Funeral Blues

And here's another look at the last few shows I've been watching ...

Desperate Housewives: Ah, Susan. You try to do good and you wind up nearly getting sent down for trying to poison Paul. As if Susan would have enough braincells to try that for starters. Still, the last two episodes that I've seen were actually quite good and with RTE2 set to air the finale on Tuesday, I'm intrigued to see where the show ends, given that both the Paul and Felicia strands have been dealt with. I suppose there's still Gabby coming face to face with her stepfather and Bree's relationship with Chuck. As for Lynette and Tom's shaky marriage - I'm really struggling to care at the moment because neither of them are remotely sympathetic.

Game Of Thrones: Another two episodes I've managed to watch together, I have to admit that this show is really gathering apace. The fanservice scenes between Renly and Loras aside, the characters in this episode are clicking more for me - Tyrion, Dany, Ned, Cat and Jon Snow are all definitely getting stronger with each episode and while I do find both Cersei/Jamie horrible people, they are however decent antagonists for the series and more effective than the King at the moment.

Glee: Great set of episodes. Okay, the Prom episode hardly reinvented the wheel for that particular theme and the cynic in me thought that Jean's death was an excuse to give Jane Lynch an Emmy submission but the uneven writing aside in places, I actually am looking for the finale the finale. It's nice that more progress with Santana, still happy that Brittany/Artie are no more, officially bored to death with Jesse/Rachel/Finn/Quinn quadrangle but musically the last two episodes did give us numbers from Adele, Amy Winehouse and ABBA and that was a lot better than Kurt and his neverending showtunes. Step out of your comfort zone, Kurt and nice Sue will not last for long.

The Walking Dead: Really brilliant last two episodes. I definitely want more of this series. Everything seems to have clicked better - the characters, the pacing, the introduction of Jenner and his abrupt demise but either way, I left watching the last two episodes wanting more from the series. Season 2 can't start soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

V: I still have to catch up with the double bill episodes that SyFy to end the series but the last two I watched were strong enough episodes. I like that Lisa's trying to play the game with Anna while scheming with Diana and even Erica's brutal methods with the Fifth Column make more sense than Tyler's increased gullibility. Only Ryan's storyline with his daughter and Jack are beginning to be sore points of each episode. Looking forward to the last two.


- Joseph Morgan may become a regular in the upcoming third season of The Vampire Diaries.
- Ricky Gervais has recently complained about the celebrity cameos in The Office finale. Er, you were one of them, Ricky.
- Chris Vance has signed up for a series based on The Transporter movies.
- Supernatural has been picked up for a seventh season but Misha Collins won't be a regular.
- Peter MacDissi will be playing a vampire in an upcoming episode of True Blood.
- TNT have confirmed that a decision has not been made on the Dallas reboot just yet.

All The Muck That's Fit To Rake

And here's another TV jumble for you ....

Desperate Housewives: I have to admit that Season 7 has been something of an improvement recently, with nearly every plot minus anything Lynette/Tom (I'm fit to kill the both of them) actually being interesting. Bree and Gabby trying to maintain their friendship in spite of Carlos's wrath, Susan befriending Paul and Felicia subsequently poisoning, Karen getting a little more involved with Felicia and even Renee has been enjoyable. Here's hoping the last few episodes wrap up the season nicely.

Game Of Thrones: The show moves at a somewhat slow pace but it's actually becoming interesting viewing though. Ned is definitely a better character than I expected him to be and Tyrion is by far the best character of the bunch, though I'm liking Arya for smacking Cersei's bratty child down and John Snow is still a sympathetic character too. Sometimes the politics is a little hard to keep up with though but I'm still sticking with this show.

Glee: Really loved the last two episodes. Okay, so doing Born This Way was nowhere near as great as Rachel/Quinn's mashup of Unpretty/I Feel Pretty but you have to admire Santana's scheming. The girl managed to neutralise Karofsky in a way that no-one else managed to and Kurt returned to McKinley and while Sue might need to up her game beyond rumour spreading, I did enjoy Will and April taking on Fleetwood Mac's Dreams and the subplot about Sam being homeless was pretty effective as well. Looking forward to the final three.

V: I still have to catch up with Birth Pangs but the last two episodes were delightful. Finally, Erica and company make an aggressive effort to take out Anna. It's just a damn shame that it failed, Ryan betrayed them and Erica's ex-husband ended up being killed instead. On the flip side, it's been six episodes and Diana has yet to do anything really significant. Hopefully now that Lisa is aware of her grandmother's existence, this might finally change.

The Walking Dead: This show is definitely getting a lot better. Nice to have Rick reunited with his family and surprisingly decent of him to try and retrieve that racist hick with a small team as well. However, the women on this show need a more active role, other than dying (I liked Amy, shame to see her go) but overall, this show is definitely getting into it's groove though and I can't wait to see what the last two episodes have in store.

- Brothers And Sisters could be returning for a sixth season as little as 13 episodes. ABC won't reveal the show's fate until May 16th.
- All My Children actress Susan Lucci could be appearing in Desperate Housewives in the near future. There's been some contradicting reports on this one.
- Puck, Artie and Sam will be singing Rebecca Black's Friday in this week's episode of Glee. There's also rumours that Season 3 will feature a Cheryl Cole song. Ugh.
- Dexter and Deb's relationship will be further explored in the upcoming sixth season of Dexter. Will she finally realise her brother kills people? Dexter will also not be pitted against one big bad this season.
- Grey's Anatomy will see both Meredith and Derek facing tough times as they struggle with adoption.
- Chris Colfer has sold a pilot to the Disney Channel called The Little Leftover Witch, based on the Florence Laughlin books.

Neglecting The Neglected Here

Okay, because I'll be distracted by some bloke in a bow tie and his three mates this weekend, here's a look at some of the stuff I've watched over the last week ...

Desperate Housewives: I need to catch up with an episode later tonight but I did like the last episode that dealt with the consequences of Beth's death and actually humanised Paul for the first time this season. It's just too bad that the poor woman's death served an opportunity for Felicia to get free from jail but I did like that Paul allowed his wife to die, so that Susan could get a transplant, which means that plotline is now coming to an end. Other good plotlines included Andrew's alcoholism (even if came out of nowhere) and Bree trying to help him as well as Gabby learning a bit more about Renee's past. I have to admit that Renee is beginning to improve as a character too but the Lynette/Tom storyline bored me senseless yet again.

Game Of Thrones: You have to hand it to SkyAtlantic for being so quick on the ball with airing this series a day after HBO did. The first episode of this fantasy epic was alright, moved rather slowly in places and because I've never read the books, it did take a while to actually keep up with what was going on. The incestuous brother/sister duo harming Ned's son at the end of the episode was nasty as was the poor girl pawned off by her brother for an army. In terms of characters, the only ones I've liked so far as Ned, John Snow and Tyrien, the randy little imp. With a further nine episodes, I do think I'll be sticking with the show though.

Glee: When you do an episode about neglected artists, it's probably wise to actually do an episode about neglected artists. Which means doing songs by Jack Johnson, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin or current chart fave, Adele doesn't count as neglected. Tina seemed to be the only to actually get the memo and the poor girl didn't even get to sing. As episodes go, this one was more lightweight with Sue assembling the worst supervillains going, Sunshine reminding us how well she can sing, Mercedes fighting for attention in the dumbest way possible and Will/Holly coming to a predictable break up. On the plus side, there was the joy of Santana threatening Karofsky and Brittany's knowledge of feline diseases to keep the episode going.

V: Ah, now I am really enjoying this series. Can we please have a third season, ABC? This episode might not have been the best one going but it was decent enough. We had Erica and the gang finally meeting Eli and Anna at her scheming best as she paid a holy visit this episode. Also, I really want Erica's new partner not to be a threat but the show kind of eviscerated that one quickly. That woman doesn't have the greatest of luck, does she? The downside was Tyler trashing the church but I've given up on that character so his doltish behaviour no longer shocks me.
The Walking Dead: Solid second episode. One criticism is that the show tends to move at a snails pace in parts but two episodes in and I can definitely understand the hype for the series. This one was certainly interesting with the gang actually using an interesting method to try and blend in with the zombies, just too bad that it didn't last for too long. As for Rick, he's still a likeable enough leading man but how much longer will we have to wait before he's reunited with his family?

- Cassidy Freeman has admitted that her character Tess Mercer will have scenes with Lex Luthor in the series finale of Smallville.
- In news that won't shock but Games Of Thrones has been renewed for a second season after the success of the premiere episode.
- BBCAmerica will be co-producing the fourth season of Being Human with the BBC.
- Jim Carrey is the latest guest star for the finale for the US version of The Office. Others include Catherine Tate, Ray Romano, Will Arnett and James Spader.
- Former Heroes actor Masi Oka is writing and starring in a pilot for SyFy called The Correctors.
- Kevin Alejandro will appear in the season finale of Bones, playing the role of Hercules 'The Tornado' Maldanado.

To Skin Her Or Not To

And here's another TV jumble of the stuff I have been watching the last fortnight.

V: I don't know why but I am actually enjoying this series a lot. Yes, there have been better updates on classic sci-fi shows but for some reason, I think this one is really finding itself rather nicely. The last two episodes have certainly seen Anna at her gloriously manipulative best, all the while trying to prove Diana wrong at every turn and it's nice to see how desperate Lisa is becoming to not turn out like her mother. The fifth column stuff took a gory turn with Erica and company's torture of a Visitor agent (even I had a hard time watching those scenes) but overall, I am really hoping that this show actually pulls a miracle and bags a third year. I can wish, right?

Desperate Housewives: Oh, Beth Young - I started off not liking you and over the last few episodes, feeling quite bad for you. The housewives were bitches to you, your husband callously delighted in telling you he killed your aunt and your mother heartlessly disowned you. Beth's solution to all these woes - shoot herself in the hospital so that Susan can get a kidney. Pretty strange way of going about things but not for this show. And to be fair, this was also in an episode where Susan and Mike shagged in the woods, Gabby and Lee competed with their kids in a talent show, Lynette pulled a childish prank on Renee and Bree basically bullied everyone into getting tested for Susan. The funny part was that this was also the second episode of the season as well as being the show's 150th episode too. Imagine that!

The Walking Dead: It's weird how long it's actually taken me to watch this show. FXUK have aired it twice already and Channel 5 started it on Sunday, so I finally decided to catch up with it. Was it worth it? I guess so. There was a lot I liked here - the main cast are likeable, Andrew Lincoln is a good everyman hero type with Rick Grimes, the zombies look great and there's a genuine menace in the air as a result of their invasion, so overall, I think I could be hooked to this show. The next couple of episodes will be the decider for me.

Shameless US: I'm going to have to eat some humble pie here because for over the last few weeks, the US version of this popular Brit one has actually gotten better. The cast have certainly found their groove (okay, maybe not Steve/Jimmy but everyone else has) and the stories being retold are working very well too. Also, while the image of a punked out Karen shagging Frank and putting it online is one that I can easily do without (along with this version of Monica, whose as bad as her UK counterpart), I am rather pleased that this series has gotten a second run. I like Kash way more in this one than in the UK one and Kevin/Veronica are definitely the better pairing in this show too.

Being Human US: Not a bad slew of final episodes here and like Shameless US, this one has certainly come leaps and bounds as well. I'm glad that the series went and bumped off Marcus, Rebecca and Bishop like the UK one did but I am surprised that we're getting the werewolf baby plot with Josh/Nora so quickly, given that we have yet to see the fruits of both George and Nina's labours. As a gang though, Josh, Aidan, Sally and Nora are also coming along rather nicely too and I did like the subplots of Aidan's relationship with Selene as well.

Boardwalk Empire: This series really seemed to go by so quickly, didn't it? I watch pretty much most of the first season as I could and I definitely got why the show has become as acclaimed as it had been. The characters are certainly rich and multi-layered and if we ever needed a successor to The Sopranos, then this show certainly fills that void and the last scene with Nucky and Margaret was an interesting ending for the first year.

- Jonathan Groff is reprising his role as Jesse for three episodes in the last throes of the second season of Glee. Holly will also be singing Adele's Tuning Tables when the show returns next week.
- Expect another child added to the Walker clan as well as the return of Tyler in the last four episodes of Brothers And Sisters. Plus an incredibly terrible retcon concerning Sarah.
- Robert Sheehan will not be returning for the third season of Misfits. Instead a new character called Rudi will be introduced, though the role has yet to be cast.
- Desperate Housewives will be coming back for an eighth season, according to new reports and Vanessa Williams will also be sticking with the series.
- Kathy Griffin will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of Drop Dead Diva.
- An advertising company have had to apologise after placing ads for The Walking Dead next to a funeral parlour.

Shows I Need Watch More Of

I watch a lot of TV and I comment on what I love and what interests me and I also try to keep this as varied as humanly possible but it's not always going to be easy. Here are a couple of shows I intend to catch up on over the next few months ...

The Vampire Diaries: I loved the first season but I've only watched bits of the second season and now I've been a little behind so I'm going to catch up from the beginning. This show exceeded my expectations and I want to stick with it, especially given the developments that have been happening in the second year.

The Walking Dead: Apparently it's like True Blood with zombies and the bits I saw when FXUK were airing did impress me. Plus, I could catch up with six episodes, right? And we could do with a bit more zombies on TV as well.

Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena: Since the first season, the main actor has left sadly due to ill health and been replaced and Starz commissioned a six part prequel series that I think I will be paying some attention to. Hunky men and some good storytelling - yes please.

Downton Abbey: Never has there been a period drama so bloody well talked about in the last few months. With only seven episodes, I reckon I can catch up with this well before the summer and with a classy cast like Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith, this should make for an interesting viewing experience.

Boardwalk Empire: I actually watched the pilot episode and was impressed but I have a feeling that it's going to be like Mad Men, The Sopranos and The Wire for me in the sense that I'll love it but I won't be obsessed with it. Either way, it's been a huge hit for HBO and definitely one for Sky Atlantic as well.

Anything else big I'm missing?