Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Welcome To The House Of Fun

Yes, two TV jumbles this week. The next one will be either Friday or Saturday ...

American Horror Story: I caught up with the first episode of FX's new show and it's typical Ryan Murphy fare alright - complex but not always likeable characters and a surreal setting. The haunted house in question of this delightfully bizarre show certainly has some interesting people haunting it, which is good because I'm not totally sure if I like the Harmons or find their marital problems or even Ben's patient Tate interesting enough to sustain the show. People like Larry, Constance, Moira and the rubbery guy are far more interesting. Still, though I think we have a winner with this series.

Downton Abbey: As a set of final episodes go, this was a bit of disappointment. Of the three characters to succumb to Spanish flu, it's amazing they really did go for the safest bet instead of taking a gamble and the whole Matthew/Mary/Carlisle triangle is getting on a bit. Still, I did like Anna/Bates finally marrying (despite that ending) and Sybil and Branson getting eventual acceptance from Robert as well as any of Violet's one liners. It definitely made up for other storylines lacking. That being said, there's still the Christmas special to look forward to.

Glee - Oh goodie, after one exceptionally dreadful episode where Damien MacGinty's Rory was centre stage and living proof that no-one the writing staff has visited Ireland in the last decade, it's nice that the much hyped episode which finally saw Kurt/Blaine and Rachel/Finn take their relationships to the next level was just as good. Even more so for finally taking West Side Story to the stage and giving the always wonderful Coach Beiste a love interest. It's amazing how the episodes where Sue has little to do (or doesn't appear at all) are becoming my favourite and the less said about Sebastian the better.

Merlin - Oh, the last few episodes have been something brilliant, haven't they? I've enjoyed seeing Arthur using his brains more - first with Queen Annis and then with Merlin but I am hoping that Aggravaine's attempts of turning Arthur against Gaius don't come to fruition though. Even better was Morgana's attempts of using Merlin as an assassin and yet another encounter with an older looking wizard. The show does need to give the Knights a better role than their current but overall, the quality this year has really stepped up a gear.

Misfits - And it's back but is it as good as the first two series? It's hard to tell really. The opening episode had a job in setting up Rudy's character but overall, he has a lot of promise and an interesting power as do the rest of our lot, even though it was Curtis in the second episode whose powers really did give a great insight into the female form, didn't it? I'm also finding myself rather compelled by Kelly's interest in power dealer fella Seth as well. Plus with Downton Abbey now finished, it really is a good Sunday night drama too.

The Fades - Not a bad final episode for the series. It's hard to know if it'll come back (though I'll be surprised if it didn't) but either way, BBC3 did strike gold with this series in the end. I liked the defeat of John and Jay's death was reasonably effective too (even if I wasn't crazy about her character). The more I think about it, the more I hope there is more to see with this series.

- Despite the fact that we have yet to see Liam McIntyre in Spartacus: Vengeance, Starz have renewed the series for a third season. They're confident, aren't they?
- Downton Abbey's third season will be set in both 1920 and 1921 respectively. It's unknown if this will be the show's final series.
- John Schneider has been cast as Sam's father with Tanya Clarke as his mother in an upcoming episode of Glee.
- Carlos Bernard will be playing a suave business partner of JR's in the Dallas reboot. Channel 5 have the rights to the upcoming series.
- Emilie DeRavin will be playing Belle in an upcoming episode of Once Upon A Time.
- American Horror Story has been renewed for a second season.

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