It's A Fix It's A Fix

And here's a look at some of the programmes I've been watching over the last two weeks.

Glee - It's that time of year again - Sectionals! Last time we had set lists revealed and Emma's wedding become a non starter. This time around you've got Emma actually marrying Carl, Sam/Quinn doing Time Of My Life (wasn't Black Eyed Peas enough?) along with Santana belting out Valerie and Rachel/Finn coming to an ending for now. Elsewhere, Kurt's beginning to realise that the Warblers aren't that great, we've got a new member in Lauren and while I'm still not invested in Artie/Brittany, I didn't mind them this week. Oh, and no Sue along with Mercedes/Tina's rendition of Dog Days Are Over along with Rachel/Kurt's Don't Cry For Me Argentina certainly hit the musical spots.

Misfits - Last two episodes have for me seen this show go from great TV to must see TV. I know the whole Time Traveller's Wife arc with Future Simon and Alisha is hardly the most innovative thing on TV but damn it, it worked brilliantly and it's certainly improving both characters as well. Plus episodes with powered up tattoo artists, psychotic gamers and power tranfers through heart transplants shouldn't be this good but it's nice to see this show exceeding my expectations nonetheless though. Now if only Nathan and Kelly could just see sense with each other and I actually don't mind Curtis and Nikki as a pairing.

Merlin - For the most part I've enjoyed the last two episodes and while the series has still been worth watching, it's also been horribly inconsistent in places as well. At least with this story, we've got the Knights of the Round Table, Morgana temporarily defeated, Cenred and Morgause despatched and a brief reappearance of Freya along with some actual progression with Arthur and Gwen if not as much with Merlin (though I liked the last scene a lot). Here's hoping when the shorter fourth season returns that this level of progression will sustain itself.

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here - Aww, when I got into, I actually liked this series again. Gillian provided some morbid comedy before she got the boot and I could empathise with Dom Joly's complete irritation with Kayla (what, she wasn't famous enough for the US version?) but overall it reminded me why I liked Stacey Solomon so much. The girl is utterly bonkers but so damn likeable that at the end, it only made sense for her to win the bloody thing. Maybe a certain other ITV show could take some tips.

The X Factor - Memo to Simon Cowell - this show is supposed to be decided by the public and while you and Cheryl Cole continue to prove how little you both actually know about music, someone with actual talent got sacrificed last night. I never thought for a second that Mary Byrne would win the show but she deserved to be in the final and the fact that Cher Lloyd got through after an abysmal performance of Everytime only proved two things - a) ageism is still alive in Britain today and b) Simon really needs to stop sucking to Cheryl, even if I do want Rebecca to win. I knew Mary Byrne was going but after last night, it should've been Cher. At least the Glee bit was fun.

- In news that won't shock at all, Dexter has been deservedly renewed for a sixth season. I still have to watch Season 5 but I hear I'm in for a treat.

- True Blood's third season will air on FXUK in January. Looks like they're promoting the werewolf aspect of the series as well.
- Stephan Amell is joining The Vampire Diaries for a two episode arc playing a character called Brady.

- Expect to see the return of both Susan's mother and her aunt in Desperate Housewives soon. Also in the last episode this year, someone gets shot.
- The CW are planning a series based on DC Comics character, Raven as a replacement for Smallville.

- Glee will be covering a Black Eyed Peas song in an upcoming episode. The Christmas one airs tomorrow on FOX.

A Bit Of A Huge Roundup

This is going to be a little short but over the last two weeks, there have been some good shows to watch over.

Lip Service - Pretty interesting finale. I'm not gonna lie that I didn't see Cat/Frankie happening because it was pretty obvious that was going to go there and it'll be interesting to see if Cat does choose her ex-girlfriend over Sam. I did also like Frankie's mystery being resolved and it was nice to see Tess sort out her friendship with Ed, get a good acting gig and spark up a relationship with Finn. Pun intended. Hoping this series returns for a second run.

Merlin - what is it with Uther trying to crush other people's love interests? First, he ended up banishing Gaius's one, Alice after it was revealed that her hand was being forced by a Manticore and thanks to Morgana's scheming, he almost ended up having Gwen executed as well. I have to admit to enjoying Merlin using a disguse in order to save Gwen and give both Uther and Arthur a piece of his mind. Now, I need to go and catch with last night's episode.

Thorne - I really enjoyed the last two episodes of this series but I'm hoping for a little more of an oomph if we get a next series. Thorne's guardianship over Charlie and his scenes with his father, Phil and Ruth were fantastic but Sandra Oh was surprisingly disappointing as Sarah Chen and I wasn't too sad to see her killed by Martin. Overall, a worthwhile addition to Sky1's staple.

Accused - Christopher Eccleston and his gritty dramas, eh? He certainly seems to enjoy them and the start of this six-parter from Jimmy McGovern was a decent stab at something for Monday nights. Each week sees a court case and this week saw Eccleston's character steal money to pay for his daughter's wedding and ending up getting six years as well as having his affair quietly revealed in the background. Certainly not a good day for Willy.

The X Factor - Well, in the last three weeks, we've had TreyC, Aiden and Paije all fall to the sides whilst Katie Waissel and Wagner have triumphed yet again. Having weeks dedicated to both Elton John and the Beatles certainly has been telling but at this point, I just know that either Matt Cardle or One Direction are going to win this, so it doesn't matter what controversy Katie generates, though to her credit, she did a cracking version of Help.

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here - Maybe it's a form of twisted karma but for a woman who examines other people's poo for a living, Gillian McKeith certainly has managed to become a figure of fun and scorn for the general voting public and her fellow teammates. Personally, while I'm not glued to this series, I am finding the excess picking on Gillian a tad too mean and I don't even like the woman.

The Apprentice UK/Irish Versions - Mmm, I'm watching the Irish more and actually enjoying it more. We've lost misery guts Tara and moronic Dave (while still being lumbered with patronising git, Jamie) and with any luck, Will will develop a personality and Michelle will win the bloody thing. As for the UK versions, I wasn't too sad to see the departures of either Alex or Sandeesh to be honest.

It's Not That Quiet In The Country (Reality TV/Soap Blog)

One of my goals for this blogspot by 2010 is to be even more eclectic than usual. Reasons for this vary. I want the blog to be accessible as possible for everyone, even though the main theme is always going to be television related. Plus it will give me more to go on and it means I can cover stuff such as reality TV and soaps, which I do watch from time to time in an objective manner. Don't worry, I'll still be reviewing the usual shows and doing spoilers blogs as well.

If I tried ignoring I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, I'd probably have to try and literally bury myself underground in order to successfully accomplish that. That's not going to happen. The latest series hasn't exactly been much to gush about. In fact for the last eight days, it was more The Katie Price Show rather than anything else, with Miss Price enduring all the bushtucker trials as she finally realised that the public simply don't take to her. I'm not gonna lie - I can't stand Katie Price and generally think she's a Grade A moron whose constant yapping about every fucking thing she does is beyond irritating but even I felt a little sorry for her. Just a little and not enough to feel sad when she fled the camp. Mainly because that'll be another thing she won't shut up about for a good week and a half.

Prior to going onto I'm A Celebrity, Price went on Chelsea Lately, a pretty tacky talk show with a somewhat irritating but amusing host, Chelsea Handler. The show wasn't exactly her greatest moment either. As you can see here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdA5Y3Gle

Every week on The X-Factor, I feel a sense of apathy growing in the room. As Simon Cowell protests to high heaven how much he supposedly hates, Irish duo John and Edward (or Jedward as they're known by), I get the urge to scream, 'liar' at the screen.

I'm under no delusions when it comes to The X-Factor in the sense that I'm aware of it's catered for popularity than musical talent. Jedward may be devoid in talents, despite being nice enough lads but they have been generating a lot more press for this show than their fellow contestants so there was little doubt that there would be some controversy upon their exit last night.

Personally I don't see the big deal. Even if by some weird fluke that they had actually won the bloody thing, would they realistically have a career with longevity? No! Stranger things might have happened but Jedward getting the boot after weeks of enduring boos from a clearly childish crowd is hardly shock of the century. If this had been an actual singing contest, they would've never made it as far as they did. I don't have anything against the lads but maybe it's time that the judges actually took the show seriously instead of treating proceedings in the farcical manner they've been doing for some time now

What is with soaps and gay storylines? For ages you can go without any and then you're attacked by many? Not that that's always a bad thing but 2009 wise, let's er see ...

Home And Away: Charlie, who was bisexual for five seconds before hooking up with the deathly dull Angelo. Now tends to mostly whine. A lot.
Fair City: Yvonne/Connie, not much plot there, even with the former's pregnancy. Plus Troy disappeared as quickly as he debuted.
Hollyoaks: Um, some bisexual plots with Kris/Ravi and the whole Lydia/Sarah/Zoe mess that's now involving Charlotte. Slightly better.
Coronation Street: Sean trying and failing to woo Leon, who in turn fancied Jason, who won Mr Gay Weatherfield, despite his heterosexuality. Hardly riveting.
EastEnders: Christian/Syed, which even without the Muslim aspect of the storyline should be really interesting. Except it's not. I feel a bit sympathetic towards Christian but Syed's doing very little that makes me think he's worth pursuing. Some of the upcoming Christmas spoilers with them and Amira suggest their relationship will be outed in the usual manner and will play a backburner to the 'Who Killed Archie?' plot line.
Doctors: Um, dishy Simon and the American guy, Todd but that didn't last long mind. Still both were exceptionally cute though.

Emmerdale meanwhile started the year by reuniting and exiting Paul and Johnny rather quickly as well as reawakening Debbie/Jasmine. Only then poor Jasmine went to jail for caving in the brains of a rapist police officer and Debbie hooked up with a bloke so bland that not even the revelation of him engaged to Charity was enough to ignite excitement into him.

Funnily enough from next month onwards, it seems that wayward Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) tries to snog his only mate Adam Barton (Adam Thomas), despite spending most of the time pursuing Adam's sister, Holly (Sophie Powles).

In terms of gay stories, Emmerdale do usually have a better track record and perhaps this is one that might not peter out so quickly if we're lucky.

Also someone on YouTube compiled as many Aaron/Adam scenes as they could muster. See here ... http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=624EE7524681A15E