As mentioned in my asides, I didn't have much time for blogging last week. Sorry about that. But here's a round-up of a few of my TV thoughts:

Survivors
Pretty rubbish. Couldn't even be bothered to watch episode two. Interestingly, probably the only instance of a TV show adapted from the novelisation of an older TV show, and there was the name-switch of a couple of characters to fake out the seven people who could remember the original series/novel and who lived/died.

But still very tedious, with no really interesting characters and no real sense of disaster or tragedy. "Oh my God, I've had to burn the body of my dead husband. Right, anyone for chips?"

To a certain extent, the problem is with the format, since although it's got a great starting point - almost everyone in the world dies so how will the survivors manage to eke out an existence? - invariably it descends into decisions about crop rotation, government structures and population stabilisation systems that somehow manage to avoid discussing or depicting sex since it's mainstream BBC.

But the original series still managed to make the characters interesting so clearly not everything can be blamed on Terry Nation.

Knight Rider
We've stopped watching it. It really is very, very bad.

Odd BBC2 links
We were watching Top Gear yesterday when up pops a trailer for Louis Theroux's programme following the police in Philadelphia. Two things:

1. Theroux needs a different act if he's going to do serious journalism. To policeman: "What would have happened if he'd drawn that gun?" "He'd have been shot." "Who by?" Erm… Are you mental?
2. The BBC2 announcer then said "It's just like an episode of The Wire". So now we're trailing BBC2 programmes with references to a show that's only on FX and gets about 36,000 viewers. That's a bit niche, isn't it?

24: Redemption
God. Hasn't television moved on since the last series of 24. That felt ridiculously antediluvian. Can 24 only thrive when there's a Republican presidency - discuss?

Heroes
Getting bored now, mainly because Ali Larter isn't in it enough, but also because of all the ridiculous personality switches, the fact there are so few characters who act like grown-ups, general inconsistencies, lack of logic, etc. Sigh. Roll on volume four (hopefully) although some of the spoilers I've heard don't fill me with much enthusiasm. How would you fix the show?

Dexter
Told you you have to wait for a while to see if it gets good. Always around the seven or eighth episode.

The Unit
Why aren't more people watching it? It's brilliant.

The IT Crowd
Thank God it's back. Officially the only comedy show in which Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade have ever appeared in that's funny. Katherine Parkinson's great - and a redhead again. Yey! And that magician was great. If only bluffball.co.uk were a real site…

Thanksgiving
Is all good television banned on Thanksgiving in the US?

Read other posts about: 24, Dexter, Heroes, The IT Crowd, The Unit, The Wire, Top Gear

Today's TV musing is about writers. Now it can't have escaped your notice but fiction doesn't emerge fully formed from the sea onto our TV screens – there are these people called writers who create all the words and deeds depicted in dramas, comedies and even some 'reality' TV shows.

No two writers are the same, of course, each usually having their own 'voice' – a way of writing dialogue, a way of developing and introducing characters, a way of plotting that is unique to them. But on a TV show, that isn't always a good thing.

On a serial or long-running show, sometimes you don't want individual writers' scripts to stand out from the others; you want them all more or less the same because you have ongoing character arcs, back story, established forms of behaviour for the protagonists and so on. If a writer's script stands out, it's probably because it's inconsistent with the other episodes, which you don't usually want.

On many TV shows, there is a special role specifically for making sure scripts all mesh together nicely. In the UK, that's the script editor; in the US, it's usually the 'show runners' or exec producers – who unlike their film counterparts are typically writers who have ascended the career ladder.

Of course, there can be problems when the script editor/exec producer also writes scripts, because there's no one there to check their work for consistency and because they typically give themselves more latitude than they do to other writers. It's not always the case: you'd be hard-pressed to work out which Lost scripts are by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, which Mad Men scripts are by Matthew Weiner.

But take The Unit, for example. One of the exec producers on that is David Mamet. Yes, the David Mamet – the award-winning playwright and screenwriter who wrote Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-plow, The Verdict and Wag The Dog, to name but a few classics. Who's going to edit his stuff, let alone himself?

So whenever Mamet writes a script for The Unit, it's always massively at odds with all the other scripts and contains an overload of his usual obsessions (martial arts, con tricks, overly manly behaviour). Surprisingly, they're never as good as the scripts by the other producers, sister Lynn Mamet and Eric L Haney, on whose book the show was based.

Callan is another show that comes to mind. Creator James Mitchell resolutely refused to acknowledge there had been any character development in between his contributions to the four series, so whenever he wrote a script, every character immediately reverted back to the behaviours and relationships they'd exhibited in the original pilot play.

Yet there are some shows where different voices are tolerated and allowed. Take Doctor Who. Although show runner/exec producer Russell T Davies can rewrite up to 60% of a script created by one of the other writers, you can still usually tell when Gareth Roberts or Steven Moffat is writing the week's episode – or when it's one of his own. And that's actually a great delight.

So today's question: how much should individual writers' voices be heard on TV shows – does it depend on the type of show and is the reason it's tolerated on some shows because there are only a few decent writers on the show and we just notice when there are some good episodes for a change?

Read other posts about: Callan, Lost, Mad Men, The Unit

In the US: Sundays, 10/9c, CBS
In the UK: Bravo and Virgin One at some point, probably the New Year

When you get to the fourth year of a long-running show, you have a choice. Do you continue with the same old formula (cf House), or be a bit brave and mix things up (cf Lost)? The Unit might be forgiven for going for the easy option, given it was on the cusp of being cancelled at the end of last year.

But this is a manly show of the first order, in which brave special forces soldiers (who definitely aren't Delta, honest guv'nor) risk their lives tackling threats foreign and domestic while their wives go through equal hells at home. Easy option?

The Unit spits in the face of the easy option

Continue reading "Review: The Unit 4x1"

Read other posts about: The Unit

In the US: Sundays, 9pm, HBO

Is there much point reviewing the first episode of a mini-series? No. With Generation Kill, there's even less point, since it's the creation of David Simon and Ed Burns, who also created The Wire – and we all know that reviewing that is like reviewing a chapter of a book.

All the same, I think it's worth giving a taster, just so you know whether to start watching the remaining six hours of the series.

Continue reading "Review: Generation Kill 1x1"

Read other posts about: The Unit, The Wire

Film

• Trailer for The Spirit

British TV

• ITV2 commissions drama Trinity…
• …and cancels Jordan's chat show

Australian TV

• Big Brother cancelled

US TV

• Fringe episodes will be 50 minutes long
• The first of the Heroes webisodes [video, US only]
• Christina Ricci joining Saving Grace for three episodes
• Crash won't be depressing or about race much
• Christopher Gorham leaving Ugly Betty
• Casting for Valentine Inc, plus Dexter and The Unit

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Read other posts about: Big Brother, Dexter, Heroes, The Unit, Ugly Betty

Film

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars trailer

British TV

• Vampire lesbian movie for James Corden?? Probably not
• Gladiators gets 1.8 million viewers

US TV

• CBS orders six new series including remakes of Eleventh Hour and Worst Week
• Michael Rapaport joins Prison Break as a regular
• Fox ready to remake Secret Millionaire
• Saffron Burrows to co-star in Christian Slater's My Own Worst Enemy
• Megan Mullally to be Alicia Silverstone's mother
• Reaper renewed for a second season
• How I Met Your Mother and The Unit renewed
• HBO shows coming to iTunes with different pricing
• October Road and Moonlight likely to be cancelled
• Miss Guided cancelled
• Back to You was 'on the wrong network'

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Read other posts about: Gavin and Stacey, Moonlight, Prison Break, The Unit

Doctor Who

• Eddie Izzard wants to be the next Doctor

Film

• Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman to “re-imagine” Brain De Palma's The Fury
• Russell Brand to re-team with Judd Apatow for buddy comedy

British TV

• Series one of Gavin & Stacey being repeated on BBC3 from 5th May. Just thought I'd mention it
• Toby Whithouse's Being Human gets a full series order from BBC3
• Channel 4 records first loss since 1992
• House of Saddam cast announced
• Replacement for Rory Kinnear needed on Kudos's Plus One

US TV

• Man with big todger to be centre of HBO “dark comedy”
• Cybill Shepherd to play Shawn's mum on Psych
• Lucy Liu up for Dirty Sexy Money
• Patrick Adams and Mae Whitman to star in Rob Thomas's Good Behavior
• Allison Miller to play female lead on Kings
• Nia Vardalos signs up for My Boys, Gabriel Mann for Mad Men
• The Unit's fate still hangs in the balance

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Read other posts about: Being Human, Gavin and Stacey, Mad Men, The Unit

Doctor Who

• David Tennant to propose marriage to first person who leaves a comment on this blog entry before midday
• DT 'informally committed' to series five
• A Gareth David-Lloyd interview
• Four different DW Radio Times covers

Film

• Scott Bakula to star opposite Matt Damon in The Informant
• Brad Pitt goes Amazon shopping

Comics

• Who owns Superman?

Theatre

• Kevin Spacey has a go at BBC1 talent shows

British TV

• Cranford returning for Christmas

US TV

• What's up on Supernatural this season (and next) [minor spoilers]
• Jay Leno turns down Top Gear hosting gig for fear NBC will ruin it
• Sleeper Cell creators to head up probable Eleventh Hour series
• William Petersen will be returning for the next season of CSI
• Ray Romano to do an hour-long drama pilot for TNT
• Season four of The Unit still likely
• ABC unveils summer schedule
• Eddie Cibrian to join Ugly Betty
• Ioan Gruffudd and Robin Tunney, among others, cast in pilots

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Read other posts about: CSI, Supernatural, The Unit, Top Gear, Ugly Betty

In the UK: Mondays, 9pm, ITV1
In the US: Not yet acquired

Once upon a time, ITV ruled the roost of action TV. With the classic shows of ITC such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Danger Man and The Avengers, ITV pretty much dominated the 50s and 60s. Then there was The Sweeney, The Professionals, Out et al during the 70s and Robin of Sherwood in the 80s, as well as all those glorious US action imports that almost always ended up on ITV first.

In the 90s, post-franchise change, it all went pear-shaped. Now ITV1 is a bit of a gamble when it comes to action shows. You might get lucky and find a show like Sharpe's Progress/Plimsolls/Whatever that starts off well and continues to be good. Or you might find a show that starts off well then becomes a bit of a turkey (eg Ultimate Force). Most of the time, though, you'll come across something dismal like The Outsiders that's so bad it has a biohazard warning next to it in the Radio Times.

But ITV1's turned over a new leaf. It wants to be known for quality programmes. Can it do quality action TV? The Fixer, which started last night, is actually a very good attempt at a quality action show.

Continue reading "Review: The Fixer 1x1"

Read other posts about: Callan, ITC shows, The Unit

Theatre/Doctor Who

• Christopher Eccleston to talk about his Celebrity Pig work

British TV

• Dragons' Den's James Caan signs talent deal with Century Aspect Films [free registration required]
• Dexter to air on ITV1 starting Wednesday 27th February
• Phoo Action gets a series

US TV

• CBS picks up various shows, but The Unit and Moonlight are among those still undecided
• Fox to film 24 episodes quickly
• Dragons' Den becomes Shark Tank for US adaption

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Read other posts about: 24, Dexter, The Unit