Monday, October 11, 2010

Oh For The Love Of Cheesus

Religion is a tricky topic on television and Glee certainly wasted zero time in getting their views across in last week's episode. I was happy that Burt Hummell was going to have more to do in the series but I wasn't expecting him to have heart problems and be the centre of a religious discussion. Here's my stance - I'm with the Kurt and Sue Sylvester's on the notion of religion and I found that people like Mercedes and Rachel, in spite of meaning well did force their opinions on Kurt too freely. Rachel herself also crossed a social line by singing Papa Can You Hear Me to a comatose Burt as well. In terms of the other song choices in this one - props for Kurt's rendition on I Wanna Hold Your Hand and the group's version of One Of Us but Finn's version of Losing My Religion left me cold as did his inane plot with a grilled cheesus sandwich. Some fans might not like the more topical of episodes on this show and while the religious arguments were pretty heavy handed, this was easily the strongest episode of the new season so far.

I like Modern Family and I pretty much dipped in and out of the first series, mostly enjoying it. Thursday saw the return of the series with the first two episodes airing back to back but it was the second episode that was the main highlight. It was the episode that the writers decided to tackle Mitchell's awkwardness with public displays of affection and finally give viewers an on-screen kiss with him and Cameron. Which the episode handled well but it wasn't the highlight of the first two episodes. I think the craziness with Claire's two daughters along with Gloria's insistence on her dead mother being in the room with them was somewhat more interesting. Overall, this remains a fun, feel-good series that for the most part doesn't try too hard to be too funny but still manages to get the right amount of laughs nonetheless.

There should be more episodes where Chloe and Tess have to spend time with each in Smallville. Tess might not be someone you'd trust with your life but her skills of deduction are certainly something that you'd wish would occassionally pass through both Clark and Oliver from time to time. We might not have needed Tess to point out how much Oliver is into Chloe but it certainly didn't harm the episode and their moments together were better than anything concerning Checkmate (Waller needs to get better) or Oliver's ham fisted attempts to take out Zod all by himself. Next time, Oliver, try to pay attention to the few times in which Clark is actually right about something. It helps, y'know.

That halfway point of The Vampire Diaries and whilst ITV2 viewers are enjoying the second season, I'm still with the first one. So, the last episode that I watched had Alaric staking Logan and Elena doing what every sensible girl would do when finding out that she resembled her beau's last girlfriend - fleeing. Every week, I keep getting surprised with this series and with Elena in dire straits at the end of the episode, I'm certainly looking to seeing her getting out of that one as well as learning more about the Glibert family tree.

Ugly Betty has been rather there for the last couple of weeks but because I've seen the episodes earlier in the year, I haven't been as anxious to rewatch them (that doesn't mean the series is bad, it's really not) but the Bahamas episode was a lot of fun. The Shakira appearance worked well in the show's favour and the varying hook-ups reminded me that this must've been a sweeps episode when it aired in the UK. Plus, it also brought the Wilhemina/Connor relationship to an end for now. Don't worry, folks, Grant Bowler will still appear later on in the series.

What is it with the CW and remakes nowadays? First there were 90210 and Melrose Place (which deservedly bombed) and now, Nikita? I've watched episodes of the original series and it was a wonderful precursor to Alias but this version, judging on the first episode alone is like the bastard child of Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica. To say I was bored shitless would almost be a kind thing to say but Christ, this was certainly a wasted hour of my life. Maybe later episodes will be something interesting but overall, this was an incredibly dire start to a series that probably did not need resurrecting in the first place.

- Expect an infidelity plot with Kevin and Scotty in Brothers And Sisters as well as one of them briefly going missing. Sally Field is also an executive producer of the series now.
- Desperate Housewives Season 7 will air on Channel 4, Sundays at 10pm from October 17th.
- Modern Family actors, Jesse Tyler-Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet have appeared in a PSA in regards to teens being bullied. Mary Lynn Rajskub will also appear in an episode as a former girlfriend of Mitchell's.
- Glee will be tackling the nature of suicide in an upcoming episode as well as bullying. It's rumoured both stories will involve Kurt. Another episode will show us younger versions of Brittany and Santana.
- Christine Willes will be joining Smallville in the role of Granny Goodness. The character was briefly seen in the previous season but will have a bigger role this time around.
- Channel 4 have secured the rights to the new Camelot series for transmission in 2011. They'll also be airing The Event from October 22nd.

4 comments:

Nat said...

I like that Modern Family underplayed the kiss between Cam and Mitchell as it had been really hyped so it was the best thing for the show to make it understated.

Really saddened/annoyed to see that they're going down the infidelity plot with Scotty. Firstly I can't even believe that would happen and it's really recycling season 1/2 stories. Seriously considering not bothering with B&S season 5, as it just sounds so ridiculous.

shawnlunn2002 said...

I think it was good that it was underplayed. Season 2 seems to be on a good streak, so I'll be watching more of it and commenting.

Brothers And Sisters - I hate this Kevin/Scotty plot but I'll give S5 a shot at least. I hope it gets better before it gets cancelled.

Nat said...

I definitely hope B&S manages to pull off a good finale otherwise it will be a really disappointing end to the show.

They had extra episodes ordered this week, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a good sign.

shawnlunn2002 said...

I was surprised to hear that this week that they got more episodes but I hope the quality does come back.