The Office s07e14 review

Two worlds collided on the new episode of the Office. David Brent came face to face with Michael Scott. Jesus titty fucking Christ.

It was a great moment, even if it didn't really make any sense. Are there two documentary teams that followed to different paper supply company's, with very similar characters? Why is Brent in America? Still, Michaels face when David said 'thats what she said' was so priceless. It was good to give a nod to the shows origins, even if only for a brief moment.

What a world

ANYWAY the episode itself had some highlights, mostly Creed describing the Loch Ness Monster. "Two eyes, two ears, a chin, a mouth, ten fingers, two nipples, a butt, two kneecaps, a penis. I've just described to you the Loch Ness Monster. And the reward for its capture? All the riches in Scotland. So I gave one question: why are you here?" WTF, Creed?

The episode focused on Andy staging a 'grow you small business' meeting as a ruse to sell paper. The rest of the sales team thought it was a bad idea until it turned out some of the people who game had actual business. There were quite a few b-blots running through this episode - Erin playing scrabble with Gabe (helped my Oscar and Pam), Michael and Holly bonding over a vaguely raciest skit and Jim avoiding a childhood friend who he once called stupid. None of these were amazing, as far as the office goes and I can't think of many stand out moments apart from the very first meeting of Scott and Brent and that Loch Ness Monster speech.

SIX THUMBS UP

Why not watch David Brent in The Office: The Complete BBC Collection (First and Second Series Plus Special)

Skins s05e01 review

young fucks

Is it really 4 years and 5 seasons since Skins first came out? I can't actually believe that. I remember after the 'first generation' ended and we all found out we'd get new people in season three and we were all bloody outraged. I remember watching the first episode of season 3 and thinking 'who the fuck are these people?'. But, as the season went on, I grew to love the characters and the show again. The first generation was still much better, but the second had their moments and some great plot points. Where seasons two and three failed, is that they tried to do way too much. Massive things would happen in one episode, only to be forgotten as the next weeks episode showed the next massive event. Loads of people died, but we never got to see a resolution to those plots. Some of the problem comes from having character-centric episodes - we find out about one life changing problem a chatterer is facing, but the next episode doesn't have chance to resolve anything because we're onto the next person.

The first generation used this format too, but the main character was arguably Tony so we could focus on that plot throughout.

This first episode of the third generation was actually pretty good. I didn't get the feeling they were trying too hard like I did on the last season opener. We focused one one character throughout - Frankie, there wasn't massive drug use or craziness (I think on the first episode of the second generation Cook started a fire in the college about 12 seconds after we met him), it was all more believable. I think they'll ease us into the usual heightened reality of Skins more slowly this time.

As for the content of the episode itself, we met and followed Frankie, a weird small girl with two gay dads who had to move from her old school due to excessive bullying. She is weird, to be fair, look at the girl:

a look the screams 'social outcast'

She moves to Skinsville and immediately gets bullied by this popular girl with ridiculous hair, Mini. Mini then flip-flops, decides Frankie is supercool and invites her to join the social group. They shoplift and do drugs but the group eventually find out how badly Frankie was bullied on a ridiculous generic 'Facebook' type site and all hell breaks lose. Throughout the episode you see a dirty rocker duo and a mysterious tall dark and handsome type who faces down Frankie when she's at her most crazy. Eventually the rocker guys and one member of Minis group become friends with Frankie and the season has begun. All the players are in place and you can see how its gonna come together. I don't think the main cast are gonna get on as well as previous seasons, there will be more conflict between the characters.

I like it so far, things seemed more toned down and I don't actively hate anyone just yet, but I know its just a matter of time.

SEVEN THUMBS UP

I was going to review the recent American re-make of the show, but its so god-awful I can't bring myself to. It seemed like a cheesy teen-movie, they've missed the feel of the show entirely. No thumbs up.

Catch up with the golden years with Skins, Vol. 1and Skins, Vol. 2 and the silver years with Skins, Vol. 3and Skins, Vol. 4 .

How TV Ruined Your Life s01e01 Review

How brilliant is Charlie Brooker? I've been a fan for years now, and whenever I watch him I'm just thinking 'damn, why can't I say things like that?'. Everything he says is just what I think, but in a brilliant way I could never articulate. The anger and snide remarks just remind us how silly the world is and remind us not to take ourselves so seriously. I don't think ladyfolks like him, my girlfriend rages out whenever he's on the screen.

Like I said, I've been following him for a few years now and his new show How TV Ruined Your Life is the classic Brooker format and feel, but with a significantly larger budget. He's still sitting on a sofa, watching TV, but rather than looking like he's sitting at home it looks like he's sitting in some post apocalyptic TV headquarters where he's gathered the remains of the BBC and sits doing the show to no-one.

left: old / right: new

There's also more sketches! Before they had Barry Shitpeas being hit in the face with a pie representing the News or something, now there's long parody's which take you a moment to realize aren't real. Like the morning show where a woman who's just murdered someone phones in to get advice off an experienced murder, or the brilliant mockery of 'shockumentaries' entitled 'What if: Pens got hot?'

I don't know what I like more... I kind of liked the cheap random bits in Classic Brooker, but some one these new extended sketches are so spot on... I think this series is gonna offer some real gems.

In case you missed it or have no idea who Charlie Brooker is, its just a show about television. Charlie is doing what he always does, showing us that TV is designed to influence you and (surprise surprise) it works. Sometimes we feel like the worlds falling apart around us, just because the news shows us the isolated bits of horror around the world. Really, almost everything is fine almost all of the time. This week he showed us how public service announcements are designed to tap into the fear-centre of the brain and the cheap tricks they use to achieve this.

A fantastic start to the season, I hope it continues to be this bloody brilliant.

EIGHT THUMBS UP.

If you have no idea who I'm talking about, get with the program over at Amazon with The Hell of it All, Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline and Screen Burn

Californication s04e03 review

Last time Californication ended on a massive cliffhanger. It looked like Hank had drunk far too much and taken far too many random pills and he was slipping away. The letter he wrote to Becca could have just been a letter, but it could easily have been a suicide-note. We open on this episode to see that Hank is fine, although he's had to have his stomach pumped, and he's crackin' wise and seems just fine. Karen, however, does think he was trying to commit suicide. (While we're on the subject of Karen, was it her that found him? Is that ever mentioned?)

pictured: worlds worst dad. also Becca is getting ugly.

Karen takes Hank back to the family home and takes care of him. She explains how much she loves him, how scared she was, that she never wants him to try that again. Hank can't help himself, he goes along with it and lets her think he was trying to kill himself. We know by now whats going to happen, the lie is gonna come bite him in the ass. Damn you Hank, think in the long term!

The rest of the episode kind of just shows Hank trying to wedge himself back in the family unit until finally Becca makes him see that suicide would be giving up - something she can't bring herself to believe Hank is capable of. He confesses to Becca and the Karen, who kicks him out once again. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see Hank grow as a character. There's been so many times when we've thought 'okay, he's gonna clean up his act, he has to this time'... only to see him lie, joke and sleep with any woman who'll let him. I don't know if I even like Hank, really.

There was a B-plot focusing on Charlie and Marcy, the usual brilliant back and forth, but nothing of note.

Considering how perfect the last episode was, this third episode was something of a let down. I find myself having very little to say about it. The episode ends with Hank sitting down in a hotel room, with his typewriter as he starts to script the Fucking and Punching screenplay. I dunno if writing will help or hurt him, but I hope we see real hope for Hank in the next few episodes before I give up on him.

SIX THUMBS UP

Being Human Marathon

So, when I watch shows I watch either the episodes as they air, or if I'm getting into a new show I watch the whole series from the start in big marathons. When I started this blog I wanted to reflect that, so sometimes I'll be talking about one episode, sometimes I'll be talking about a show I'm really into.

This weekend me and my girlfriend (who also blogs) got massively into BBC3s 'Being Human'. I'd read a review saying that the show 'should not be this good', and I'm always on the lookout for quality English shows. I'd told my girlfriend the little I knew - it was about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost, living together and trying to live a normal life. If you say it like that it seems kind of lame, but there are loads of shows where the writing and characters outweigh a cheesy premise. I always felt kind of ashamed when I was younger and people said 'So, whats Buffy the Vampire Slayer about?'... actually the name said it all on that one, but you know what I mean. Also there were some seriously lame episodes of Buffy, so if someone said 'whats this one about?' I'd be forced to say 'erm... theres a demon... in the Internet...'

SO, I was a little surprised when Katy agreed to watch the show, and when she said 'oh god is this about vampires?' in the middle of the first episode, I thought I'd lost her. NOT SO. We were hooked by the end of the first hour episode.

The show just works, every step of the way. You believe the characters, you believe they're supernatural, you believe they're having problems. I think part of what makes it so real is some of the problems they have are so mundane they rarely get a mention on TV. Things like 'who's gonna do the washing up?' and 'I have to eat that steak 'cause it goes off tomorrow'. Also the casting and acting is so bloody brilliant, the sets are so real and gritty... theres no 'glossy tv' feel to the show. Also, I think the English, as a people, understand that truly scary people don't look scary, they look normal... but they're evil as fuck. The bad guy in the first season shows this perfectly. Herrick, season one's 'big bad' looked like just a bloke, but he was so god damn evil. When he spoke it gave you shivers.

The story's great as well, theres some twists and turns and some things you never see coming, its funny and it makes you think. Some of the time you're not sure if our heroes are good or evil, they work in a moral gray area and they feel the weight of their decisions when they've had to choose the lesser off two evils.

Also, I just love their house- its open plan and retro and awesome. I want to live in that house.

I can't really say enough brilliant stuff about this show, catch up anyway you can then you can watch season three on Sunday nights BBC3. If fact, buy them on Amazon now: Being Human: Season 1 and Being Human: Season Two.

TEN THUMBS UP

The Office s07e13 review

Ahh, the Office. Finally back after weeks and weeks off. What a return as well! I find so many shows funny, but few shows make me actually laugh out loud. The Office does.

Some people say the show was best in its third or forth season and these days its too ridiculous. Those people are idiots. Its a god damn comedy, and I don't care if the scenarios are too out-there its funny as hell.

So, this weeks episode. Before Christmas, Holly told the staff she was gonna break up with her boyfriend unless he proposes by new years. Hollys brilliant, whoever cast her was a genius. She's just so perfect for Michael and I think we, as an audience, really want something good to happen Michael after all this time. He's such a good person at heat and all his flaws come from him trying too hard to be loved. If he really thought you cared about him, Michael would do almost anything for you.

Anyways, Michael waits to see what happened with Holly and her boyfriend. He makes a 'Happy' box for if she dumped him and a 'sad' box for if she didn't. He also records a video for himself in case of both outcomes, which is brilliant. Seeing him talk to the video he made was an episode highlight.

Holly has let the date she set come and go without actually enforcing the ultimatum and Micheal kind of loses his shit a little and force feeds Kevin, who's New Years Resolution was to eat vegetables, some brockley. He has a massive speech about following through on things that makes Holly cry, but Micheal redeems himself later by apologising to Kevin with Holly in the room. The words a really for Holly, not Kevin and its quite a torching moment. See what I mean about him being a good person at heart?

The B-plot was about Pam trying to become a better Office Administrator by creating  a displays for the staffs new years resolutions, but it all gets out of hand as no one can keep them even for the day. Pams new story is great, she just blagged her way into the job but trys really hard at it anyway.


EIGHT THUMBS UP

Catch up wth the last season of the Office here: The Office: Season Six

IT Crowd

For any fans of Channel 4s The IT Crowd, theres a great tumblr full of screen grabs and quotes.

How I Met Your Mother s06e14 review

How I Met Your Mothers back! They've taken some massive gaps recently, which is weird 'cause there's some serious shit going down. Baby's and death and such.

The show, I've found, is a love it or hate it kind of deal. Some people can't get behind it, saying its just another sitcom that's not that funny, others love it. People who love it seem to think the same as me, which is that is a great show with an awful main character. Does anyone really care about Ted? I really don't care about his life at all. People have said the show should be called 'How I Know Barney Stinson', but I love Marshall and Lilly just as much. Just not Ted. Fuck Ted.

The shows strength lies in knowing what modern friendships are like. There are pop culture references, but not too many. The group has a lot of in-jokes which come up time and time again, which is so true to life. The way the characters interact with each other seem real to me.

This episode showcases the shows strengths brilliantly. At the end of the last episode we found out Marshalls dad has just died. This episode is at the funeral. Firstly, I love it when comedy shows have a serious episode. The juxtaposition between the serious subject manner and the shows usual comedic tone make the tragic events seem more intense. This was done perfectly in this episode.

They used a classic How I Met Your Mother technique of having a couple of jokes that echo through the episode. Firstly there was Robins 'vice' bag - the bag where she kept anything Marshall might need to get him through the day (smokes, booze, drugs), the second was Marshall trying to remember the last words his father said to him, lastly Ted and Barney looking up 'men being hit in the groin' videos on the Internet to try and get Marshall to laugh. They spaced the gags out well, there was never a laugh too close to the serious stuff.

The ending was heartbreaking. Marshall had been trying to remember his dads 'last words' all day. Most of them seemed lame and pointless, he had trouble dealing with the fact the last thing his father ever said to him was 'Rent Crocodile Dundee 3'. It turns out his dad had left him a voice mail. He debated listening to it for ages before finally checking... only to find it was a pocket dial. Marshall then makes this amazing speech about how unfair death is, how his dad was his hero and how much he's going to miss him. My girlfriend, who hates the show, said the ending really ''pulls at heart strings", and I for one really felt the emotional impact of the moment.

It all works out in the end, Marshalls dad realizes his phone had rang him five minutes into the message and tells Marshall he loves him. Thank Christ. (before things get to sloppy there's some joke about foot fungus or something).

Oh, also there was a guest star - Johnathan from Buffy - what the fuck?

EIGHT THUMBS UP

Catch up on previous episodes here:  How I Met Your Mother: Season One, How I Met Your Mother: Season Two, How I Met Your Mother: Season Three, How I Met Your Mother: Season Four,How I Met Your Mother: Season Five

Episodes s01e02 review

I watched episodes last night (10pm, BBC2). The shows still looking good to me.

After the tone setting episode of Episodes last week, Matt LeBlanc finally becomes the main part of the show... and he's actually brilliant. I realised how good he actually was on his first scene while he's talking to Sean and Beverly's for the first time and he swears. It sounded weird to my eyes, and its because I don't ever think I've heard him swear before. The moment he first says 'fuck' shows how different this character is from Joey, which is all I know him from.

Matt's character seems quite interesting. When he first meets Sean and Beverly, he has no idea who they are and why he's meeting them, he seems disinterested in the show and dismissive of any involvement. After talking too his agent who promises him a truck full of cash (aka-the dream) Matt becomes interested and decides to do the show. When we catch up with Matt later at a party, he's watched Sean and Beverly's show and looks to be a actual fan of the show, discussing the writing and casting in a way no other Americans have so far. He seems smart and seems to really get the feel of the show, knowing deep down he's wrong for the part he's cast in. He bonds with Beverly and things look like they're looking up... until Beverly disagrees with him, then he turns on her. I'm unsure whether he was manipulating her from the start or if it was because of the disagreement, but Matt's shown himself to be a master manipulator and a man not to be trusted.

The main chuck of the show focused around a party at Merc's house. Merc is the money behind the network and makes all the decisions. He and his lackeys say anything to get you where they want you and represent everything wrong in Hollywood. Merc, as a character, is brilliant. His wife went blind a few years ago and he's such a bastard about it. Making faces when she's telling a story, saying 'at least she doesn't shop anymore!' and generally being a dick about his wife's disability.

Theres not too much to say about this episode, its just pushing the plot forward until all the players are in place, but I'm liking the show so far and I think Matt LeBlanc is going to be brilliant.

SIX THUMBS UP.

See old Matt LeBlanc with Friends: The Complete Series Collection or Joey - The Complete First Season.

Episodes s01e01 review

I watched the first episode of Episodes today. First of all, who calls a show Episodes? That just makes it really hard to Google. Maybe they did it so it would be hard to illegally download and hard to talk about without getting confused.

What’s it about, Joe? Well it’s about an English TV show that’s being remade in America. A simple enough concept and one that appeals to me as there are so many great English shows that have been ruined by an American remake. Wikipedia says that the BBC has something to do with making the show and it’s aired on Showtime on Sunday nights and the BBC on Monday nights. Has there been a transatlantic show that’s been made on both sides of the pond and aired about the same time before? I can’t think of one and I think it’s working well, at least in the pilot. Matt LeBlanc stars as himself, showing his really accepted that he’s never gonna play anything but Joey (from Friends and Joey) or himself, that guy who played Joey (from real life.)

The writers of the show within Episodes (see what I mean when I say the title is confusing?) are an English couple, the woman played by Fran from Black Books and the bloke played by that guy in the adverts for banking or some shit. The first scene is set when they’ve already made some of the show, things are going awfully and Fran walks out to head back to England. Her car gets hit by a car driven by Matt LeBlanc, who’s looking really old these days, and the show flashes back to six weeks earlier just before they get the offer to remake the Bafta award winning English show for American audiences. They agree after a little debate and move over from rainy London (it always rains in an Americans idea of London) to stay in a massive fake house that was used for a reality TV show (urgh) in Sunny LA. There’s a bit where they decide to have sex in the bath, but the massive bath takes too long to fill and they give up. I loved that bit ‘cause it shows everything I hate about baths. Even little ones take forever to run, is anyone ever in the mood for it by the time they’re finished? Then you just sit in warm water for a bit, its mind blowingy dull. Do I just not get baths?

What was I talking about? Oh yeah…

The show from then on shows the TV studio ruining the show with every move they make. The problems they run in to right from the off are there for comic effect, but I can’t imagine it’s too far off the mark. Our English heroes can’t cast who they want; the big boss says anything to get them to do the show even if it turns out to be a lie later on. Turns out the boss hasn’t even seen the show, which I think might happen a lot. What made the US Office great was that the writers really ‘got’ the English Office, but didn’t stick to the same situations and style. They just kept the feel of the show but made in their own. If anyone ever watched and loved Teachers, then saw the American re-make you’ll know how bad it can get.

In Episodes the make actor from the UK version auditions for the part just how he played it in the original and everyone’s laughing and loving it. Then the suits say it was ‘too English’, so the guy does the same scene in an American accent. As soon as they compromise even a little (changing the accent to an American one) things start to get fucked up, no one finds the same lines read again funny. The suits can’t see why the magic has been lost, but they cast blame away from themselves. You can really see this happening in real life.

By this time you’re thinking ‘is this the right show? I thought Matt LeBlanc was playing himself!’ I think the main point of the first scene where LeBlanc crashes the car was to show everyone that Joey totally is in the show eventually, you just gotta wait it out. I like that he’s not mentioned again to the very end, the tone of the shows been set and the biggest star haven’t really been in it yet. He is mentioned finally as the actor set to take the main role in the remake met with hilarious ‘what the fuck’ faces from our English heroes.

I’m looking forward to this show, I think LeBlanc might show himself to be an actor willing to make a fool of himself a little and it seems a good balance of English and American comedy. SIX THUMBS UP.

Wanna see Fran in something? Check out The Complete Black Books. Or follow Matt from the start in Friends: The Complete Series Collection. Or maybe you'd like to see how well re-makes can be done? Check out The Office: Season One

Californication s04e01 & s04e02 review

The first two episodes of season four of Californication have been leaked online! Hooray! Showtime clearly leaked the episodes themselves, there’s even the 'previously' bit right at the start. I'm glad they leaked them both together; the two episodes feel more like a one hour pilot.

Episode one starts with a gritty reimagining of the title sequence with the great Charlie Runkle bringing Hank his booze and smokes as soon as he comes out of jail, you instantly get back into the mindset of the show. The series of events that led to this moment started in season one episode one, I love the fact it took three seasons for Hanks uppance to finally come, and now that it has I can't wait to see how he deals with everything. Things are more serious than they have been in the show up to this point; Karen seems more out of reach than ever, Becca has to deal with her father’s short comings and there’s a real threat of Hank going to jail. They still get some great laughs in the episodes, but there’s a feeling that when a character cracks a joke they’re just putting on a brave face.

Of course Hanks lawyer is hot and there’s instantly sexual tension between them despite the hatred they show for each other. After meeting the lawyer we meet another hot young girl in the very next scene. By now we all know the drill, it’s gonna be about 30 seconds before Hanks fucking her. It turns out this girl is an actor that’s going to play Mia in the film adaption of Fucking and Punching, which I can’t believe Hanks on board with considering how much Mia and the book has destroyed the happy family Hanks spent the last three seasons chasing. I suppose it shows how attached Hank is to his words, even when everything else is falling apart he craves credit and admiration for his creative output.

Hank has sex with the girl playing Mia. Even though I know it was coming, I’m still a little shocked when it actually happens. This is the girl who’s going to play Mia. Things get even more fucked up when Hank encourages the girl to punch him in the face, just like Mia did. He’s reliving it and it makes me hate Hank quite a lot. I can’t stay mad at him for long though, its clear Hank is a good person at his core. The first half wraps up with Hank being formally charged with statutory rape, which we could all see coming anyway. The assault charges are dropped and seemingly swapped for the rape charges, it’s all academic at this point really. Hank seems shocked for some reason, but I guess he doesn’t know he’s in a TV show like I do.

The second half focuses more of the family side of things. Becca, who kind of pisses me off these days, hates Hank with a passion. Mia was the same age as Becca is now when Hank slept with her, you can tell how hard it’s hitting Becca. Hank try’s to buy her off with a new guitar, but his gesture seems to do more harm than good. He needs to talk to her about the whole situation, but what would he say?

Eventually Rob Lowe makes an appearance as the actor who’s going to play Hank in the film. I’ve been looking forward to this since I’ve seen the trailer and he’s instantly brilliant, with his goatee and his rambling gibberish. ‘I see a girl I defecated on in Palm Springs once.’ I can’t wait to see more of him as the season goes on. Who decided to cast Rob Lowe? A genius that’s who.

Later, despite knowing he’s being charged with rape, he starts to get sexy with the girl who’s playing Mia again. A few minutes ago I was feeling sorry for Hank and how his family sees him, now I’m back to hating him again. God damn it Hank.

The closing scene is one of the best they’ve done on the show. This is why I think the two leaked episodes should be seen as one. The ending of the first episode seemed very middle of the road, but Hanks letter to Becca was amazing. Whenever Hank writes anything in the show you really get a feeling of how he’s a great writer. I still think about his letter to Karen in a previous season, and his blog post from season one. Lines stick with you. (for example – ‘I wont go down in history, but I will go down on your sister.’ The voice over of the new letter actually gives me shivers. Hank sums himself up perfectly with the line ‘Nobel in thought, weak in action’. You see Hank take more and more of some pills he stole earlier in the episode, then he falls on the floor. Its moments like this where the show puts itself a head of the crap usually on TV and you see how it should be done.

All in all a brilliant start to what looks like it could be the most interesting season yet. NINE THUMBS UP.

Catch up on seasons 1-3 on Amazon.
Californication - The First Season
Californication : The Complete Second Season
Californication: The Third Season