08.00 Dexter
09.00 Burn Notice
10.00 Jackie Chan Adventures
10.30 The Office
11.00 Corner Gas
12.00 Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Dexter. Season 2, Episode 7. "That Night, A Forest Grew" Fantastic. When the episode started I was suddenly smitten with Lila and concerned for her safety (given her new status as Dexter's girlfriend). All that stuff with the light bulb and the mysterious landlord had me worried. What direction was all this taking, I wondered? Was Lila going to 'cure' Dexter and then fall prey to some horrible murderer, which would then send Dexter back to his murderous ways, as he sought revenge?

Then, as the episode unfolded, my perception of Lila changed and - by the end of it all - I positively hated her.

That's some skillful storytelling, there.

Aside from the Lila stuff there was lots of cool goodness in this episode. Dexter takes the lead - for once - and sends the police on a merry chase. He also takes the battle to Doakes in a major way. And gets the good Sgt. booted from the police force. Nice.

Watching this show can be rather conflicting. Doakes is the bad guy. We hate him. But, he's the smartest person on that police force. He's the one that knows that Dexter is... iffy. He's the real hero here. And we hate him. For no other reason than the fact that he's on to Dexter. He's a threat to Dexter so we hate him. Cos we love Dexter more than anyone.

Then there's Lundy, the FBI guy that Dexter's sister kissed. We like him a lot. He's nice. But he's smart and he's making advances towards catching our hero. Shouldn't we hate him to?

Know what? A show that can make me hate Lila in the space of one episode probably has a lot of tricks up it's sleeve. I bet they can make me hate Lundy any old time they want. Clever bastards.

Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 5. "Scatter Point" Another winner. Michael joins a gang of thieves planning a heist when one of them contacts him wanting to get out of the business. Michael comes to the rescue. Not for the man himself, but for his son. Michael's cool.

So is Sam and this is the episode where his long-time girlfriend (the gorgeous Audrey Landers) asks him to marry her. It's a delightful scene, and so is the aftermath. We get a lot of great Sam/Fiona scenes. The ones where she watches with glee while Sam is being beaten up is hilarious. Sam is trying to get seen by the police and get his attacker arrested. But they are looking the other way and Fiona takes forever to join in with a helpful scream. Very, very funny.

So... Michael being cool and the other two being funny? All's right with Burn Notice.

Jackie Chan Adventures. Episode 1. "The Dark Hand" A great opening episode. Fast-paced, full of great action sequences, lots of story and a great set-up for the series to follow. Jackie is an archaeologist. He finds an old shield and is soon at the centre of a lot of attention. Good guys and bad guys want the shield and the baddies are willing to threaten and kidnap to get what they want.

Jackie is instantly likable. He's dynamic and funny. He performs fantastic physical stunts with aplomb and still manages to be clumsy and goofy when the script calls for it. His uncle is gruff and is responsible for a couple of great laugh-out-loud moments. And Jade, Jackie's niece/cousin/whatever manages to be utterly adorable from the first moment she appears on screen. Adorable and resourceful: managing to track Jackie after his kidnapping and effect an almost successful escape.

This is good fantasy. Smartly scripted and lots of fun. Can't wait for episode two.

The Office. Season 5, Episode 4. "Crime Aid" Average outing. Lots of laughs here and there but - overall - nothing special. Michael's idea to raise funds is somewhat slim and the script (also somewhat slim) doesn't raise many laughs with the idea.

Much better is the b-plot which has Dwight confiding to Phyllis. That's just genius!! And it really works. Best bit? Dwight (being nice for a change) comes to Phyllis's rescue at Michael's auction and a bidding war ensues. Great.

Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 2. "Spin Cycle" It's certainly funny but this is way too silly for Corner Gas. Oscar stealing Brent's phone and being chased all over town by Wanda? Lacey overcoming her modest ways and stripping completely nude in the diner? In broad daylight? With people coming and going? And - finally - the whole storyline with Hank teaching spin classes...

It's all just too far 'out there' for this show. It doesn't quite 'work'. Even when I was laughing at Oscar and the phone, I couldn't help but think that Oscar just do stuff like that.

Best bit? Lacey in the nude, of course. Sure, we see nothing but a fella can dream, can't he?



Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Episode 1. "The Ripper" Chicago, 1974, and - much like the killer in the story - Carl Kolchak hits the ground running for this first episode of the regular series. Yes there are flaws, and it's not the best Kolchak episode, but this is so far above it's contemporaries, and about 90% of everything that has come since in the genre, that you cannot help but be engrossed, thrilled and delighted by everything that happens on screen.

All flaws (and minor ones they be) are confined to the case-of-the-week, so let me begin by looking at the stuff that works: pretty much everything. The chemistry between the core characters is spot-on from the very start. Karl, Ron and Tony are just as wonderful to watch in this episode as in any other. Karl and Tony are fighting/bickering from the moment we first see them. So nothing has changed since the two movies that launched the series: Tony is still the stuffy editor and Karl is still the disobedient report/child who goes after every good story that crosses his desk. Their first fight is fantastic: it stops/pauses when the noise from passing train makes it difficult to hear and resumes as soon as the train has passed. Utter genius.

The series introduces the character of Ron Updyke and uses him in three distinct ways in this opening episode. First, as a source of comedy: Ron's attempts to cover the murders are funny and his childish bickering with Carl is very amusing. Secondly, Ron serves to highlight the realistic tone of the series. We may laugh at his reaction to the murder scenes, but the show takes time to show us that Ron is genuinely upset by these horrific crimes. He's the only on-screen character to react this way (certainly it is not in Carl's nature to... care) and it is true him that we - the audience - come to believe the horror that is unfolding. Finally, Ron's presence in the show brings out the characters of Tony and Carl in that we see more of their respective character's from the way they each react to Ron. Carl mostly makes fun of him and mocks him and doubts his ability as a real report. But he does look concerned -briefly - when he sees Ron arrive at the office in an upset state. It soon vanishes, but - in that moment - we see a little of the humanity of Carl Kolchak. Tony, meanwhile, is superbly branched out as a character by the addition of Ron. There is suddenly more to Tony than the constant exasperation and yelling that goes with being Carl's boss. Tony is kind of Ron and - while aware of his limitations - uses him to cover the big story. That says a lot about Tony the man, and it says a lot about the situation as INS where they all work. It's a cowboy operation: Ron on graphic murder, Carl as the agony aunt. And that fits in with all that we would expect of their fate, having met them before and seen them run out of the city.

So, the cast works... What else works? The visuals are wonderful. Each murder, each chase and the final climax are shot as if by a documentary crew. This adds to the realism, especially during the killers encounters with the police. The action takes place in the distance, there are no close-ups and no sound effects. It looks real. When the killer starts throwing people around, in his bid to escape, the camera tends to miss a quarter of the action. Again... it looks real.

Highlight? Dexter (Lila is not so nice, really)
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09.30 NCIS
11.30 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
12.30 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
01.00 Samantha Who?



NCIS. Season 5, Episode 1. "Bury Your Dead" A great season premier. Full praise to NCIS for a season-long deception, during Season 4, that I never suspected was coming. That's one of the best twists I have ever seen on TV and I loved this. This was a great episode, too. We got to see the team reacting to the 'death' of Tony, we got to see the resolution of the storyline devoted to Le Grenouille and we got to see Tony and Jeanne breaking up. Pity it was in that crazy visual style they use for flashbacks, but never mind.

Jenny's reasons for wanting to track Le Genouille are - finally - explained and... they make sense. I don't really care that much about Jenny (or her quest) but - at least - it make sense. The scene between her, Gibbs and the arms dealer was very, very good. So was the big revelation scene with Tony telling his story, while (at one point) Gibbs looked on with pride. The ending was good, too. Nice final shot. Very shocking.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 6. "The Tower is Tall But the Fall is Short" Another stunning episode. Flawless. Every scene in this has a double layer. It's an incredible script. No matter what is happening on screen, no matter how much it means for it's own sake, there is extra meaning because of what we know about the characters. We know that Catherine Weaver is not what she appears to be, we know that Derek has a reason to enjoy sitting in the park soaking up life around him, we know (before the script even tells us) that the AI project over at ZeiraCorp is acting like a child, we know lots of stuff.

We don't know, of course, what happened inside that room when Sarah and John were held hostage...

I had hoped, during that episode, that it would turn out to John who rescued his mother and saved the day. I thought (before anything happened and before Cameron showed up to kill John) that it would be a bad-ass cool way to tell the audience about his 'growing up' and all. But the narrative jumped across the incident and left us in the dark. And did it in a low-key way, also. So much so that I wasn't suspicious, merely annoyed that we didn't get to see what happened.

Now, of course, it comes back to haunt everyone. The script for this episode makes us think (again skillfully) that John saw Sarah kill their captor. Not so. In fact, we learn in the final shocking moments that John really did save the day back in the first episode but there are pains to go with the transition from kid to warrior.

Suddenly a lot of little comments from other episodes make more sense: Derek saying to John that he could tell that Sarah had never killed, etc. Clever.

This show's scripts are all about knowledge. The viewer often has knowledge that the character on-screen does not and it adds to our enjoyment. We get to see scenes and appreciate the added layer that our perspective gives us. But there is more to it. Sometimes the writer's withhold knowledge and unveil it after the fact. They are very good at knowing when to do this. Part of me was surprised that they told us from the get-go what Catherine's secret was but now, having seen where they have taken it (with her being a parent, for instance), I can see that it was absolutely the right choice. I trust them. And admit they were wise to tell us.

But they are keeping other secrets: Does Ellison suspect? What is Jesse's mission? Did Cameron destroy the other Terminator's chip? Was it android 'suicide'? Like Derek's suicide attempt? And - maybe even - John's?

I'm pretty sure I know the answers to some of these. But who knows? This is a clever and profound show. The scripts are clever and deep and worthy of much re-watching. And the second season is much better than the (fantastic) first. Isn't it about time they renamed this The John Connor Chronicles?

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 3, Episode 4. "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" Always Sunny does Die Hard, with Danny DeVito crawling around in the air vents with a gun. Sounds crazy, yeah? But if you've seen it then you know that that's what this episode actually is. And it's hilarious. The gang turn on one another: everyone plots the death of at least one of the others at some point. It's delicious. Best bits? Dennis in seduction mode; Charlie and Frank have their show-down; Dee gets licked by Liam McPoyle; and the entire slow-motion sequence at the end. Genius comedy.

Samantha Who? Season 2, Episode 1. "So I Think I Can Dance" Amusing and sweet. Christina Applegate can always raise a smile with her antics, but there's little else to get very excited about. It's a nice story. Sam discovers she can dance, makes a challenge to someone and - then - discovers that dancing was one of the 'things' the forgot in her bout with amnesia. Cue: some pretty good slapstick. And guess what? At the end, we discover she really only wanted to spend more time with her mother. Aww...

Highlight? The Sarah Connor Chronicles (The John Connor Chronicles)
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05.30 Prison Break
10.00 Friday Night Lights
11.00 Worst Week
11.30 Worst Week

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 8. "The Price" is one of the most satisfying episodes of Prison Break. Sara and Gretchen have their first face-to-face meeting since Sara escaped capture and the results are informative and dramatic. Roland Glenn meets his final demise in this outing, too, having turned traitor to the whole team. Glenn was a minor character, little more than a plot device. He existed to be the person who created that magical device we have seen in almost every episode this season. Now that the story no longer needs that device, it no longer needs him and he (having formed no bonds with anyone) turns on them and is killed for his trouble. It's an unsatisfying character arc, but it's of no great consequence when everything that is happening around it is so good.

Don Self gets some great stuff again this week. Self is now one of my all-time favourite characters on Prison Break. His face-off against Gretchen was almost as cool as his face-off with The General on an earlier episode. I did not suspect it when he first joined the show but Self is cool.

Not as cool as Alex, of course. And Alex gets the episode's best moment all to himself, as he takes down the man who killed his son. Thrilling stuff. Very satisfying. The lead up to it, with Michael laying the trap (in the laptop) and calling out to Alex when the trap was sprung, was incredibly enjoyable.

The final moments of the episode were solid, too. Michael holding the hand of the dying man. Very good storytelling.

Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 4. "Backfire" Average episode. We get to see how guilty Landry and Tyra are feeling, as various scenes show us how paranoid they have become. Julie finds out that her boyfriend is... a normal guy, who's not that interested in her. Lyla tries to help a kid who's just gotten out of prison and Buddy steps in to help her help him. Down in Mexico, Street and Riggins investigate the possibility of surgery on Street's spine.

All good. But none of it particularly great.

The end was great, though. The (now-fired) rival Coach shows up on Eric's doorstep to remind him (before he drives out of town) that he has a family to worry about, too. It's a powerful, very real moment. Almost the only good thing to come out of this Eric-works-in-another-town storyline.

Worst Week. Episode 4. "The Truck" Sam continues to be a really likable hero, and this episode highlights both him as an outsider (to the family) and a part of a strong team with Melanie. The previous episode introduced his buddy (who is likewise cursed with bad luck and the ability to do things that hurt/annoy Dick) and this episode adds his nemesis to the mix. In the form of Chad, the annoying son-in-law who can do no wrong in the eyes of Dick. The early part of the episode shows us the family all together for the first time after the arrival of Chad. And what an annoying little bunch they are. Watching all this (and totally bemused by it all) is our hero and (most importantly) his girlfriend. Sam and Melanie form a very distinct team in this outing and the bad luck that befalls poor Sam is really the bad luck that befalls both of them. Watching this episode you can see that they are a good couple and you can understand why they are compatible and why they love one another.

The story is well told and the big joke at the end (the explosion that destroys Dick's truck) is extremely well set-up. Information about the underside of the truck getting very hot is given to us in a very funny slapstick sequence, while the piling up of the leaves is done in a way that draws no great attention to the act itself. This makes the final explosion all the more unexpected and all the more funny. A really great episode.

Worst Week. Episode 5. "The Club" moves the story of Sam and The Claytons forward one month. And it does so with a jolt. I had assumed that we would actually get to see the night of Dick's Birthday, since the show had spend four episodes building towards it. Not the case. Did CBS skip an episode, I wonder? It seems strange that we don't get to see the havok that Sam must surely have caused on the big night...

Never mind, jolts aside this is a fun episode. The show teams Sam and Dick on a mission for the first time with enjoyable results. At this stage in the run, several things are a given in the world of Sam Briggs: crazy bad luck, and well-meaning lies causing things to spiral out of control. This time out, Sam's white lie about his wedding being cancelled ends up causing the wedding party to lose the place they had booked for it. He and his future father-in-law try to get it back, while his future mother attempts to stall Melanie with some... well-meaning lies that soon spiral out of control.

Highlight? Prison Break (Alex and Wyatt)
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07.00 Law And Order
08.00 Flashpoint
09.00 It's Your Move
09.30 Keen Eddie
10.30 Night Court
11.00 Adventure Inc.

Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 10. "Tango" Michael Cutter has a hopeless crush on Connie Rubirosa and it's part of the reason I am in love with this show (all over again). This is the one that has Connie getting an email praising her technique in the courtroom. Her technique and her legs. Cutter comments that he agrees. I don't blame him. I would pay good money to see Alana De La Garza walk around a room. She's amazing. And, as a die-hard fan who watched every episode of the Angie Harmon/Jill Hennessy/Carey Lowell seasons, I think De La Garza is the most beautiful woman who has ever sat in the A.D.A. chair on Law And Order. Great then, to see an episode about her appearance and it's effect on the men/man in the jury and the case under trial.

The show slipped up somewhat by getting the guy in the jury to play it like a creep (that wasn't needed to make the story work, and - in fact - kinda damaged it) but it was still a great episode. The final debate scene was superb. Cutter and Rubirosa arguing their respective corners and Jack standing watching. Watching and listening and saying... nothing. Great character work. I feel like I really know and love these two new characters as much as I know and love Jack. And it's a good story idea: the impact a woman's sexuality can have on her success in the workplace. And, unlike many other shows that have touched on this idea, Law And Order gives it just the right amount of screentime and doesn't let it interfere with the case-of-the-week.



Flashpoint. Episode 9. "Planets Aligned" Once again Flashpoint brings tears to my eyes. That's happened quite a few times in this first batch of nine episodes. About half the run have been classics. And this is one of the very best. Who would ever have thought you could take an action show, mix it with heartbreak and tears every week... and make it work? Certainly not me. In the last '80s I was horrified when Bernard L. Kowalski made "More Heart Than Hardware" his credo on Airwolf. It's wrong, wrong, wrong! I cried (without tears). You can't mix gut-wrenching action with stories of peoples emotions and feelings. Well, Airwolf failed to do it, but Flashpoint has totally nailed the idea. Every week we meet with one character in a point of crisis and we learn what led them to that moment. Usually there is a heart-breaking reason for the resorting to violence and this week is no exception: a kidnapped child fights her rescuers after 8 years in captivity. Harrowing.

Tatiana Maslany (like all the guest stars on this show) gave an amazing performance. Series regular Amy Jo Johnson has made Jules one of the coolest heroes I've ever seen in an action show. Gutsy beyond belief, this woman will not give up. We saw in the episode set in the shopping mall and we see it here again in the riveting final acts of this story. It's simply stunning. I love her.

Ed is bad-ass cool, Greg is the nicest guy on the planet (except for Veronica Mars' dad) but I would trust Jules with my life.

Flashpoint is an amazing series. It aired in the Summer and - usually - great Summer shows that I love vanish after their run (yes Hidden Palms and Traveler I'm talking about you!) but Flashpoint beat the odds. It was a ratings hit and it will be back!

Better restock my supply of tissues!

It's Your Move. Episode 2. "Put to the Test" Not quite as good as the pilot, but still completely delightful. The first half shows us Matthew's latest money-making scheme: selling copies of an upcoming test at school. It also shows us the downfall of that plan: Normal getting a job as substitute teacher with Matthew's class. Unlikely, but never mind. The fun is in watching the game of chess that follows. The second half finds Matthew alone in Norman's apartment, finding notes and solving clues and trying to outwit Norman and locate the new test. Ultimately he fails and this second episode is one in the win column for Norman.

Keen Eddie. Episode 10. "The Amazing Larry Dunn" is another Keen Eddie classic. Larry Dunn was a famous child star. He could remember anything. But he was beaten on national TV and his career fell apart. His father turned on him and declared that Larry lacked courage. We meet him many years later, when a bunch of crooks cross his path. Larry has a big book on bank alarms systems. So Larry destroys the book (which he has committed to memory) and forces his way into the gang. It's a wonderful story, with Julian Kerridge giving a great performance as Larry. Keen Eddie had a wacky, crazy style but it told wonderful human stories. And this was one.

Rachael Buckley returns to the show and Miss Moneypenny/Carol Ross shoots another sexual zinger at Eddie as she takes the elevator. As usual Eddie is dazed and confused and his partner - Monty - is not aware that anything has happened.

Also worth noting for hardcore fans: Eddie and Fiona don't fight in this episode. They are on friendly terms from start to finish.

Finally, Eddie trots out his "I'm Eddie, how do you like me so far?" opening line. That's another classic right there.

Night Court. Episode 4. Very funny, but more drama than comedy "Welcome Back, Momma" is the story of the woman who announces that she is Harry's long-lost mother. Is she? Well, that doesn't matter until the very end of the tale... What matters is the way it affects Harry. And, indeed, the woman herself. Lying or not, she is certainly very lonely. Did she really run out on young Harry and his dad? On our our way to the answer, the script does not forget to make us laugh: the case-of-the-week is a collection of bikini-clad beauty contestants who beat the living crap out of the show's lying/cheating organiser. Very few of them speak English and the show makes full use of that for some quality laughs. Bull is smitten by one of the girls and is free to tell her to shut up when she starts babbling at him. His efforts to explain his name (by drawing a bull on paper) gives us the episodes biggest laugh.



Adventure Inc. Episode 5. "Village of the Lost" Nifty story idea finds Judson and Gabriel trapped inside a village that cannot be seen from outside. It has been gone for over ten years and the villagers (a nice group) are happy to keep it that way. Sadly, there are some bad guys trying to find the village and it's secret. This would have been the most enjoyable episode of the run so far (with guest stars like Carlo Rota and Jayne Heitmeyer) but there is a lot of very annoying dubbing, some badly edited scenes and Karen Cliche is relegated to a supporting role. Crazy.

Highlight? Flashpoint (tear-jerking. again.)
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05.30 Valentine
06.30 The Middleman
07.30 Pushing Daisies
08.30 Supernatural
03.00 The Office
03.30 Corner Gas

Valentine. Episode 2. "Daddy's Home" Better than the pilot. The case-of-the-week is still corny, but most of the episode is devoted to the regulars and their backstory. And a good one it is. The blood-drenched cliff-hanger (flash-forward) really shocked me, and I'll be back for more episodes.



The Middleman. Episode 12. "The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome" The show puts it's own spin on the idea of Parallel Worlds in this superb final episode. We get to see 'evil' versions of the regulars and Mark Sheppard returns for a second episode (sadly he is underused). The friendship between Wendy and Lacey gets a lot of screentime this time out and gives the show a solid core. Apparently this show has been garnering critical praise for the writing of it's female characters. No wonder. They are superb and their friendship is as real as anything I have ever seen on TV. Kudos writers/performers!

Our final shot of Wendy finds her (once again) on the phone to her mother. Happy. And it's a lovely way to leave things if we never see her again. (Gosh, I hope we do!)

Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 3. "Bad Habits" Bees, clowns and now nuns! All getting the Pushing Daisies treatment. Olive gets lots of screentime (to make up for leaving her out of the first two episodes, I guess) and the ending (where Ned tells Chuck who her mother is) is unexpected and wonderful.

Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 14. "Born Under a Bad Sign" Back on form, the show delivers one of it's best-ever episodes. It's a two-hander (hardly anyone else appears in the story) and it's an acting tour-de-force for both men. Jared Padalecki gets to play real Sam (briefly), fake Sam and bad-ass demon. He looks like he is having a ton of fun in all three parts. Jensen Ackles gets to play out some of Dean Winchester's toughest-ever moments (and that is saying something).

The story is simply superb. The mystery is completely engrossing and the ending - when it comes - is perfectly obvious and makes perfect sense. Yet, I truly never saw it coming, such is the skill of the writing and acting. It's the tale of what happens when Dean finds Sam one week after he went missing. Learning that his brother has no memory of that week, Dean takes him on a quest to find the truth and learns that Sam has killed someone. Is this the turning point heralding everything that Dean was warned about by his father? Is Sam about to go all Dark Sam on us?

Much as I love Sam, I'm starting to realise what an epic heroic figure Dean truly is. He's starting to edge his way (in my affections) up alongside people like Carl Kolchak, Fox Mulder, Jack Bauer and Alex Mahone. Watching him deal with the dilemma in this episode was painful. Watching him come to the realisation that he might - one day - have to kill Sam and just as quickly realise that he can never do that. Even when truly provoked: watching Sam torture a loved one.

Sam's fate is a cruel one. But at least it is clear. As a hero, his journey is clear. Escape the curse, fight fate and overcome the demon/prophecy.

Dean, however, has been cursed with choice. He has two routes to heroism. Kill his brother or fight alongside him to overcome the oncoming doom. It is this choice (and the fact that his character will allow him no choice) that makes Dean the truly epic hero of the two.

Dean's becoming my favourite anyway. I often think of a comedy moment from an earlier episode and how much it really says about the man. When Sam mentions myspace and Dean has no clue what it is ("it is a porn site?" he grins) we laugh. But, upon reflection, we can see that this is a solid character moment. Dean is outside the terms of pop culture. He is not one of us. He protects us. And, like Carl Kolchak before him, he is alone because of that. Even with his brother beside him, (thanks to this season's story arc) he remains very much alone.

The Office. Season 5, Episode 3. "Baby Shower" Some of television's greatest-ever moments occurred towards the end of this week's episode of The Office. I honestly think that many decades from now people will still remember how they felt when Michael hugged Holly, and when Jim and Pam left messages for each other.

It was, in all other respects, a typical episode of The Office. An "event" disrupted the work day. Most Office episode revolve around some disruption to the routine (there's always a party of some sort, a milestone of some sort). We don't just get to see normal days at work (like hundreds of other workplace sit-coms) and when we follow the gang away from work it's always for a unique event of some kind (not just a night on the town, or another of Mary Richard's disastrous dinner party's). And this is just as unique as all the others: Jan brings the baby into the office for the first time. Michael's baby. Sorta. Well not really. Not at all, actually (as Darryl points out in one great scene). But Michael feels connected to this baby. Or, to be clear, feels that he ought to feel connected to it. So he contrives to make that connection happen.

He also contrives to hide his attraction to Holly from Jan. He fails to do this (as we learn at the very end) and he fails to hide it from Holly also (in a delightful scene at the very start, when he announces that he will be mean to her for the duration of Jan's visit and her adorable face positively lights up with understanding).

But the ending is where it all comes together. Michael endures more pain and humiliation than any one man should ever have to and - in the closing minutes of the episode- he seeks Holly out for a hug and (as emotion overcomes them both) he asks her out. Wonderful.

Then there is Jim and Pam. What a great storyline. We love them. We love them as a couple and we love them loving one another. But, as veteran TV watchers, we are conditioned to expect it all to go wrong somehow (for the sake of some stupid story arc). So the writers tease us. For the second time in this season, the tease us in the exact same way and then - as we start to feel panic - they remind us that (not matter what is happening in their lives) this is Jim and Pam and they have found one another and they are not letting go.

In the premier, we watched (in horror) as they seemed to be living separate lives and then (in a wonderful surprise) the story unveiled a rain-swept proposal and all was well with the world again. Then, this week, the writers pull the exact same stunt. Again. And I fell for it. Again. With glee they push the buttons that will make fans panic: Jim and Pam are leading (what appear to be) very separate lives, in different cities. Then, in a stroke of storytelling genius, the episode ends with Jim and Pam leaving phone messages for one another. Messages in which words/stories/themes/concerns are mirrored perfectly.

Oh, and love. Love, too, is mirrored perfectly.



Corner Gas. Season 5, Episode 1. "Cable Excess" Five seasons in and the show delivers one of it's tightest, best, and funniest scripts. Community television comes to Dog River and the regulars fight for the right to do their own show. Brent gets the job of selecting which show goes on air and the script is full of knowing references to the fact that Corner Gas is a highly acclaimed, critical darling. Eric Peterson shouts that Street Legal sucks, and the show finds another clever ending. Best bit? Crowds gathering every time Oscar started to rant. Funny. But - also - when you stop to think about it, a very clever comment on the appeal of the character with the audience at home.

Highlight? The Office (Wonderful)
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07.00 Dexter
08.00 Banacek

Dexter. Season 2, Episode 6. "Dex, Lies, and Videotape" This is the one with the copycat killer. And both Dexter himself and the FBI are anxious to put an end to his antics. Making Dexter himself the focus on the investigations has certainly made his life-of-crime more interesting this Season, but the focus of the show is always his personal life. Rita dumps him, after (hilariously) overhearing a phone message from Lila. Dexter reacts badly and - to my great surprise - winds up in bed with Lila! Even more surprising he tells Rita about it, just as they are on the verge of getting back together. All these twists continue to make Dexter a fascinating character.

This is also the episode where his (adorable) sister hugs FBI Agent Lundy in a moment of unguarded joy. It's a wonderful scene. Perfectly played and sweet and joyful.

Banacek. Episode 2. "Let's Hear it For a Living Legend" One of the best cases, and one of the ones I remember best. A football player vanishes... during a game... in front of thousands of fans... and nobody knows how he did it. Then a ransom note arrives. What the frak is going on?

Only Banacek can find out. And watching the smug Polish detective do his thing you get the feeling he has most of it figured out before he even starts asking questions. Stefanie Powers is a wonderful guest as the missing man's ex-wife and all her scenes with Banacek are terrific. Banacek isn't like other TV detectives and this comes across in one great scene where he attacks the man who brought him in on the case: Banacek works for nobody, he works for the reward and everybody is a suspect. He's arrogant and alone. And it's pretty cool.

He's not Harry O. There's no weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders. Banacek is a thinking machine, pure and simple.

Highlight? Dexter (surprises)
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03.00 The Closer
04.00 House
07.00 Harry O

The Closer. Season 4, Episode 8. "Split Ends" Brenda's delightful parents make another visit as The Best Dressed Cops On TV go after a man who battered his wife (and probably killed her). With Provenza's backstory in the mix, and Brenda's dad pushing her to get married, the script is as much about marriage/couples as it is about standing up to bullies.

House. Season 5, Episode 4. "Birthmarks" Another classic. The case-of-the-week is every bit as strong as the departure-from-formula element of having House and Wilson drive cross country to House's dad's funeral. Wilson??!! Yeah, this fight didn't last any longer than the others! House and Wilson are starting to remind me of Duncan and Joe on Highlander. How many times did they fight and end their friendship? Lots. So many times that it eventually came to mean nothing. Never mind, it's great to see Wilson back. But - honestly - I miss the private eye guy!

Parenting gets the House treatment this week, and the script has a few things to say about friendship, too. We get some interesting background on the House/Wilson relationship and we see not only that they are tied to one another for ever, but maybe we see why. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, all of the other character work together (for the first time?) on a case. I've never been sure that the show could use all these characters on one case at the same time but I think they have proven me wrong. It works. And the all get screentime and are fun to watch. Chase is so laid back now, it's hilarious/wonderful to watch. He's become Joe Cool from the Peanuts strip!

Best bit? House and the car keys (plus lamp).



Harry O. "Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On" Mixed bag. While there are elements of greatness here, there is no real indication of the great television series that would follow and I can understand why this (first) pilot was not picked up in 1973. What makes this worth watching (and re-watching) is the central performance of David Janssen as Harry Orwell: the actor is superb and the script gives him a superb character to play with. Orwell is more world weary than any other private eye that television has given us, and Janssen ensures that this is conveyed by every word and gesture that the detective makes. He rides the bus, has a bullet lodged in him and is more of a womanizer than other TV heroes. But he's all the more real for it. The story is good but meanders too much and - ultimately - is the weakness of the movie.

Martin Sheen guests as the man who shot Harry. He shows up one night (four years later) holds a gun on Harry, throws lots of money at him and pleads for Harry to protect him. Harry agrees to take the case, then turns over and goes back to sleep! He also leaves the money on the floor for much of the movie. He just doesn't care. But he's motivated to see that justice is done, and the story eventually takes him out late at night into the seedy drug culture of San Diego. There's a long lab-scene in the middle that slows to pace to death speed and a long bike chase at the very end that is good but completely out of place. The story would have worked much better at one-hour and I understand that such a version exists but I have never seen it. This is the one I have. And I've seen it many times. I always love the star and the hero, but the story never holds my interest.

Highlight? Harry O (David Janssen)
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07.00 NCIS
08.00 Valentine
09.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
03.30 Wings

NCIS. Season 4, Episode 24. "Angel of Death" NCIS ends it's fourth season with a superb story, a superb twist and a superb cliffhanger. Triple wow, huh? It's a dark and stormy night and Tony is visiting his girlfriend at the hospital where she works. Some bad guys are on the loose and they need to get a dead body out of the hospital (for the drugs contained within) and Tony (alone and unarmed) finds himself in the line of fire. It's an episode that completely departs from the formula we know and love, and it is all the better for it.

Most of the scenes with Jenny (and her quest for her dead father) were distracting and uninteresting, but it was cool to see Ducky and the gang out for a night on the town. Particularly nice was the scene were Ducky probed Ziva for her true feelings on Tony. Great stuff.

And then there was the final minutes: a superb moment that the show has been building to all season. I never saw it coming. I am gob-smacked and I have no idea what to think now, of the season that has gone before and the relationship between Tony and his girlfriend. Is it completely fake? What the heck is going on? I can't wait to see what comes next...



Valentine. Episode 1. "Valentine" What a delightful hour of TV. Great cast (superb, actually) and a fun premise: Greek Gods here on Earth helping mortals find true love. I'm hooked. When Jaime Murray rose from the pool (in that awesome bikini) my television set blushed! She's sex on legs. This is nothing like the performance she gives on Dexter (which is also good). This is such a different role. Sultry and all-knowing and smug. And very, very sexy. And she's having so much fun. All of them are. Particularly Kristoffer Polaha as the God of Lust. Every member of the cast sparkles in this, and the script sizzles with great lines: "What kind of plumbers are you?" etc. Who cares if the case-of-the-week is a bit corny? This is good clean FUN. I'm hooked.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 3, Episode 3. "Dennis and Dee's Mom is Dead" is one of the funniest episodes of anything that I have ever seen. And certainly rivals the Nazi-memorabilia episode as the best ever episode of Always Sunny. The announcement of the the death was hilarious (how awesome is Danny DeVito? Seriously?) but nothing compares to the reading of the will. That right there is a television classic: Dennis and Dee and their 'dad' fighting over the stuff that has not been left to them. Classic. Painfully funny. And the episode stayed great to the final scene. Very wise decision, bringing Stephen Collins back into the fold again. His goodness and niceness is such a wonderful contrast to the vile regular characters. And the sight of him forcing Dee and her 'dad' to pretend to have sex is also worthy of being called a television classic.

Wings. Season 2, Episode 1. "The Puppetmaster" is a very funny start to the new season which picks up the story of Brian's pursuit of Helen where the show left off at the end of Season One. Helen has a rule about never dating pilots, so Brian (of course) hires an actor to be her perfect man, date her and then reveal that he is... a pilot. Such a good scheme, and perfect Brian. Things do not go according to plan, however and the show goes all-out to create laughs. And it succeeds. Best bit? Joe falls over the chairs after giving Helen a very passionate kiss. Funny. And romantic. I love Helen's spunk.

Highlight? It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (the reading of the will)
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09.30 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
10.30 My Own Worst Enemy
11.30 Eleventh Hour

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 5. "Goodbye To All That" Funny how things change. When this show started my main interest was in the women: Sarah and Cameron. Because they were both so cool. And, let's face it, so bloody hot!! Lately my interest has switched to young John Connor, and his progression into manhood. And independence. He's cool. And so - of course - is Brian Austin Green. And Derek the guy he plays. This episode pushes both of the guys to the forefront and it's a fantastic outing. Derek is a writer's dream, really. A time-traveller back here from a horrible future that is only years away from us. He's haunted and driven. And it's great.

This is the episode where Derek and John go undercover at the military school (as tutor and pupil, respectively). It was good. So good I wished it was a two-parter. They meet Martin Beddell for the first time. In the future he becomes one of John's best friends, and Thomas Dekker and Will Rothhaar did a great job on selling the friendship. They were pitch perfect, really. Every time they were on screen together you felt the bond growing and believed that they could/would reach a stage where one would willingly die for the other in battle.

The show revisited the Nuclear power plant (from the season's 'weakest' episode) and manages to redeem that earlier stand-alone episode by making what happened there more relevant to the ongoing plot. It helps that Ellison is there now. I like that character and the journey he is on.

But the episode belonged to Derek and the ghosts (from his past/future).



My Own Worst Enemy. Episode 1. "Breakdown" I'm sorry, but if you want me to watch a show about a family guy's double life as a spy you had better make the spy life fun to watch, and/or make the family into people I care about. This pilot does neither. The spy side of things is dreary and the family is lifted from all the lame sit-coms you ever saw. Christian Slater is terrific in the central dual-role, but what a sad waste of Mädchen Amick as his boring wife.



Eleventh Hour. Episode 1. "Resurrection" Bland clone of many other shows. Clever, moody guy teams up with sexy FBI chick to solve crimes of science. He's really, really, really serious and she can't act (but she carries a gun). Together they re-enact scenes from other TV shows (like The X-Files) and there's not much entertainment value. It's not actually bad, like Knight Rider, just bland and forgettable fare.

Highlight? The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Derek)
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05.30 Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 3. "Are You Ready for Friday Night?" The first game of the season and... the Best Show On Television isn't quite as enjoyable this season. Coach Taylor left. The guy that replaced him is a bit of a jerk. Now, Taylor has decided to come back. And the jerk will be written out. Too easy.

Julie has been treating Matt like crap and has finally broken up with him. He is heart-broken. Meanwhile a beautiful home-help has arrived to help Matt take care of his grandmother and the sparks are flying. Hmm. Could it be that this will be Matt's new lover by the time Julie comes to her senses? Too easy.

Landry has struggled to win the heart of Tyra. Now that he's defended her honour (and, indeed, killed a man to save her) she is throwing herself into his bed. Once again, too easy.

And when things are this easy on FNL, I find myself losing interest.

The sparks of the show's greatness are still there however: Riggin's decline in this episode and his bout with religion. Tami hitting Julie and (later) crying about it to her husband were wonderful scenes. Wonderful in the sense that they were real and raw and painful to watch.

More of this please, and less of the 'too easy' stuff.

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07.00 Z Rock
07.30 It's Your Move
08.00 Law And Order

Z Rock. "Episode 4" Another moderately amusing episode with the likable guys of ZO2. Because the show is driven by events that carry from episode to episode it tends to get a bit funnier as things get more complicated every week. This works both in the show's favour and against it. On the plus side, it's fun to see events pile up week after week, but on the negative side it means that new viewers won't be as amused by this episode as people who have been with the show all along. Also when you start a TV show and know that you are going to drag the one story out over many episodes, it's a risk (in a comedy) because your first episode may not be all that funny on it's own. Whereas your tenth episode might be hilarious. The risk is that your first outing may not hook people enough for them to stay around for all ten.

David, Paul and Joey continue to interchangeable. One of them (who knows which one??) is now having an ongoing affair with the record producer's wife who first appeared in episode one. This time out, the producer has hired a private investigator to track her down. Dina (the hilarious band manager) is right by his side for all of this, while (in some clever writing) she is also able to hear (via phone) the man's wife in bed with one of the band members!

I watch this show for Dina.

It's Your Move. Episode 1. "Pilot" Before he found critical acclaim on Arrested Development, Jason Bateman spent a season starring in this absolute gem of a series back in 1984. It died a death in the ratings opposite Dynasty (as the lead-in to St. Elsewhere) but it was bloody wonderful and still stands as one of my favourite comedy series of all time. Batemen excels as Matthew, a teenage conman (in the mould of Sgt. Bilko) who must watch mits on a daily basis with his mother's new boyfriend Norman: the only adult within miles who can see that Matthew is not to be trusted.

The show is great because Bateman is wonderful, because the scripts are clever & funny, and because most of the characters are fleshed out and real. At one point we see Matt stuffing money (from his scams) into his Mom's purse. No schmaltz or false sentimentality in this show, just a blink-and-you-miss-it acknowledgement that Matthew isn't all bad and his efforts to drive Norman away are more about helping his mother find someone who can provide for her than anything else.

The guys behind this show went on to make Married With Children.



Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 9. "Executioner" Death Sentence Gone Wrong! Another one of those great episodes were there are no clear bad guys, just a lot of moral ambiguity. Except for Cutter, who sees the world in black and white. Connie proves her value to the team (yet again) by reining him in at the end of the episode and helping bring about a milder sentence. Michael Rooker and James Rebhorn give great performances in this one. And it's a satisfying, if typical, episode of Law And Order.

Highlight? It's Your Move (clever)
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05.30 Threshold
06.30 The Middleman
07.30 Pushing Daisies
08.30 Supernatural
02.00 The Office
02.30 Corner Gas



Threshold. Episode 13. "Alienville" For it's final episode, Threshold delivers one of the standards of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling: alone in the 'friendly small town' where everyone has been brainwashed. It's Molly and Cavennaugh in danger, trying to track a human scientist in danger from aliens, and trying to survive the citizens of the town. Good fun. Episode has a nice ending, too, which tries very hard to give fans an upbeat ending to the cancelled series. Gotta admire that.

The Middleman. Episode 11. "The Clotharian Contamination Protocol" Part of the fun of watching this show is the text that appears on screen during the episodes. Most shows just use on-screen text to tell you the date, the time or the location. Middleman does that, too. But they also find quirky ways to impart lots of other cool information, too. And jokes, of course. This is another strong episode. And it ends with a great scene where Wendy - sure she is about to die - tells The Middleman that he has been like a father to her. Hard to see that without a small tear in the corner of your eye.

Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 2. "Circus Circus" Chi McBride gets all the best lines and his character is more pivotal to the story than usual because there is a parallel between the case he has taken and his own missing daughter. No dead body to kick start the story this time, which makes you wonder why he bothers to bring The Pie Maker along. But, with PD, it's best to stay away from questions. I mean, why exactly is Olive hiding in a convent? Best to just sit back and enjoy the spectacle as the PD gang head to a circus. It turns out to be a quirky circus and - before long - there are dead bodies piling up. Clown dead bodies, by the way!

I'm not really enjoying the while Chuck has moved out storyline, but I like the bits where she dives over the counter every time an aunt walks into Ned's place. Goofy fun.

Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 13. "Houses of the Holy" A so-so episode. The story is good, but the conflict between the brothers is a bit too manufactured for my liking. Sam thinks the supernatural force at work could be an angel, while Dean reveals that he has no belief in angels. They argue about this a lot and I wasn't buying any of it. I mean, there's already so much conflict inherent in the characters that this seems too contrived to be needed. Even worse was the ending where each brother has come to see things from the other's perspective. It's a solid stand-alone story idea (for a movie or a book) but as part of this television series? I'm not sure it belongs here. It's hard to be invested in a fight that - you know - will never be mentioned again in the series.



The Office. Season 5, Episode 2. "Business Ethics" How I love this show! Where else am I to find a story so resplendent in moral wrongness? (Yes, I wrote 'wrongness', get over it!)

Holly's seminar on ethics unearths some really bad behaviour in the office and sets in motion events that might lead to someone losing their job. Michael is horrified and he and Holly butt heads over it. Their conversations about it not being 'a family' are painful to watch because we know how Michael thinks and feels at this stage and it's sad to see how far apart he and Holly still are. You cannot help but wonder how the writers can possibly find an ending that works.

And they do. The ending is sublime. Wrong on so many levels, but so perfectly right for this show. And all of the Michael/Holly scenes are wonderful. It's turning a new pleasure on this show: watching Michael almost get things right with Holly. Watching Holly notice and appreciate it. I'm falling in love with them falling in love.

As good as the a-story was, it was the b-story that gave me my episode highlight: Jim taunting Dwight about Battlestar Galactica. That wasn't just funny, that was comedy gold.

Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 19. "Gopher It" When Red Dwarf delivered a fake final episode at the end of one season it really upset me and cemented my love for the show and it's characters. This is the fake final episode of Corner Gas, the one where the characters all prepare to go their separate ways. I already know how much I love this show, so I don't need anything to put it in focus for me. Still, though, I found myself moderately upset that this might be the way things pan out. I guess I just don't want the show to end. And had this been a real final episode it would have been a great one to finish on. Thank frak it wasn't, though.

Highlight? The Office (BSG, Holly)
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06.00 Worst Week
06.30 Cavemen
07.00 Banacek

Worst Week. Episode 3. "The Monitor" Nick Kroll joins the cast as Sam's friend - Adam - called in to fix the painting damaged in episode 1. Each episode tends to be a lot less funny than the one before it, but the show continues to be ingenious and Sam is still a likable (if very unlucky) hero. Kroll is a standout and so is RonReaco Lee as Melanie's brother who - at one stage - wakes to find Sam standing over him with a pillow. Having written off all of Sam's previous attempts to - as it appears - kill him, he finally freaks out when he sees this. Very funny.



Cavemen. Episode 7. "Nick Work, Andy Jerk" Nick Kroll is usually the best thing about this show, and he's very good in this episode, but the most laughs come from Sam Huntington as Andy gets a really strong storyline. He's gotten himself a job, knee-deep in corporate America, and he doesn't quite fit in. Andy (being Andy) runs around trying to make friends with everyone. Which leads to meetings on "personal space" and so forth. Very funny and (as is often the case with this show) very insightful. Meanwhile, back on the homefront, Joel and Nick have a fight over Kate and Nick's treatment of her. Eventually Joel moves out and Nick becomes a total slob. While it covers ground familiar to anyone who has ever seen a sit-com before - to the show's considerable credit - it manages to raise several good laughs. All in all, with it's dead-on social commentary and successful jokes, this is one of the very strongest episodes.



Banacek. Episode 1. "Detour To Nowhere" An armoured car vanishes from a desert highway! An inexplicable mystery if ever there was one. It can only be a case for... Thomas Banacek! One of the coolest investigators to ever grace a television screen. George Peppard brings his usual smug charm to the role and gives us a TV hero unlike any other. The movie opens with a solid mystery and delivers great characters: the very cool Mr. Banacek, a rival investigator (and romantic interest) and a limo driver who is more than he appears. Christine Belford is beautiful and has great chemistry with Peppard. Their romantic dance is the best thing about the first half-hour of the movie. A location switch (from Boston to the desert) only makes things better and Banacek goes up against various small-town types and uses very impressive logic to hone in on the location of the armoured car. The story delivers one truly great twist (the person listening in on the phone call at the end), misleads you as to the identity of the main bad guy and provides a solution at the end that is genuinely satisfying. Through it all Banacek is arrogant and smug but (thanks to Peppard) 100% likable. One of my favourite detectives.

Highlight? Banacek (cool)
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07.00 It Takes A Thief



It Takes A Thief. Episode 1. "Magnificent Thief" I'll begin by saying that the opening minutes are among the best I have ever seen in a pilot.

It opens with an action sequence which clearly establishes the good guys, the bad guys and what's at stake. We see a man (soon revealed to be a good guy) trying to steal a briefcase from some men (soon revealed to be the bad guys) and dying for his efforts. Scene two brings us inside the offices of the good guys where Noah Bain mourns the death of another agent and say they will need a thief to get this job done. Luckily, he knows the best: Alexander Mundy. When asked why - if Mundy is so good - he wound up in prison, Bain explains that the best thief was beaten by the best cop.

Nice way to have our hero in prison without taking away any of his power. He can still be the greatest thief ever (in our eyes) because the writers have just told us why he's in prison. It also helps that we meet him in the middle of a successful jailbreak attempt. A funny one, too. Mundy abandons his escape plan when he learns that he's just been released anyway.

Next: Bain introduces Mundy to his new dwelling. A mansion complete with fast cars, beautiful women and high-tech equipment. Barely ten minutes into it and the show has delivered a strong story and completely set up the premise that will drive the series. Not only that, but thanks to the casting of Robert Wagner, we have an instantly likable hero.

What follows is good fantasy drama. Mundy (with beautiful Senta Berger in tow) sets out to get the briefcase for the good guys. He lies, steals and cons his way close to the case, gets it and - when the story takes a twist at the mid-point- goes 'rogue agent' to 'plug the leak' and put things right with the world. The movie has several action high points, Berger and Wagner make a fantastic team (her character is just as interesting and heroic) and John Saxon is at his best as the ultimate villain of the piece. The show is littered with nifty cameos, too, and Wagner is often very funny when he's doing his thing.

The pacing suffers a lot towards the end when the show does a lot of location shooting at something called Expo 68. Nothing much happens for ages as we watch the characters walk here and there (with Expo 68 in the background of every shot). All very boring. Luckily it picks up and Mundy is soon climbing things, stealing things and being shot at again.

I really loved this pilot movie!

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06.30 NCIS
07.30 The Ex List
03.00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
03.30 Wings

NCIS. Season 4, Episode 23. "Trojan Horse" NCIS delivers a nice change-of-pace episode, when a dead body arrives at their HQ in a taxi! Michael Patrick McGill is great fun as the taxi driver, scared of both his wife, who nags him on the phone, and Gibbs, who won't let him go. The story delivers a great twist, too. And a pretty good cliff-hanger, also.

The Ex List. Episode 1. "Pilot" What an odd show. A shallow and pointless heroine is humiliated by an ex-boyfriend. I'm not sure what she did to deserve this, and I'm not sure why the producers thought I'd like her or want to follow her further adventures....

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 3, Episode 2. "The Gang Gets Invincible" is very funny as, once again, the regulars respond with 100% gusto to an external stimulus and display some of their worst qualities in the process. When Mac and Dennis get a shot at trying out for the city's football team, Dee (responding to their sexist comments) poses as a guy and joins the try-outs. Many funny scenes follow and it is scary how very good (the very attractive) Kaitlin Olson is at being a guy! Best bits? Her conversation with the caped guy on the bus, Dennis getting KO'ed and her own eventual downfall after revealing her gender to everyone.



Wings. Episode 6. "All for One and Two for Helen" The best episode of the first season finds Brian making his move on Helen, while a jealous Joe sits outside her house all night to see if anything is going on. The episode has several high points: Joe's speech on the three owls is hysterical (as is Lowell's revelation that he accidently killed the owls), Brian's antics as he tries to seduce Helen, the conversation (chemistry) between Joe and Helen at the end and any scene where Helen talks tough and lays down the law.

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05.30 Prison Break

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 7. "Five The Hard Way" The Vegas storyline was a bit naff, but - in all other respects - this was an episode that blew me away. And, towards the end, the Vegas storyline actually became very enjoyable. It was great to see Jude Ciccolella but, like Stacy Haiduk before him, he was totally underused as a guest star. Besides... there is no tension to be had here anymore. We know that Linc and the gang are going to get the card/info. So showing it, after seven episodes, it almost boring. Towards the end, however, things got funny with Sucre having to step up and go undercover. As a gay man. That was funny. Otherwise nothing of much interest happened in Vegas.

Back in LA however the show delivered some of it's best-ever material. Don Self is under threat and - following advice from Alex - he takes the fight to the attacker. What an amazing scene that was! Michael Rapaport gave a great performance as a very-nervous Self managing to find the strength to fight his corner while in deep and way over his head. Great to see stuff like that. A hero in a show like this who isn't all bad-ass and cool. Just terrified and brave. I like him.

But the episode belonged to Gretchen and T-Bag. Now working as a lethal team and - in this episode - responsible for two the show's best-ever scenes: T-Bag threatens Trishanne (the receptionist) and Gretchen kills Blauner (the idiot who hounded T-Bag). Riveting, dark and dangerous. Exactly the way we want Prison Break to be. Exactly the way we want it's 'heroes' to be.

Speaking of heroes: Alex Mahone continues to be the absolute best thing about this show. Fun though it may have been for William Fichtner to play a drugged-out Mahone during Season Three it was no real fun for us in watching a guy we loved suffering. Plus he wasn't 'cool' anymore like he was back in Season Two. Well those days are gone and Alex Mahone is frakkin' cool again. His escape from T-Bag's trap was worthy of Jack Bauer and his later appearance (to rescue Michael) was bad-ass cool. I love the bond that exists between Alex and Michael: two very, very smart men capable of communicating is very clever ways. A lethal team, in their own way...

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06.30 House
07.30 Z Rock
08.00 Law And Order
09.00 Flashpoint

House. Season 5, Episode 3. "Adverse Events" Best episode so far this season. An absolute delight from start to finish. There's no angst this week over Wilson (thank frak!) and instead we get a fascinating case, House in hilarious form and a script with layer upon layer of meaning and double meaning and hidden meaning. A bit like any conversation between House and his new best buddy: Lucas (the private eye). Lucas is fantastic. And the best development to hit this show since last year's addition of the new regulars.

In fact the show pretty much has a whole new cast now. House has three different team-members (Thirteen, Taub and Kutner) and a brand new best friend (Lucus) who, for my money, is a much-better addition to the show than dreary old Wilson. Sorry Wilson fans, but these conversations are much more fun to watch/listen to than all of that previous stuff with Wilson being exasperated all the time. Lucas is fun. And I love the way he and House interact. I hope he stays on this show instead of being spun off into his own show.

This is a great Taub episode. We get a peek inside his private life and - for whatever reason - Taub is the only one out of all of them who seems able to stand up to House. Love seeing those moments.

Z Rock. "Episode 3" Another peek inside this odd (but fun) world. As we see more episodes, and get used to the running jokes, it's possible to enjoy the show a bit more. The fact that the guys keep running into famous musician's at kid's party's is growing old fast (it's John Popper this week) and the twist at the end of this episode (while good) is just a rethread of the short gag from the first episode. The guy's think they have it made, but their famous contact is more interested in the music they play for kids during the day. Fine, but is that all there is to this show?



Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 8. "Illegal" When it looks as if a cop might have killed an innocent bystander during a riot, the case causes problems for Van Buren, Lupo and McCoy. The episode glances at the first two, and devotes most of it's second half to Jack McCoy: one of television's greatest heroes, played to perfection (once again) by Sam Waterston. Waterson is so suited to the role of "the boss" that's it's hard to believe he spent more than a decade being "the lead". Jeremy Sisto and Linus Roache are terrific, too. Very cool. And I loved their little exchange as Lupo read his law book. But the episode belongs to McCoy and his speech on the stand was wonderful. Bad-ass cool.

Flashpoint. Episode 8. "Never Kissed a Girl" Flashpoint continues to change the format, get away with it (when it shouldn't) and tell stories from the heart. Ed is on-site when a hostage siege starts and winds up in the middle of it. It's a TV cliché and it shouldn't work. But, by tying it back to events in the pilot, the writers are able to sell it. It helps that the show is dominated by a killer performance from series-star Hugh Dillon. This guy is cool. Jack Bauer cool. Guest star Mpho Koaho is no slouch, either. He will break your heart with this role. A+ television again.

Highlight? Flashpoint (Ed Lane kicks ass, with compassion)
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05.30 Threshold
06.30 The Middleman
07.30 Pushing Daisies
08.30 Supernatural



Threshold. Episode 12. "Vigilante" Threshold was the CBS take on "what if CSI was about aliens invading?" and no episode better illustrates this than the one where Ramsey witnesses the killing of a girl (that he has just slept with) and the team investigate. All of the opening scenes are very much like the ones found on other CBS crime procedurals and maybe if the show had opened with a few episodes like this it would have hooked more viewers. Maybe.

Across the board this is a fantastic episode. Peter Dinklage holds the episode together with a performance of many layers. He makes you laugh, he makes you cry: Ramsey is one of TV's coolest heroes. Likewise: Fenway, whose continued fighting with Molly is my fave part of the show. They hate each other's methods, yet they must work together. Fantastic dynamic. It helps that Brent Spiner is one of the coolest people on planet earth!

Speaking of cool people... Jeffrey Donovan rocks the show with a great guest shot that - I presume - would have led to further appearances if the show had not been cancelled too soon. Donovan plays an alien infectee who has the ability to see the aliens. More than that: he is tracking them down and killing them... one by one.

Several great actions sequences in this one, with Manning finally biting the dust (yay!) after weeks of causing problems for the heroes. Best action bit: The vigilante goes after Lucas while he is visiting his wife at the hospital where she works. A thrilling chase/battle.

The Middleman. Episode 10. "The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation" Where else am I going to see a story about Vampire Puppets? Yes, this show operates in the same general area as Pushing Daisies and Reaper but with considerably more panaché. I love these characters, I love the fast pace of the stories, I love the millions of pop culture references, I love the cast, I love the ongoing romances, I love everything about this.

Best bit? The vampire puppet turned into a bat puppet and flew off (with the poor guy still attached!). I was amazed by that. And by the revelation, at the end, that MM's heart belongs to some other woman. Who? A dead wife, maybe?

Also, what are the three Canadian vampire detective series? Forever Knight, Blood Ties and...? Wendy's a bigger TV geek than me! I love her even more now!

Pushing Daisies. Season 2, Episode 1. "Bzzzzzzz!" Strong case-of-the-week? Check! Endearing character moments? Check! Unique visual style? Hmm, looks like critical-darling Pushing Daisies has weathered the long break very well and returns to the airwaves without missing a beat. Yes! To be honest, I wasn't worried. Once they got from the pilot to the regular series and sustained the vision, I was confident. So, what to say about this episode? It was cool and very funny. And Kristin Chenoweth stole the show. With Chi McBride coming a close second.

Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 12. "Nightshifter" Superb! Sam and Dean trapped in a bank siege with a crazed gunman, hostages and a shape-shifting supernatural evil. The gunman is after the same supernatural evil that they are, but methods cause a lot of problems for the boys, putting them very much on the FBI's radar (an excellent Charles Malik Whitfield).

From the get-go this is a flawless outing. Great character work as Sam now acts like the tough one when it comes to dealing with the general public. His tough-love methods make sense (and prove tragically prophetic). The action inside the bank is thrilling from start to finish. I defy anyone to predict what will happen next, at any time. When the sniper fired the kill shot I was breathless with shock. And the mechanics of those final minutes (the boys and the two identical girls) were as clever as anything I have ever seen.

Highlight? Supernatural (twists), with The Middleman coming a close second (Vampire Puppets? Frak me!)
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07:30 Columbo
09:30 90210



Columbo. Episode 12. "The Most Crucial Game" Very enjoyable. There's no real cat-and-mouse game, but we get to see lots of great Columbo moments where we see him noticing things and react while nobody is watching him. This episode also boasts one of the very best endings. The ending is moderately clever and satisfying, but the way it is shot and edited raises it up towards being magnificent. The revelation is followed by no dialogue, just multiple close-ups and silence until the eventual fade to black.

Robert Culp returns to the show to play the killer again, but he and Peter Falk share very few scenes. Instead, the rumpled detective behaves more like a typical TV detective and spends a lot of his time with other people: a football coach (James Gregory), a private eye (Val Avery) and a prostitute (Valerie Harper). All three guest stars are terrific and these scenes allow us to see another side of Columbo: the tough detective. He's not bumbling with he lays a trap for the pi or when he forces the call girl to give him some info. And every step of the way he's the clever observer we know and love. This movie is filled with great Columbo moments (the water, the telephone, the off-switch, the clock). Time and time we see that this is a clever guy and we root for him.

90210. Episode 6. "Model Behavior" Some elements are good, but most of this one is plastic nonsense. Only in the crazy world of 90210 could this happen: a fashion photographer desperately needs Debbie's help for a fashion shoot/show and - soon - all the kids are involved. Nonsense. Normally I will accept this if the she can throw something good into the mix, but there is little to enjoy in this one. Best bits? The Kelly/Brenda fight over Dylan, Adrianna's problems and the stuff between Naomi and her boyfriend. Their break-up scene in the car was wonderfully underplayed and rather heartbreaking. The show needs more of this and less of the "I desperately need your help with this fashion show" crap.

Highlight? Columbo (clever hero)
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07:00 McMillan And Wife



McMillian And Wife. Episode 7. "'Til Death Do Us Part" The first season of McMillian And Wife got better and better. The previous episode was great. This one is superb! The whole thing takes place over the course of one evening, with Mac and Sally trapped in their own house and facing almost certain death. The first half of the movie, featuring no action of any sort and only two actors on screen, is like watching a ticking bomb. The tension builds and builds.

Mac has just arrived home from a press conference. A serial killer is on the loose and San Francisco is up in arms. It's Sally's birthday and the happy couple want to try and celebrate, despite the stress of Mac's job. We know that somebody is outside watching the house, they don't. Inside the house, inconsequential events have an added layer of meaning/tension because we know they are being stalked. And it works a treat. Various objects are missing. Minor household objects... gone! Mac and Sally talk about it, but neither one is concerned about it. We are. The couple we love also remark on how odd it is that everyone on the circle has been sent away, or out of town, by a strange fluke of chance. Neither one of them is particularly concerned about it, but we are.

At the mid-way point, the action ramps up and all hell breaks loose. At this stage the show moves into the sort of territory usually to be found on shows like The Avengers. What happens? Well, the bad guy throws a huge bag over the whole house, traps them inside and starts to pump in some poisonous gas. There's a bit more to it than that, it's really some mis-led exterminators, but that's essentially what happens on-screen. And boy does it make for great television! Big, larger-than-life, a bit daft but lots of fun. And very exciting and scary. I really could not imagine how the writer was going to get them out of this. It's that good. And the ending - when it does come - is just as good as the build up.

I loved this. And will happily watch it again and again.

The sub-plot given to Sgt. Enright is also wonderful. He's out of town with a beautiful model and he doesn't quite understand how he could be so lucky. But we do, thanks to a wonderful performance by Samantha Jones, who convinces us that she's smitten with the rumpled side-kick. Nothing much happens to them, and they only get a few scenes, but they are a wonderful couple and I would happily watch them week after week.

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