The Daily News will return on Monday 5th January 2009. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Doctor Who

• DT votes for DM as the next Doctor - while simultaneously giving away the plot of The Next Doctor [spoilers]
• Behind the scenes of The Next Doctor [video, probably not available in the US]
• A clip and big spoilers for The Next Doctor
• DT wants to be a Bond villain

Film

• Clive Owen joins Cartagena

British TV

• Charlie Brooker to host TV comedy series for Channel 4

US TV

• Damon Herriman joins Lost & Found
• Casting on Cold Case, Numb3rs, Burn Notice and True Blood
• A clip from Flight of the Conchords [yes it will work outside the US]
• Top Gear US will appear - just not on NBC
• A Lebron James sitcom

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Read other posts about: Burn Notice, Charlie Brooker, Numb3rs, Top Gear

Every so often, people ask me what TV shows I'd recommend watching. I mean not just watching, but hunting out then watching, because obviously this blog gives you some big clues as to what to watch as it is - it's the rarer stuff that's not on tele at the moment that are the bigger concerns.

The US remake of Touching Evil, starring Burn Notice's Jeffrey Donovan (he's also in Clint Eastwood's The Changeling soon), has been coming up a lot of late and people are finding out (or should be, if they follow my advice) that

1. It was brilliant, although as the title suggests, it's not going to take you to a happy place
2. It was a whole lot better than the UK version
3. Even if you don't like the series itself, the music was brilliant
4. The USA Network was nuts to cancel it

I won't go into long drawn out discussions about its merits here - I've already done that on several occasions - so instead, I merely offer you, thanks to the joys of YouTube, the full first episode of the series. You can watch the whole 13 on there as well, but I draw the line at setting up playlists for those, too. It's not out on DVD yet and has only once been shown in the UK so let's start a petition, hey?

Read other posts about: Burn Notice, Touching Evil

Doctor Who

• An interview with a new companion [spoilers]

Film

• Seth Rogen to produce I'm With Cancer
• Max Payne clips
• Eric Bana to star in remake of Le Convoyeur
• The kids of Fame
• Rebecca Mader to be female lead in Men Who Stare at Goats

British TV

• ITV4 acquires Life
• Beeb to launch kids version of iPlayer…
• …and pilots comedy programmes for kids
• Michael Grade wants to end ITV's indie quota
• Chris Tarrant has a new gameshow
• More UKTV rebranding: now it's Blighty and Eden
• Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton reunite for Psychoville

• ABC remaking V
• …and its Wednesday night ratings keep falling
• Burn Notice and Psych get renewed
• 30 Rock Gossip Girl cameo cancelled

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Read other posts about: 30 Rock, Burn Notice, Gossip Girl

Doctor Who

• Lots and lots and lots and lots of Torchwood filming photos

Film

• Daredevil reboot being planned
• Liev Schreiber and Helen Hunt to star in Every Day
• 300 sequel to take place before Battle of Plataea
• Yogi Bear - the movie

Commercials

• Monster Munch ads featuring Timmy Mallett and Geoffrey Hayes

Theatre

• Eddie Izzard to return to the West End for stand-up

German TV

• Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor to be remade as Ich Bin Boes

British TV

• Pulling pulled
• Heroes gets 3.1m viewers
• BSkyB could be forced to share content
• Beeb looking for Hollyoaks rival
• Five revives Going For Gold - without foreigners
• QI moves to BBC1

US TV

• The Life on Mars starter kit
• James L Martin to co-star on The Philanthropist
• AMC plans adaptation of Red Mars
• Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sex Money and Private Practice all return to bad ratings
• TheWB.com launching three new series
• Frasier's dad to play Michael Weston's dad on Burn Notice?
• Heroes' budget not high enough?

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Read other posts about: Burn Notice, Heroes, Life on Mars, Torchwood

Would that I had the time and resources (and money) to do this full-time and provide the very best service possible to all you lovely guys and gals. However, life is short, so I can't. Ho hum.

The most notable and obvious gap in this 'ere blog is that here I am, reviewing plenty of US TV for y'all in the UK so that you know what to keep your eyes peeled for, and then I leave you high and dry by not telling you when it's going to air in the UK. Which is rubbish, I know, but c'est la vie.

So let me point you in the direction of some people who are far more helpful than me at pointing out what US (and UK) TV is worth watching each week:

• Dan's Media Digest : He writes reviews, he looks at the UK and US box offices each week and he also lets you know what to look out for on tele - he's Dan Owen
• TV Today: As well as reviews and previews, TV Today also has regular commentary on the news by The Stage's expert TV watchers Scott Matthewman and Mark Wright - sometimes they even break news as well - and the twice-weekly "Square Eyes"
• TV Spy: Totally US-in-the-UK TV-focused, this is put together by the people at TV & Satellite Week and always gives you the heads-up on what's coming out in the UK soon and what's hot in the US right now as well as news and clips.

Of the things to watch out for right now, I'd say keep your eyes peeled next Saturday, because the generally excellent spy show Burn Notice, which even gets its own tag here, starts at 9pm on FX (aka "The channel that shows all the really good US stuff, but no one can get, let along watch"). I found that out from Dan.

Read other posts about: Burn Notice

Doctor Who

• Rusty's lucky desk
• David Tennant to be the Doctor forever? [spoilers]
• Rusty talks Sarah Jane Adventures [spoilers]…
• …as does Lis Sladen [spoilers]

Film

• Kenneth Branagh to direct Thor?!
• Megan Fox to star in Fathom?
• Mike Millar's War Heroes to be adapted
• Zack Snyder to develop games for EA
• Russell Crowe to play Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham??
• Trailer for David Fincher's adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

US TV

• HBO developing show about mass emigration from the US
• Michael Shanks returning for multiple episodes of Burn Notice
• NBC shifting production of The Philanthropist to London to save on costs - and to get James Purefoy as the lead
• Trailers for season two of Dirty Sexy Money
• Another 24: Redemption trailer
• TNT close to greenlighting two new shows

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Read other posts about: 24, Burn Notice, The Sarah Jane Adventures

Burn Notice is something of an odd show for the USA Network. While most of the USA output is fluffy stuff like Monk or Psych, Burn Notice is quite edgy and dark – a spy show where villains frequently get shot by the good guys, who are all busily trying to avoid getting shot by the people who are supposed to be good guys, too.

After a slightly intermittent first season in which most of that initial edginess was squandered on USA Network quirkiness, the second season has been far superior. After the introduction of BSG's/Canada's Next Top Model's Tricia Hilfer as Carla, one of those responsible (possibly) for the 'burn notice' that ostracised our hero from the rest of the spy community, we gamboled merrily along from explosion and murder to explosion and murder – via way of the equally vicious spy Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1 – in the hope that by the end of the season, we'd know what was going on and what Carla was up to.

Did we?

Continue reading "Season finale: Burn Notice (season two)"

Read other posts about: Burn Notice

Doctor Who

• Journey's End most watched TV programme of the week
• Catherine Tate injures ankle, cancelling first night of Under the Blue Sky

Film

• Will Ferrell to play split-personality racist in Two Face
• Terminator Salvation teaser trailer
• Wanted 2 will happen

Radio

• Ruth Jones to get a BBC Wales radio show

British TV

• The Bill teaming up with Germany cop show SOKO Leipzig for a special
• Hayley Atwell joins cast of The Prisoner
• Top Gear audience waiting list now 21 years long
• Bone Kickers ratings drop 1.6 million for second episode
• Shooting Stars back for a Christmas special

Canadian TV

• CBC has hopes for new pilots

US TV

• Katie Holmes to guest star on Eli Stone. Yes, she will sing. And she may return
• ABC's fall schedule
• Burn Notice's ratings up a third on last year
• No more Babylon 5 ever?
• Kurt Russell or Laurence Fishburne to replace William Petersen on CSI?
• Big changes are afoot at Life on Mars, with only one original cast member remaining
• HBO Films developing post-Vietnam spy flick Irreparable Harm
• Scrubs might last more than a season at ABC
• Office spin-off dead?

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Read other posts about: Burn Notice, CSI, Gavin and Stacey, Life on Mars, Scrubs, Top Gear

Film

• Rome churches shut to Angels and Demons
• Kevin Spacey heads up cast of Shrink

Commercials

• Emma Watson replaces Keira Knightley as new face of Chanel

Theatre

• John Cleese planning a stage version of A Fish Called Wanda

British TV

• ITV Productions developing detective drama set in Brighton based on 'Roy Grace' novels [free registration required]
• Matthew Horne says a third series of Gavin & Stacey is probable

US TV

• Michael Shanks filming episodes of Burn Notice [via Kaballa, no link]
• DB Sweeney and others join cast of Crash
• First Bones episode to shoot in the UK
• Full US Top Gear line-up announced
• Marla Sokoloff to star in YA NBC mini-series
• Wizard's First Rule gets a showrunner
• Four new cast members for ER
• William Hurt joining cast of Damages
• Casting on Knight Rider, Terminator: TSCC and Numb3rs
• Fox helping to develop Canadian cartoon

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Read other posts about: Burn Notice, Stargate, Top Gear

In the US: Sundays, 10/9c, USA Network
In the UK: They're all in hiding

Awful. Just awful.

What? You want more from that in a review?

Sigh. Okay. Here we go then.

Although at first sight the USA Network has a clear theme - it's the “network of characters” - that's not quite what it is. It's the network of 80s shows. These weren't shows made in the 80s, mind. These are shows that fit the show templates of the 80s.

For the most part, we're talking private detective shows – quite good ones at that. So, for example, we have Monk, the private detective who works for the police department and has OCD. We have Burn Notice, featuring the private detective who's an ex-spy. And we have Psych, the private detectives who also work for the police department and pretend to be psychics.

Typical story in any of these: helpless person comes to private detective, private detective investigates, finds clues, solves crime use his special “character” skills. The end.

Psych is in fact the purest of these retro 80s shows, since not only does it use the old script templates of the 80s, it references all the shows explicitly (I'm still guffawing at Gus's Airwolf jacket) and even has the same actors (Corbin Bernsen, for example).

As we can see the USA Network knows its audience: old enough to remember the 80s and its tele fondly; wishing they made tele like in the good old days.

Thing is, most 80s US TV was a bit pants. If we polish off our old Betamaxes of Riptide, Simon and Simon, Tucker's Witch, Jake and The Fatman, et al, we'd see how poorly they stand up compared to the far more sophisticated and intelligent fare (with exceptions) that modern US TV has to offer.

Except we don't have to, because here's In Plain Sight, starring Mary McCormack. It's an 80s police/action show lovingly recreated in every detail using modern television techniques. And it's rubbish.

Continue reading "Review: In Plain Sight 1x1"

Read other posts about: Burn Notice