09:00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
11:00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles
12:00 Knight Rider
01:00 90210

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 2, Episode 10. "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad" One of the best episodes. There are several highlights in this one: Danny DeVito going nuts in a very public place after being told that his kids aren't really his kids, Charlie & Mac attacking Stephen Collins in a car park and Dennis & Dee going onstage to sing with their real father are three of the best sequences the show has offered so far. Hilarious.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 3. "The Mousetrap" One of the best episodes. Unlike last week's case-of-the-week type story this one is completely driven by how the characters react with one another. Cromartie kidnaps Michelle which sends Charley to Sarah for help. She and Derek respond but all is not what it seems. Meanwhile John tries to find distance from Sarah and Cameron, which means more time with Riley and - unfortunately - leaves him wide open for an attack from Cromartie. Ellison, meanwhile, finds himself face-to-face with Catherine Weaver for the first time.

So... here's a show where all the conflict/drama comes from within. The character's relationships are enough to drive the show at the moment and that is a fantastic strength in any television series.

John continues to be my favourite character. Watching him grow into manhood continues to be great television. I love having Busy Philipps on the show. I've adored her ever since her awesome Love, Inc. sit-com and she seems to be a great addition to the mix on this show. Her baby, I assume, will have some sort of impact on Cameron's continuing growth. Gonna be cool to see that. It's cool watching Cameron here, too. What is really going on in her head, now, with regard to John?

This episode, however, is devoted to Charley, Michelle and Sarah. Cromartie's plan is very, very clever (except for the last part, of course. Why did he choose the pier?) and there is some great drama to be had from watching Charley, Michelle and Sarah deal with the trap and it's horrible aftermath. Rarely has a show managed to impact on me so much with the death of a minor recurring character. There is no dialogue from any of the regulars in any of the final scenes, you'll notice. Images tell the story. It's a sad story. And this is a supremely skillful television series.



Knight Rider. Episode 2. "A Knight In Shining Armor" Appalling television. Seriously. This is, like, some of the worst TV I have ever seen in my life. The story is badly constructed and non-sensical. Changes in tone are jarring and un-natural (as if we are watching clips from different episodes). Minor-characters (plus attempts at comedy) are absurd and hateful. KITT defies the laws of physics at every turn and the whole show is inept and embarrassing.

90210. Episode 5. "Wide Awake and Dreaming" One of the best episodes. Driven by three strong stories and a really likable cast this one is a real pleasure to watch. Jessica Lowndes is amazing as her character's drug problems come to a head and force her out of the school show. Fascinating character (finally) taking center-stage and - wow - can that lady ever sing!!

Naomi's family falls apart around her and... I care. AnnaLynne McCord has made me like the character and want to see how things go for her.

Harry Wilson is no Coach Taylor but I enjoyed seeing him come to terms with his daughter's awakening sexuality. Annie's hasty decision to sleep with Ty, her quest for a condom and the sad end of her evening all made for good viewing.

Sure, it's a far cry from Greek or Friday Night Lights but it's not trying to be either of those shows and it's a pretty good sequel to the original. I'm a fan. I'm in this for the rest of the season.

Highlight? The Sarah Connor Chronicles (death in the cast)
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10:00 Worst Week

Worst Week. Episode 1. "Pilot" I watched it again a second time and I laughed almost as much this time out. As the oddest of disasters befall him Kyle Bornheimer has a great way of reacting to it. His sense of "really? this is what's going to happen now" makes him into a very likable hero. Methinks, I'll be sticking with this one for the long haul.

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08:00 Prison Break
09:00 Worst Week

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 5. "Safe and Sound" Two narratives in this episode: the very-clever Michael leads the Team on an assault on a safe containing one of the things they have to collect this season, while the very-clever Alex helps Sara and sets off to track down his son's killer. Both story's were very tense and very exciting but I was more emotionally invested in Alex's storyline. He's my favourite character and even if I had never seen the show before my heart would bleed after watching that amazing/wonderful/emotional scene between him and his wife. I'm so glad the writers did not go down the cliche route of having her turn against Alex because, you know, "this is all your fault" or some such crap. No, she has a very human reaction. The sight of them crying together, arms entwined in that cramped/public booth, is a sight that will linger with me for a while.

T-Bag and the (unbelievably hot) receptionist have a couple of fun scenes and Gretchen gets free in grisly fashion. The scene with the receptionist is cool because it reminds us that T-Bag can be dangerous and she would be wise to be care, and the Gretchen scene is cool because she's making like Jack Bauer.

So... a perfect episode of Prison Break: lots of thrills and I cannot wait to see what happens next.



Worst Week. Episode 1. "Pilot" I laughed a lot at this one. Right from the start I was chuckling, but by the end I was in peals of laughter. Sam is a likable hero in the middle of some crazy bad luck. The writers stretch things a lot to make some of the comedy work (like when the dad lay down in the undertakers) but the results are very funny. Based on this first outing, I'm prepared to stick around for the rest of the 'week'.

Highlight? Prison Break (Alex)
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06:30 Z Rock
07:00 Friday Night Lights
08:00 Law And Order
09:00 Flashpoint
11:00 NewsRadio
11:30 Wings



Z Rock. Episode 1. Likeable, but not hilarious. This first episode lacks the bite of similar shows like Flight Of The Conchords, Entourage, etc. It's certainly amusing, but it ambles along without any sense of zest or purpose. Seems like this will be about a bunch of guys who (like the Conchords) can't seem to make it big, or get their big break. However this first episode paints them as very ordinary, very nice guys. And, as I see it, characters who fail in sit-coms are failing because of their own flaws. The more exaggerated the flaws are the more amusing we will find it. In theory. These guys aren't exactly flawed. What do they do to screw things up in the opening episode? Um, they overslept. Yes, it was after partying with some groupies but still... it's hardly a fatal character flaw, is it? Wanting to sleep with hot groupies?

Never mind me, I've over analysing. It was funny in places, so I will watch it again.

Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 1. "Last Days of Summer" The Best Show On Television. Wonderful opening episode. Coach Taylor has been away from his family for a long time and it shows. The story deftly illustrates the impact his absence is having on the two women in his life: his wife in tears on the couch, his daughter ignoring the rules of the house. Without ever going over the top, the show shows us a family in pain. Lots of sadness in the Taylor household.

Julie is treating Matt like crap. Chasing an older boy and ignoring the one who loves her. To be fair to her, her boyfriend is being a bit of wimp about it and her own reasoning about why she is doing this (in the conversation with her father in the car) makes a whole lot of sense. It's not just me being fair to her, the script is fair to her. Her behaviour is that of a self-centered teen, yet the story allows us to feel for her and sympathise with her (even when she is being most unsympathetic).

Watching Coach Taylor suffer is also riveting. It's an age-old struggle: man wants to be at work to provide for family and wife wants man to be more attentive to her and the family. The best scene is probably the one where Coach sees how Buddy's family has fallen apart. Is it a warning signal? You bet it is!

Tyra and Landry are much closer now. It's a situation we've seen a lot of times before, but I'm utterly charmed by it all over again. The ending of the ending of the episode proved controversial when it first aired (Landry kills someone in a fight to protect Tyra). Fans didn't seem to like it. I do. I agree that it's a bit too sensational (and 'TV') for a such a low-key and realistic television show. I'm invested in these characters. St. Elsewhere was about intimate quite moments between very real people, too. And it often went way over the top and never lost it's touch. I have faith in Friday Night Lights to do the same.

Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 6. "Political Animal" The show often sends it's detectives down the wrong path for much of their investigation. This is one of those times. Three victims and the guys investigate the wrong one for the first third of the episode. It's a device, I suppose, to tell two stories and - more importantly - allow the 'main storyline' to occupy as much time as it needs without any padding. So, in this episode we get to see the story of a politician who is secretly gay and living a double life. And, once the real motive/killer is found, we switch to the story of con-man working amid the politicians of New York. He's a fascinating character and it's a fascinating episode. John Ortiz gives a stunning performance as the deluding (and deluded) central character, and the episode gives us a fascinating insight into his mindset.

Flashpoint. Episode 6. "Attention Shoppers" Wow. The best episode so far. The show is operating in 'A+" territory with aplomb. It's such a clever idea, to reinvent SWAT and do it as character-based drama with tear-jerking stories every week. Sarah Gadon is wonderful as the girl at the centre of this story: confused, alone and on the run. Amy Jo Johnson is just as superb as the team member who does the most to try and get the girl out alive. Indeed, it's a great cast all around with all the regulars and guest being nothing short of superb. Kristin Fairlie, for instance, was a really hateful baddie. Great work.

The episode opens, as always, with snippet of things at crisis point and the we flashback a few hours and watch the girl in the middle of it all and see how things got so bad for her. It's a riveting opening few minutes as the writers skillfully paint a picture of who this girl is and give us a million reasons to care about her. Things go crazy and - after pausing for the best opening theme on TV at the moment - after that we watch the team come in a try and find the girl in a mall full of scared shoppers.

I love the way the show finds subtle ways to show us that Jules is part of the team yet separate from it, due to her gender. She is alone in her locker-room while the guys share the camaraderie of the men's locker room. Yet, in the closing moments of the episode, as she walks across the street to re-join her team we see them all waiting for her (one even throws his arm around her) and we know for a fact that she is one of them. The episode ends with another music montage and - as ever - it's class.

I watched this with a group and we were all spellbound. Breathless, with - maybe - a tear or two in the corner of our eyes as we watched Jules try and save the girl's life. The beauty of this show is that some week's the give you a happy ending and some week's the give you a sad ending. So, now, after six week's we don't know anymore if the person we like will live or die. It makes for great storytelling.

Flashpoint is easily one of the very best shows on TV right now.

NewsRadio. Season 2, Episode 19. "Presence" Lots of funny stuff in this one. Jimmy loses Bill in a poker game and Lisa steps in to win him back. Bill's sequence of odd good-byes to everyone is surely a series highlight and the chemistry between (newly broken up) Lisa and Dave is superb. Watching them fight back and forward is great comedy. As it the hair-brained scheme put together by Joe to spy on the poker game (a mini-cam inside a Star Wars doll sitting on the table). An example of the show at it's best.

Wings. Episode 5. "There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket" Newly-arrived Brian is trying to shake things up for everyone and get a social life going. He sets Joe up with a girl who has a bit of reputation and - on a double date - he manages to get Joe beaten up in a fist-fight with one of her ex-boyfriends. Megan Mullally (from god-awful Will & Grace) is very watchable in this and the episode is well worth watching for their farewell scene at the end. As well as Brian getting Joe into a fight. Basically it's Brian saying thing like: "Joe doesn't like your attitude" and the large angry man saying things like "Really, Joe, is that right?" while poor Joe looks on in dumbstruck terror. Hilarious.

Highlight? Flashpoint (heart-breaking)
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06:30 The Middleman
07:30 Threshold
08:30 Supernatural
12:30 Back To You
01:00 Greg The Bunny
01:30 Good Morning Miami

The Middleman. Episode 8. "The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation" More goofy fun and sweet romance. The plot revolves around bookish girls taking over the bodies of popular girls at a college and affords series-star Matt Keeslar the chance to play the part of a teenage girl in control of his body. Very funny. But most of this episode is about Wendy's feelings for the guy who is dating her room-mate. He's a guest star from a previous episode and the show is very clever in the way this story unfolds. Very clever indeed. Such a funny, clever show.

Clever? Funny? Hah, a natural to be cancelled too soon.

Sigh.

Threshold. Episode 10. "The Crossing" Lots of action and loud rock music open this episode as three of the aliens captured in earlier episodes attempt an escape from the Threshold HQ. They fail. But Molly decides they need to be moved to another facility. And fast.

During the transfer there's an attempt to break them out (cue: lots more shooting and stuff) but most of this episode dominated by some strong character drama. An infected soldier uses his final hours as a human to document the change for the Threshold team, on the condition that they execute him as soon as he has gone fully alien. Cue: lots of debate between Molly, Fenway and Ramsey about whether this is the right thing to do. It's good stuff, and the episode pulls a nice twist at the very end when one of the team becomes infected, too.

Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 10. "Hunted" We finally hear what John said to Dean and... it's a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. The episode plays fair, however, and we do learn what might be in store for Sam. But his father said very little about it to Dean and I feel a bit cheated that the show teased us for so long about it and delivered very little. When we do learn the 'big secret' it turns out to be from a minor recurring character. Strange storytelling choice.

Apart from that it's a bit of an non-entity episode. Sam goes solo, does some digging, meet a cute girl and gets in trouble. Dean appears mid-way through the episode, gets tied up and that's about it. There's nothing much to get excited about, or interested in. The revelation of Sam's future, though it comes from an unexpected source, is very good and promises of much goodness to come...

Back To You. Episode 17. "Hostage Watch" I've had a love-hate relationship with Back To You since it started, but I must admit that it's final episode was very funny. Chuck is called in when a man holding hostages at a bank specifically requests him as the person he wants to talk to. Everything that plays out inside the bank is funny, and the reaction from Kelly is great, too (she calls out "I love you" to Chuck and then regrets it). The script gives Chuck a nice epiphany wherein he realises he has to stop being reckless like this now that he has a daughter. And it works perfectly within the framework of this being a workplace sit-com.

I liked it a lot. And there is a part of me wishing that it was coming back for a second season.

Greg The Bunny. Episode 13. "Blah Bawls" Flawed it may have been but this show managed some great episodes. A few were dreadful, yes, but most were pretty okay. This is one of those. It's funny and makes great use of the characters. Blah takes centre-stage and it's wonderful. He's a rich and interesting character: Pining for his dead wife and being dragged to a singles club against his will. Lots of funny stuff in all of that, but also a bit of depth and meaning. Things go awry when he ends up sleeping with Warren's ex-wife. The ex-wife that Warren is still very much in love with.

This being a sit-com the amourous couple accidently switch phones which brings everyone to the same place at the same time and allows for lots of comedy mis-understandings. Warren (my favourite character on the show) is priceless in all his scenes and - as well as being funny - the script does a great job of making both regulars into even more interesting characters than they previously were.

Not the best episode but a funny, clever outing nonetheless. This show should have survived.

Good Morning Miami. Episode 9. "Hi, My Name Is Jake" Nothing special happens in this one (until the very, very end) but it's an enjoyable and funny episode. Jake is competing with Gavin in a series of sporting competitions. It gets out of hand and... he joins Gavin at an AA meeting and claims to be an alcoholic! Pretty awful but, hey, the guys on Seinfeld used to do this kind of stuff. Anyway, he feels remorse next morning and spends the rest of the episode trying to undo his stupid lie. Mark Feuerstein and Matt Letscher have great chemistry together and seem to be having a ball in all their squabbling scenes. They are having fun, and it's fun to watch.

At the very end, Dylan lets slip that she 'likes' Jake.

Highlight? The Middleman (body-swap comedy)
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01:00 The Closer
02:00 House
08:00 Columbo
10:00 90210
11:00 Beverly Hills 90210

The Closer. Season 4, Episode 6. "Problem Child" Dark stuff. He might only be 13 but the child at the centre of this story is a disturbed individual. He's the victim. And, as the team investigates, they discover that a lot of people had a lot of very good reasons for wanting him dead. In many ways it's more like a Without A Trace episode than an episode of The Closer, because the story really paints a full picture of the victim and who he was. Superb storytelling.

The final scene, where Brenda and her boyfriend talk about a new house (but are really talking about whether they will have kids or not) is heartbreaking and masterful.

House. Season 5, Episode 1. "Dying Changes Everything" Great opening episode. Thirteen takes the lead with the case-of-the-week and it plays wonderfully into her own life and illness. House and Wilson are on speaking terms and nobody is laying any blame for Ambers death at House's feet. Least of all House. At least that's how it starts: Wilson decides to quit and leave, so House blackmails him into stay by abandoning his own patient and leaving her to die.

Only on House!

I love the way the show was able to deliver the conflict we expected, but not in the way we expected.

Columbo. Episode 11. "The Greenhouse Jungle" Clever and very satisfying. No real game of cat-and-mouse this time out but lots of funny scenes of the great detective doing his thing. It's one of the break-with-forumla episodes as: it's a kidnapping not a murder, the victim is alive for most of the story and - without knowing he will ultimately be killed - he helps the killer plan and execute the whole thing. Also, the twist at the end has nothing much to do with any mistakes made by the killer. It's just a case of Columbo being a very good detective, being willing to do a lot of paperwork on his suspects and - in this case - getting very lucky.

90210. Episode 4. "The Bubble" Really enjoyable. Probably the best episode so far. I adore Naomi. She's so sweet and quaint. A spoiled rich teen in a spoiled rich world who is horrified by the thought of her father's cheating on her mother. I should roll my eyes at this storyline, but the actress sells it and... I care. Meanwhile the flirtation between Dixon and Silver steps up a notch and - for the first time in the series - I really liked Silver. Her confidence (in Dixon's attraction to her) is cute, funny and likable.

And now we know who fathered Kelly's child! Wow. I gasped with shock. In hindsight, it makes sense.

Beverly Hills 90210. Season 7, Episode 3. "A Mate for Life" Kelly gets the best storyline (by far) but all the tales in this outing are worth tuning in for. It's Nat's wedding and his wife's hot daughter (who happens to be an exotic dancer) is in town, and in Brandon's arms/bed. It's a cute and fun storyline. Valerie (my favourite character) is still dealing with that latest bad boy love-interest of hers (he's married, the lying so-and-so) while David and Donna (my favourite couple) are having a tiff, because - suprise, suprise - he's being a jerk to her. Jerk!

It's lightweight fun. And the Kelly storyline really shines: she's working at an AIDS hospice. Nothing dramatic or silly happens, but she befriends one patient and he gives her some good advice about liking yourself and avoiding melancholy. And it's very good indeed. The advice, and the episode.

Highlight? The Closer (dark story)
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09:00 Fringe

Fringe. Episode 2. "The Same Old Story" If I had to sum this show up in one phrase, it would be: "Not Good Enough."

The episode opens with a scene that looks and feels like something from The X-Files. A creepy man and a babe in a motel room. He's about to do something creepy to her when all hell breaks loose and he ends up rushing her to - and abandoning her at - the local hospital. Creepy, huh? At the hospital she grows suddenly pregnant and gives birth to something that makes the nurse scream.

Cue credits and a yawn from me.

Seriously? Is that what they are offering us? An X-Files rethread? Anyway, the episode then opens with one of the worst cases of exposition I have ever seen. Obviously these first few minutes were designed for people who didn't see the pilot the week before (and that's clever) but it's a ham-fisted attempt at telling us what happened before and who these people are.

And who are these people? Well, there's a mad scientist who's a lot like Greg House (rude and says what's on his mind) and a man/woman team who are meant to remind us of Mulder and Scully. And when they are all together in their bat-cave they are meant to remind us of the gang on Bones. So FOX are trying to duplicate the success of their other hits. Fair enough. Pity there's no trace of Lost or Alias in this to make it palatable.

Any promise from the pilot is missing here. Joshua Jackson fails to entertain, there is no action to speak of and the story is lame. Seriously? This is the opening story? Rapidly growing old? How many times have we seen that done on TV before? Bad enough to do it again, unforgivable to add nothing new to the idea. This is just a lame re-thread of better episodes from better TV shows.

And what's with all the pretty girls being tortured on-screen? Reminds me of another god-awful FOX show: The Inside. That, too, seemed to think I wanted to see women suffering bizarre deaths on-screen. Guess again, FOX!

The hour that this lasted was, itself, torture. It ended in a shoot out with the (dull) killer. The heroes found him using a method more stupid than any of the crazy stuff Chloe does on 24, and the show tried to interest me with some sort of nonsense about the corporation that are the real bad guys in all this. Blair Brown is terrific, but the script sucks.

How is it that more people are watching this than The Sarah Connor Chronicles?

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11:00 Greek
05:00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Greek. Episode 17. "47 Hours & 11 Minutes" Operating in the same arena as 90210, but a whole level above it, is this wonderful show. The scripts on Greek are layered and have depth and meaning. And, to be honest, it's a much cooler show. For a start it's got Clark Duke in the cast.

This is the episode where the parents come to visit. And it's a great one for highlighting the Rusty/Casey dynamic. I love the brother/sister stuff on this show. It's - pretty much - my favourite aspect of the show. Supernatural has the whole brother thing going on, Sarah Connor has it's mother/son vibe and the heart of Veronica Mars was the father/daughter bond. Greek has the cool girl and nerdy boy who are brother and sister and - from the very start - it was clear that the show wanted to tell their story.

Their relationship has changed a lot since that pilot, and this story pits them against their parents. It was a well-crafted script. Light-hearted but full of truth. There certainly were things in it that struck a cord with me. And the ending, where Rusty stuck up for himself and praised his wonderful sister, had me cheering.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 2. "Automatic For The People" Not the best episode, but still head and shoulders above most shows on tv.

It's hard to know where to begin when it comes to the things that I love about this show.

Thomas Dekker is John Connor, the saviour of mankind. I watch this kid and I believe in him. I honestly accept him and I'm fascinated to see him growing into greatness. It's a thrill to watch it happen and I'm loving all the scenes of him pushing away from his mother.

Summer Glau's performance. Is this woman really an android? How does she do what she does? The lack of expression for the fight scenes, and many of the dialogue scenes. Then, when it counts, she brings something amazing to the table. Last week, it was the stuff with her pleading for her life. This week it was her reaction to John's new girlfriend.

I love this new character, by the way. The casting (Leven Rambin) and the fact that she is being used by John. As a means of putting distance between himself and his mother, and as a means of putting distance between himself and Cameron.

I love Ellison, the FBI on their trail who now believes in everything Sarah Connor used to say. I've always loved these 'outsider' characters and the split narrative they give us. Cordelia on first season Buffy and Will on first season Alias. Some of my favourite ever times on both those shows. Waiting for them to learn 'the truth' and join 'the team'. Alias mucked it up, but I'm sure Sarah Connor Chronicles will find a way to add Ellison to the team.

While this was not the best episode, the good parts are so good that I still love the show and am excited about it.

Highlight? Greek (Rusty's speech)
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02:00 Prison Break
03:00 Californication

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 4. "Eagles and Angels" I realised, checking the ratings over on The Programming Insider, that two of my favourite shows (Prison Break and Sarah Connor) are about to get hammered in the ratings by two shows that I sincerely detest (Chuck and Heroes). Sigh. It's a depressing thought. How can two shows of flair and intelligence be out-ranked by two derivative hours of mediocrity? I mean, Chuck is Jake 2.0 and Heroes is Lost-With-Superpowers. How can they be so popular?

Sigh.

Anyway, this was anothe superb episode of Prison Break. Another "A+" outing for a show that effortlessly re-invents inself every season and manages to provide almost as many thrills per episode as 24 at it's peak.

This episode has a lovely opening scene between Michael and Sara. Very sweet, very romantic. Great chemistry between leads. Sarah Wayne Callies has never looked more beautiful and the writers give her some great material as Sara goes a little off the rails over the death of Bruce. Great guest work from Tara Karsian in this storyline.

Meanwhile over in the a-plot we get a guest shot from the wonderful Stacy Haiduk (who is totally underused) and a very exciting scheme which has the boys going undercover as cops. Once again the show reminds us that Alex (my favourite character) is a very smart guy as he leads the way with lots of clever/key observations. After worrying last week about the fates of Bellick and Sucre I have to marvel at the way the show has integrated everyone into it's new status quo. Nobody is being overlooked and I get a real kick out of seeing them function as a team.

Best scene of the episode? T-Bag sees the guys and they see him. Hilarious and exciting, in equal measure. And the T-Bag storyline is a treat. Ingenius and original. Seeing him follow through on someone else's plan without knowing anything about it is rivetting television. His nerves - before meeting everyone for the first time - were endearing and I'm going to love everything about this clever subplot. Particularly the gorgeous receptionist (Shannon Lucio).



Californication. Season 2, Episode 2. "The Great Ashby" Once again the daughter proves to be my favourite character and gets the main insightful dialogue of the episode (when she talks about Hank at the dinner table). This is another wonderful episode in this great series. It's funny and sad in equal measure. I was suprised/delighted to find that this one picks up directly after the previous episode. And I was positively overjoyed to find that Callum Keith Rennie was back for a second episode and with a lot to do this time out. Rennie has been one of my favourite performers ever since he joined Due South and turned it into a show I wanted to watch. He is amazing in everything he does (eg. Battlestar Galactica) and he gets one of the best scenes in the episode (when he talks about his ex, in the car). Everthing about that scene was wonderful: the way it snuck up on you and the way it was performed.

Highlight? Prison Break (T-Bag)
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07:00 Columbo
09:00 Hunter

Columbo. Episode 10. "Étude in Black" While the previous episode was clever but lacked tension, this one isn't very clever but the tension between hunter and prey make it one of the very best Columbo episodes. And it has several scenes that are truly classic.

John Cassavetes murders his mistress, but drops something at the crime scene. He returns to get it and brazenly picks it up and takes it back in full view of Columbo and everyone else. Whereupon the rumpled detective bounds across the room, grabs his hand and declares: "I'm a big fan of yours, a really big fan!" with a huge grin on his face. Meaning: You are an arrogant murderer and I'm going to take you down.

I love that moment.

And the movie is full of them. Columbo spends one scene talking about the guy's house and another one talking about his car. He also puts forward the theory - to to the guy's face - that he is the murderer and explains openly how he has arrived at this conclusion. The murderer is openly amazed by his pursuer and John Cassavetes is simply superb in the role.

There is a lot of variety to the Columbo stories. Sometimes we meet the murderer long before they think to commit a crime, sometimes we meet them hours/minutes before they do it. Sometimes they are justified in what they do, and sometimes they are arrogant and hateful. Sometimes they are undone in a clever/complex manner and sometimes it's a very obvious ending but it takes a great detective/hero to make it happen. This is a story which introduces the bad guy as he prepares to kill his victim (a mistress who is blackmailing him into leaving his wealthy wife). His motives are selfish and he is ultimately weak and hard to like (but easy to watch thanks to a great performance).

Peter Falk is at his best here. There's another classic scene early on, where Columbo talks about the victim. Usually they are just a dead body. Not this time. Columbo humanises her in a way he rarely and Falk is nothing sort of superb in his performance: repeating the same line of dialogue four times in a superb soliloquy, and never with the same nuances of sadness. Truly a master detective played by a master actor. A+



Hunter. Season 3, Episode 7. "True Confessions" One of my all-time favourite episodes of Hunter and one of my all-time favourite hours of television. Ever.

Hunter changed a lot from the first season to the third season. It started life as a big, loud action show and became a subtle, cerebral detective show. But, even at the start, it could do something that no other cop show could do. It told stories with great characters who did unpredictable things and changed the story around so much that you never knew what was going to happen.

This is one of those.

It's structured unlike anything else on TV. The two main character of the show don't appear much in the first third of the episode. Nether does the main character of the story! I'm sure there's a rule against that somewhere, but rules are made to be broken and Roy Huggins has the skill to break rules.



A young woman dies after partying with three men. They convince her to take cocaine and are in the process of raping her when she goes into a seizure and dies. A patrolman at the scene of the incident is surprised when one of the three men blurts out a confession. At the trial that follows: the confession is thrown out and - as a consequence - so is the case. Even the judge says they are guilty, but his hands are tied. There's a media storm and - a third of the way through - our focus switches to the sister of the dead girl who is dragged from the courtroom swearing that the three men "will pay".

In rapid succession two of the men are shot down. Hunter and McCall (who up to this had appeared in cameos) go to the sister of the dead woman. She's their main suspect and we only see the case from her perspective. She claims to be innocent, claims that she is being framed/used and claims that the media attention directed at her (which makes her out to be an avenging heroine) makes her sad and uncomfortable. She says she wants no more death and want to move on with her life.

Lauren Tewes gives a superb performance. There is no way to know what is going on. Is she a sincere women caught in a web of deceit and murder, or is she a clever murderer who knows how to lie convincingly? Scene after wonderful scene will leave you no wiser. You might not know what is happening, but you know you are getting a great story.

I've seen this episode many, many times. I love it with a passion. Every scene is perfect. The character work on the regulars (especially Rick Hunter) is great. The three main guest characters are well sketched out, too. Tewes' character is fascinating to watch. So is the third and final member of the original trio. The episode gives him one short scene of remorse at one point. It serves no purpose within the story, but it's an example of truly great storytelling. Giving the audience a reason to invest in even the most minor of characters, by taking the time to flesh them out in ways that matter.

Hunter is at his most laconic in this episode, and he has never been cooler (kudos to Fred Dryer) and the episodes ends abruptly with a great final line of dialogue and a haunting freeze frame that lingers in the mind for a long time after viewing. A+

Highlight? Tough call. Two great episodes. Two of my favourite episodes that I have seen many times. But, if forced to choose I will pick Hunter because of Lauren Tewes.
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05:00 McMillan And Wife

McMillan And Wife. Episode 6. "The Face of Murder" In many ways this looks and feels like a different show. There's no opening titles sequence and no opening theme. There's also no opening gambit. All episodes before this started with McMillan and Enright in the middle of a big chase of some type. This time we jump right into the story.

The story is different, too. Most previous episodes had convoluted stories. This time the story is linear in style and faster in pace. It moves from set-piece to set-piece with little-or-no downtime or padding. The movie opens with the McMillans arriving at a party to find the police there because there has been a robbery. This opening has lot of funny/interesting characters and plenty of backstory to bring the viewers up to speed. Next: the action switches to Palm Springs where Mac and Sally are taking a working vacation. There is a long, and funny, golfing sequence which showcases not only the comedic skill of Susan Saint James but also the love between the McMillans in way that earlier episodes sometimes failed to do. I was laughing out loud at Sally's bad golfing and simultaneously touched by Mac's very obvious love for his goofy wife. It helps that Susan Saint James looks incredible hot in a very short skirt.

Anyway, Mac finds a witness who can help with the case back in San Franciso and before too long the regulars are in a battle between two small airplanes, which ends with that old-reliable source of tension: our hero has to fly the plane. Nice.

Back in San Francisco and... Sally is kidnapped! The kidnapping was sudden and quite serious in tone. I was really shocked. The show didn't tell us who was holding her hostage and there was a great scene where Sally was in shot, behind a desk, blindfolded and trying to make jokes while her kidnapper was slightly off camera and not responding at all. And it was rather chilling. In the end, the movie ended up with a long fake funeral and a few good laughs.

Lastly, this episode was wonderful due to a great performance from guest star Claude Akins. I've seen Akins in hundreds of shows and I've always liked him but he was superb in this McMillan and Wife. He plays an ex-boxer, now down on his luck when makes a living by trading off his name on golfing circuit. Akins is funny, very likable and brings a sublte poignancy to the role that is simply wonderful.

I've enjoyed all the episodes so far but they were silly and you had to make allowances to enjoy them. This one was different. It really held together and was superb entertainment. Reminded me why I loved this show, not just liked it.

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08:00 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
09:00 Corner Gas
11:00 Keen Eddie
12:30 That '70s Show
03:00 Flying Blind

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Season 2, Episode 9. "Charlie Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass" More envelope-pushing comedy. High concept, too. Every episode of this wonderful show is easy to describe. This is the one where they decide to grant complete freedom in the bar. And, of course, it all goes horribly wrong. Frank gets a card game going that ends up in a fatal game of Russian Roulette. Only on this show would this be funny. Except, maybe, on Seinfeld.

Corner Gas. Season 4, Episode 16. "Potato Bowl" Delightful comedy. Skillful. The storylines collide off one another like ballet (if you know what I mean, since - in ballet- there tends to be no colliding!) and the episode opens and closes with the same thing happening: Oscar stealing money and taking free coffee. Only on this show could they open and close with the same thing happening to different effect. Except, maybe, on Seinfeld.

Keen Eddie. Episode 8. "Inciting Incident" Another of the very best episodes. This one has a great story. I watched this with two people: one a huge fan of the show and the other someone who had never seen it before and both were glued to the screen. It's a bloody great story, this.

A man gets photos of him with a woman who is not his wife. There is no ransom demand, and the photos are fake (he says). Soon his wife has thrown him out and he has lot his job. And he claims to know nothing about why this is happening. Even when Eddie and Monty find the guy responsible they are no closer to knowing what is going on. Since the victim has never seen him before.

It's great, just great. A story about minor incidents that can change/ruin lives and grudges that can last for decades. Like all the really great Keen Eddie episodes, it is funny and original and very deep.

That '70s Show. Season 6, Episode 7. "Christmas" The Red plays Santa storyline goes for obvious laughs, but the other two plots are funny and deep. Eric discovers that - having graduated from High School - he's quite the celebrity when he returns to the High School Christmas Dance. Very funny, and a good observation on the passage of time and all that goes with it. Meanwhile Kelso forgoes the party to spend time with mother-to-be Brooke. It's funny, charming and very romantic. I love it!

Flying Blind. Episode 5. "Crazy for You ... and You" is actually the third episode. I thought I was right to watch these in production order but this one is very early in the relationship ("five days" we are told) so it makes more sense to watch it when it aired. Man, I hate watching stuff in the wrong order. Especially when I think I've been 'clever' enough to figure out the correct order.

Anyway...

Another great episode. Neil is having a hard time keeping up with the crazy world that Alicia lives in. He tries, fails and - after a fight - they break up. His parents set him up with a hilarious Jill Hennessy and he tries to make a go of things with a 'normal girl'. It's funny. But, again, the show has a depth to it. The final scene where Neil and his new girlfriend are in the club discussing the people around them are much more than funny. As well as having jokes for us, the show has a story to tell and a world to show us.

Highlight? Keen Eddie (great story)
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06:30 Veronica Mars
07:30 Privileged
09:00 Sons Of Anarchy
11:00 90210
12:00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Veronica Mars. Episode 7. "The Girl Next Door" is one of my least favourite episodes. I don't know, I just don't like the idea of Veronica stumbling into a case right next door. I've never liked it when private eyes (like Magnum) spend time helping friends and not actually taking cases. Plus, it's a fairly ordinary story and it doesn't really give much scope for Veronica to be clever and impress us.

Jason Dohring is the best thing about the episode. Logan is funny and interesting in every scene. He and Eli spend the episode in detention sparring with Mr. Daniels and becoming a little closer in the process. All of this is good. The rest of the episode... not so much.



Privileged. Episode 1. "Pilot" Not funny enough or interesting enough. A female writer (who is from the Ally McBeal school of TV females) becomes a tutor to a couple of spoiled heiresses. There were many bits here and there that were obviously supposed to be funny, but did nothing for me.



Sons Of Anarchy. Episode 1. "Pilot" A biker club gets the Sopranos/Shield treatment. Watching them ride around, towards the end of the show, being all 'cool' and 'menacing' I could not help but think that The A-Team would easily defeat them if they were to, for instance, threaten a small town. No small-towns for this gang, though. Mostly they are concerned with selling guns and - in this first story - getting back some guns that have been stolen from them. Series-star Charlie Hunnam has an alarming habit of swaying from side to side when the script calls for him to walk away from/towards the camera in dramatic fashion. It's quite distracting. I kept expecting him to fall over. But he didn't.

Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman and Ryan Hurst were the best elements about this pilot. I liked all of their characters. Everyone else left me cold. I'm not that concerned about any of them, and won't lose any sleep if I never see them again.

90210. Episode 3. "Lucky Strike" Three episodes and I'm still watching. I watched this as part of a group and everyone in the room was interested in the Ryan Eggold/Jennie Garth storyline and totally rooting for Mr. Matthews to win her heart. The only teenage girl in the room (19) felt that the show as too depressing for her to watch it every week. Easy to understand with Erin Silver being afraid to go home because of her drunken mother (how cool to see Ann Gillespie again!) and Naomi discovering that her 'family' is a sham. Sad. I really like Naomi now. And Ethan. The Wilson kids impress me less and less every episode. I don't dislike them (gosh, who could dislike those smiles, huh?) but they get pushed further and further down the list of interesting characters, that's all.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Season 2, Episode 1. "Samson & Delilah" It took a while to get going (and I'm sure, yet, about Shirley Manson) but this was a great episode. Largely because of the final scenes where Cameron started to plead for her 'life' and the part where John stood up to his mother and opted to trust the terminator with a second chance at life. That was a cool scene. It felt like John Connor manning up. I really love that guy. And all of these characters. And this journey that they are on.

Highlight? Sarah Connor (...is back. Yay!)
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07:00 Prison Break
08:00 Californication
09:00 90210
01:00 The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 3. "Shut Down" Just when I thought I knew how the episodes were going to play out the show surprises me. It was a great episode. I feel a tiny bit cheated because the new status quo was fully intact when the closing credits rolled but it was still an intense and wonderful episode.

I worry for Bellick and Sucre. Is there a place for them in the new show as more than legmen? They both need plots of their own to keep them interesting. It's fun to watch Bellick moan and complain and try to escape but, in the long run, he will need more to do. Hopefully the writers address this. He has every reason to be on the team, but on the show...

This was a great episode for Alex. He was awesome from start to finish. I love when the show reminds us that this guy is as smart as Michael. I was surprised that his wife is still alive. Surprised and delighted. It means there is a (slim) chance for him to have a happy ending.

Best bit? The final scene where Linc put aside their past and swore to help Alex find his son's killer. That was beyond superb. Primal stuff. Quintessentially masculine. And great TV.

Californication. Season 2, Episode 1. "Slip Of The Tongue" Great opening episode. Now that Hank has everything he has ever wanted, all we can do is sit back and wait for him to frak it up. I love the way they addressed this in the episode, and his conversations with Mia and Becca were wonderful. Very typical of this show. There were many laugh-out-loud moments and a few to make you wince in pain/embarrassment.



90210. Episode 2. "The Jet Set" Oh dear. The second hour was a lot less interesting than the first. Annie went on a date to San Francisco and I was bored. Dixon bonded with his teammates and I was bored. I wanted to see more of Kelly and Brenda and know a bit more about their lives, but the episode sold me short. I'm certainly rooting for Mr. Matthews in his attempts to woo Kelly. Among the young kids, I'm still interested in Naomi and Ethan. Jessica Stroup was worse in this episode than the first (hers is the only character that I hate) and what exactly is going on with Adrianna? Going to the audition and flaking out? Then lying about it? Hmm.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Episode 9. "What He Beheld" Kick-ass cool. The best episode of the season is still fantastic on second viewing. The choice made to show the big battle from underneath the surface of the swimming pool was pure genius. And the scene where Derek killed the bad guy, while threatening the little girl, was amazing. Iconic stuff. Stuff you remember and talk about for years.

Highlight? Prison Break (Linc and Alex, together at last)
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08:30 The Big Bang Theory
09:00 90210

The Big Bang Theory. Episode 13. "The Bat Jar Conjecture" In much the same way that Rules Of Engagement relies too much on the idea that Jeff is a boor to drive too many of it's stories, this show is relying too much on the idea that Sheldon annoys the other characters. It's fine once in a while, but every week? Seriously?

Sara Gilbert gets all the laughs in this one (about a quiz). Except at the end, where Simon Helberg does a great slo-mo strip. Too funny.

90210. Episode 1. "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" Is it any good? Yes. Is it a worthy sequel? Yes. What's the best thing about it? Jessica Walter, without a doubt.

Those are the only important questions, really, when it comes to the new 90210. I sat down to this hoping that I would like it. And I did. Jeff Judah has been quoted as saying: "We're leaning more towards the old model of people who are friends but have different ways of looking at things." This is what I liked about the original show, and this is the vibe I got from this one-hour pilot. Yes, there was some character conflict but you can't get away from the fact that these are all likable people and they are - consequently - easy to hang out with. Easy to like.

Shenae Grimes and Tristan Wilds make likable leads. Grimes, in particular, was compelling as we watched her character's journey into her new life in Beverly Hills. Dustin Milligan and AnnaLynne McCord were probably the best cast members in the young cast. McCord was a lot of fun to watch as the "bad girl" of the piece and Milligan almost stole the pilot from Jessica Walter as the weight-of-the-world-on-my-shoulders bad boy (cheating on his girlfriend, and stealing the heart of our central character as well). Milligan made the character likable, and made me want to watch him again to see where it all goes.

So, I'm happy with the main four character. I have mixed feelings about their sidekicks. They didn't get a lot to do, so they - mostly - failed to impress. Jessica Stroup was the one I most wanted to see (because I liked her on Reaper) but her character was awful. And her story arc was awful, too. Roll your eyes only-on-TV crap. The only misfire in this rather good pilot.

The adult cast (and indeed the show) was dominated by a funny performance from Jessica Walter. But, across the board, this is a fantastic cast. Jennie Garth didn't get enough to do, and this needs to be addressed in future episodes. Majorly. Kelly needs to have a main storyline in this. Apart from her (and Walter) I was most impressed with Ryan Eggold who says and does everything with an agreeable smirk.

This was a really good pilot. I'm outside the target demo, but I don't care. If they can tell good stories and make me like the characters I'll watch every episode. I watched this with another guy in my age-bracket who wouldn't normally be interested in shows like this but he loved it too. We both laughed every time Jessica Walter did anything and we were both impressed with the way it all ended: Naomi finding out that her boyfriend had cheated but not making a scene, instead she sucked it up and pretended to enjoy her party. While all the regular character watched and felt bad for her. That, to me, is much more interesting that over-the-top histrionics and "tv behaviour". Fact is, when the pilot was over I liked Naomi a lot, for all her faults.

I liked the show, too.

Highlight? 90210 (nice show, nice people)
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06:30 The Middleman
07:30 The Burning Zone
08:30 Supernatural
12:00 Back To You
12:30 That '70s Show
01:00 Good Morning Miami

The Middleman. Episode 7. "The Cursed Tuba Contingency" What a surprise. Usually I watch this show for the jokes, witty dialogue, pop culture references and elaborate plots. I was totally side-swiped this week by the romance between The Middleman and Lacey. Side-swiped because I found myself totally into it. Right from the start of the episode, when they sat side-by-side in the empty cinema I was smitten with them as a couple. And that's not been the case. Up to now I've not really warmed to the character of Lacey and the crush she had on The Middleman was just a throw-away gag in every episode. Now suddenly it was the main thing in an episode and it really worked for me. Brit Morgan and Matt Keeslar had great chemistry and the storyline was really romantic. Their cinema visits were wonderful. Her staying to see the end of the movie for him, and telling him what happened later during their goodbye dance, were very sweet and romantic. Darn, but it really got to me. And, suddenly, I'm totally rooting for them as a couple. If they don't end up together in the last episode I will feel royally jipped.



The Burning Zone. Episode 2. "The Silent Tower" While there were a few things to like in the pilot, this first episode of the regular series is across-the-board awful in all respects. Michael Harris joins the cast and is the best thing about the episode. Daniel Cassian is an interesting hero, and a reason to watch every week. Edward Marcase was written like an arrogant jerk in the pilot and this time out they writers have him fall victim to the virus in the opening minutes of the story and send him wandering around a deserted tower block for the duration of the episode. Crazy. This is the frakkin' lead character. And he's completely sidelined in the second episode? That's bad television, no matter how you look at it. Writers with no idea of how to establish a hero.

Tone-wise the show is trying so hard to be The X-Files that it comes across as ridiculous. Nobody trusts anybody, and everybody is lying to everybody. For, as far as I can see, no good reason. The paranoia and distrust made sense on The X-Files, but it's just silly here. Government conspiracies built up around viruses? How can they expect us to take this seriously?

Cassian makes a pretty likable and interesting hero, it must be said. Even if most of his scenes are very badly written (the twist at the end of this episode, for instance, is beyond awful). In fact, all the scenes are badly written. And the story is nonsense. A tower block where everybody committed suicide? Because it was - it turns out - build on a secret lab belonging to a long-deceased evil scientist. Who - it is revealed at the very end - is now one of Cassian's bosses?

I'm sorry but that makes no sense. The X-Files was able to get great milage from the idea what Scully and Mulder were often sent in as sacrificial lambs by people who knew the whole story but didn't reveal it to our heroes. This show tries the same idea, but it's silly when applied to a story about something so huge. And also applied to a team that is, at this stage, incredibly inept. On The X-Files, at least, you knew why they were using Mulder: he was bloody brilliant at what he did, and they could - to a large degree - predict how he would react and deal with stuff.

Marcase and his team are, it must be said, inept idiots. Two team members have become infected in their first two cases.

It's just silly TV. Sigh.

Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 9. "Croatoan" Beyond superb. This was something special. Maybe I just have a weak spot for stories like this... who knows? For whatever reason, I loved every single second of this amazing episode. This is the sort of TV hour I would rewatch over and over if I had enough spare time. The boys arrive in a town and soon find themselves trapped with a few innocents while absolutely everyone else in town goes crazy. It's the Supernatural take on every zombie movie you have every loved and I have to marvel at the way the writers can incorporate stock ideas into the world of the show and make them work.

If you accept that Supernatural is X-Files for the 00s then you must accept that they have much more restricted pallette from which to craft their stories. I mean, the clue is in the title: all stories must involve the supernatural! So, from the get-go lots of stock sci-fi/fantasy ideas are off the table. Yet, the show finds inventive ways to bring stuff onto the show that you might never expect. In this tale, you get all the beats you'd expect to find in Zombie flicks, or tales of alien possession, or standard stories of apocalyptic plagues. But, no... it's all tied to the recurring demon/evil on the series. Now, that's clever TV.

As for the actual story itself: Wow. Intense stuff. Not just in terms of what happens to everyone in the story, but based on the character drama between the two brothers. Dean has never been cooler, or - in the same beat - more chilling and scary. Jared Padalecki does some of his best work on the show, as Sam faces his own death. He really nailed it. No over-the-top antics, he just conveyed the weight falling on Sam's shoulders as contemplated his fate and totally pulled us in to feel it too. I knew that Sam wasn't going to die (Hello!) but the point was making the audience feel his pain and marvel - yet again - at the amount of suffering this poor guy has to go through.

Supernatural's ace-in-the-hole is the ability is tell strong stand-alone stories and use each one to examine (and lay bare) the characters of the men at the centre of it all. Thirty episodes in and the show has delivered two of TV's best ever heroes. Very real people in the middle of un-real stories.

Back To You. Episode 16. "Chuck and Kelly, Doin' It Again" Oh dear. Another dismal post-revamp episode. Although it is set in the workplace, this is - once again - driven by Chuck and Kelly's daughter. And, guess what? The little tyke has managed to suck the funny out, once again.

There are laughs, yes. Fred Willard and (the great) Ty Burrell have a funny plot about swapping ties, but most of the episode has Chuck and Kelly dealing with an ad campaign with strong sexual undertones. On the same day they have decided to tell the world about their daughter. There's not a lot of milage in that idea. And the point of the episode seems to be to engineer problems so Chuck and Kelly can make a grand gesture at the very end and tell everybody live on air.

It's undoubtedly meant to be warm and fuzzy.

But it's false as frak! The sort of crap that only happens on TV. It might work on an emotional level if we - the audience - cared about this daughter. But we don't and I resent having yet another episode devoted to her.

I'd suck it up if there were laughs, but there's aren't. End of review.

That '70s Show. Season 6, Episode 6. "We're Not Gonna Take It" Average episode. Nothing special. Three plots: Eric and Kelso compete for a waiter job, Red tries to get Fez and Laurie divorced, Donna and Jackie try to help Bob with his post-break-up depression. Each plot generates a few laughs, but nothing special happens.



Good Morning Miami. Episode 8. "Penny Wise, Jake Foolish" While it does have flaws (the subplots are weak) this is the first superb episode of GMM. This is where they started to hit it out of the ballpark. And there are no gimmicks or nonsense to drive the story. Just good gags and great character work.

Penny, Dylan and Jake dominate the episode and this is the one where the writers (skillfully and with great subtlety) tell us that Penny has a crush on Jake in the same way that Jake has a crush on Dylan. Genius. It makes the show suddenly more interesting. Certainly for me, because Penny was always my favourite character (and I'm mad about Constance Zimmer).

I've seen this episode many, many times and I always admire the way the writers tell their story. It's Jake's birthday and he tells Claire that he wants a watch. We see Penny hearing this. Claire points out that a watch is a romantic gift. And that's the end of that. We get one more reminder during the episode (from guest star: the great Kenneth Mars) that watches are romantic gifts. Then, at the very end, we see that Penny has bought Jake a watch for his birthday. Which, in the closing seconds, she doesn't give him. Awww.

Broke my heart the first time I saw it. Still breaks my heart, to be honest.

Apart from that, all the Penny-Dylan-Jake stuff is great. Very funny. Penny delivers several really great one-liners and there's a great playfulness to all the scenes between the three of them. The writers pull a great double-bluff by making us think that Dylan has the wrong idea that Penny likes Jake. Clever writing all round, then.

Except in the sub-plots (Gavin addicted to gum, Frank stealing from a corpse). Never mind. I love this episode anyway.

Highlight? Good Morning Miami (Penny likes Jake, aw...)
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06:30 Columbo
08:00 Flashpoint
09:00 Greg The Bunny
09:30 Greg The Bunny

Columbo. Episode 9. "Blueprint for Murder" A great script, but not one of the great episodes. Though it is very clever and satisfying it lacks the tension of the really great Columbo episodes. Patrick O'Neal makes a great foe in many respects, but the game of cat-and-mouse is never as engaging as it is in many other stories. I never believed that there was a contest between them, I suppose, so the ending felt like less of a "win" for the rumpled detective.

Flashpoint. Episode 5. "Who's George?" Predictable from the very first scene to the very last but still very good. Flashpoint does it's first bank-siege storyline and offers nothing that we haven't seen before in other shows. What makes it worthwhile, however, are the regular characters as they deal with the crisis and the aftermath. Parker, Lane and Braddock get a few pivotal scenes here and there and that is what I enjoyed. Braddock is used in this episode like Greg is on CSI and it works.

Greg The Bunny. Episode 12. "The Singing Mailman" A pretty good episode. Some genuine laughs as Dottie is blackmailed into getting a really bad actor onto the show. When he's bad (on camera) it's very funny, and the episode continues to amuse as we see how everyone reacts. First of all when they all openly hate him and later when Dottie has sweet-talked them all into helping her help the guy keep his job. At one point Alison is told the guy is "clearly ahead of his time". When she points out that this makes him no use to the show, the compliment is amended to: "He's only about three weeks ahead of his time, so by the time the show airs he'll be perfect!" Man, I laughed at that.

Greg The Bunny. Episode 8. "Jimmy Drives Gil Crazy" Decided to give this classic episode a second watch. It takes a heck of a long time to get going, but when it does it sure provides the laughs. Greg being held hostage in a speeding car: Funny! Jimmy tied up and filmed by a scantily-clad schoolgirl: Funny! The gang watching the police chase on TV: Funny! And Gil declaring his love for Corey Feldman: Funny! Definitely on a par with the egg-throwing episode.

Highlight? Flashpoint (sad ending)
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10:00 Hunter
11:00 Riptide
12:00 Stingray



Hunter. Season 3, Episode 6. "From San Francisco With Love" Absolutely superb murder mystery, with great character work on the regulars. A man is gunned down and his friend flees the scene convinced that the shot was intended for him. When Hunter and McCall finally track him down he explains that his step-mother murdered his father and is gunning for him next, but when the detectives find the woman in question she puts forward a convincing case against the man, saying that he's behind the murders.

The story has several great twists and turns, and it's genuinely impossible to figure out who the killer is going to turn out to be. Laura Johnson guests as a San Francisco cop who teams with the guys on the case and winds up in Hunter's bed before too long. But instead of being about Hunter's romance this episode is more about his relationship with McCall than anything else. Their every scene together is playful, funny and laden with character detail. When sparks start flying between Hunter and the lady cop the camera returns time and time again to Stepfanie Kramer to show us McCall's reaction to all of this. And, while a lot of that reacting is funny, most of it is devoted to the real bond between Hunter and McCall. Particularly in the last half of the episode as they talk openly about Hunter's "one night stand". Some of these scenes are on the list of Best Ever Hunter-McCall scenes and they leave you with a big smile on your face when the closing credits roll. A+



Riptide. Episode 6. "Diamonds Are For Never" Fast cars, boats and a helicopter, plus a beautiful girl in distress: it must be Riptide! As well as a very good story this one has some great comedy between the three leads. The "let's-synchronise-our-watches" scene being laugh-out-loud funny. Murray, as usual, gets most of the screen time. He's the one who finds the girl in trouble, gets into the first big car chase and lands himself in jail. The jail scenes are also very funny.



Stingray. Season 2, Episode 8. "The Neniwa" Below-average episode, which doesn't really fit in with the usual style of the series. This is one of those stories about developers building on Indian Burial grounds that popped up all the time in action-adventure series of the 80s. The Stingray take on the story is typically stylish and thoughtful: lots of specially-written music and shots of eagles sweeping majestically over the plains. There is no real bad-guy in the story and 'Ray doesn't really have a client. He is hired, yes, but not by somebody in trouble so it's hard to believe that some guy from a museum would really turn to 'Stingray' over a problem such as this. Not that 'Ray really accomplishes much. There's nothing much to investigate and nobody to fight with, so mostly he just goes around from place to place listening to an old Indian guy telling stories. Meanwhile (between shots of the eagle) we are shown repeated close-ups on unhappy Indian people watching the diggers at work. Yawnworthy.

The climax of the episode is awful. A hostage siege suddenly develops involving characters who have never appeared before and it serves to create false tension, as everyone stands around watching while 'Ray is able to dig up some vital artifact and - of course - save the day.

Stories like this tend to be awful. It takes a show like Midnight Caller to do this thing right. The Stingray version has it's heart in the right place but is basically unwatchable. In fact, this may be the worst episode of this great series.

Highlight? Hunter (and McCall)
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04:30 Garrison's Gorillas
08:00 The Big Bang Theory
10:30 Flying Blind
11:00 Keen Eddie
12:30 The Girl From UNCLE



Garrison's Gorillas. Episode 9. "Operation Hellfire" Good episode. It opens with the introduction of the guest character: a Chicago cop who can help the team on the latest mission behind enemy lines. Problem is: he hates working with the convicts and they dislike him and his attitude. It's a good opening scene because we get to see Garrison defending his men, and we can see that they really are a team at this stage. Behind enemy lines the team is soon involved in a spectacular battle with Nazi soldiers. It goes on for ages and is very exciting and action-packed. Our tough cop is injured (his sight is affected, but - of course - he tells nobody because he don't to reveal his weakness).

The mission starts, so we get lots and lots of silent action in the vein of Mission: Impossible as the team do their thing and the episode climax has everybody trying to get out of a huge burning building. But this stage the guest-character's eyesight has completely failed and it's up to one of the guys he hates to get him out safely.

This is worth watching for the action sequences and the cast chemistry. They are a great bunch and this is a good episode for showing how close the characters are to one another.

The Big Bang Theory. Episode 12. "The Jerusalem Duality" A so-so episode. Once again Sheldon gets on everyone's nerves. But it's not that funny this time out and is - wisely - kept from being the main thrust of the episode. This time out: it's up to Leonard, Wolowitz and Koothrappali to find a date for a 15-year genius. And there are a few laughs to be had. Particularly in the last half of the episode.

Flying Blind. Episode 4. "Prelude to a Brisket" A so-so episode. This time out it's not about Neil being sucked into the crazy world of Alicia, rather it is her that embraces the inanity of suburbia (after meeting Neil's parents for the first time). Laughs are a bit more scarce than usual, but Greg Grunberg steals the show as Neil's unhappy brother.

Keen Eddie. Episode 7. "Black Like Me" In it's short run, Keen Eddie told many memorable stories and this is one of the very best. In the aftermath of a violent jewellery heist Eddie and Monty get a confession from a man they suspect could not be guilty. He's not. Turns out that he is willing to take the fall for a woman who lives close to him. A woman he loves. It was her boyfriend that committed the crime but she's afraid of him and says that he'll take her down as an accomplice if he gets arrested. So her friend (who is in love with her) is going to take the fall and get her off the hook. She says she'll find a way to ditch her scary boyfriend and wait for her "hero" to get out of prison.

And that's it. There's lot of other stuff, too, and most of it is funny and inventive, but this episode is about the love story. Is she lying? How far will he go for her? It's great stuff. A reminder that Keen Eddie isn't just a wacky, stylish comedy-drama but also a damn fine police show with some great stories to tell. Eddie Arlett is a great character. He makes a connection with people and he tries to help those who cross his path. The guest cast is fantastic: Ray Fearon will break your heart as the man in love, and Kirsty Mitchell is beautiful enough to make you think anyone would go to jail for her. Her performance is such that you never know when she is lying and when she is telling the truth. Great stuff.



The Girl From UNCLE. Episode 1. "The Dog-Gone Affair" Silly opening episode in which April Dancer fails to make much of an impression. The story involves the smuggling onto a Greek island of a small dog, because the fleas she carries have an antidote to a deadly new THRUSH drug being tested on the island (!!). The drug itself causes people to slow down to half-speed and looks like it would be a lot of fun if used in the story, but - sadly -it makes a very small appearance at the top of the episode and is never shown again. Instead we get an awful lot of running from A to B and back from B to A. Over and over. The dog alternates between being (a) lost and (b) found. And, by the end, I was quite bored.

Highlight? Keen Eddie (is love real?)
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10:00 Prison Break
12:00 Prison Break
01:30 Johnny Staccato



Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 1. "Scylla" The ratings may be down (again) but this was one of the best episodes that Prison Break has delivered. Indeed, it must rank as one of Television's Best Hours. Why? It concluded major storylines, explained several things, gave us something fans have desperately wanted to see forever and set the show up and rolling in an exciting new direction. Not bad for one episode, eh?

Whistler met his demise. I was sorry to see him go, I liked the character and I wanted it to be Michael who brought him down. I assumed the show would set him up and use him as a season-long bad guy. Guess not. This first hour also makes us think that Gretchen died. I don't believe it. Mahone's family, however, appear to be dead. That's painful. But, I guess, it's needed to keep the character as part of the team. But, still, it's painful to watch him suffer like that. I like Alex and I was delighted to learn that he was Michael's spy, only pretending to work with Whistler. I suspected that that was the case and it was great to see that turn out to be the case. I love the bond between Alex and Michael. They are the show's best characters. And, to be honest, I wish the writers kept alive the promise that he'd get back to his wife and child. I guess not. I've also suspected that Alex will die saving Michael/Linc and I guess we are one step closer to that now.

And then there was Sara. Alive and well and in Michael's arms. The way fans want it. All in all, I think the writers did a great job of dealing with last season's mess and I'm more than willing to accept everything they told us. I don't care, too much, about the logic on this one. I love the Michael/Sara couple and I want them to be together. That's all there is to it.

Finally, we have the final minutes of the episode. Wow. I love stuff like this. It's got a real Dirty Dozen/Garrison's Gorillas vibe to it, as Michael Rapaport assembles a team of convicts for a top secret mission. I can honestly say I love all of these characters: Michael, Alex, Sara, Bellick, Linc and Sucre. With T-Bag still out of the mix, the show is on the verge of putting a dream team together. I can't wait.

Prison Break. Season 4, Episode 2. "Breaking and Entering" The show's transformation into "Team: Prison Break" is complete and this episode shows their first mission for Donald Self. Every character has a reason to be on the show: Alex is Michael's equal, Sara is his lover, Linc is his brother, Sucre is his friend, Bellick is there to do the grunt work and Roland Glenn is the tech guy. All in all, it's pretty well planned out. And they work great as a team. Not just in terms of being successful with their first mission, but also in terms of it being good fun to watch them in action. Best bit? Alex makes fun of Bellick's inability to run fast. "I actually had to slow down..."

Michael Rapaport and Cress Williams are great additions to the cast. Raparport wears integrity like the rest of us wear aftershave and Williams is a perfect assassin: cold and efficient. And, after only two episodes, I hate him. I hope the writers give him his comuppance at the hands of Alex Mahone.

The second episode delivers a perfect self-contained story, which - in the end - tells us what is coming next for the team. There are only two loose ends at this stage: T-Bag and Gretchen. Gretchen being alive is no surprise, so it's going to be fun to see the team go after her, rescue her and we'll have her working side by side with Sara. T-Bag, meanwhile, will probably make contact in the next episode and - hopefully - blackmail his way onto the team. I sincerely hope so. Now, if only people were watching...

Johnny Staccato. Episode 1. "The Naked Truth" Johnny Staccato is one of my favourite TV shows. I can think of very few things cooler than John Cassavetes as Johnny Staccato. His performance, the music score and the visual look of the show make it something very, very special.

This opening episode introduces us to failed musician Staccato who now works as a private eye and gets to hang out at Waldo's Jazz Club when he's not taking sleazy cases for clients down on their luck. Before long a client (suffering from blackmail) appears and Staccato is on the case. Cue: lots of location filming in New York late at night and amazing music on the soundtrack. The people in the story are sleazy and there's a bad taste about how cheap everything and everyone is. The climax is surprisingly brutal, but Staccato kills the bad guys and - in voice over - muses on the personal cost of killing before walking off into the dawn.

It doesn't get any better than this.

"A+" all the way.

Highlight? Prison Break (Michael and Sara together again. Awww.)
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