TV Reviews:

Off Centre: Dud

Skins: A show about kids—not realistic, in the slightest! **

TV Reviews:

Ben 10: My girlfriend’s son is hooked on this show—basically, a couple of young children and (for moral grounding) their grandpa are on a never-ending quest to kill every alien (which all seem to be evil) that, coincidently, happens to cross their path. The animation is good enough and is neither too hyperactive nor blasé. If you can get over the irritating constant action-over-semantics you may just appreciate this show for what it does well—holds kids attention! ***

TV Reviews:

The Royle Family: What makes this so hilarious is the great situation acting. Just now—while watching the show to critique—Ricky Tomlinson, removing wallpaper, wipes the sweat from his armpit, smells it, and then uses it to wipe his face. All seemingly natural. All seamlessly hilarious. How could watching people in a room be so entertaining? A

TV Reviews:

The Middle: Malcolm in the Middle, duh. **

Reaper: Some great back-and-forths between the three protagonists—as the character interactions are where the show shines. The plot, on the otherhand, is where the show falls apart. Ray Wise almost makes me want to give this an A−. Worth a good watch if you like sit-on-the-sofa-and-eat-crisps TV shows. B+

Modern Family: New generation of awkward humour—not funny. *

TV Reviews:

This Is England ‘86: I’m so glad to see this again—even though the plot may be a bit sketchy—it translates onto TV as well as I’d hoped. Same as before, it encapsulates the raw emotion and under-dramatic moments of British kids. A four part series? What?! A−

TV Reviews:

The Dudesons: Dud

Samurai Champloo: Nice animation—that has some great characterizations. If I’m nit-picking, it is plagued by bad timing—I would much prefer the animators to attempt a more mature output rather than trying to stylize cliche anime techniques (though they do the cliches well). A−

TV Reviews:

Samurai Jack: Impressive animation that focuses more on style (of which it consumes everything else) than on substance. ***

Mystery Science Theatre 3000: An idea that sounds as if it shouldn’t work—but it does. The simplest of shows—hillarious and true. The guys comedy is not stonerish and doesn’t become monotonous but encapsulates the style of the films they mock. A−

TV Reviews:

Samantha Who: Who (I had to do that)? Bad acting, in combination with, poor direction and a dreary, uninteresting plot leads to one of the worst popular shows on air. They somehow find an array of stars to perform cameos—do these people really watch this show? I can understand the women—women have a tendency to dismiss poor quality if it focuses on the lives of women. That is sexiest, I know, but it’s true. Hay—I like Sex and the City (not the films). B−

TV Reviews:

Phineas and Ferb: A less hyper-active, slightly more entertaining, TV show for kids. **

TV Reviews:

TNA iMPACT!: I don’t have to tell you how stupid wrestling is. I do, mildly, enjoy the action though. *

My greatest TV shows of the decade list:

1. The Sopranos
2. 60 Minutes
3. Late Show with David Letterman
4. The Simpsons
5. Saturday Night Live
6. Today
7. Friends
8. ER
9. Nightline
10. Law & Order

11. Sesame Street
12. Fraiser
13. The X-Files
14. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
15. The Oprah Winfrey Show
16. The Wire
17. Mad Men
18. The Royle Family
19. Freaks and Geeks
20. The West Wing
21. Six Feet Under
22. Desperate Housewives
23. The Office (UK)
24. Arrested Development
25. Lost
26. Sex and the City
27. Scrubs
28. Breaking Bad
29. The Daily Show
30. 30 Rock
31. Curb Your Enthusiasm
32. Southpark
33. Rome
34. Harry Hill’s TV Burp
35. Malcolm in the Middle
36. True Blood
37. Futurama
38. The OC
39. Misfits
40. This is England ‘86
41. Top Gear
42. Peep Show
43. My Name is Earl
44. Survivor
45. 24
46. The Big Bang Theory
47. Pop/American Idol
48. Spongebob Squarepants
49. The Jeremy Kyle Show
50. QI
51. MythBusters
52. Spaced
53. Glenn Martin, DDS
54. Little Britain
55. The Shield
56. Doctor Who
57. Samurai Champloo
58. Wonder Showzen

Need to wiggle some around!

TV Shows:

The Jeremy Kyle Show: I don’t know how they find so many idiots for this show. Jeremy Kyle holds just the right amount of ‘chav’ about him, and talks in the right way, to harness the grateast cocktail of enterainment and solution. It makes me cringe—but it’s always interesting to see the tension between each relationship. Oh, and I hate that goddamn fox sponser advert. A−

TV Reviews:

Monk: Not very interesting at all—but at least it doesn't fall into the trap of over-dramatic acting like so many shows of recent memory. **

Heartbeat: Though the show has changed cast too many times that I care to remember—the basis of the show remains the same. A midly enjoyable post prime-time slot-filler that always make me smile. A−

Ghost Whispserer: Man, she's got big boobs. Dud

Banzai: Hilarious—a great show to watch, late at night, with a beer. It's one of those shows, like Takeshi's Castle (funny how they're both Japanese), that you need to be in the right mood for—but boy, when you are, it's heaven! My favourite game is the hand-shaking guy—or it that too cliche? A−

TV Reviews:

Midsomer Murders: A staple of summer broadcasting (how appropriate)—Midsomer Murders is genuinely good at consistently making interesting plots. John Nettles is cast well and so is his side-kick Jason Hughes. The direction could be a little more direct/exciting—but it has created a nice little niche for itself and I think it's quite happy staying there. A−

Dexter's Laboratory: Haha, I watched this with my brother—it's actually quite good (at least, the characterizations). I almost want to call this and A− (or am I drunk? :p) ***

TV Reviews:

Accidentally on Purpose: Fails on an acting level where ‘How I Met Your mother’ succeeded. B−

TV Reviews:

Smallville: When it first aired it had some impact, but after character additions it has become over-dramatic and droll. Too much camera panning and scene hogging. I'd rather have intelligent story-lines and a faster tempo, thanks. B

Spartacus: Blood and Sand: Dud

TV Reviews:

The I.T. Crowd: I want this show to be better than it is—but it lacks that spark of intelligence. Some of the jokes are funny but most of them leave me feeling they could have done more with the characters. I still like this show—if only for what could be. A−

TV Reviews:

The Hills: Dud

TV Reviews:

Everybody Loves Raymond: An impressive cast—each member of the family has a strong role in the show. What lacks here are the jokes—they're usually pretty immature and short—leaving me feeling like this isn't very good as a comedy. What I do like is the interaction between the characters—this is where the show shines. A−

TV Reviews:

Everwood: Based on some common mining-town cliches, Everwood is not a bad show. It's not a great show either. While having a good cast they never seem to act anything more than appropriately. The plot seems good on paper but lack of intelligent direction renders the show a little futile. ***