A Varied Mood Board Of Shows

I know it's been freaking long since I've done one of these but here's another snapshot of stuff I've been watching over the last few months.

Big Mood: Channel 4 have found a new niche of comedies with a more serious undertone and none serious than this one. Lydia West and Nicola Coughlan are on fine form as the level headed Eddie and the flightier Maggie, and both make for a believable friendship. Throughout the six part series, you had Maggie battling both her bipolar and writers block while Eddie struggled to keep her dead father's along pub alive and dealt with an unwanted pregnancy. There's not many laughs to be had with the show but there's a good insight into friendships and mental health.

Celebrity Big Brother: While ITV2 certainly got the parent series right, I have to admit the celebrity version on ITV was something more of a mixed bag. Way too many influencer types, other unrecognisable celebs and one that seemed more fitted for the Daily Mail style audience. On the other hand, there was something entertaining in watching Louis Walsh make a prat out of himself yet while the winner was decent enough I suppose. It just felt a bit of a letdown after last years much better civilian series.

Ripley: Prior to watching this, the reception seemed to be mixed at best. Some loved seeing a newer version of The Talented Mr Ripley. Others were put off by the black and white format and felt Andrew Scott was too old for the role of Tom Ripley. Personally, I think he's the best thing but there were times where Ripley was almost too inept to live (that boat scene in the third episode being the best example). The show's gorgeous looking, beautifully capturing the 1960s time period and Italian setting. The lacklustre ratings on Netflix and audience antipathy on the other hand does however indicate that we shouldn't expect seconds for this one.

True Detective: I don't know. I liked the first episode of this season but I have to admit, the show just fell apart as it went along. The finale both felt rushed in some parts and a slog in others and despite a good partnership with Jodie Foster and Kali Reiss,  just didn't care enough about either Danvers or Navarro to be really invested as the season concluded. Some wasted actors and a barely contained misandry in the writing didn't help at times either.

Wreck: Back in late 2022, the returned BBC3 struck gold with this nautical slasher/horror series and while the second series traded the cruise ship setting for a wellness centre in Slovenia, it lost none of it's groove. Throughout the six episodes of this second series, we lost so many characters, gained some new ones (and lost some of them), got some great character development, inventive kills, bits of romance, alliances switched up and a promise of more vengeance. What I'm trying to say here is that I really hope BBC3 commission at least one more series of this delightfully batshit crazy show. 

• Joshua Jackson will lead upcoming ABC medical drama, Dr Odyssey, created by Ryan Murphy.
• Speaking of Ryan Murphy, he will produce another horror series on FX called Grotesquerie with Niecy Nash, Leslie Manville and Courtney B. Vance heading up the cast.
• So Help Me Todd has been cancelled by CBS after two seasons.
• Fallout has been renewed for a second season by Amazon.
• Production for the second season of Gen V has been halted following the recent death of Chance Perdomo last month.
• Season 4 of The Boys will premiere on Amazon from June 13th.
• Grey's Anatomy has been renewed for a 21st season while spin off Station 19 will conclude next month after seven seasons.
• CSI: Vegas has been cancelled after three seasons by CBS.
• Seth McFarlane has admitted that Family Guy won't be ending any time soon.
• The third season of Netflix's Sweet Tooth is coming soon and will be the show's last one.
• ITV have announced that the fourteenth series of Vera will be it's last.
• CBS have changed their minds again and given S.W.A.T. an eighth season.
• Netflix have renewed The Witcher for a fifth and final season ahead of it's fourth season. Liam Hemsworth replaced Henry Cavill in the lead role. 

Murders By Land Or At Sea

Okay, it's really been a long time since I've done this and some shows I'm holding back for next month and others I've already reviewed but here's a look at some I've recently completed.

Only Murders In The Building: I absolutely adored the first season of this show and I did have a minor concern that Season 2 might have suffered from difficult second album syndrome. Fortunately that wasn't the case at all. Not only were Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez on absolutely top form as Charles, Oliver and Mabel respectively but the mystery surrounding Bunny's death managed to take some very interesting twists and turns before the big finale reveal. Add in a slew of interesting new characters like Alice and a cliff hanger ending on the death of Paul Rudd's actor character and the stage for next season was set perfectly. 

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law: If you ever thought that the MCU needed it's own take on Ally McBeal with a lot of fourth wall breaking, then this show must have been a godsend for you. For me, it was partial'y a mixed bag that took too long to get the main plot moving along and when the main plot did move along, it was somewhat resolved in an odd way. There were plus sided to the series as Tatiana Maslany's performance as Jen Walters, an amusing side threat with Titania (Jameela Jamil) not to mention appearances from Hulk, Abomination, Wong and Daredevil to name a few. While it was one of the weaker MCU shows, it wasn't entirely without it's merits either.

The Watcher: After some of his previous efforts on Netflix being something of a mixed bag, Ryan Murphy seems to be the cat who got the cream. Dahmer alone has smashed records for the streamer and this seven part series also managed to pull in some big numbers. Based on an unsolved case, this show felt like a revisit of the first season of American Horror Story with Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts leading as average couple Dean and Nora who find that purchasing a nice house came with some hostile neighbours, an inept detective, an overzealous realtor played by Jennifer Coolidge trying to flip their place and a creepy 'watcher' who keeps sending them disturbing letters. Want to know who the 'Watcher' actually is? Well, you're not going to find out because it's an unsolved case after all. Other than that, it's a pretty decent miniseries.

Wreck: BBC3 has only been back for about nine months and for those hoping for shows that would be the next generation of Being Human/The Fades/In The Flesh, this very LGBT themed nautical horror series definitely could fill that void. With likable leads such as Jamie and Vivian, a nice romance story between Jamie and Olly, a murder mystery complete with a killer duck, some genuinely good twists and Ireland's own Panti Bliss popping up every so often, this show was a surprising delight. Such a delight that BBC3 only went and renewed it for a second series and given the way the first one ended, it's a good thing too. 

• Yahya Abdul Mateen II has been cast as Wonder Man for the upcoming Disney+ series with Bob Odenkirk in talks to play the character's manager.
• Joe Locke and Aubrey Plaza have been cast in undisclosed roles for Agatha: Coven Of Chaos. 
• Westworld has been cancelled after four seasons on HBO.
• Indira Varma and Shirley Henderson have been cast in leading roles for Dune: The Sisterhood series for HBO Max.
• Both Teen Wolf movie and the Wolf Pack series will premiere on Paramount+ from January 2023.
• Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Ghosts US will air on BBC3 this month.
• UK viewers can also see the second season of Chucky from November 28th on Sky TV.
• The Last Of Us will premiere on HBO from January 15th and the next day for UK viewers on SkyAtlantic.
• The first episode of the fifth season of Stranger Things will be titled The Crawl.
• Interview With A Vampire was renewed for a second season ahead of its series premiere.