Top 10 Ryan Murphy Shows

I was going to do this a few weeks ago but now that we're heading into the final month of 2020 and no more Murphy productions in sight (aside from The Prom), I thought I would do a run down of the ten best/most interesting shows that Ryan Murphy has done over the last two decades.

Without further ado, here goes ....

1: American Horror Story (FX, 2011-present)

I know for some people this show might not be at it's best as it was in earlier seasons but for me, while it has gotten formulaic in it's approach, it hasn't quite lost the entertainment factor either and with it's tenth season in current production along with a spin-off and three further seasons planned, this is by far Murphy's most successful production to date. Not to mention, it's done wonders in revitalising the anthologies for television and streaming alone.

2: Glee (FOX, 2009-2015)

Six seasons and no movie and a lot of controversy and a lot of musical numbers. This series started some careers and stalled others but the Ohio setting surrounding a local Glee did manage to become a worldwide phenomenon. Again, the show might have faltered in later seasons but it's definitely responsible for making Murphy into quite the power player and certain had no problem pulling in impressive guests in it's six year run.

3: Nip/Tuck (FX, 2003-2010)

Tell me what you don't like about yourself? Before both Glee and American Horror Story, there was also Nip/Tuck - a crazy plastic surgeon drama based in Miami (Seasons 1-4) and LA (Season 5&6) with one hell of a talented cast and some of the most batshit crazy antics ever. The show had a lot to say on it's subject matter and definitely delivered it in the most OTT manner.

4: Pose (FX, 2018-present)

Now, this show is more the work of Steven Canals and Janet Mock, though it's under Murphy's production company and he was involved with casting. It's arguably the most important show from Murphy's body of work, especially with the majority of the cast being transwomen and it's definitely a beautiful capturing of both the 1980s and 1990s settings in it's first two seasons. With a third season currently in production, I can't wait to see what's next for Blanca, Elektra, Angel and the gang.

5: 911 (FOX, 2018-present)

On paper, this arguably had the potential to be the tamest of shows from Ryan Murphy but three seasons in, it's also got a lot of Murphy's trademark OTTness. It's also the most heart warming of the bunch and another megahit for FOX with a spin-off also helping to build a franchise for this particular series.  With a loveable cast, top quality writing and brilliant stunts, it's hard not to enjoy this series.

6: American Crime Story (FX, 2016-present)

Ryan Murphy's love for the anthology format has certainly helped him and going down the real life crime route for this show definitely helped to get him a lot of Emmy love. The first season focusing on OJ Simpson was easily the most adored on that front but the second season focusing on Andrew Cunannan and Gianni Versace was the one for me. The upcoming third season will tackle Monica Lewinsky and the Clintons and that's going to be interesting to see unfold. 

7: Feud: Bette And Joan (FX, 2017)

Alternatively, this could've been another ongoing anthology series but fate played a bit of a cruel trick here. This only series, focusing on the infamous feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was sublime, with both Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange giving career high performances as well as some nice recreations on both actresses most infamous roles and turbulent lives. 

8: Hollywood (Netflix, 2020)

Murphy's shows on Netflix haven't been quite as smooth as his ones on network and cable television but in spite of his format becoming too recognisable, they're still worthy of discussion. Hollywood decided to play around with an alternative version of 1940's Tinseltown, including an interracial relationship between Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) and writer Archie (Jeremy Pope) while also bringing about diversity in an era that wasn't best for it at the time. Suspend disbelief and it really was an enjoyable seven part series.

9: Ratched (Netflix, 2020-present)

Ryan Murphy's relationship with Sarah Paulson continues with her not only appearing in the majority of his shows but now spearheading one, also by creator Evan Romanky. This prequel series for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with Paulson tackling a younger version of Nurse Mildred Ratched might have felt American Horror Story lite and might not have been able to fully pull off it's themes at times, but it did make for an enjoyable romp but here's hoping the writing is sharper next season.

10: The Politician (Netflix, 2019-present)

Netflix's first foray into the world of Ryan Murphy saw them delving into one man's political aspirations and while Ben Platt's aspiring politician Payton Hobarth is a difficult main character to like, the show itself is often anchored by it's older cast. Specially when that cast includes the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Judith Light and Bette Midler. With the third season set to be it's last, at least the show will not be outstaying it's welcome.

So that's my rundown of shows concerning Ryan Murphy. I guess honourable mentions would go to the likes of 911: Lone Star, Scream Queens and Popular. I definitely couldn't get into the likes of The New Normal. 2021 will see the debut of American Horror Stories (FX on Hulu), Halston (Netflix), A Chorus Line (Netflix) and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix), so it looks like Murphy won't be going anywhere. 

Top 40 TV Characters Part 5

And here is Part 5 to the list. Sorry for the delay, the week's been a bit of a mad one.

16: Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) - Life On Mars

Boorish, brutish and the epitome of a man who was a product of his time - why the hell do I like this character again? Oh, yes, that's because our Gene-Genie was a bloody force to be reckoned with that two shows had to spend five years explaining to us just how crucial he was to both the Sam Tylers and Alex Drakes of the world.

17: Sharon 'Shaz' Granger (Montserrat Lombard) - Ashes To Ashes

I was tempted to pick Alex as well but I guess over the course of the three years, the character I became a bit more attached to was Shaz. Wasn't she a fun character? Especially in the second season finale where she went all gun toting in a wedding dress. And her relationship with Chris never ceased to be lovely, even if they were rather on-off in the last year.

18: Caroline Forbes (Candace Accola) - The Vampire Diaries

Yes, vampire Barbie has become my favourite character on the bloody show (well, people tend to die a lot here) - something which I didn't expect to happen but seeing as she's kind of the Cordelia Chase, perhaps I should've. Her best moment - probably beating the snot out of Damon this season, though I'm not liking her future plots with Klaus though.

19: Elizabeth 'Liz' Cruz (Roma Maffia) - Nip/Tuck

How much do I love Liz as a character? Probably more than the writers did, considering the amount of crap they subjected her - kidneys being stolen, Alanis Morrissette as a girlfriend, having a baby with Sean and being briefly married to Christian. However, despite some rubbish plots, Liz was one of the few characters to escape the series with her dignity still in tact, a sentiment that couldn't be expressed for every other character on the show.

20: John Watson (Martin Freeman) - Sherlock

Sherlock might be the clever one of the bunch but for me, Watson is the more interesting one of the bunch and his patience with Sherlock's eccentricities at times is astounding. No, really, I do love Sherlock but Watson I guess is just the stronger character and Freeman's portrayal of him has become one of my favourites in a long time.

Part 6 will be up in a couple of days.

Top TV Pairings Part 5

Sorry for the slight delay but here's the fifth installment in my TV Pairings.

Desperate Housewives - Gabrielle Solis/Carlos Solis

If I had done this list a couple of years ago, there's no way in hell these two would've been my favourite pairing but unlike nearly every relationship on the show nowadays, Gabby and Carlos are the only ones who have actually grown, so they get my vote for that alone.

Lost - James Sawyer/Juliet Burke

When I found out these two were going to be become a couple in the fifth season, I had my doubts but damn, they so worked as a pairing. Far better than Jack/Kate or Kate/Sawyer and their reunion in the series finale was just lovely as well.

Skins - Naomi Campbell/Emily Fitch

Yeah, this one might have been a cliche choice (my other one would've been Chris/Jal) but apart from the choppy treatment they got in the fourth season, I actually do like Emily/Naomi. Both actresses have genuine chemistry with each other and they rightfully became the popular couple of the second generation and considering the dull as dishwater triangle between Cook/Effy/Freddie, is anyone surprised?

Life On Mars - Sam Tyler/Annie Cartwright

Being stuck in another time cannot be all that bad after all. Sam certainly might have been desperate to get home but he ultimately chose to stay in 1973 with the Guv and the lads and most importantly, Annie too. Personally, I've never seen anything with Sam/Gene but Sam/Annie were a nice pairing.

Nip/Tuck - Sean McNamara/Christian Troy

No, they're not gay, no, this isn't a slash entry but six seasons of mostly toxic relationships, Sean and Christian's friendship is the closest to something decent and even that was marred with problems from time to time.

Nip/Tuck - Season 6 Review

US Airdate: October 14th 2009 – March 3rd 2010

As the show enters it’s final season, both Sean and Christian are forced to put business above friendship and as Liz prepares for motherhood, Matt hooks up with the last person who should be around kids and Kimber meets an unfortunate ending while Julia occasionally pops up here and there.

Final Cut: They always say that it’s best for a television show to know where exactly to end and I can’t help but wonder if Nip/Tuck’s last year adheres to that rule or if it became a series that perhaps outstayed its welcome. Unwisely spanning the fifth season throughout the space of three years wasn’t the brightest of ideas on Ryan Murphy’s part and there’s something in particular about this season that heightens feelings of fatigue to be perfectly honest.

Hitting on the recession has become such a popular theme with most TV shows at the minute that it’s not entertaining to watch and nor have we heard anything new so watching both the business and Sean’s financial struggles throughout the season doesn’t make the kind of emotional dent that it might have done maybe a season ago to be brutally honest.

Also I can’t help but think that perhaps Ryan Murphy’s reduced running of this series (along with the previous year) may also come into how the quality from this series is noticeably all over the place. While he was off getting Glee off the ground, it seems that the writers were going through a myriad of different storylines that all had differing potentials but never really reached them.

First of all, there’s Teddy. Rose MacGowen replacing Katee Sackhoff in the role was fine – she works well with Dylan Walsh and the character’s still interesting but she’s also too short lived. Only lasting five episodes and then being killed by a random serial killer might have some poetic justice to Teddy but it’s a disappointing way to bump off a character that at least could’ve lasted a bit longer, especially given that this season was lacking in interesting villains.

And there’s the arrival of Sean’s younger brother, Brendan. He’s no sooner on the show, then he leaves again because Christian managed to successfully widen the gap between Sean and his brother during his own little drug spiral, which is another plot that’s poorly developed as well this year. We wait six seasons to see someone from Sean’s family and we barely get time to know the guy – bad move, writers.

Sean and Christian’s relationship is another sour point of this season too. Through thick and thin, we’ve always been left to believe that the two of them would still have a friendship by the time this show would end but every season has seemingly chipped away at it that by the time they both come to their seperate ways in the last ever episode – the show’s 100th, it’s actually a relief. I’m pretty sure that’s not the emotion I should be feeling about their friendship eroding but the show certainly ended their once interesting dynamic on a sad note.

As for Liz, well divorcing Christian was never going to be easy and while she failed to finally find someone to love her, she did at least get a baby out of the deal with Sean as well as becoming a partner in the business, so overall, Liz is probably the only person to have really benefitted from this ending.

Other people who didn’t benefit included Julia being married off to some random English guy but at least she managed to stop both Sean and Christian in their tracks from pursuing her for the umpteenth time and that’s doing much better than either Kimber or Matt to be honest. Julia really isn’t that much of a big deal this season and that’s probably one of the better things about this year.

However, I’m still not sure who got the worst deal – Kimber for marrying Christian again, becoming miserable, having an affair with Sean that was impossible to care about and ending it all off-screen or Matt, who decided to sabotage a good thing with Ramona so that he could be Ava’s whipping boy until she tires of him. That coupled with his complete ease at using Jenna to get back with Ava and that mind numbingly stupid storyline at the start of the year of him being a mime robber were more than enough to make me realise that Matt is still one of the worst TV characters ever written and that this series has had it’s day.

The last episode of the series isn’t horrible and there are some nice emotional beats but after six seasons and 100 episodes, the show more or less came to a whimper of an ending, rather than the bang that it should’ve ended with. It’s not that I’m against the finale being somewhat more subdued compared to the outlandish stuff the series has mostly given us but still, the ending was a major letdown. I can only hope that this isn’t a fate that visits Ryan Murphy again with Glee.

DVD EXTRAS: This show’s never been awash with plentiful extras and for a final DVD set, don’t expect much here. Apart from deleted scenes and blooper, the only other offering seems to be a feature on the psychology of plastic surgery and that’s really your lot.

EPISODE RATINGS

6x01: Don Hoberman = 7/10, 6x02: Enigma = 7/10,
6x03: Briggitte Reinholt = 8/10, 6x04: Jenny Juggs = 8/10,
6x05: Abigail Sullivan = 6/10, 6x06: Alexis Stone = 8/10,
6x07: Alexis Stone 2 = 7/10, 6x08: Lola Wlodkowski = 9/10,
6x09: Benny Nilsson = 7/10, 6x10: Wesley Clovis = 7/10,
6x11: Dan Daly = 8/10, 6x12: Willow Banks = 7/10,
6x13: Joel Seabrook = 9/10, 6x14: Sheila Carlton = 8/10,
6x15: Virginia Hayes = 7/10, 6x16: Dr. Griffin = 7/10,
6x17: Christian Troy 2 = 8/10, 6x18: Walter And Edith Krieger = 7/10,
6x19: Hiro Yoshimura = 6/10.

Season 6 is currently available on DVD.

Look To The Stars

The last few days since the final five were announced for Big Brother have been interesting enough. Maybe not as exciting as what we've previously seen but credit to the show for trying to keep us entertained until tonight's winner is announced and Ultimate Big Brother takes off. I think at this point in the series, we've seen enough of Mario's meat and two veg but at least he's determined to be entertaining in the final throes of all this and his conversations with Andrew are better than Josie lamenting about John James or Dave's open dismissal of evolution when JJ tried to bring it up. Some of the highlights have been good - Andrew being the ultimate yes man and the perfect day as well. At this point, it doesn't matter who actually wins the show because in some ways, it seems clear that the show wants a Josie victory and she's the only one I could see fitting in with past housemates and celebs for Ultimate Big Brother as well.

In a lot of ways, I am glad that Mistresses is coming to an end because this dour as hell third season is testing my patience. I don't expect laughs a minute but it would be nice for at least one of these girls to crack a fecking smile. However, this episode just saw everything getting worse - Richard confessed to Trudi he loved someone else and died before trying to stop Katie from leaving. Siobhan apparently can't go on a date with a nice photograph because Dominic seems incapable of giving her the right message (which in turns is making me sympethetic with dippy Alice) and Jessica finds out that Mark borrowed money from Siobhan, kicked him out and then realised she was pregnant. I'm not having much hope for this final episode and you know something is wrong when Joanna Lumley herself is adding nothing of interest to the series.

Speaking of disappointments, it's a shame that after six seasons and 100 episodes that Nip/Tuck too has ended on such a low note. Maybe I've been spoiled with finales to the likes of Lost and Ashes To Ashes this year but I expected more from Nip/Tuck. Matt using his own child to get Ava to run away with him was horrid to watch and after all these years, you know there's something terrible about Sean and Christian's friendship when the best thing for it was for them to go their seperate ways. Still, I did like the last supper between most of the characters as well as Liz being made a partner in the business but for me, this was an extremely disappointing last ever episode.

Nine seasons in and it took Smallville this long to do an episode mostly based at a sci-fi convention? Ah well, it was mainly background anyways as well as another excuse to get Lois into a skimpy costume (like this show needs any) but it was also a good one for Chloe and the freak of the week who was a kid that became a superhero and then a monster as well. The stuff with Clark and Zatanna had more of a punch to it than the latter's previous appearance but overall, it's not the most engaging episode we've had this season.

I have to admit that I'm still mixed about The Vampire Diaries. It's enjoyable enough but I swear if I have to listen to Stefan wax lyrical about wanting to protect Elena, I'll start up a drinking game. Here's a tip - how about telling the girl that you're a vampire, Stefan and that your brother is nuts. Damon finally got a lot more interesting this week when he killed that jerk of a football coach, which was a nice way of showing us that he can be dangerous, rather than just implying it. Bonnie's still the best character on this show though and I want to learn more about her witchy ancestors more than I want see the Stefan/Elena/Damon triangle. Also the football related stuff in the episode held no interest for me.

The X Factor and it's hyperbole will be the source of media coverage for the next four months and one can only hope that a decent winner with a decent song can be picked this year. As first episodes went, Geri Halliwell really proved a lot, didn't she? She proved that a) citing that you're the one to discover Cheryl Cole does not make you interesting and b) that she can bloody talk. It also didn't help that her judging skills left nothing to be desired as well. I can only hope that Natalie Imbruglia, Pixie Lott, Nicole Scherzinger and Katy Perry are much better. As for some of the acts, if I never hear of Shirlena again, it won't be a moment too soon. As for the auto-tuning scandal, nothing surprises me anymore.

- John Glover will be reprising his role as Lionel Luthor in Smallville this year. Here's hoping that Michael Rosenbaum agrees to appear as well.

- True Blood's second season will air on Channel 4 from September 16th.

- James Remar will be appearing in the upcoming season of Private Practice. His character will have a connection with Pete.

- James Masters will be starring in a series for SyFy called Three Inches, playing Troy, a leader of unlikely superheroes. He's also in the 200th episode of Smallville.

- Jennifer Aniston will be appearing as a therapist in the second season of Cougar Town.

The She Devil Returns

The only other time I'll discuss this show and you've got to wonder about the power of same sex snogging for sweeps episodes in America. Except isn't it usually a heterosexual female character making out with another girl for ratings? Oddly, Gossip Girl decided to have the avowedly straight Chuck Bass make out with a guy in order to benefit Blair's insane attempts to become queen bee at university. Okay, the snog scene is pretty brief and there was interesting moment where Chuck alluded to the fact that he's had some past experience with men but given that Ed Westwick seems to whisper everything he says, it took me a while to make it out. As for the rest of the episode, I'm sure something happened but it wasn't interesting enough for me to pay attention to it.

After last week's triumphant first part of the Justice League saga, I thought Smallville was on fire in spite of the icy villain we got here. The second part was actually as solid as the previous one and I'm liking the plot involving Checkmate and Pam Grier's Amanda Waller. We've been lacking a decent villainess for a while now and Wallers has the potential to be a lethal force as well and it's nice that the ninth season isn't solely relying on Zod for obstacles with Clark stepping up to the hero template. However, I wasn't remotely shocked to see Tess being a part of Checkmate, though at this rate she's still veering between good and evil without picking a side. Also if Doctor Fate's words are anything to go by, can we hope that a) Lex isn't dead and b) that Michael Rosenbaum at some point will reappear in the series?

As Nip/Tuck continues to reach the end (last episode in two days, people), it seems that returning Ava is the way to go. Since Teddy met her end with a serial killer, the sixth season hasn't had any villains and Ava's probably the biggest success story the show's had on that front. Famke Janssen has barely changed that much since her last appearance and Ava certainly can tug all the strings going. She nearly got Sean to operate on her disease laden baby and even managed to manipulate Matt into bed and away from his own wedding. I do hope that she's more interesting in the last episode as well. As for Julia, um, yawn. I hated watching both Sean and Christian professing their love for her because she was getting married. At least she had the sense to tell them where to go on that one.

Okay, I am giving The Vampire Diaries a reasonable chance here but I am still being fairly hot and cold with it. Neither Damon nor Stefan are emerging as anything beyond caricatures and no offence to Ian Somerhalder, but I just don't find him remotely threatening/dangerous as Damon and the voice over stuff with Stefan and Elena was something I could've done without. Luckily though, there's a lot I do like. Elena's brother isn't that bad, Aunt Jenny is actually more likeable than expected, Bonnie's the most interesting character on the show, Matt's sympathetic and rightly suspicious of Stefan and the ending with Damon biting into Caroline was pretty effective. Still not a threat to True Blood however.

- Denis O'Hare has revealed that Russell will revert to Pagan way in the final four episodes of True Blood but that his storyline will not be wrapped up. Expect to see him next season then.
- David Tennant's abandoned pilot, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer has had a clip of it leaked online. I'll reveal it in the next blog.

- Greg Berlanti has revealed that his new series, No Ordinary Family will feature gay characters in it. The series debuts on ABC in September.

- Five actors have already been cast for Alan Ball's new pilot for HBO, All Signs Of Death, based on the novel by Charles Hueston. These include Mercedes Masohn, Ron Yuan, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and and Kelsey Ford as well as previously casted Ben Whishaw and Clayne Crawford.

- ABC are developing their own version of Spooks. Given that they fucked up Life On Mars, you have wonder why they'd bother.

Tuesday, I'll cover Big Brother, Misfits, Mistresses, The Good Wife and Ugly Betty.

Absolute Justice Y'all

Another week in the Big Brother house and this time, they went all a bit Dickens. Plus points to Corin for actually trying to get into her Scrooge character but minus ones to John James who decided to quit his Mrs Havensham part of the task, simply because he couldn't bear to be stuck in a room with Rachel for a whole day. Rather her than some other people in this house's. Mario's magic routine wasn't the best bit we saw out of this task either but at least he got into the spirit of things and that's better than Josie vs. Sam, which dominated the first half of the week. Also, isn't it hyporcritical of Dave to moan about Mario putting him up for eviction during the Save And Replace task when he nominated Mario himself? Seriously, Dave change the record already. Unfortunately though, we're stuck with him for another week because despite both Dave and John James acting like morons, it was Rachel who got the boot. I really don't understand the mentality of people who vote sometimes.

Misfits took something of a dark turn this week. It was only a matter of time before Sally would get her evidence about Tony's death but even I thought things wouldn't go down like this. Are the writers setting Simon up to become a future threat because I can't see how he can come back from killing Sally? Yes, she used him and sure as hell didn't mind smacking his head off a mirror to get away from him but you have to feel bad for her a little though. Simon's always been a bit creepy and now he's a murderer. At least with Kelly it had been self defence but Simon wasn't going to let Sally escape, was he? Luckily though, there were some lighter moments in the episode such as Curtis's various attempts to break up with Samantha (quoting Spiderman did the trick) and realising that him and Alisha were getting serious as a couple. Oddly, the best moments of the episodes were with Nathan being manipulated by a baby and then spending time with Kelly. Not sure I want to see them as a couple but it was nice to see him acting like less of a prick in the latter of the episode than usual. I hope the finale is just as good as this one.

In terms of guilty pleasure, do I have to class Mistresses as one? Okay, so like the shows it's obviously influenced from (Sex And The City, Desperate Housewives), it's unlikely to win prizes for gritty realism but funnily for a show about adultery, it does heavily focus on the negative aspects of it. Katie being the classic example. In the space of the first two series, her adultery has cost her employment and a relationship and going by the growing closeness to the bland Richard in the opening episode here, it's likely that her friendship with Trudi will be shattered as well. I didn't need her mother, Vivienne (played by Joanna Lumley) to drill that home and this whole episode seemed to go out of it's way to show the signs of the core friendships shattering. Siobhan will most likely incur Jessica's wrath when it slips out that she lent Mark money for IVF and will anyone of them forgive Katie for going after Richard? Ending the series after three years isn't a bad idea and this opening episode was decent enough but I was hoping for something a little less gloomy to be honest.

For the next few blogs, I will talk about the final few episodes of Nip/Tuck. The show is clearly winding down and this episode drilled it home. Plastic surgery is so 2004, according to Joan Rivers, who appeared in Christian's dreams here and injectibles are the way to go. Sadly, Christian also had to go to painstaking lengths to prove a point about the relevance of a face lift and even used YouTube for popularity. Of course, it went wrong and him and Sean seem to be on the outs yet again. The dream sequence stuff was interesting - the appearances of Kimber and Christian's father having the most effect but after six seasons, can this show please give Liz a love interest? We got close with Danielle this week and she went back to her husband. Even Kurt on Glee has shown more progress in one year than Liz has in this show's duration.

Breaking news - Smallville pulled off an exciting episode. A really exciting one. Okay, it's the first of a two part story but the Justice League? Bring it on! I know a few of them are embittered and the like (especially with Oliver getting attacked by one of them) but this is definitely a masterstroke for the series and the final five minutes of the episode are wonderful. I really hope that the second part lives up to the great set up here.

After months of giving it a short shrift, I decided to actually watch The Vampire Diaries. I'm not gonna lie - it won't give True Blood a run for it's money any time soon but it's certainly less annoying than the Twilight franchise. The story is fairly predictable. Two sparring vampire brothers, nice but boring Stefan and bad boy cliche Damon have the hots for student Elena, who lost her parents recently and happens to look like a woman that both brothers loved and lost centuries ago. In terms of the characters, the brothers need improving on, Elena's not that bad but her seemingly psychic mate Bonnie is somewhat more interesting along with the mystery uncle of Stefan. The rest of the characters didn't really do much for me to care but I will watch further episodes and give this show a genuine chance to shine.

How About Not Keeping It In The Family, Guys?

It's been a while since I've really watched Nip/Tuck and FXUK pulling from the schedules certainly didn't help matter so I'm thankful for TG4 for airing the latter half of Season 6 instead. Not that the season has been a massive improvement. Christian and Kimber's train wreck of a relationship saw them getting married, Kimber shagging Sean behind Christian's back and eventually Kimber doing herself in when Christian dumped (not because of Sean, that's something he's clueless about). The episode after her death introduced Kimber's mother, Brandee played by Melanie Griffiths and of course, Christian had to sleep with her. With five episodes left until the finale, it's almost reassuring to see some things don't change. Almost.

Yup, I got sucked into watching Big Brother 11 on Thursday and Friday and I'm actually glad that I did watch them. Mainly because Rachael after a week of whinging was finally out of the house. I know John James was a jerk about the 'Nuts magazine' comments but he wasn't exactly wrong either. It's high time some of these contestants realise that after a few weeks of magazine coverage, they're all heading back to obscurity. Only Katie Price can be in the public eye for no reason whatsoever nowadays.

Oh, Stephen Fry. I'm sometimes amused by your tweets, I like your documentaries and I'm partial to a bit of QI whenever I remember that it's on TV but wasn't your comments about Doctor Who and Merlin a little harsh? As Stephen Moffat pointed out, the former is definitely a family show (then again, so is the latter) and while the BBC should promote other dramas as heavily as both thosw shows get promoted, your comments were misplaced. Besides that sort of snobbery should be aimed at Britain's Got Talent to be honest.

Speaking of Doctor Who, who had the more controversial comments in Radio Times this week - Karen Gillan for her standpoint on feminism or Christopher Eccleston for spilling the beans (sort of) on his experiences with the series? Eccleston's comments did come in promotion with the arrival of Lennon Naked (Wednesday, 9.30pm, BBC4) but it's interesting that during the course of the interview, he never specified who he had specific grievances with. It'll be interesting if anything further materialises from those comments.

For Shows I Don't Review On An Episode Basis

It's been nearly three weeks since I've actually blogged on TV Tome and I think I'm beginning to lose the will to want to as well, so maybe every once a fortnight (or a week), I'll use this blog to talk about shows I either don't or no longer review episode wise.

Glee has become the must see TV show so far this year. You can't move for the amount of hype it's generated and it seems to be on five days a week (Wednesdays/Fridays on TV3/3E or Monday/Thursdays/Sundays on E4/C4). Following episodes have had some fun moments, especially the absolutely hysterical version of Push It (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNdght8qDQg). Sue's turning out to be one of the most quotable characters on television and Terri is nuts.

Heroes has had the misfortune to be shunted into a Saturday BBc2 timeslot and while the show's best days are definitely behind them, this season's been a little bit of an improvement on previous years. Danko's gone for one thing, Hiro's storyline isn't boring me to tears, Claire's kind of fun and the carny folk are interesting. The back and forth with Sylar and Matt is grating a little. Given that we know Nathan is pernamently dead, it might be nice to get that out of the way already.

I stopped reviewing Desperate Housewives this year, mainly because I didn't have the time and like another show, I had fallen out of love reviewing it weekly. Season 6 has been a lot better than previous seasons, I don't deny that but while crazy Katherine is amusing in it's own right, I hate that Susan still acts like a teenager, that Bree doesn't woman up and toss Orson out, that we're lumbered with Lynette being pregnant yet. On the plus side, Gabby vs. Ana is less predictable than expected and the Bolens are a step up from Dave.

Secret Diary Of A Call Girl - Up until the point of Brooke Magnati revealing herself as the real Belle du Jour, Billie Piper did mention that some people saw her as the face of prostitution. Bit of an overexaggeration there but Thursday's double bill was a decent romp (pun intended) but if Belle is so determined to keep her profession a secret, why would she take her sister to a sex club? I'm also not really sure what to make of Duncan either. He could be a nice guy but he comes across as a little sleazy.

I love Skins and I was looking forward to the opening episode but I have to admit that I found this deeply underwhelming. Yes, it was hight time we needed a look into Thomas's background and a look into the way he viewed UK attitudes and the like but this didn't grab me as much as it could've. The acting was fine and the dead girl in the beginning did set up a tense mood and I'll be happy if someone punched Cook in every episode but they should've opened with a lighter episode. And I didn't see Naomi being the one responsible for selling Sophia the drugs, though I probably should've.

I had given up on Nip/Tuck and to be fair, Season 6 hasn't exactly been the starting of a satisfying wrap to the series. Christian and Liz divorced with as much bad feeling as the writers could muster, Matt used mime to rob stores (and got shot, pity the store clerk didn't aim for his stupid head. Teddy's sociopathic tendencies have been slightly better but even her arc is now coming to an end, following her failed attempt of bumping Sean off. I hope the remainder of this season is better.

- Ugly Betty's been cancelled after four seasons. Too bad because it was improving in my opinion.
- Julie Benz and John Barrowman are appearing in Desperate Housewives this season. The former is playing a stripper and the latter a villain, connected to the Bolens.
- Bill Nighy will be guest starring in Doctor Who. He'll appear in the Van Gogh episode as an enthusiast of the famous painter.
- A love interest is being cast for Mercedes for the second season of Glee.
- Matthew Graham has promised a "beautiful" ending for the final seaon of Ashes To Ashes.
- Lost Season 6 will air Fridays at 9pm on Sky1, starting February 5th.
- True Blood Season 2 airs on FXUK from February 26th at 10pm with Season 3 set to start on HBO in June.

Nip/Tuck - Season 6 Promotional Photos

Wow, another day, another new show and the sixth and final season of Nip/Tuck gets underway this month. Hopefully after the seriously disappointing fifth season, improvement will reign supreme.

Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) looks on. Will he realise his new woman is another loony?

Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) the serial womaniser. Will marriage sate him?

More typical shots of the guys with a model. Cute but we've seen them before.

Season 6 will contain 19 episodes, with the 100th episode marking the series finale. All of the season has already been filmed and Rose MacGowen will be taking from Katee Sackhoff as the deranged Teddy. Famke Janssen is back as Ava Moore too.

Season 6 airs Wednesdays at 10pm from October 14th on FXUS. Season 5 (remaining eight episodes) airs on FXUK from Wednesday, November 18th at 10pm.

Trailers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gew2FQBJkmo and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_jLs15MfU&feature=related