TV Guide: Part 3

And so, the final part of our network round-up is here. After this we'll look at some of our favourite shows in a lot more detail, but here are the last few networks that we're looking at.

Showtime
Sex, violence, swearing?: Oh yes. Showtime is a cable network.
Past programmes: An interesting mix. Stargate started here, and they co-financed The Outer Limits. Bryan Fuller's Dead Like Me had two troubled seasons, as did Masters of Horror. More conventional dramas include Huff, The L Word, Brotherhood, and Sleeper Cell.
On the air: Showtime boast three of the most popular cable shows. There's Jenji Kohan's Weeds, starring Mary-Louise Parker as a suburban single mom who starts dealing drugs, which is about to start it's sixth, increasingly dark, season. There's David Duchovny-starring Californication, about the sexual misadventures of a writer, which is going into its fourth season. The biggest hitter is Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall as the mild-mannered blood-spatter analyst who moonlights as a serial killer. Darkly funny and gripping, Dexter will soon be starting its fifth season. Other shows include Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco as a pill-popping nurse, Diablo Cody's The United States of Tara, starring Toni Collette as a the mother with multiple personalities, and The Tudors.
Upcoming: Laura Linney stars as a suburban mom with cancer in The Big C, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will produce an as-yet untitled comedy about friends who run a porno store, Neil Jordan will produce Tudors-alike drama The Borgias, and there's a sci-fi series about synthetic people called Syns.
Must-see TV?: Yes, absolutely. Dexter is superb, recovering from a couple of wobbles during season three for an excellent fourth season. Diablo Cody has promised a better season two for United States of Tara, and Weeds and Californication are generally pretty solid.

Syfy
Sex, violence, swearing?: Frak no!
Past programmes: The network that used to be called Sci-Fi is, of course, best known for it's science fictions shows. Andromeda, Stargate and it's various spin-offs, Sliders, Farscape, and the best of the bunch, Battlestar Galactica. They also were responsible for the awful revamps of Flash Gordon and The Bionic Woman, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Tremors, and The Invisible Man. Mini-series include the excellent The Lost Room, starring Peter Krause and Julianna Marguiles, the bizarre Tin Man, and the Battlestar Galactica mini-series that kick-started the full reboot.
On the air: Battlestar spin-off Caprica is getting great reviews, while Eureka is more of a niche-appeal show. Sanctuary, starring Stargate's Amanda Tapping, gets good viewing figures, as does Buffy writer Jane Espenson's Warehouse 13. There's also Stargate: Universe, which stars Robert Carlyle. The network also owns the rights to several shows that originally aired on other networks, such as Firefly, Dead Like Me, Lost, and many, many others. Syfy is making the unpleasant move into more reality programming, but the quality of their original programming is impressive.
Upcoming: The only upcoming show on their schedule is a live-action Star Wars series, with minor characters from the movies. George Lucas' lust for money continues unabated. Mostly, however, Syfy is just renewing their shows for more seasons.
Must-see?: Depends on your tastes. While Battlestar Galactica remains one of the best things to have happened to TV in the last decade at least, the rest of their shows are entertaining but not essential. Only Caprica seems to be on the verge of becoming something special.


TNT
Sex, violence, swearing?: No.
Past programmes: TNT has only started making their own programmes very recently, previously focusing on sports. Series to have only lasted one season include Heartland, starring Treat Williams, and Saved, starring Tom Everett Scott. Their high-point was the recently cancelled Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter. They did have some success with miniseries, such as Spielberg-produced Into the West, and Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes
On the air: A bit better here. Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton, Christian Kane and Beth Riesgraf, is a fun series about master criminals robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. The Closer features Kyra Sedgwick yelling at criminals, while Dark Blue features Dylan McDermott as an undercover cop. TNT picked up cancelled NBC drama Southland for its second season, but its future is unclear. Comedy-wise, Men of a Certain Age, starring Scott Bakula, Andre Braugher, and Ray Romano, has been getting solid reviews
Upcoming: Another cop show called Bunker Hill, starring Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg, and Alien Invasion, produced by Steven Spielberg, which we assume will do exactly what it says on the tin.
Must-see TV?: Not particularly. Leverage is good fun but aside from that there's nothing here that you'd miss.


USA
Sex, violence, swearing?: No.
Past programmes: Like TNT, USA has only started making shows fairly recently, but they've all been really quite popular. The Dead Zone ran for five years, and The 4400 got solid viewing figures. Their biggest hit was Monk, starring Tony Shalhoub as the obsessive compulsive detective.
On the air: Psych, starring The West Wing's Dulé Hill, plows the same ground as Monk with entertaining quirkiness. There's medical drama Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, which stars Mary McCormack as a US Marshal, and White Collar, about a con man who helps the FBI. Their flagship show is the very entertaining Burn Notice, which stars Jeffrey Donovan as a fired spy living in Miami trying to figure out who screwed him over. It has the not insignificant added bonus of featuring Bruce Campbell as one of the main cast.
Upcoming: Nothing very inspiring. Medical drama Operating Instructions, CIA drama Covert Affairs, and lawyer drama Facing Kate. Seriously, were these the best titles they could come up with? More interesting is Stiffs, which will be about a single dad juggling his commitment to his daughter with his job in a mortuary.
Must-see TV?: Not particularly. Like TNT, there's one good show (Burn Notice), then a lot of filler.


The CW
Sex, violence, swearing?: No. Although, after the watershed, they're not afraid of a bit of blood.
Past programmes: The CW has swallowed up The WB and UPN, taking it's programmes with it. This means that they broadcast Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Reba, Everybody Hates Chris, and Reaper.
On the air: Somehow young Superman show Smallville is still going on. Gossip Girl, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, and One Tree Hill all focus heavily on the teen market, and are not within our realm of interest. Supernatural can be a lot of fun, or it can be terrible. It's a 50/50 shot, but it's popular enough to have been renewed for a sixth season.
Upcoming: There's an "Untitled Robert De Niro" drama in development, and something called Bitches in Britches, which we doubt will be as witty as its title.
Must-see TV?: Veronica Mars was great, but was cancelled after three seasons. Basically, Supernatural is the only thing worth watching here.


Well, the last three networks weren't great, were they? But anyway, that concludes our overview of TV networks. Soon we'll look at our favourite shows in more detail.

Recent Release Reviewed: Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong
Screenplay: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn based on the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
Director: Matthew Vaughn

"Tool up, Honey-bunny. It's time to get bad guys"

Dave Lizewski is a regular, nerdy high school nobody until he decides to put on a costume and fight crime as Kick-Ass. After being so badly beaten that his nerve endings are too damaged to feel pain, he starts winning fights and becomes an internet sensation. But he's not the only costumed crime-fighter in town. Soon he meets Hit Girl and Big Daddy, a father-daughter duo who are taking their vigilantism is a bit more seriously and racking up quite the body count.

During the first scene in which the well-intentioned but basically inept Dave meets Hit Girl, he spends most of the scene cowering on the floor while the 11 year-old child dismembers a room full of bad guys, wisecracking and grinning. The look on his face his pure terror. The look on hers is glee. This sums up in a very simplistic fashion a viewer's response to watching Kick-Ass. Yes, it's shocking to see this young girl kill so many people in superbly and imaginatively choreographed set-pieces. But it's damn entertaining.

But let's start at the beginning. This is the third feature for director Matthew Vaughn after Layer Cake and Stardust, and his second with co-writer Goldman. It's also his best by quite some way. While Stardust benefited hugely from a sense of humour to offset the fantastical story-line, Kick-Ass benefits from moments of straight-faced darkness that remind us that this mostly comedic film is set in the real world. Dave's mother wasn't killed by a mobster, she was killed by a brain aneurysm. People do get hurt, and characters do get killed. Of course, that doesn't mean that the film lacks comic fantasy.

The film starts as a funny riff on Spider-Man, with Dave Lizewski (played well by Nowhere Boy's Aaron Johnson) growing bored of his inconsequential life, hanging out with his friends and the comic book store and being regularly mugged. When he asks his friends why no one has tried it before, the answer is simple: "Because they'd get their ass kicked!". They're not wrong. His first attempts at fighting crime end shockingly violently, and lead to his "super-power". Dave's action scenes are believable and painful.

While these scenes are good, they pale in comparison to those featuring Hit Girl and Big Daddy. We're introduced to the two characters as he is about to shoot her in the chest with a hand-gun to show her that there's nothing to be afraid of. "I wouldn't be afraid anyway" she tells him, but puts up with it. Their real identities are Damon and Mindy Macready, who are working their way up towards mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong). It's been a while since Nicolas Cage has been this good. We're used to seeing him play quirky, but there's a heart and a sadness here that is too often missing from the actor's work. His performance is an excellent combination of comic oddity, paternal tenderness, and dark hints at psychosis.

Then there's Chloe Moretz. Kick-Ass would be a far inferior film were it not for her performance. She manages not to coast by on the fact that her character is violent and swears a lot, giving a geniunely witty turn and hinting that there may be a little girl inside. It's not too big a hint though. Mostly, she just enjoys killing bad guys. My hopes for the Let the Right One In remake have gone up after this film. The cast is rounded out by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad's McLovin) playing the geeky son of Frank D'Amico who dresses up as crime-fighter Red Mist and Mark Strong as D'Amico himself, who has a lot of fun as the increasingly furious mob boss.

The action is handled well by Vaughn, and for the most part the film manages not to betray its meager budget. The set-pieces match the tone of the film: startling violent but comically over-the-top. The "New York" streets do occasionally look like a sound-stage but not too often. The soundtrack is also impressive, making excellent use of pieces of music from 28 Days Later and Sunshine in amongst the catchy pop-rock.

This most certainly isn't for everyone, but if you found the trailers funny, the film is fantastic. It's hilarious, shocking, exciting, and frankly kick-ass. Also, it's got that rare thing: The good Nicolas Cage performance. Catch it!

8/10

Very foul-mouthed Hit-Girl trailer:

Recent Release Reviewed: The House of the Devil

The House of the Devil
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig
Written and directed by: Ti West

"Are you not the babysitter?"

1980s. A title card explains that during the 1980s over 70% of Americans believed in the existence of abusive Satanic cults. College student Samatha (Donahue) needs cash, fast. She's just found her dream apartment, but has to raise the deposit before the weekend. Desperate, she finds a flyer advertising a babysitting job for Mr. Ullman (Noonan). Mr. Ullman sounds creepy on the phone, but he's willing to pay her well for a single night's work. When she and her friend Megan go up to their huge house in the middle of nowhere, Ullman reveals that he wasn't entirely truthful. Megan thinks they should leave, but Samantha decides to take the job anyway...

The House of the Devil is a love-letter to films from the 1970s and 1980s. From the poster to the soundtrack, from the "based on true unexplained events" premise to the clothes and colour palette, everything is beautifully reminiscent of a past era of horror film-making. It's also really rather good. The last time a film was promoted in a similar fashion we got the underwhelming Grindhouse, with it's great trailers and posters but disappointing substance (although I do like Planet Terror). The House of the Devil is a different animal. For those expecting an exploitation film due to the poster and the tagline, that's part of the joke. Spooky films like Halloween and Rosemary's Baby seem to be the touchstones here. A big clue with regards to tone should be the presence of Larry Fessenden as producer, who wrote and directed low-key horror films Wendigo and The Last Winter.

Ti West has become the next big horror director thanks to this film, and based on the evidence presented here, it's a deserved title. His first film, The Roost, wasn't great but was well-intentioned and boasted a great Tom Noonan cameo, and from all accounts Cabin Fever 2 is awful, but West has disowned it as a product of studio meddling. Here, he shows a very impressive handling of pace and tension, as well as proving adept at building menace.

Jocelin Donahue is a great discovery as Samantha. Apart from looking the part, she carries the film with a believable performance as her growing apprehension leads to terror. Mary Woronov is appropriately creepy as Mrs. Ullman, who makes odd references to the Ullman family history, and Greta Gerwig (who's been getting raves for Greenberg) makes for a excellently sarky and funny best friend. There's also a nice cameo from Dee Wallace (formerly Dee Wallace Stone) as "The Landlady".

The real star of the film, however, is Tom Noonan as Mr. Ullman. It's hard to think of another actor who can make creepy so sympathetic. With another actor, Mr. Ullman's dialogue would become typical "horror movie villain" dialogue. But with Noonan, there's always the possibility in the back of the viewer's mind that Ullman is geniuinely well-intentioned but keeps making a bad choice of words. "Oh, thank goodness. You're saving me. And I promise to make this as painless for you as possible." Of course, at the front of our minds is the thought that Ullman is up to no good. But his soft voice is so wonderfully at odds with his imposing height, dark suit and cane.

The House of the Devil goes at it's own pace. No suspicions are confirmed or dispelled until quite late into the film. We keep waiting for something to happen, which makes the sudden bursts of action really very shocking. An impatient viewer would call the film boring, but if you let yourself be immersed in the story and the atmosphere, The House of the Devil is one of the most rewarding horror films I've seen in a long time. And it is all about the atmosphere. This should appeal to horror fans, as well as those not usually drawn to the genre. It's a slow build rather than a gory blood-fest. And Tom Noonan is just excellent.

9/10

Forthcoming Film Furore!: Dinner For Schmucks, The Losers, The A-Team, The Expendables, The Good Heart

OK, so we're running through a few films here, but with good reason. With Summer just around the corner, we're seeing a lot of trailers for big brainless summer movies. Three of the films we're showing you the trailers for are "team of badasses on a mission" movies: The Losers, The A-Team, and The Expendables.

But first, let's look at the trailer for Dinner for Schmucks. A remake of a French film, Dinner for Schmucks stars Paul Rudd as a guy who needs to bring a huge idiot to dinner at his boss's house to get a promotion. Rudd finds Steve Carrell, a well-meaning simpleton who stuffs dead mice and puts them into dioramas. There's not a lot in the trailer that's laugh-out-loud funny, but Rudd and Carrell are two of the most likeable comedians around, and the supporting cast is strong, including Zach Galifianakis, Bruce Greenwood, Kristin Schaal, Ron Livingston, and Jemaine Clement. We'll wait for another trailer before we make up our minds about this one.

Right, let's look at our men on missions. First up is The Losers. Based on the Vertigo graphic novel, The Losers are a badass special ops team that is betrayed by the government and left for dead. However, they decide to get payback. Produced by Joel Silver, who produced movies like Predator and Lethal Weapon back in the day, and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Sherlock Holmes and Orphan more recently, the film seems to be going for fun more than anything else. The film stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who came out of Watchmen with reputation enhanced, action queen of the moment Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek), newly crowned Captain America Chris Evans (Sunshine, Scott Pilgrim), The Wire's Idris Elba, and Jason Patric as bad guy Max. Director Sylvain White's resumé isn't great, but it's only his third feature. At the moment, this looks like the film with the greatest potential to not be a disaster

Now onto the A-Team. As we all know, they're four men imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit, who promptly escaped and if you can find them maybe you can hire them. They can also use whatever's in a room to create something destructive with the help of a quick montage. This movie version of the series is written and directed by Joe Carnahan, who must be looking for some of the pedigree he got with gritty cop thriller Narc, and lost with overblown muddled assassin movie Smokin' Aces. The cast is good, with Liam Neeson getting paid handsomely for playing Hannibal Smith, Hangover star Bradley Cooper as Face, and District 9's Sharlto Copley as Howlin' Mad Murdock. They're joined by Watchmen's Patrick Wilson as the villain, and Jessica Biel as the love interest. Ultimate Fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson stars as B.A. Baracus. The trailer looks like they're going for fun, but it's a sad fact that, despite what Seinfeld taught us, most movies that feature anything falling out of a plane and shooting back at the plane are normally crap.

And now for The Expendables. Sylvester Stallone has managed to get almost every action star to sign for this men on a mission movie. Sly himself leads his team of bad-ass mercenaries, made up of Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture into South America to take down evil CIA agent Eric Roberts. Oh, and he gets the jobs from Mickey Rourke, and Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenneger cameo as shady government guys. With this cast list, I'm going to see it no matter how bad the reviews are. It basically looks like a Rambo film, but with a bigger supporting cast. Let's just hope that Stallone wrote his co-stars actual characters, rather than just having them stand in the background. I'm still looking forward to it!

Finally, to counter the big budget stupidity, here is a trailer for a little indie film called The Good Heart. It stars Brian Cox as a grouchy New York bar owner who takes in homeless Paul Dano to groom him as his successor. This trailer shows off Cox and Dano, who look like they're giving excellent peformances, and it looks like a nice mixture of Jim Jarmusch-style humour and Hal Hartley-esque dialogue. This may well be worth seeking out.

Recent Release Reviewed: Adventureland

Adventureland
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds
Written and directed by: Greg Mottola

1987. After graduating college, James Brennan is told by his parents that they can't afford to pay for his summer trip to Europe, not to mention Columbia University. Looking for a summer job to pay for tuition, he discovers that the only job he can get is working at Adventureland amusement park. While doing his crappy job, James falls for Em Lewin, but she's more complicated than he realises.

As you can probably tell from the above description, Adventureland isn't big on plot, but then it doesn't have to be. It's a fairly straight-forward, gentle coming of age tale that is funny, sensitive and touching. Mottola has said that the story is very personal to him and that a lot of it is based on his own experiences. It does feel heartfelt. While there are occasional nostalgic pangs for a different time (mostly through the soundtrack), it's not maudlin, and the film is often harshly critical of the late 1980s. Adult figures are either clueless or alcoholic, and everyone's getting laid off. James also realises that his college degree has left him undesirable for any job. "I majored in Comparative Literature and Renaissance Studies! Unless someone needs help restoring a fresco, I'm screwed!"

The strong ensemble cast is led by Jesse Eisenberg, who's been doing sterling work since the underrated Roger Dodger. James isn't quite as nerdy and socially awkward as some of the leads in recent comedies, he's believable and likeable. He's supported by Kristen Stewart, who handles the difficult role of the troubled Em well. Apatow regular Martin Starr shows that he can work wonders when given a character rather than a cameo as the bookish Joel, a character who has more depth than the usual "nerdy best friend". Ryan Reynolds gets to show off his dramatic chops as Connell, the handsome, cool repair-man who's something of a legend to the carnies because he once jammed with Lou Reed. Seemingly an older-brother figure to James, Connell quickly turns out to be less benevolent than he appears. Under-used but wonderful are SNL stars and blog favourites Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as the park's managers, who are essentially used for comic relief. Apparently husband and wife, they're both not-all-there, and adorably committed to the park rather than the cruel tyrants you'd expect from a movie about a young character forced to work a crappy job. They're good enough to make you wish they had more screen-time.

Adventureland certainly isn't a straight-up comedy, in fact it's often quite dark. There are characters who are just there to add laughs when needed, such as Hader and Wiig, and James' friend Frigo (Matt Bush) who hits James in the nuts whenever he sees him. However, given the cheesy tag-line about the worst job ever leading to the best time of their lives, and the understandable wish to trade on the fact that Mottola directed Superbad, some viewers may be surprised that Adventureland isn't a raunchy teen comedy. Yes, there are scenes of drunken parties and weed-smoking, but the main thrust of the story is James realising that his time in college has barely prepared him for the real world. He's left open to bad advice from Connell, and sometimes does the wrong thing. This is not exactly a new structure for a film, but it's one that is very effective when done right. Here, Mottola knows and loves his characters and it comes through. Adventureland isn't going to change the genre,but it makes for a very enjoyable ninety minutes

7/10

TV Guide: Part 2

The continuing TV guide!

CBS
Sex, violence, swearing: No. Although, with heavy involvement from Jerry Bruckheimer, many of the primetime drama have slow-motion, scantily-clad gun-fights and punch-ups.
Past programmes: Some of the biggest old shows: Dallas, The Incredible Hulk, Magnum P.I., T.J. Hooker, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible, Walker Texas Ranger, Rod Sirling's classic The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H*, and lunch-time favourite Diagnosis Murder. More recently they had success with James Woods' legal drama Shark, and surprisingly watchable crime drama Numbers.
On the air: CBS is the network that spawned CSI and all it's spinoffs. It also has CSI-alikes Cold Case and NCIS, Criminal Minds, and supernatural dramas Ghost Whisperer and Medium (which it imported from NBC). There's acclaimed drama The Good Wife, for which Julianna Marguiles won a Golden Globe. Comedy-wise there's the geeky The Big Bang Theory, the inexplicably popular Charlie Sheen vehicle Two and a Half Men, although there's better fun to be had with both How I Met Your Mother (with Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Jason Segel) and The New Adventures of Old Christine (starring Julia Louis Dreyfus)
Upcoming: Another Bruckheimer-produced drama, which is imaginatively titled Miami Medical. Bizarrely it stars Jeremy Northam. Early word is not good.
Must see TV?: Well, CSI used to be groundbreaking television. Now, it's actually amazing that they have three of them going and that they're all so average. Well, apart from CSI Miami, which is hilariously awful. Medium is occasionally excellent, and How I Met Your Mother is a lot of fun. You could do worse.


HBO
Sex, violence, swearing?: What, on HBO?
Past programmes: HBO got its start with shows like Tales From the Crypt and Mr Show, as well as airing stand up comedy specials. The network made a big impact with prison drama Oz and The Wire's precursor The Corner, but really found its feet with The Sopranos and Sex in the City. The Wire and Six Feet Under soon followed, bringing a huge amount of acclaim. They stretched their wings a little with period shows like Daniel Knaufe's Carnivàle and David Milch's Deadwood, which lasted two and three seasons respectively. Rome was briefly entertaining but lost its way, and Milch's John From Cincinatti sadly disappeared up its own arse after a few impressive episodes, and was cancelled after one series. They've had big successes with combat drama mini-series, with Band of Brothers and Generation Kill. They also aired Extras, and took our favourite New Zealand folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords into the mainstream.
On air: A lot of shows. Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage are still going, as are dramas like Mormon drama Big Love and Gabriel Byrne-starring In Treatment. Everyone's favourite guilty pleasure True Blood is returning for a third series, and Thomas Jane's gigolo dramedy Hung secured a second season. We're very excited about second seasons for Danny McBride and Jody Hill's Eastbound and Down, and Jason Schwartzman/Ted Danson/Zach Galifianakis noir-comedy Bored to Death. They're also currently showing Band of Brothers follow-up The Pacific.
Upcoming: Two very big, star-studded series in the shape of Martin Scorsese-produced period gangster drama Boardwalk Empire, and David Simon's post-Katrina look at music in New Orleans Treme. Also on the way is Game of Thrones, a fantasy drama with Sean Bean and Lena Headey, and Stitch and Bitch, a comedy created by Juno herself: Ellen Page.
Must see TV?: Yes! HBO box-sets have been occupying our Christmas and birthday wish-lists for years. Their stunning programming at the start of the last decade is perhaps the biggest reason why TV has evolved.




NBC
Sex, violence, swearing?: No, no.
Past programmes: NBC is another one of the big broadcasting companies. They gave us Bonanza, Columbo, The A-Team, The Bionic Woman, Dragnet, Wings, Miami Vice, , ER, Homicide: Life on the Street, Knight Rider, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Quincy M.E., St. Elsewhere, the original V, The West Wing, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Cheers, The Cosby Show, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Frasier, My Name is Earl, NewsRadio, Sanford and Son, Scrubs, Seinfeld, Taxi, and Star Trek. On the down-side, they cancelled shows like Southland, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Freaks and Geeks, Kings, Kidnapped, Journeyman, The Book of Daniel, Life, and My Own Worst Enemy (justifiable).
On air: A lot of good stuff. Somehow, Law and Order and its spinoffs are still going, as is Heroes (although that surely must be ending soon). Football drama Friday Night Lights and nerdy action sci-fi Chuck get rave reviews, if not necessarily massive viewing figures, but are definitely worth watching. New series include the star-studded Parenthood remake (Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Lauren Graham), and medical drama Mercy. But NBC's best shows are its comedies. Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey's 30 Rock, The Office (which I actually think is funnier than the British version), Office-spinoff Parks and Recreation, and the hysterically funny Community.
Upcoming: Sci-fi Day One, Persons Unknown (about which little is known), and a new sitcom called 100 Questions. 30 Rock and Community have been confirmed for another season.
Must see TV?: Yes. While SNL is hit-and-miss, 30 Rock is still worth watching despite a slip in quality, and Community is just wonderful. Chuck and Friday Night Lights are up there with the best network dramas.

Well, this concludes part 2! Look out for part 3, which will include Showtime and TNT.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour

So, we've finally seen the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who. A new show-runner in Steven Moffat, a new Doctor in Matt Smith, a new companion in Karen Gillan's Amy Pond, and new title music, title sequence and a new Tardis. And it's a pleasure to report that episode one of this new series is a success.
While it's certainly not on the same level as Moffat's contributions to previous series, it was never going to be. The Eleventh Hour is a chapter one; setting up a new story-line and introducing these new faces to viewers who were either sceptical about Matt Smith's ability to step into David Tennant's converses, and viewers like me, whose expectations were really rather high.

We start from where the last series left the Doctor, getting used to his new body while the Tardis crashes. It comes to earth in the garden of young Amelia Pond, a little girl who's home alone and scared of the crack in her wall. As the Doctor points out, "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of the box, man eats fish custard, and look at you! Just sitting there! So you know what I think? Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall." They discover that the crack is dimensional, and "Prisoner Zero" has escaped through it. The Doctor realises that the Tardis is about to explode and runs out, promising to return in five minutes. When he gets back, he realises that more time has passed than he thought, and that Prisoner Zero is still very much a problem.

First of all, Matt Smith gives a very good performance. He's quirky and full of energy, but isn't just a collection of tics and mannerisms. He is "A mad man with a box", but he brings enough weight and seriousness to remind us that the Doctor isn't just a comic character. That said, this episode is fun. There's no mention of the last of the Time Lords, and while he is called lonely, it seems more of a friendly jibe than the maudlin refrain that it became towards the end of Tennant's run. Also impressive is Karen Gillan as the grown-up Amy Pond. She spends much of this episode angry at the Doctor for abandoning her as a child, and confusion over how exactly what she grew to believe was an imaginary friend has returned, but the chemistry between them is excellent, and she gives Smith a run for his money.

The monster plot, admittedly, isn't exactly classic stuff. It's set up to give us information about Amy Pond and the people in her life, including her boyfriend Rory, a friend called Jeff who needs to delete his internet history, and Annette Crosbie. It's fun enough, though, despite a dodgy CGI snake thing. The script has a good balance of gags to spookiness, and Patient Zero works well when using the form of real people, including Peep Show's Olivia Colman who does a good job handling the bulk of the evil exposition. There are a couple of sour notes, including a clumsy last minute revelation about Amy, but overall it's an excellent set-up that leaves us very excited for episode two.

The episode also ended with an extended preview of what we can look forward to in upcoming episodes, which includes Daleks and Cybermen, which I'm not thrilled about, and the return of Alex Kingston's River Song, the Weeping Angels, which I'm very excited about, and a guest appearance by Bill Nighy, which everyone should be excited about. Now that the introductions are out of the way, here's hoping that the ensuing series will be as good as the first chapter promises.