, and sometimes struggled to just be good. Is the survivalist spy-comedy showing signs of fatigue?" Continue reading...

Just to reiterate; television premieres/pilots are now being hosted exclusively by Obsessed With Film, but consequent episodes will continue to be published here.

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Virgin Media: Sky1 HD debuts 1 October

Virgin Media have just announced that Sky1 HD will be making its long-awaited debut on 1 October, located on channel 122. Sky2 will therefore move to channel 180. This is great news, although it's frustrating that my three favourite Sky1 shows are now finished (24, Lost, Battlestar Galactica). However, we can still look forward to seeing the following in glorious HD: House (3 Oct), Fringe (3 Oct), Stargate Universe (5 Oct) and Caprica (mid-Oct).

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'BOARDWALK EMPIRE' 1.1 - "Boardwalk Empire"

Today over at Obsessed With Film: I review the feature-length opening episode of HBO's period gangster epic BOARDWALK EMPIRE, starring Steve Buscemi and directed by Martin Scorsese...

"This confluence of writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas) is as prosperous, satisfying, and exciting as you could hope. HBO’s crime epic Boardwalk Empire begins with a fascinating and beautifully-crafted 75-minute drama that introduces Atlantic City (circa 1920), the coastal town’s feted treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, and people whose lives will be changed by the onset of Prohibition..." Continue reading...

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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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