TV: MY FAVOURITE DRAMA SERIES ARE BACK

I use the term drama very loosely as only one of them fits that description. And that's-

Skins. For the first time in four seasons, I'm not doing a weekly recap/review. I still like it but this third generation just hasn't grabbed me the way the previous two did. I'll say one thing for it though, it's unpredictable. Whether or not this is a good thing is debatable as they killed off the best character in the second episode of this new season (the adorable Grace) and in the third introduced a brand new character who seems to follow the rules of Luke Rhinehart's novel The Dice Man.

Rich and the long lamented Grace

A new season of Castle starts again tonight as does a half season of Fringe following a mid-season hiatus. The end of the last season of Castle had him declaring his love for Detective Kate Beckett as she lay dying, not that she'll die of course. I'll be really pissed off if she doesn't remember when she wakes up as this would be the worst form of cop out. Fringe with its parallel worlds and the marvellous John Noble as a literally mad scientist is just unmissable especially, as has long been expected, there is actually a third parallel world to complicate matters.

Thursday nights are great with The Good Wife, Body of Proof, and Rizzoli and  Isles. The Good Wife is a terrific legal drama series with a marvellous ensemble cast. Body of Proof isn't brilliant but it does start the brilliant Dana Delany who makes anything worth watching. Rizzoli and Isles is (in my dreams and the dreams of many others: fact) a lesbian version of Castle, Sadly in the real world it's a mismatched buddy-buddy drama of female detective from a cop family and her eccentric dissecting doctor from an affluent family (but adopted!) friend.

In this season, The Not-So Good Wife

Sunday night  is horror-fantasy night with the return of BBC3 series Being Human and HBO series True Blood. BH has gone for the change everything approach. One of the four main characters was killed of at the end of the previous series, one in between series plus the villain, and one in the first episode where we also meet another ghost-vampire-werewolf triad, new vamp villains, and a new future heroine who wants to kill her baby self in order to save the world. Jesus! TB is just more of the same if you assume that the same is everything changing from week to week. After 15 minutes in fairyland Sookie escapes to find a year has passed. Vampire Eric has secretly bought her house, her boyfriend is now King of Louisiana and a badass. Her best woman friend, the nutty Tara, has moved away to become a cage-fighter and a lesbian (yay!). Her sex-mad irresponsible brother is now a serious-minded cop. And more. Loved it.

 Couldn't find a pic of her snogging her girlfriend

What is it about me and TV series with strong attractive women in them? Coincidence? Are the best current series just happening to have strong attractive women characters? Who cares? These are all pretty good to great shows which I enjoy a lot. Me, I think TV as entertainment has never been better.

Post Script.

I'm also enjoying BBC1's Call The Midwife. Which is a bit out of my usual taste in TV but it is very well done.

Having the delightful Miranda Hart in a straight role doesn't hurt either.

TV: NEW SEASONS OF-

-some of my favourite tv shows have either started or about to start and here they are. Are they some of yours too?

Recently finished is the second series of Miranda, a British sitcom on BBC2 starring and written by the 6ft 1ins Miranda Hart. It ought to be awful -Hart mugs to the camera, everyone overacts- but it has me in tears of laughter. Hart is some kind of a genius.

Already underway after a 2-year gap because it cost too much is the very likeable, if not earthshattering, Primeval for its 4th season. There are enough changes to maintain the show's momentum while keeping its character. At one point in a recent episode, an SClub7 track was heard in the background which is a funny in-joke as Hannah Spearitt (centre) was one of the teen band's key members and it's certainly her singing on it.

I missed the beginning of the second season of The Good Wife and have sternly reprimanded the person who was supposed to remind me (hello there, Mr Anonymous). I didn't catch the first season but Mr A enthused about it and I've read enough reviews to suggest I'd like it. I've recorded this week's episode which may be the second, third, or fourth. (Update courtesy of Mr A, it's ep.2.) Is it me or is Archie Panjabi sexy as hell?

 

Recently finished is season 3 of Castle. This isn't a great show but it stars the incredibly charismatic and funny Nathan Fillion who improves anything he's in. Stana Katic is also very good as his co-lead, but the two supporting detectives are also likeable characters. All of them, however, were put in the shade in a recent (season-ending?) two-parter which guest starred Dana Delaney as a shit-hot FBI investigator. Delaney stole every scene she was in which I didn't think was even possible when acting alongside Fillion.

And here's a picture of Delaney getting kissed by Julie Benz in an episode of Desperate Housewives.

 

Benz isn't the only reason for watching the new show No Ordinary Family but she is the best one. As far as I'm concerned she is one of the most gorgeous and talented actresses working in American tv. Just check out her role as Darla in Buffy & Angel, as Dexter's girlfriend then wife in, oh yes, Dexter, as the lesbian ex-stripper with a heart of gold in Desperate Housewives (see above). She is just amazing and the fact that she doesn't seem to have been out of work since she started suggests a lot of people are of a like mind. In No Ordinary Family, she's the career mother who finds getting superspeed solves a lot of problems including a failing marriage. Only two episodes show in the UK so far and I'll keep watching. Even if it turns out pure crap, I'll keep watching just for Julie.

Skins Series 5 is starting shortly with a brand new cast. Series 3 was one of the most amazing pieces of television I'd ever since in my life (and did an extensive recap/review when I first started this blog) while Series 4 the sequel was disappointing and sailed, never mind jumped, over the shark in the final episodes. I'm keeping an open mind about this one and hoping for the best.

Last, that I can think of at the moment, is Being Human Series 3. I like this show, not a lot, but I like it. (Old catchphrase copyright Paul Daniels.) It's never quite as good as I think it should be but it isn't bad either.

Of course there is the new series of Dr.Who looming on the horizon of which I have high hopes thanks to Stephen Moffat the UK's answer to Joss Whedon.

Before I go, I just want to mention briefly the show which has just finished that I most miss. It's about those loveable rascals doing community service for minor offences. With super powers. Yes, it's the utterly brilliant Misfits, the Science Fiction answer to Skins. With really bad taste. Do yourself a favour and buy the DVD.

Nearly forgot. Sarting tonight on FX is Season 3 of-

Nevertheless, my personal tv highlight of the week was the cast of The Big Bang Theory dressing up as the Justice League of America.