9021 O dear

Remember all that fuss about Channel 4 cutting back on their imports? Less money to spend on American shows? Cutting back by a third? Remember all that. Interesting that they have won the 'bidding war' for the lousy Beverly Hills 90210 remake. Does this mean shows like Brothers and Sisters (currently getting burned off late night) are set to be dumped for higher profile drivel? And just how much did the network have to cough up?

Lost season 5

Here it is. The first trailer for the fifth season of Lost coming to ABC in the US and SKY One in February 2009.
Its mostly bits we have seen before, but its better than 42 minutes of Heroes...

Lipstick on a pig

I have a confession. Forgive me. I like Lipstick Jungle. No really, I do. I thought I would watch one, dismiss it as trash and not bother again. But having watched 5episodes of a series of 7, it looks like I'm going to make it to the end. Worse still, I'm really enjoying it. Its easy to say its a Sex and the City copy. Its the same writer and while that was about four women in New York with unrealistic lifestyles, this is about three women in New York with unrealistic lifestyles. There's lots to like. Lots of New York locations which look great, Kim Raver is fabulous in it and its the fastest show on the box. No really the thing just speeds by, propelled by so much plot that you don't have time to realize that its no good. Storylines and characters whizz past you at great momentum without pausing for breath. And next season we get Mary Tyler Moore joining the cast. However a thumbs down for Living who next week take it off for some scary-Halloween-makey-up-in-a-haunted-house crap show (who watches them?). But check out the show before it disappears, its more enjoyable than bloody Heroes.

The joy of FX

I now have more shows on FX on my SKY+ than any other digital network. There's Burn Notice on a Sunday which is frothy and silly but gets away with it via charming performances, a great Miami locale and a nice tongue in cheek script. Breaking Bad which airs right after it, features Bryan Cranston in an emmy winning performance as a man dying in cancer. The third episode which aired last Sunday is probably one of the best eps I have seen this year. Catch it while you can, there are only 7 shows in the first season. Add in Nip/Tuck and the just ended Wire, Dexter and NCIS as well as the upcoming David Simon series Generation Kill, True Blood from Six Feet Under scribe Alan Ball, and a new sereis of Brotherhood and FX is becoming the home of quality US drama...now if only they would pick up Rescue Me...

Bye bye Dave

David Letterman has been dumped - again. One of America's top talk shows is again without a home in the UK. He's been on Channel 4, Paramount, ITV2, SKY One, Diva and on BBC2 when he was in London. Diva, owned by Hallmark are the latest channel to ditch the show. They were airing the series every night and then moved to only showing it at weekends, a sure sign that the writing was on the wall. And now its gone. Again. Its was always a strange fit amongst wall to wall Oprah and Rachael Ray. Ironically it comes at a time when Dave is making waves ahead of the US election. Sure, you can download it an illegal form but it seems a shame that while we are getting both Jay Leno and Conan nightly we are denied Letterman. Who is going to buy it next then?

Heroes no more

Something happened ten minutes into the second episode of the third series, sorry volume, of Heroes. I stopped watching. Turned it off. Gave up.

Bailing out on a TV show is unusual for me, I normally stick it out until the bitter end, but time ran out for Heroes this week.

Why did I give it up. Here are the reasons.

1. Season two was dire. I needed a lot of good reasons to watch season 3, I can't find them
2. Characters die, characters come back. Characters die, characters come back. Enough
3. The really interesting people like Matt Parkman and Nikki have been marginalised. In fact the latter now seems to be somebody else entirely.
4. Too many characters. I reckon there are now 18 regular characters. You can't justify that in a 42 minute show.
5. The first series Save The Cheerleader, Save the world, got that. Since then they since to be making it up as they go along.
6. There are, wait for it, TWENTY SIX episodes this season. I don't think so.
7. When you watched the pilot of Fringe, you knew they knew where it was going. I don't think anyone knows where Heroes is going, the audience, Tim Kring, the cast, NBC, anybody.
and finally, number 8 the ratings. Down to an all time low in its first week in the US, down even further in week 2. Not just me then.
Goodbye Heroes, you saved the cheerleader, saved the world but I'll have my Wednesday nights back now

Rescue Me rescued - sort of

After being ditched by SKY One, Rescue Me is set to re-appear in the UK in a new form.

Season four will debut on iTunes in the UK and will be the first major series to air exclusively here on a non-TV platform.

The Dennis Leary shows will offer its new season on the download platform from November 7th.

The first three seasons will be available to consumers on iTunes from the 14th, 21st and 28th of October respectively.

The blog is back and isn't happy

After a long period of downtime the blog is back. Over the next few days I will be sharing thoughts on some of the new US shows that are currently on our screens and answering questions like how did Heroes get so bad so fast? Why is Lipstick Jungle so addictive when its so poor, and how can Channel 4 dump Brothers and Sisters on a Saturday afternoon?

But first The Riches. The FX series first appeared a year ago and while it meandered around a bit mid-season, the superb performances of Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver carried the show. It was a year between seasons, but the second run currently airing on Virgin1 (yes, that network is still on the air), has been terrific. There are only 7 episodes because of the writers strike and ends with a suitable cliffhanger.

But after 20 shows, FX in the US have announced the show has been cancelled. No wrap up movie, no conclusion nothing. Just stopping in the middle of nowhere. Be interesting to hear what Izzard makes of it.

So enjoy the show this week and next week because that will be it. Poor show FX and shame on you Virgin for shoving it out to 11pm, catch it while you can, and we will remember you fondly Doug Rich