DRAMA
First Impressions: Smash
Feb 7th
It was a big night for NBC last night, with The Voice and Smash both officially debuting hot on the heels of Sunday’s record Super Bowl numbers.
I’ll be talking about The Voice down the line – but first up let’s chat about Smash. After months of hype and non-stop adverts (I mean seriously, how much have NBC paid to promote this thing!) did the final product actually deliver? My verdict – kind of…
First up I have to mention that I actually watched Smash last week after downloading the pilot episode on Itunes. So I’ve had a few days to think about the show now. And my overall reaction is that I liked the pilot, but didn’t love it. But then to be honest I think it’s very difficult for a debut show to totally succeed straight out of the gate There’s always so much scene setting and character establishment that needs to be done in the first place. So I always give shows a few episodes to settle in.
Smash: Can One Show Save A Network?
Jan 25th
Man, has there ever been a network more in need of a hit than NBC?
After a truly terrible 2011 – capped off by flops including Free Agents, The Playboy Club and Prime Suspect – the Peacock network has started 2012 in similarly sorry shape.
The Firm is already a ratings disaster – last week scoring just 3.42 million viewers and a pitiful 0.9 18-49 share – while new comedy Are You There, Chelsea, saw its numbers slide to just 4.21 million in week 2.
NBC desperately needs a hit and it seems like EVERYONE is pinning their hopes on the upcoming Smash – launching Monday 6th February – to be the network’s saving grace.
In case you haven’t heard the hype surrounding Smash, and let’s be honest those adverts have been everywhere, the show centers on the behind the scenes dramas of an upcoming Marilyn Monroe musical. American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee is the budding young star, Angelica Huston is the producer, Will And Grace’s Debra Messing is the lyricist and the whole shebang is produced by the guys behind Hairspray. It is indeed the gayest show ever!
But can one show really turn a whole network around?
More >
American Horror Story: What Did You Make Of That Season Finale?
Dec 22nd
It truly is the time for show finales on our screens at the moment, as the year winds down and some of our favorite shows come to a close.
Last night it was the turn of American Horror Story, the gothic supernatural series that’s been scoring sizzling ratings for FX, and has already been commissioned for a second season. But what did you think of the show’s season finale?
I’ve been a fan of American Horror Story all season long, though I’ll be honest, it isn’t my favorite show on TV. I don’t think the series is as good as The Walking Dead, as ridiculously entertaining as Revenge or as smart as Mad Men or Game Of Thrones.
What Horror Story has done well is create – and sustain – a wonderful atmosphere of dread across the series. This is one seriously twisted show and probably the scariest TV series ever. From the famous ‘rubber man’ to the dismembered babies in the basement to the vengeful Hayden, Horror Story is a truly nasty show. And those opening titles – oh boy!
But I’m also starting to feel that American Horror Story is starting to get kind of crowded now. There are simply so many More >
Has Ringer Become Ridiculous?
Dec 5th
Don’t you just hate it when this happens?
You get into a show, investing time into a series and then just when you’ve passed the point of no return it starts to go south! Unfortunately that’s what’s starting to happen with one of my Fall favorites, Ringer.
I’ve been in DVR catch up mode this last week – and so I only just caught the Ringer Fall finale. And I hate to say it, but the Sarah Michelle Gellar saga is in imminent danger of collapsing under its own weight.
Okay so Ringer wasn’t exactly realistic from the start! The tale of twin sisters who swap identities after one of the twins goes missing, but guess what, she’s still alive and conspiring against her sibling – was never going to be believable TV. But I don’t mind suspending my disbelief to a certain extent for the entertainment value of a show.
But there’s crazy – and then there’s just plain insulting!
The Walking Dead: Finale Fireworks!
Nov 28th
Okay – now it all makes sense!
After a somewhat painful second ‘season’ (I know, we’re only halfway through), where at times it felt as though we the viewers were half dead ourselves, The Walking Dead roared back to life last night with one of the show’s best ever episodes – and an amazing finale scene.
You know the sequence in question – the final five minutes of the Fall season finale in which our team of survivors, led by the increasingly hardened Shane, released the Walkers in the barn and shot them dead in front of an aghast Hershel. But it was the final touching shot of long lost Sophia exiting the barn that carried the most power. Though we barely knew her as a character, it was shocking to watch Rick shoot the bewildered Sophia in the head, casting a whole new light on the Season 2 episodes so far.
Are Primetime Soap Operas Back?
Nov 8th
It’s been a great Fall season so far with plenty of terrific new shows to tuck into – and hopefully many more launching in the New Year (I’m especially excited for The River and Smash)
But for me one of the most heartening aspects of this new season has been the return of the primetime soap opera, a genre that’s been sadly out of favor in recent years.
The two most obvious examples of this of course are The CW’s Ringer and ABC’s Revenge. Ringer plays like a telenovela – a totally preposterous series featuring identical twins, murder, adultery and a bad guy who’s the spitting image of Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas. But while Ringer is great fun I just can’t see how the show sustains itself for more than two seasons – hence my comparison to a telenovela rather than a straight up soap.
Can Glee Be Saved?
Nov 7th
As regular Remote Patrolled readers will know, I gave up on Glee a few weeks ago, after realizing that the current third series of the show simply wasn’t going to get any better.
Though I’d been a fan of Glee for it’s first two years I eventually felt so exhausted by the character inconsistencies, tiresome romances (yes that would be you Finn and Rachel) and Sue Sylvester, the most cartoonish character on TV, that I just had to bail.
But last week I gave Glee a brief second chance. Having followed The Glee Project over the summer I was interested to see how one of the winners, Damian, would fit into the show. But after just a few minutes the same old problems surfaced once again and I was out.
And it seems I’m not the only one. Since the third series began Glee’s ratings have fallen every single week. The season 3 premiere pulled in 9.21 million (down substantially from the 11.80 million who watched the season 2 finale), then hit 8.60 million, then 8.42 million and last week 7.47 million. By comparison the first five episodes of season 2 were all above the 11 million mark. Not exactly a hard trend to follow More >
Richard Recommends: American Horror Story
Nov 2nd
The Fall season is in full swing now – and what a season it’s been so far!
I don’t know about you but I’m feeling pretty spoiled for choice at the moment when it comes to TV shows – with a pretty stacked DVR that fills up every day. It’s quite a job keeping on top of all the great shows out there.
Best night of the TV week has to be Wednesdays – with Modern Family, Suburgatory, Revenge and The X Factor all essential viewing. And then there’s American Horror Story – the deliciously dark treat from FX that’s arguably the scariest TV show ever created!
I’ll be honest and admit that I was a little skeptical about Horror Story when I first heard about the show – mainly because of the series creator Ryan Murphy. Murphy’s Glee went off the rails alarmingly quickly and Ryan himself is a polarizing figure who doesn’t exactly do himself any favors in the PR department. I worried that American Horror Story would be too ridiculous and over the top and ultimately collapse under the weight of its own craziness.
The Walking Dead: MORE Walking, LESS Talking Please!
Nov 1st
(BE WARNED – SPOILERS ALERT)
Okay everyone – how are you all finding season 2 of The Walking Dead?
We’re only 3 episodes into the new season and already the AMC zombie series has given us some great, memorable moments. I loved the ‘herd’ scene in Episode 1, the shock ending in the same episode – and of course Episode 3’s OMG revelation of what happened on Shane’s trip to the zombie infested school (more on that scene in a moment!)
But I’m afraid I do have one pretty big criticism of the season so far – and I have a feeling quite a few of you out there are feeling the same way. Is it just me or has Season 2 been really TALKY so far?
Now I don’t mind slow paced shows. You’ve all heard me raving about Mad Men here on the site and that isn’t exactly a zippy show. And Homeland, which I’m also following at the moment, is also a pretty slow series. But for me, The Walking Dead has crossed over and actually become a tad – dare I say it – boring at times!
