Telescope

And here's a look at some of the stuff I've been watching over the last week.

Glee: Well we finally got to the wedding of Will and Emma and needless to say, the event itself didn't exactly pan out so good. In fact, unless you're Will/Emma or Jake/Marley, you had a good time at the wedding. Kurt/Blaine got steamier than usual for this show, Rachel's gotten one hell of a cliche plot and then there's Quinn/Santana as well. I'm not gonna lie - it does feel like a ratings stunt but it was an interesting enough turn of events and far better than Sue being her usual petty self or Tina's inane pursuit of Blaine as well. In terms of songs - the whole Not Getting Married sequence was a work of genius for the show.

My Mad Fat Diary: I hope people are actually watching this one because as a successor to Skins, it's definitely become a rather charming show to watch. The last two episodes have certainly ramped up the intensity of the show as Rae's attempts of keeping her time in hospital seperate from her new friends have seemingly come undone and the slow build up with her and Finn has been interesting to watch. The finale on Monday definitely looks like it'll end the first series on a good note. I hope it gets a second one though.

Nashville: After finding myself incredibly disappointed  with Smash last year and give my general aversion to country music, I wasn't sure about this show but two episodes in - I love it. It's pure, unashamed soap but it's a fun one with interesting enough characters, a great rivalry between the not so vacuous Juliette and the slightly entitled Rayna and the songs are surprisingly catchy enough as well. The political plots with Rayna's husband and father are the weaker parts of the show but other than that, this has definitely become a show worth watching on a Thursday night. Quite fond of Telescope and If I I Didn't Know Better for some reason too.

Once Upon A Time: I loved this episode. I was looking forward to seeing this show's take on Jack And The Beanstalk and like with Ruby's plotline last year, the subversion with Tiny and Jacqueline (nice to see Cassidy Freeman popping up in shows I watch) was brilliant. I guess this means that we've got Tiny as a recurring character now, right? I also found myself enjoying the subplots with Regina back to her scheming ways and Emma, Henry and Gold's trip to New York as well as that mysterious newcomer in town. It's a shame the ratings have been disappointing because this season has been so enjoyable to watch.

The New Normal: I'm still watching this show and I still like it, but again, it does feel like the weakest of Ryan Murphy's current shows on television. However I do like that the show seems to be developing Jane a bit more. She's still an acid tongued bigot at times but she's still interesting to watch and I found myself preferring her over David's mother at times as well. Though I did like seeing David's mother showing her acceptance of Bryan with a rather simple gesture.

Utopia: It's nice that this show is airing on Channel 4 rather than E4. It proves that the channel is capable of taking more risks with genre television and this has certainly been a gripping and rather polemic series. The last two episodes have really upped the tension with virtually every character deceiving or being deceived by others that's really hard to know who we're supposed to be siding with her. Jessica's unhinged but she's currently got the manuscript and Becky seems to be the most clean cut of characters but she's being put into a compromising position. It's going to be interesting to see how the finale will resolve this whole saga.

- Jason Ritter has been cast in the US version of Gavin And Stacey (titled Friends And Family) in the Gavin role. Anyone want to place bets on how many episodes this gets to before cancellation?
- BBC1 will be airing a new thriller called Mayday, starring both Aidan Gillen and Sophie Okonedo over the space of five days from March 3rd-7th.
- SkyAtlantic have bought the rights to Alan Ball's series, Banshee and will premiere it in May.
- BBC2 have cancelled The Hour after two series.
- Fans of Community will be delighted to know that SonyTV will be airing the third season in May.
- Both Ripper Street and Mr Selfridges have been commissioned for second series by BBC1 and ITV.
- The US version of The Bridge, starring Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Annabeth Gish, Ted Levine and Matthew Lilliard will air on FX.
- Oliver Jackson-Cohen will be joining NBC's Dracula, playing Jonathan Harker.

Calender Boys

And here's a look at some of the show I've been watching in recent weeks. Warning: Spoilers as per usual.

American Horror Story: What is it with this show and finales? The first one ended on a strangely bittersweet note but the second one managed to give us a final season that makes the whole season question worthy on itself? It was a rather ballsy move, unlike Lana pulling the trigger on her son, which I think we all saw coming, didn't we? I'm not gonna lie - I've enjoyed this second season more than it's first and I was pretty satisfied/intrigued with the respected endings given to Lana, Kit and Jude. I can't wait to see what the third season is going to give us. Easily one of the best show on television. Sorry, Homeland, but you've been beaten here.

Glee: It's interesting that I'm discussing three Ryan Murphy shows in one blog but chalk that up to timing rather than a calculated move on my part (no, honest). Anyways the recent two episodes of this show, while still burdened with the same narrative problems (such as out of nowhere crushes with Blaine/Sam/Tina), still managed to give us two interesting episodes. The Naked one in particular was nowhere near as gimmicky as it could've been and while I certainly didn't mind seeing the male cast as calender boys, I have to admit the other highlights have been English boy Adam, the girls belting out Locked Out Of Heaven as well as the Rachel/Santana/Quinn's version of Love Song. However the one thing I do find extremely surprisingly is how likeable Finn has been as well for the last while. Have the writers finally turned a corner with him, character wise?

Mrs Brown's Boys: And while my guilty pleasure show at the moment ends tonight on RTE1 (BBC1 on Monday), the last two episodes have continued to be a belly full of fun. Yes, this show can be crass and predictably at times, such as that vibrating phone, Rory being a dab hand with handcuffs and Cathy falsely assuming one of the family is adopted but it's still funnier than any other comedy on the BBC at the moment. I can't wait to see what the last episode will give us.

My Mad Fat Diary: Three episodes in and I'm still enjoying this show. The 90's nostalgia aside, it's just a well written and fantastically fun show to watch with a good blend of serious edges too. I liked that the last two episodes focused on explaining about Archie and Chloe (though the former's secret I think could be seen coming a mile off) and Rae's interactions with both her mother and shrink have certainly gotten more interesting to watch as well. This so far has been a wonderful homemade series for E4 and I do hope that there's going to be a second run of episodes for it. It's certainly deserving of it.

The New Normal: Okay, I'm still enjoying this show but I'll admit it's probably the weakest of Ryan Murphy's main three and like Glee at times, has a tendency to a little heavy handed with it's messages but at least Bryan and David continue to be a believable couple and it's hard to dislike Goldie/Shania and despite that Nana being a bit too cartoonish, Ellen Barkin is still easily the best performer in the show. It's just that we're not seeing more to our main players other than their desire to become fathers and I kind of wish we got a little more there.

Utopia: I like a good conspiracy/genre show as much as the next person and this one is definitely one of the most interesting things Channel 4 have produced in a while (along with My Mad Fat Diary) as a manuscripts seems to have changed the lives of several different people over the space of three episodes. The main characters are interesting and sympathetic enough and the main antagonists so far do seem to be a scary bunch but while the central story is fantastic, is it the type of show that should be just one series or is there really enough to make it go for another run? At the moment, it's a little hard to tell.

- In news that won't shock anyone, Lily Rabe will also be returning for the third season of American Horror Story. Also rumoured to be returning is Taissa Farmiga from the first season.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has labelled the characters on Girls as 'ignorant'. I guess it's not just me who has issues with this show then.
- Expect a massive death in an upcoming episode of Revenge. In fact, you can thank/blame the Daily Mail for spoiling who dies actually.
- Ellen Muth will be appearing in the upcoming Hannibal series, playing a character named Georgia, though not a Grim Reaper this time.
- Rosanne Barr is developing a sitcom for NBC.
- Angel Coulby and Keeley Hawes will be appearing in the SkyAtlantic version of The Bridge. HBO will also be doing their own version of the show and a second series of the original version will air this year too.
- The Syndicate will be remade for US television as well as Pulling. Both due to air on ABC.
- Jamie Dornan will be reappearing in Once Upon A Time, though when hasn't been specified.
- Felicia Day will be making another appearance on Supernatural. I guess the producers really do love her character.
- Californication, Shameless and House Of Lies have all been renewed for further seasons by Showtime.

Tough Cookie

There's a lot of shows to cover and I will do so over the next week or two but for now, here are some of the ones I've seen recently ...

American Horror Story: Asylum: I'm still watching this show at UK pace, which means only being an episode behind on proceedings but this show certainly manages to achieve a lot in three episodes than others do in half a season. For instance, we've lost three prominent villainous characters, gained more insight into the present day activities of the disturbed Bloody Face Jr while having the entire hierarchy at Briarcliff take an interesting turn for the worst as well. And that's enough even going into the sheer inspired lunacy of The Name Game song as well. In a show as wonderfully strange as this one, that was the strangest thing yet. As for Kit, Lana and Jude - well, the last two episodes are going to be interesting for our three heroes.

Mrs Brown's Boys: My guilty pleasure series. It might not be the most sophisticated of comedies but it's an undeniably funny one, compared to some of the other offerings on telly at the moment. So far, the first half of the third series has been great fun with episode based on psychics, hypnotists and poor Granddad constantly living in fear of Agnes's wrath. I do find myself wondering how well Brendan O'Carroll continues to play this role and given that's he's been playing it for a long time in various mediums, I should be used to it by now.

My Mad Fat Diary: I have to admit, I did watch this show with a little trepidation. On the surface, it did seem like an attempt for E4 to have another Skins style success but if you didn't like that show, there's a chance you might still like this one. First of all, the action is set in 1996, based on the real life diary of Rae Earl (here ably played by Sharon Rooney), a girl whose recently come out of a mental institution and it's actually quite good. Rae is a likeable enough character and the new band people she seems to befriend almost instantly seem like an interesting bunch, though like Skins, it does have a tendency of writing the adult characters (Rae's promiscuous mother and her shrink) as caricatures but other than that, this along with Utopia (to be discussed in a later blog) are a welcome relief to the plethora of period stuff that BBC1 and ITV are throwing at us at the moment.

Once Upon A Time: I sometimes wonder if I should be reviewing this show episodically because the last two episodes have continued to support my theory that it's not suffering difficult second season syndrome. It's nice that in the space of showing up in Storybrooke that in the last two episodes, Hook and Cora have kidnapped Archie (while making everyone think Regina killed him) and managed to screw Gold over by messing with Belle big time. Plus, the actual antics in fairyland have been fun to watch as this show continues to convince us that Mulan is meant for female partners and that Regina's burning hatred for Snow really was unquenchable as well. I still wouldn't mind learning a bit more about how Emma can't have her heart removed but I suspect we're getting to that fairly soon.

The New Normal: So, Ryan Murphy is determined to take over every corner of television, right? I have to admit that while I'm still likely to prefer Glee and American Horror Story (and early seasons of Nip/Tuck), this is another hugely enjoyable show of his to watch. The premise is simple - gay couple Bryan and David want a kid, something which aspiring lawyer Goldie (who has her own daughter, the delightful Shania) is happy to help out with, and that's in spite of a feckless husband and a bigoted grandmother, superbly played by Ellen Barkin - a character so cartoonish she'd make early Sue Sylvester seem reserved by comparison. It might not be a show to everyone's taste but it's certain an interesting one and this is coming from a person who's grown tired of most baby plots on television shows.

- Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson will be returning for the third season of American Horror Story, which will be set in the present day. Clues for the theme behind the new season have featured in the most recent episodes.
- Fans of Kurt and Blaine should be delighted to know that the upcoming wedding episode of Glee will feature them on better terms with each other.
- Gina Torres has mentioned that the upcoming Hannibal series is chilling.
- Ron Moore is developing a new drama for SyFy called Helix, focusing on a team of scientists trying to save humanity from a disease outbreak at an Arctic research facility.
- Australia will air the final four episode of the recently cancelled 666 Park Avenue.
- SyFy have cancelled Alphas after two seasons.
- Downton Abbey's fourth season will see a lot of changes as Mary adjusts to life as a widow.
- RAW actress Amy Manson could be Wonder Woman, though the show will be called Amazon and will be tonally similar to Smallville.