Saturday 23 July 2011

TV

Archer
2x12 White Nights
A cliffhanger (sort of)?! Two-part season finales not on the same night suck.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Castle
1x06 Always Buy Retail
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The Hour
1x01 Episode 1
Quite a good start, though it could do with getting on with things a bit more. This is where the 40-50 minutes of US series have an advantage: they'll tell the same story, but they'll tell it quicker.
Much was made in the press of the series' similarities to Mad Men, mainly because it's set in approximately the same era, features men in suits, women being kept in their place, and everyone smoking all the time. The makers were right to say such comparisons were inaccurate -- downtrodden, brown British '50s journalism is a very different world to glossy, colourful American '60s advertising -- but I still think the series is trying to be Mad Men-ish. For one thing, Dominic West's character's story in this episode (he's a smooth ladies' man... who actually has a wife and, it would seem, a tricky home life) is straight out of Don Draper's introduction in Mad Men's first episode (s).
Still, on the whole it has promise. Fingers crossed it realises it.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

No Ordinary Family
1x12 No Ordinary Brother
Pretty much everyone in this programme is better than it. Which is kinda depressing. New British villainess is suitably rubbish though.

Pointless
4x35 (22/7/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]