Nothing on TV for the Tea Party.

Unsurprisingly a book published by an arm of the Rupert Murdoch media empire claims that American TV is full of left wing bias.

Unsurprising because, well it's published by the owner of Fox and because well it's obviously right. Now I'm not saying this is a bad thing but saying that this is something surely obvious to everyone.

The world of mass entertainment is and has for a long time been liberal, looking all the way back to the days of Hollywood pushing against the limits of the Hays code until broke.

Today even the 'safest' comedy mega-hits are arguably rather liberal. Until the breakdown of Charlie Sheen "Two and a Half Men" was basically the biggest sitcom on American TV and whilst no-one can accuse of it being cutting edge and it's comedy is quite safe in terms of content if you look closely it's quite the liberal.

Think about it revolves around a divorced single father, his idiot sun and (until recently) his unmarried playboy brother who barely works. At one stage his ex-wife has a same sex relationship and pretty much every episode features extra marital sex of some kind or another.

The previous comedy hit to really dominate the landscape, 'Friends' is also full of relationships and situations that would probably drive conservatives mad. But it's not just comedy, it seems true of drama too. The West Wing is of course the obvious example but also take a look at the likes of Six Feet Under, E.R., Dexter and even the likes of Law & Order.

And of course Hollywood itself is still way out there. Whilst it may produce the odd right leaning film for everyone of those there is probably at least five closer to the likes of "Bridesmaids". I can name quite a long list of films made in reaction to the conflict in Iraq and the war on terror, they may have mostly been avoided by unkeen audience at the box office but they got made and a good few are far from what you'd call Indie Dramas.

So whilst it sounds like the book has some interesting inside views I don't think it tells us anything that wasn't obvious. Ok, there is some counter examples, (many would cite 24 but even then I'm not convinced it's prevailing right wing in it's bias) but in world where Fox itself broadcasts The Simpsons, Family Guy and more I don't you can say the theory is wrong.

Even the Promo trailers are very cool.

Screen Test

Dollhouse; a quick overview

Ok, I've now seen all of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse and the following is what I think of it overall, now be warned there are big 'ol spoilers in the below. Not those vague kind you get in most reviews but bona fida revelations of plot details and what happens to who.(Edit to add; Actually the below is more vague than I thought it would be)


So that's the formalities out of the way, Dollhouse started back in 2009 with a thirteen part season and was widely expected not to receive a second series, but to the surprise of most (including most of those working on the show) it received a second order and a second run of thirteen episodes aired in 2010.

So it was again a short lived series for Whedon but twice the length of fan favourite Firefly. Undoubtedly the uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the series did influence the way it developed by to their credit many of those working on it fully admit that and are open as to why the series didn't find the audience it needed.

In fact Whedon himself admits he got the start of the series wrong and admits it failed to find a rhythm and a sense of itself quickly enough. This to be fair is apparent in the opening few episodes of the series. Whilst the opening set of episodes do set out the basics of the Dollhouse itself and start to build the supporting characters the main problems are that Echo herself remains mostly a blank slate and the story of the week format is let down by some very by the numbers plotting.



However it is a bit of a strange one, Echo's anonymity serves the story of the series as at this point she is supposed to be like all the other actives as the audience get used to the fictional world created. But crucially it leaves the show without a central hero for the audience to follow since Echo is by definition a different character each week for the majority of the episode. In fact at this stage Agent Ballard is the closed thing to a hero but is crucially clearly not the main character as his investigation of the house is the B-plot of each episode rather than the main drive.

The diverse elements and ideas floating around finally come together solidly for the first time in the sixth episode to air, 'Man On The Street' as finally we get the sense that the Dollhouse provides so much more than high class prostitution (from the heartbreaking story of Joel Mynor's lost wife)and the episode also dramatically spins Agent Ballard's investigation. Yes Ballard finally comes face to face with Echo who delivers a warning from inside the house.

In subsequent episodes the pace picks up as we learn more about who Echo was before the house, the House toys brutally with Ballard through his neighbour Mellie with a stop off for a good solid high concept episode as Echo is imprinted with the mind of a dead woman and sets out to find her own killer.

When then get the appearance of Alpha (terrifically performed by Alan Tudyk) the mad genius killer active with the minds of forty people figthing inside his skull. He is the first really tangible adversary for Echo and the House who his two episode brace begins the ball rolling for Echo to become 'Super-Echo'.

Now finally here get 'Epitaph One' which was made under the belief the show was to be cancelled and so uses a flashforward and back format to show a world in ruins thanks to the imprint technology and what has happened to our cast of characters. Whilst it is a strong piece of television sadly it ties the writers into a path once starting out the second series. We know where it is all going.

The most interesting part in the episode is I believe centered around Topher. We see him as a broken man holding the guilt of destroying society on his shoulders, long gone is the hyper-confident young genius and his journey to this point that would prove one of the more interesting aspects of the series going forwards.

In the first few episodes of the second series the show plays much like it did in the first with one off stories taking most of the screen time but once we hit episodes five the brakes are off and it's pretty much a non-stop ride to the conclusion.

Alexis Denisof's Senator turns out to be something more sinister than a doll as it's revealed he's a man who is who he is but has been subtly altered by (the Dollhouse's overseeing corporation) Rossum to suit their own ends. In fact his investigation ends up clearing the company of any link to illegal activities and sets him up as a Presidential candidate in waiting, one under Rossum's control.

Echo begins using skills from past imprints, is captured by another house were further details of her past are uncovered before she ends up on the run with the aid of Ballard before returning to the house able to take advantage of all the knowledge and skills she has ever been imprinted with.



It's then a return from Alpha, a trip to the Attic (which is quite effective and has another one of the shows high concept ideas) and onto the end game where one of the cast is revealed to be very bad indeed.

And it is a reveal that does somehow play out fairly believably thanks to the way it is written and performed, as the 'what? but?' is smartly covered by making them clearly on the mad side of sane.

Finally Epitaph 2 ties up the lose ends as well as raising some interesting questions of it's own before finally in the end it's Topher (having become perhaps the most interesting character) who sacrifices himself to save the world.

Overall I can see why the series failed to find an audience, it is initially hard to like and connect with but once it find's it feet I think it is a great little series. It has the Whedon humour in it no doubt but it does also routinely raise really interesting questions about identity and ethics as well throwing around some truly high concept sci-fi ideas such as human beings becoming literally avatars for others and supercomputers constructed from human minds.

In the cast Eliza Dushku is always solid if rarely excellent, Fran Kranz makes Topher more than an immoral geek (and indeed excels in the later stages), Henry Lennix's Boyd radiates quiet authority and Olivia Williams is great as the head of the house with a heart under a skin of stone. Special mention to Enver Gjokaj as Victor who excels in whatever role is given to him and is by far and away the best of the 'dolls' on display.

And so Dollhouse took it's time but has finally placed itself as my second favourite Whedon show. Buffy of course will always remain top but Angel's disappointing fourth season and I felt wasted opportunity of a fifth alongside Firefly's brevity (stopping it from developing) and over reuse of stock character types sees the 'house claim that second spot mainly in the end thanks to high ideas.

Though it would have been interesting to see how the series would have gone if allowed to run with those pulling the strings implying t would have become almost a 'Charlie's Angel's' style show with Echo and the rest fighting each week against misuse of the 'printing tech.

True Blood, now with extra Wolf

First of all let's just say it's great to have True Blood return to our screens (well technically our monitors since so far I've caught the first two episodes of the series on iTunes) and it's still a great piece of work.

There are of course some spoilers from here on in as we take a look at the first couple of episodes (Bad Blood and Beautifully Broken).

It all opens just after the disappearance of Bill at the restaurant and Sookie is frustrated that no-one seems to take it seriously, with the Police not helping. Meanwhile Tara reels from the death of Eggs as Jason and Andy try to work what they are going to do about explaining it all.

To be fair this episode is a little bitty as it needs to set threads running after the fall out of last year but for the most part it is successful as we learn those we have taken Bill have a certain lupine quality about them. However Tara still is annoying for me as she manages to blame Sookie for Eggs' death within about thirty seconds of talking to her and then ignores LaFayette in favour of her unstable mother.

Things settle down a bit in the second episode of the series as we learn that Bill's captors in fact work for a vampire Lord who is maneuvering to take over the land of Bill's Queen. Who herself, is looking a trouble as investigations begin into the amount of 'V' being sold in her territory.

Along the way we see Eric and Godric in '40s Europe, posing as members of the S.S. no less as they track werewolves, Sam has some uncomfortable dreams about Bill and Jessica finds herself struggling to deal with a dead body as continues to learn about being a vampire.

It certainly seems like the series is shaping well with a lot of avenues to be pursued (why does Bill appears to have a dossier on Sookie?)and hopefully the number of strands will help avoid the bogging down that occurred last year during the Marianne sections.

The best scene of television I've seen in a long, long time...

Sadly no link to embed, but follow the link and witness three and half smart, heartfelt, fantastic moments of drama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus&feature=fvw

Brilliant even if you've not been watching the series and just breathtaking if you have (the end of this episode is a gut punch as well)

You don't have to be Mad..

Now having made my way through a good chunk of Mad Men I can say that I do like the show (even though it does tell my brain smoking is so cool) and I'm fascinated by Don Draper and Betty. Jon Hamm and January Jones both seem to be deservedly on the fast track to bigger things as both are excellent. Hamm brings and easy charm to Don with enough going on to convince you something is not as it seems below the surface whilst Jones bring a strength to the fragile seeming Betty.

It did take me a long time to recognise Vincent (Angel's Conner) Kartheiser as the vile little Pete Campbell. A man who will sleep with the new girl the day before his honeymoon and appears to be bored and contemptuous of his wife whilst desperately trying to suck up to all those around him. And yet watching this horrid man is compulsive as he strains to be top dog.

And it seems interesting times are ahead with the mystery of Don's background, the looming shadow of Nixon and Kennedy and just how far Peggy can go in a man's world.

If you've not checked it out yet I recommend it.

"Oh, Sookie"

Looking forward to the next series of True Blood? Well so is Snoop Dogg;

E.R. : 2nd Year.

Well after a bit of a blitz recently progress through the entirety of ER has accelerated and I’m now nearing the end of the second season and it’s probably time for a quick look at some of the notable events.

In terms of the plotlines; Mark is getting divorced, Doug is having father issues after nearly losing his job, Susan is struggling to look after Susie alone, Peter has experienced the higher end of surgical medicine and isn’t sure he likes it, John continues to struggle to impress Peter and Carol has bought a house and is happily coupled up with Shep the paramedic.

Elsewhere we have the introduction of Laura Innes as the abrasive Kerry Weaver coming in as Mark’s second in command and Gloria Reuben joining the main cast full time as Jeannie begins a placement in the ER.

Stand out episode of the year and one of ER’s touchstones is ‘Hell and High Water’. Doug on the verge of losing his job after increasingly butting heads with all around him is sat in his car contemplating smoking a joint after a very bad day when a kid frantically knocks at his window in the pouring rain.

The kid’s brother has become trapped in a storm drain and the water levels are rising with his leg trapped. We follow Doug as he struggles to free the boy and then as he frantically fights to keep the boy alive after exposure as he is freed. Meanwhile a news chopper as got word of the events and begins to follow events culminating in Doug commandeering the chopper to take the boy to County, and it all gets reported live.

At the end of the day Doug’s gamble pays off and he is the hero of the moment but it’s the return of his own self belief that is critical. Dramatically paced from the opening minutes as we cut between Doug’s struggle and day to day life in the ER, ‘Hell and High Water’ is one of ER’s event episodes and as such is a breathless forty minutes of television.

We’re starting to see the softening of Peter Benton throughout the year in odd flashes as he sits with a patient, gently encourages John (albeit in his own style!) and shows concern over the conduct of those around him in fiddling results in a surgical study, eventually disappointed in himself that he wasn’t brave enough to pursue the issue.

But the emotional gut punch of the year is the death of Raul, Shep’s paramedic partner. Having grown to know and like the pair throughout the year it’s a real shaker to see Raul lying covered in 3rd degree burns after a brave rescue attempt instigated by Shep. More crushing is the exchange between Mark and Carol about breaking the news to Raul of the unlikelihood of his survival.

Mark :“Who’s going to tell Raul”
Carol : “He’s a fireman. He already knows”

As so often is the case in the series it’s the simple unshowy delivery of the exchange that really drives it home. If there is one thing the series does well it’s when established characters end up in the firing line and fighting for life.

The Marathon begins : E.R.

Well it looks like my future entertainment will very much now be dominated by 'E.R.' for I have got hold of the box set of uber glory. That's right over 330 episodes on over forty discs.

I intend to watch it through for the start right through to finish, now I really don't intend to post on every episode as that will just get daft but I will occasionally put up various posts on it, either various random aspects or observations or closer looks at particular episodes (the Tarantino directed episode and the one with Ewan McGregor are two early candidates).

So far I've gone through the double length pilot and the first couple of normal episodes and it's already very much the series it will remain for the next fifteen seasons.

Brilliant characters working in extraordinary conditions faced with vastly different challenges day to day or often within the same day complete with the trademark pulsating bursts of pace.


In summary so far; Dr Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) is the heart of the ER, steady and reliable but with a marriage under strain. Dr Peter Benton (Eric La Salle) is the cocky resident surgeon.unwilling to show any weakness, Dr John Carter (Noah Wyle) is a nervous medical student under Benton's tutelage. Dr Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is a sure handed doctor better than many give her credit for and clearly is close to Dr Greene. Dr Doug Ross (George Clooney) is the handsome, maverick pediatrician who is something of womaniser but seems to have blown his chances with the woman he really loves. Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) is the charge nurse and the woman Doug really loves and has recently returned to work having attempted suicide during the pilot episode.

And the just about covers our main characters as things stand and of course we already have the team of nurses and Jerry who will staff the hallways for the duration of the show. Plus of course Willam H Macy as Dr Morgenstern.

It's going to get bloody, exciting, desperately sad, reaffirming and long but I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's 'Glee' day.

Remember folks it's Glee day today, if you've not caught it yet I say check it out and the first two are on 4OD now if you need to catch up.

The Dharma who now?

With the final season of Lost looming here's a useful link if you need a reminder of the stroy so far or just want to check just how many times those numbers have appeared, it's the Lostpedia.

The top TV drama according to The Guardian

The other day The Guardian published a list of the top 50 television dramas as chosen by it's a group of it's critics. Basically each one of them picked their top series and then rated them out of ten and the scores were added up to produce the order. The list was as follows :

1. The Sopranos
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. Our Friends in the North
4. Mad Men
5. A Very Peculiar Practice
6. Talking Heads
7. The Singing Detective
8. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
9. State of Play
10. Boys From the Blackstuff
11. The West Wing
12. Twin Peaks
13. Queer as Folk
14. The Wire
15. Six Feet Under
16. How Do You Want Me?
17. Smiley's People
18. House of Cards
19. Prime Suspect
20. Bodies
21. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Cracker
24. Pennies From Heaven
25. Battlestar Galactica
26. Coronation Street
27. The Jewel in the Crown
28. The Monocled Mutineer
29. Clocking Off
30. Inspector Morse
31. This Life
32. Band of Brothers
33. Hill Street Blues
34. The Prisoner
35. St Elsewhere
36. The L Word
37. The Shield
38. Brookside
39. 24
40. The Twilight Zone
41. Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995)
42. Red Riding
43. Oz
44. The Street
45. The X-Files
46. Bleak House
47. The Sweeney
48. EastEnders
49. Shameless
50. Grange Hill

It's surprising I think to see the likes of Eastenders and Coronation Street make the list ahead of things like Lost, ER (although it's forerunner St Elsewhere is there), Cardiac Arrest and Life On Mars.

But apart from those I don't think there is much there that doesn't deserve to be, though I admit I've never really seen what's so good about Queer As Folk and I think Shameless badly lost it's way after a couple of years. And there are a few on the list I'm not familiar with.

Good to see Grange Hill on there though since it did actually deal with from very serious issues and a way that didn't talk down to or lecture kids. In it's time it covered drugs (famously), alcoholism, depression, bereavement and more alongside tales of, well, kids getting up to mischief.

And at least three of my picks made the list!

Glee - watch it!

It's what you'd get if you throw Heathers, High School Musical and Mean Girls into a blender and it's brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOU3bUDykrc

Can't find a video to embed but for you Journey lovers it's a link well worth following.

I'm sure I'll post more about this show as it goes along but for now I'll just it's the first new show I've really enjoyed on TV in long, long time.

Band Of Brothers

I have recently been watching the excellent HBO miniseries Band Of Brothers again, this time from the Blu-ray set. Suffice to say the image quality is excellent and really shines during the combat sequences as you can see every grain of grit and debris, every deadly bullet strike.

But the real gems in the set are the two in-picture features. One sees the men of Easy company speaking about the events on screen as they remember them from the time whilst the other is an information track which pops up with everything from personnel backgrounds to tactical maps to military term definitions to German translations as the episode plays. Also from time to time it will play actual archive footage alongside the recreation of the series.

Fascinating stuff and it really brings home at lot of the events as it keeps track of the company's ever growing casualty list.

The set can be picked up for about £20 at present and I really recommend it if you have HD and blu-ray capability.

Obama won't stop you getting Lost

Even the president won't go up against the season premiere of Lost's last season

When the ads are the entertainment.

I was going to write some stuff about 'ol Quentin and the Basterds but I admittedly got distracted by of all things watching adverts on youtube. I don't know why I started looking but I did. Anyway below I present a few of my favourite adverts of the last few years.

First up this somewhat disturbing one for Playstation


Classic Guinness advertising


A grand sing-a-long-a-advert from Honda


Followed by the ingenious cog also from Honda


Next up some of the best cinematography I've seen not in a film for Sony


A classic Levi's moment


And to finish one of my all time favourite, well pieces of film let alone advert. It's Nike's 'The Cage' which I even hear the sport phobic amongst us think is top notch.

Things I have been watching : True Blood.

American Beauty writer and creator of Six Feet Under returns to our TV screens (once again with HBO) with True Blood, which of all things is a series about vampires. Not one many saw coming from Mr Ball.

It’s based on the series of novels by Charlaine Harris, and revolves around the life of the bizarrely named Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie is a waitress on a restaurant/bar in the deep south town Bon Temps, Louisiana, she lives with her grandmother after the death of her parents and dutifully comes to the aid of her firebrand best friend Tara as well as helping to keep her irresponsible brother out of as much trouble as possible.

There however two important things about Sookie and her world. Vampires have recently declared their existence to the world (after ‘True Blood’ synthetic goes on sale, hence the show’s name) and she can read people’s minds. Into her world comes Bill Compton, a 173 year vampire who is intent on ‘mainstreaming’ and high romance and trouble soon follow as a series of murders hits town across a sweltering summer.

The series pretty much takes the same sex, drugs and death cocktail of Six Feet Under and throws vampires into the mix. It is something of a mash up of Buffy and the Fishers. Twilight for HBO basically. But with Alan Ball calling the shots and guiding the project it does what does very smartly indeed and retains a dark strain humour running throughout.

Anna Paquin’s Sookie is someone you both root for and want to yell at for being so pig headed and well, shrewish quite often. Stephen Moyer’s Bill is the classic brooding Darcy type vampire with a tortured past who just wants to be loved but he does a good job of injecting a bit of humour into the role and is excellent when asked to show Bill as the man cut adrift from his own time.

Elsewhere there is a strong crew of backup characters,Rutina Wesley‘s Tara struggles with her drunken mother and the damage done to her as child and lashes out at everyone in sight,Sam Trammell‘s Sam is the safe, sensible manager of the bar (though he has his own secrets), Nelsan Ellis‘ Lafayette is outrageous as the town’s own drug dealer, pornographer, escort and short order cook. And of course Sookie’s brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten)who is kind at heart, dumb as a post and always after the ladies.

Underneath this is a role call of town locals, bar regulars and wearied Sheriffs and deputies. All excellently played with a special mention for Iraq war vet Kevin.

It has to be said like many shows at is at it’s best when it’s creator is directly involved. The first episodes out of the block are written and directed by Ball himself and show both imagination and flair in script and on screen. These episodes have a very filmic look (normally a TV series has such tight timescales and budgets there is little scope for much extravagance in camera use) and an early transition as Sookie wakes is eye catchingly done. And they enjoy routinely subverting audience expectations, note the very opening sequence for an example.

That’s not to say the show is poor when Ball steps back, it’s still good stuff, it’s just noticeable how much of a difference his presence makes. Once the meat and bones of the piece is set up we basically have the romance of Bill and Sookie under-layed by a murder mystery and a good few tangents as follow the likes of Jason getting himself into trouble.

And it is true that the murder angle does help keep the show rolling on and is always there to jerk things up a bit when it starts getting bogged down in the lore of the world or side stories of the various town folk.

As it’s not as good as Six Feet Under I feel (but that was a grower, so maybe this is too) but it is solid stuff and entertaining stuff (and being HBO often really quite blue). I think at present none of the characters have quite risen beyond their archetypes to feel like real people but there are signs if people being fleshed and is probably somewhat down to the number of characters involved. (Six Feet Under very much concentrated on it’s central four and then really fleshed out everyone else once we knew them).

Plus the need to lay groundwork for the second series whilst pitching up a couple of interesting things did seem to require at least one character to make a choice that seems, well out of character and this came in the second half of the finale where the town’s killer is revealed somewhat out of the blue. Although once known Ball, back on directing duties, sees to it that is beautifully played in performance and in camera.

I know this now probably sounds a bit negative but I am looking forward to seeing more and there is plenty of potential in both the characters and the fictional world created (the Vampire rights movement for example plays out here mostly in the background but you suspect parts of it will come to the fore eventually).

But you do wonder if a certain Mr Whedon ever thinks he should pitch to HBO.

Defy Gravity

I can't recommend Defying Gravity enough. It's unlike any other space set sci-fi show on TV at the moment. Much close to the likes of Rendezvous with Rama than Star Trek.

The basic premise is we follow the eight strong crew of the Antares on a six year journey around the solar system and the members of the ground crew who support them, meanwhile we flash back to the personal journey of the crew as they go through the selection and training process to be part of the mission. And in the background there is a mysterious alien presence known only as Beta.

Primarily it is about the characters rather than being driven by plots featuring disaster the week. The most recognisable face is Ron Livingston (Band Of Brothers) as Maddox Donner who provides a voice over at the start and end of each episode.

The characters feel like real people and the performances are consistently excellent and the building mythos of the show is fascinating not to mention the interesting near future world that has been constructed.

It's hard to describe the series and convey the feel and tone of it. But I do suggest people check it out, it may not be to all tastes but its a fine grown up character driven drama that happens to be set in space.

The best drama on (American) Televison ; My top five

Recently I have been enjoying True Blood the latest TV venture from Alan Ball and HBO. So far the series if very good and is playing around with its hokey conventions whilst building an array of fascination characters.

It feels like someone crossed Buffy with Six Feet Under, which considering these are two of my favourite series ever is a very good thing if you ask me. The echoes of Six Feet Under have also got my thinking about the old question of which american drama series I think are the best ones out there (and lets face it they american's having been outdoing us for quite some time with ongoing drama)I feel quick rundown is in order (and I'm looking at those series that don't fall into 'genre' territory here) .

Kicking off my top five is Law & Order. Now admittedly I've not watched this for quite a while but for a period I really did get into it (back when Benjamin Bratt was on it). Firstly I really like the structure of the thing, one half police procedural and one half legal drama, giving you a view of each case for two different points of view.



It's also primarily about the case of the week and only rarely do the characters personally lives inturde on proceedings, as such it works really well as a kind of anthology show for a wide range of human dramas from week to week as the cases are often more complicated than they first appear. It short its like The Bill used to be and excellent with it, but I've not tried any of the spin off series.

Nect up at number four is Band Of Brothers. Okay it's only a mini-series but in it's thirteen odd hours it covers so much ground so well that it has to be included. Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston head an excellent cast in a thoughtful, exciting, terrorfying and understanding portrayal of men at war and that goes with it.



Episode 6 "Bastogne" is for me one of the most compelling hours of television I've seen, the tightening of the feeling of unease and tension (in almost etheral winter landscape) leading to a gut wrenching conclusion making you realise just how hard life was for these men. The upcoming compainon piece Pacific should be one to look out for

E.R. comes next. During it's first few years ER was outstanding televison as it threw you into the chaotic world of the Emergency Room in a busy inner city hospital. (It really did put Casualty to shame) Each week the ever complicated lives of the teams of doctors was counter balanced by the drama coming in through the doors for treatment.

Making a star of George Clooney the show had energy and passion to burn and was frequently moving. As the years went by we watched the nervous medical student John Carter grow and slowly but surely become a renowned doctor and a fine man has he lernt from Clooney's impassioned Dr. Ross and Anthony Edwards's Dr Greene.

Dr Greene was arguable the heart of the show and this made it all the more devestatingly when the character suffers from terminal cancer, after along road back to confidence after a devestating attack in the hospital bathroom. In fact the episode in which Dr Greene's death occurs(as seen from the E.R.'s point of view) is a masterclass in understatement and just how effective that can be.



..and from there its business as usual for the episode, occasionally we see others reading the letter on the notice board in the background at episode's end the pages blow up in the wind as the doors open and the faded cork underneath tells us how long they have been pinned up there. Simple, effective, devestating.

Whilst the series was best for it's first few years (the will they, won't they of Dr Ross and nurse Hathaway, Carter's tutalge with Dr Benten, Dr Greene's assult, the shocking attack on Lucy, Ewan Mcgregor guest starring and Tarantino directing) it was never anything other than very good the rest of the time and considering it ran for fifteen years that is some achievement. And the final shot of the series is a stroke of genius. For all those years the audience never saw the hospital building, we were always in looking out and the final episode the final frames are for the first time a shot of the hospital from down the street as the amubulances rush in and life continues.

Coming in second is The Wire, the chronicling if life on both sides of the law in Baltimore. On paper it's a crime drama but it takes in so much more and is quite possiblly the closest thing to a novel on televison as characters, stories and lives interweave over the course of five years.



A clip I've used before but it captures the feel of the series so well.

Rightly championed as the smartest series on televison by many it shows what can be done and it is immaclualty staged and crafted. There's not much more I can say beyond what has been said many places before but only that you should watch it By why is it only number two I hear you ask?

Well, it's because I consider the show that tops the list to be head and shoulders still above all else I've seen. And this is because it melds tremendous craftmenship (each episode looks and feels like it's been made with a film's budget) with brillant performances (from Peter Krause, Micheal C Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Rachel Griffiths and well the whole damn cast) and superb writing that picks at and highlights all aspects of life from the dark and destressing to the joyous and to the down right surreal and it comes together to tap into my emotions in a way no other TV show has.



I even adore the titles.

Yes, it is the aforementioned Six Feet Under, the story of the Fisher family and their loves and lives. Once again we have a format that allows a wide range of stories in alongside the continuing characters as the feature funerals often bring to the fore questions for the family and an array of themes for the audience.

From hiding a severed foot in a school locker to starting a new family to surving through the greif of losing a loved one to finding out who you want to be the seires pretty much covered it all. It remains the only thing on TV that has actually reduced me to (manly) tears. I understand it is not for everyone but I for one put it top of the pile.

So that is it, no room for the likes of 24, The Shield, Hill Street Blues, House, The West Wing, The Sopranos. But hey it's my list and if anyone wants to try and convince me they belong in the list above those I've choose they are welcome to try.

Filed under X

Well, thats it. Years behind and many months after I begun (there where many breaks) I have finished my project to watch the entirity of The X-Files.

I think the show is really good for five years, shows flashes of genius upto until the end of year eight but the last season was a slog. It seemed to just drift directionlessly along trying to find itself a purpose after pretty much all the major plotlines had either reachd conclusion or been lost in a fog of half thought out ideas.

Anyway I thought I'd just quickly give my thoughts on the conclusion and I have to say that for a seires that last nine years the big finish was low key and underwhelming to say the least.

I have no problem with the actual plot of the thing or really where the characters were left (apart form the fact that I wonder why they bothered writing in Scully's child at all - hey the wrote around Gillian Anderson's first pregnancy) rahter the way it was all put together.

The first hour or so of the finale was a court room hearing which was used basically as recap of the story so far, including the use of clips from previous episodes. It didn't even work dramatically since it was supposed to be a trail for Mulder's life and all that happend is that Skinner would say "Hey there is a massive conspiracy that's at fault here, listne to this witness", said witness would then recant part of the arc plot before the prosecuter would demand proof and our band of heores would stand around going "Errmmm...".

After this pointless bit of drama was done, Mulder escapes with the help of Deputy Director Kirch who's suddenly decided he's not such a bad man after all. He then goes to see our old smoking friend who turns out not to be dead but does turn out to be uninteresting as he basically has to restate what Mulder saw at the begining before there is a undramatic chase leading to a low key final five minutes as Mulder and Scully reflect on nine years of basically getting no-where.

And the one interesting part with Mulder imagining long gone characters coming to him in his cell wasn't explored at all. Plus the chocies seemed strange, I understand the Lone Gunmen turning up but X and Krychek? Where were Mulder's father, Deep Throat, Fox's mom, his sister?

So it seems finales remain a tricky thing for people to get right. Quantum Leap's did it well, Buffy's worked for me, the final moments of Cheers are brillantly done but it does seem fewer getting right than those that don't at the end of the day.

The X-Files, great when on song but it was dragged along at least two (if not three) years too long.