Shows

Should really make an effort to blog more. You know what it is? A combination of things - writing fan-fiction (now I’m over my emo-moment and realise I can’t live without it), in need of decent speech-to-text software for Mac OSX that doesn’t cos me a few limbs (tell me what you use, people, please!), time, real life, and oh yeah, watching too much TV.

This used to be too much for me - watching TV, that is. I mean, I’m a person who does things ont small side. Small circle of friends. Small flat. Spartan possessions, iMac without tower, iPhone cos it’s pretty much my life in a smallish brick, yadda yadda yadda. Basically, I have a narrowed view, cos let’s face it, I have the attention span of a gnat and find it hard to remember what happened in last week’s show and keep all the characters in my immediate memory.

But it’s time to ‘fess up to certain shows as I like to watch fert entertainment purposes. Of course, we all know I’m a bit of a ‘Doctor bloody Who’ obsessive, that goes without saying. And ‘Supernatural’, of course. And ‘Firefly’. And ‘The X-Files’. And ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’. And ‘Red Dwarf’. And a million other shows I’ve forgotten to add - those we know. And I have mentioned past transgressions, for which I’ve been severely lambasted: ‘Moonlighting’ and ‘Remington Steele’. So you can see a clear pattern here: mysteries, gumshoes, whodunnits, sci-fi, creature-features. So the next few shows should come as no surprise.

Except I was. I mean, there I am, taking a relaxed trawl through the homepage of the mighty Bruce Campbell for news of when we can expect DVDs of the film ‘My Name Is Bruce’ when I find he’s now working on a series for a network in America - namely, ‘Burn Notice’. Couldn’t let that go, right? Had to find out what that was all about. So I got hold of season one and went through it like Dean Winchester with a fresh bottle of JD. Loved it. Jeffery Donovan (younger brother Kyle from ‘The Pretender’, anyone?) was ace, and I love his deadpan, instructional delivery (“When you’re being watched what you need is contrast, a background that will make the surveillance stand out. An FBI field office is full of guys in their foyers: at most South Beach business hotels, it would be tough to tell which middle-aged white guy is watching you. So you stay in the place where everyone is a jello-shot away from alcohol poisoning. If you see someone who can walk a straight line, that’s the Fed.”). He’s fun when he gets into it, he can do a decent piss-take at a learnt cockney’d to hell accent, and he’s refreshing eye candy (arms, people, arms). Bruce Campbell is amazing, as always - and in season two he’s definitely getting some good lines. A winner. Every week it’s like ‘The A-Team’ or even a bit of ‘MacGyver’ - except it’s about spies and gits who want you dead. And the yoghurt is a nice touch. Once you get to know Michael Western, you too take umbrage when someone steals his fridge or shoots at him without having the decency to pretend to sell him summat first.

So yeah, lovin’ ‘Burn Notice’ long time. Just getting into season two just now, but I know it’s going to be a keeper.

Another series that should come as no surprise (given that I like ‘Moonlighting’ and ‘Supernatural’) is ‘Psych’. Shawn is the excellent fun, Gus is just the fabbest comic foil ever. The rather high coincidence rate of ‘Supernatural’ guest stars turning up in the show freaks me out, naturally, but the show always keeps me laughing every single episode. There’s a dozen great lines in every one, and to be honest, I’m trying my hardest to get through season two so I can catch up with season three - ready for the new season four coming this summer. See? It’s hard being a TV watcher.

Which brings me to the last one: a show that is by no means least, a show that has had me grinning and rewinding nearly as much as a ‘Supernatural’ episode: ‘Castle’. It stars personal favourite Nathan Fillion as a pulp fiction detective writer. We get the bird from ‘24’ (must have been season one if I saw it) as a copper who’s actually pretty good, but there’s a weirdo case involving re-enactments of murders from a series of books… Bring in Richard Castle (Fillion) as a consultant, and the show just whips you along. It’s ace. It’s funny. It’s what Nathan Fillion fans have been waiting for - an actual lead in a show that is not pigeon-holed as sci-fi or ignored as ‘weird and Whendonesque’ (but actually? I love ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ so much I bought it from iTunes). It just makes me giggle - and the supporting cast is great. The daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn) reminds me so much of Elizabeth Harnois (Piper from ‘Ten Inch Hero’) except it’s not her, obviously. But she’s ace - and so is her onscreen mother, Susan Sullivan. It just fits together well - and we get a juicy murder or two every week. How fab is that?

So that’s basically my excuse for not having blogged. Let me off, will you? If you do, I promise not to go about how I want a pineapple stress toy, or more hours in the day to arse about on Twitter.

Oh, and I did get my DVD of ‘My Name Is Bruce’. But that’s another story.

Peach and lube, everyone.

Tags:
Burn Notice ~ Bruce Campbell ~ Psych ~ Castle ~ Nathan Fillion