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.

Forthcoming Film Furore!: Scott Pilgrim and MacGruber

Yesterday the first official teaser trailer for Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Versus The World hit the interweb, with fans everywhere going crazy. The film marks Wright's first film without his Simon Pegg/Nick Frost support structure, not to mention his first film set in the US. Based on the popular comic book series, Scott Pilgrim is the story of the titular character's attempts to defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes. Realism is not the order of the day, with overblown actions sequences sure to abound.
The supporting cast is impressive: Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Chris Evans (Sunshine), Mae Whitman (Arrested Development), and Jason Schwartzman are among the exes, Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick plays Scott's sister, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Death Proof) plays Ramona Flowers, the object of Scott's affections.
But our two major concerns lie with the tone and the star. Knowing silliness is all very well, as long it's entertaining. If the film starts to get snarky, the goofy appeal with surely fly out of the window. And have we had enough of Michael Cera? OK, so the part does seem to fit him like a glove, but hasn't every part he's played since Superbad?
Obviously, I'm being unfair as this is just the teaser trailer. But, this is, just, like, our opinion, man.


Next up is the moderately funny trailer for Saturday Night Live-spinoff movie MacGruber. The sketches were often hilarious, featuring Will Forte as an inept MacGuyver character who was constantly distracted from defusing the bomb by issues such as Pepsi sponsorship, his son's sexual orientation, and accusations of racism. But there hasn't been a good film based on an SNL sketch for a long time. Can MacGruber hold up to a feature length treatment?
Well, the trailer is OK. Forte seems to be on form, there's the impressive casting decisions (Val Kilmer as a villain called Dieter Von Cunth, Powers Boothe as MacGruber's boss, Ryan Phillipe), a couple of the jokes hit the mark, and it has the fantastic Kristin Wiig. But to be honest, it's not particularly inspiring.
That being said, every review of the film that's come out of the festival circuit has been overwhelmingly positive. Word is that the funniest scenes are definitely not in the trailer, the film is very much R-rated, and it's hilarious. It'll be interesting to see how the film fares on wide release, but we're looking forward to it.

Television Stars We Want to Have A Decent Film Career: Part 1

It's become a well-known fact that movie stars seem to no longer have any hang-ups about appearing on, or even starring in, television shows. Since William Petersen and Kiefer Sutherland gave their flagging careers the kiss of life with CSI and 24 respectively, veteran actors like Gary Sinise, Anthony LaPaglia, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, James Woods, and Timothy Hutton have been drawn to the steady work and fan adoration that come from TV.
But this article is about the actors that we're primarily familiar with for their work on the telly. Specifically, the ones we want to have a good career in film. We would also like to add that there's nothing wrong with TV. I'm leaning towards agreeing with the critics who feel that the noughties were a much better decade for television shows than cinema. Anyway, enough explanation. Let's get on with it.


1. Jon Hamm
Seen as: Don Draper on Mad Men.
The star of AMC's flagship show Mad Men didn't exactly have a glittering CV before his role as Don Draper, with bit-parts in films such as Space Cowboys and We Were Soldiers. On Mad Men, Hamm gets to exhibit the kind of smooth charisma that is rarely seen on the big screen, let alone the small one. Morally ambiguous, slyly witty, and ultimately sympathetic despite all his many faults, advertising genius Don Draper is the kind of character leading men kill for. Hamm also proved that he could do funny in a great arc on 30 Rock as Liz Lemon's "Bubble"-bound boyfriend Dr. Drew Baird, so handsome that no one's ever told him that he's stupid. He's also been excellent on his guest hosting spots on Saturday Night Live.
Upcoming roles: Evil villain duties in Zack Synder's sure-to-be-crazy Sucker Punch, playing Jake Erlich in Ginsberg biopic Howl, and Ben Affleck's sophomore directorial effort The Town. Also, Mad Men series 4


2. Tina Fey
Seen as: Liz Lemon on 30 Rock
Before she created her own sitcom, Tina Fey was the head writer on Saturday Night Live, as well as writing and co-starring in the hilarious Mean Girls. With 30 Rock, UK audiences were made aware of her talents. The writing has been consistently excellent, and the ensemble cast is fantastic, but Fey's Liz Lemon is the heart of the show. Hilariously neurotic and prone to disaster, Lemon is the head-writer of an SNL-esque sketch comedy show. She has to manage a bunch of moronic narcissitic actors and her lazy writing staff while trying to have some kind of decent life for herself. She's hilarious, and often at her best when Liz decides to ignore her moral compass. Witness her attempts to fire the girlfriend of a man she likes, or her decision to frame naive page Kenneth. Tina Fey's also won pretty much every award going for her writing and her acting on the show. Likeable and funny, Fey will inevitably have a great big-screen career. We'd just like it to be sooner rather than later.
Upcoming roles: Starring alongside Steve Carell in the star-studded comedy Date Night, and more 30 Rock.


3. Nathan Fillion
Seen as: Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, Richard Castle on Castle
Fillion first endeared himself to couch potatoes everywhere with his turn as Malcolm Reynolds on the short-lived, much-mourned Firefly. Of the cast, he seemed the most poised for big-screen success, with the possible exception of Summer Glau. Funny and very capable of handling the tougher emotional scenes, Fillion was the standout of a very talented group. After Serenity got good reviews but low box-office, he landed the lead role in James Gunn's fun but poorly received creature feature Slither, then the less impressive White Noise 2, but gained some indie kudos with his performance in Adrienne Shelley's Waitress. None of these parts particularly propelled Fillion to stardom, and he soon ended up back on TV. Fox cancelled Drive after only a few episodes, but he's currently getting good viewing figures as roguish crime author Richard Castle, who trails police around to get ideas for a new book. The show's better than it sounds, but it would be nice if Fillion could get a part in a film that people actually go and see.
Upcoming roles: More Castle and Dr. Horrible, and a supporting part in James Gunn's superhero comedy Super


4-5. Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader
Seen on: Saturday Night Live
SNL has just as often been the last good thing on a comedian's resume as it has been the springboard for success in movies. For every Will Ferrell there are about five castmembers who have essentially vanished into obscurity. While the current line-up on the show is certainly strong, the writing has been getting weaker. Pretty much the only two cast members guaranteed to make you laugh are Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig. The former made a name for himself with impressions of actors like Vincent Price and Al Pacino, but has also proved just as comfortable in more straight-ish skits. Wiig seems to be the show's go-to for almost every female character, after the departure of Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler left her the only regular who wasn't a guy. Some of the pressure has been taken off her this series, but her versatility continues to shine through. Both Hader and Wiig have yet to headline their own films (although production is about to start on "Untitled Kristin Wiig Comedy), but have been making impressions in minor roles for a few years now, and both pop up regularly in Judd Apatow movies. High points on their CVs include Hot Rod, Superbad, and Pineapple Express for Hader, and Knocked Up, Walk Hard, and Extract for Wiig.
Upcoming roles: Wiig has SNL spin-off film MacGruber, Date Night, and a dramatic role in All Good Things. Hader is rumoured to be writing a horror film, and both are appearing in Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's new comedy Paul.



Be back soon with part 2!