Let's (Fail To) Kill Hitler Again

And here's one of two TV jumbles to expect in the next few days. The next one will hopefully be tomorrow or Sunday.

American Horror Story: Okay, you can definitely tell this is a Ryan Murphy show, can't you? Our protagonists are a frustrating lot to watch but between home invasions and murdered pregnant mistresses, this show is certainly impressing at every turn. I might not care about the Harmons as much as I should do but I do care about all the murders that have happened in their new home and I can't wait for next week's Halloween themed episode on FXUK.

Glee: With three more episodes for 2011, the show's third season is actually picking up well. The 300th performance with Mercedes and Santana delivering a cracking version of Rumour Has It/Someone Like You served as a new high for the show but it's the Santana vs. Finn antics that drove this episode. Santana went too far with her treatment of both Finn and Rory in this episode but a week on, I still think Finn was a prized idiot for outing her the way he did. Looking forward to the fallout though in the next episode.

Merlin: A mixed batch of episodes here. One episode saw Gaius captured, Morgana nearly coming close to discovering who Emerys really was and Merlin gaining a following of sorts. Then we got a rather disappointing episode where a girl named Lamia managed to make the Knights ina round table of idiots for most of the hour. I love the Knights, I genuinely do but the show needs to stop featuring them in every episode because they're not being well served to be honest.

Misfits: Now this is definitely more like it. Not one but two incredibly enjoyable episodes in a row. Okay, so there were cliches with dorky guy being a hindrance to Simon and Alisha and their future and a world where the Nazis were victorious certainly had it's moments. As a character, Rudy is definitely improving though and the blossoming relationship between Kelly and Seth has actually been a lot of fun to watch, though Kelly put Rory to shame with the way she decided to deal with Hitler. Let's just say a simple punch wasn't enough for Kelly.

Mongrels: Yup, I'm still watching. Even an episode that features Danny Dyer can't stop me watching this bloody show (well, Vince did try to kill him). At some point, I'm going to go and find the first series but right now, I continue to enjoy the violent Vince, the funny as hell cat Marion and of course, Kali, who for a pigeon isn't too proud to eat her own cousin at a wedding or get a rival pigeon killed so she can reclaim her perch. And the songs are pretty addictive as well.

Threesome: It's been a fun little series (and I hope it gets a second run) but even dressed as a space hopper, the show finally decided that it was time for Alice to give birth, with the assistance of her mother, plus the mothers of Mitch and Ritchie as well for good measure. I've enjoyed this series and it'll be interesting to see Alice, Mitch and Ritchie now that they've got Lily to look after next series but can we get Dave back too?

- Dana Delany, Kyle MacLachlan and Andrea Bowen will all be returning to Desperate Housewives in the second half of Season 8.
- Hilarie Burton will be guest starring in an episode of Castle as a woman famous for being famous.
- HBO have decided to pass on the comedy pilot, Spring/Fall starring Tea Leoni.
- Dexter has been renewed for both a seventh and an eighth season.
- SyFy are developing a series for Booster Gold from a script by Fringe writer, Andrew Kreisberg.
- Ewan McGregor will star in a pilot for HBO called The Corrections.

Just A Little Tap On The Nose

Sorry, I was meant to do this earlier but I got delayed with stuff but my second TV jumble is here now.
Him And Her: I watched the opening episode of this last year and I wasn't particularly blown away but I gave the first series a second chance and it's sort of improved. Catching up with the first two episodes of the second series, it's still not a perfect show but it's definitely become likeable, even if a little trite that all the action seems to take place in Steve and Becky's flat. Still, with characters like Laura around, you can almost feel sorry for Steve a little, right?

Mongrels: Confession time - I've not seen the first series of this and I only caught the first two episodes of the second year last night and I'm bloody hooked. Politically incorrect puppets are funny, whether it's a pigeon killing a man with a rickshaw, a female dog singing songs about domestic abuse (really wrong but horribly funny), a cat striking a friendship with a fish or a fox inadvertently killing five Beagle dogs. I think I'm bloody hooked.

Smallville: It's been ten seasons in the making and for a finale, I think this show ended on a high. There were some lovely character moments - Clark/Lois marrying, flash forwarding into the future, Lex's brief return and of course that final moment in the two parter. Overall while this hasn't always been a perfect series, this was a perfect way of ending ten years of Clark Kent's storyline.
Threesome: Good set of episodes. I liked the one dealing with Mitch's irresponsibility (after all, we did see Alice and Ritchie's) and the one focusing on Ritchie's birthday was pretty nice too. Five episodes in and this has proved to be a fun series, even if the scenes with Ritchie and the hunky Dave are a little lightweight. I still hope that this comes back for seconds though.

The Vampire Diaries: Finally saw the last two episodes of Season 2 and will start watching the third season in early 2012. As an ending went, I felt the penultimate episode which seems to be more of bloodbath than usual was the stronger episode and probably should've been the ending but complete with Stefan in Klaus's thrall and Jeremy's new ability, the second year did end on a rather interesting note.

The X Factor: Ah, we've lost Johnny, The Risk, Frankie and Kitty thanks to the powers of votes and someone's stupidity and regained Amelia Lily in the process. The most shocking thing was The Risk exiting the competition. Any other year, the boyband would've been a shoe in for the finale but maybe we've finally reached saturation point with the boybands. As for the judges, time to tune out with their pointless arguing.

- Joe Manganiello has said that Alcide will have a bigger role in True Blood's fifth season. Dale Daley will be appearing on the series as Marcus's mother.
- Misha Collins will appearing in the 14th episode of Ringer, playing a man called Dylan with a past to both Bridget and Siobhan.
- Paul Bettany is in talks to appear in a series for Showtime called Masters Of Sex.
- Weeds has been renewed for an eighth season.
- David Anders will be playing a patient in an upcoming episode of House.
- Nicholas Lea will play real life lawman Elliot Ness in an upcoming episode of Supernatural.

How Bad Are We?

And here is the first of two TV jumble blogs to look forward to during the week.

Pan Am: If I needed a reminder that there was no more Brothers And Sisters, then the arrival of ABC's new air stewardess drama on Irish TV was a nice way of doing so. It'd be easy to dismiss the series as a Mad Men for ladies but actually, it's a bit more interesting than said show to be honest. The most interesting character to emerge out of the ladies is Kate and the fact that she's working for the FBI. It's hard to tell if this show will be a long runner but I'm intrigued enough to give a few more episodes a go.

Shameless: The last two episodes of the eighth series ended the show on a reasonable enough note. Okay, I'm not a fan of Mimi and Billy as a couple, so their wedding wasn't that much of a highlight but Carl's out of nowhere decision to become a policeman and the breakdown of Kelly and Shane was surprisingly a lot more effective. Frank was still his unfortunate useless self (why is this character still on this show?). Here's hoping that Series 9 next year is better paced. The series certainly suffered from pacing problems.

Spy: Sky1's latest take on comedy is thankfully a lot better than their last few efforts. Spy will not win points for originality and Robert Lindsay's hammy acting does rear it's head but Darren Boyd is excellent as the hapless Tim who accidentally became a member of MI5. Also oddly funny is the Stewie Griffin-ish son Marcus, whose pithy observations might not be realistic for a nine year old but they are entertaining to watch. Definitely one of Sky1's better efforts.

The Apprentice (Ireland): I've been relegating this to a Sunday afternoon repeats but blimey, I wasn't expecting Eoin to actually leave. Typical. One of the most irritating contestants and we're denied the satisfaction of actually seeing him getting fired. Oh, and didn't Bill fire yet another female contestant? Any chance he can stop doing that so frequently because even I don't this series to be a boys club.

The Vampire Diaries: I really love this show and the last two episodes have made me so glad I actually took up watching. The flashbacks and reveals galore in relation to Klaus have been fun to watch and even more so, the renewed alliance with Elena/Damon and Bonnie being crafty enough to fake her own death while Jenna finally became privy to vampires and Klaus got his own body back. Of course, there's a few downers - Katherine largely being underused and Damon acting like his usual petulant/violent self when Elena took control of the Klaus and tried to find other ways of defeating. Gotta love the girl's gumption. Damon on the other hand, can just do one.
Threesome: Yay, another new comedy that I actually found myself enjoying. If this Comedy Central's attempts of doing flagship shows, then it's off to a terrific start. Even though I wasn't sure I needed to see yet another show where a gay man fathers a kid for a straight couple (during an awkward three-way during Alice's birthday), I can't help but enjoy this series. Alice, Mitch and Richie make for an interesting troika and Alice's mother in the second episode was fun to watch as well but that might be down to my soft spot for Pauline McLynn. Can't wait to watch the next few episodes.


- Jamie Bamber will be appearing in Body Of Proof as a love interest for Dana Delany's character.
- E4 have the rights to both Charlie's Angels (which was cancelled) and New Girl. Both are due to air on the channel in the next few weeks.
- Chord Overstreet will be returning to Glee after all, reprising his role as Sam in the eighth episode, due to air in December. Matthew Morrison will also be directing the Christmas episode this year.
- Marc Cherry is developing a new series for ABC called Devious Maids.
- Lena Hedly has said that the second series of Games Of Thrones will be even crazier than the first one.
- Catherine Tate will be reprising her role as Nellie in the second half of the eighth season of The Office.