Futurama has the surprising ability to not only prove how funny it is, but also make you feel something on an emotional level. The best example being the season four episode, Jurassic Bark. Lethal Inspection aims to be a comical episode with a story and a lot of heart, and it succeeds brilliantly.
Things are finally starting to stutter into motion as we arrive at what will nearly be the halfway mark of True Blood’s third season and whilst not everything is as neck-bitingly exciting as we might have hoped, there are flickers of brilliance and more than a hint of drama ahead.
Futurama has been back now for about a month and I for one couldn’t be happier. There was some fear that after being gone for so long, that the show would have a hard time getting acclimated to a weekly format. I’m pleased to say that those fears can now disappear. Futurama is probably the smartest animated comedy and when they are on a roll, the episodes are some of the bet you can watch, and even when they are not, the show is still top tier. This weeks episode, The Duh-Vinci Code, while not amazing, was a funny instalment that focused on simply making us laugh.
Aptly named, A New World picks up directly after the game-changing events of last week, which saw the show’s six central characters return to a reality, that on closer inspection, is certainly not the one they left behind.
Although the faces are familiar, a game of time-travelling musical chairs appears to have taken place, with Fargo now the director of G.D., Jo as his head of security and Allison the Chief Medical Officer (I’m almost certain that she holds a different title, but I’ve been watching a little too much Star Trek this week). Tess is back in the picture and provides the newest obstacle to the ever-teasing sexual tension between Jack and Allison. Zane no longer wants to Marry Jo and has reverted to the behaviour we witnessed on his arrival to Eureka. Even Andy, the slightly unconvincing, but reassuringly comical android has returned as the new Deputy. But possibly the most significant evolution is the absence of Kevin’s autism, making it possibly for the show to entirely reinvent his character. This last alteration to reality is one of a selection of details that has each character devloping conflicting responses to their new situations. Jo is heart broken to have lost the man she loves, but Allison can finally communicate and interact normally with her son and by her own admission, will do whatever she can to cling on to that possibility.
At the start of Psych’s fifth season premiere, it looks for a moment like things might be changing for Shawn and Gus (James Roday and Dulé Hill) and their “psychic” detective agency. Shawn’s dad (Corbin Bernsen) is now working for the police department. Juliet (Maggie Lawson), their friend on the police force, has transferred away thanks to leftover trauma from the season four finale and Shawn’s girlfriend from last season, is officially out of the picture. There’s even a brand new credits sequence.
Over the past few years, the USA Network has introduced a number of primetime original programs that have found audiences. Covert Affairs is their newest and while, if the pilot is anything to judge from, the show isn’t their strongest, it does manage to hold audience interest and has the promise of a better future. At its core, Covert Affairs is a spy thriller about the life of a new recruit as she becomes acclimated with not only her new job, but also the effects it has on her personal life. The show stars Annie Walker, played by Coyote Ugly fame Piper Perabo, as she gets called up from the CIA training ground to the big show. Her superior language skills (she is fluent in at least six) make her the best candidate for a new mission
We are now 4 hours into season 3 and True blood still appears to be wandering amongst the Vampires, werewolves and telepaths, looking for plot direction. There are glimmers of hope that bleed through the confused narrative, but the tenuous connections between stories simply aren’t strong enough to maintain audience interest for much longer.
Eureka has consistently delivered laughs, drama, mixed with just the right amount of science. Season 4 continues with the winning formula but provides a welcome shake-up that quite literally messes with the fabric of reality.
After last weeks episode I was hoping we would get a classic Sunny episode, but it quikly became apparent that it was not the case. I stated last week that these two episodes; Mac Fights Gay Marriage and Dennis Gets Divorced are meant to be shown together and the two episodes on their own are just not up to typical Sunny quality. While it is possible that upon watching the two episodes together they could be great, as it stands, this weeks episode is just as flawed, and at times, simply not funny.
Right now, we’re in the middle of a Matt Nix summer. Between both ‘The Good Guys’ and ‘Burn Notice‘, two of Matt Nix’s shows, there is an abundance of explosions, hilarious moments, fight scenes that would’ve put “24” in its heyday to shame, and the occasional poignant moments that remind us the writers are capable of drama. In my previous reviews for “The Good Guys,” I’ve praised the show for its tendency to stick closely to a format and blend comedy and drama effortlessly, something rare for procedurals nowadays (every new police procedural seems to try and be as gritty as possible).
