OK, I knew that Boston Legal was good, but I had now idea how good. After I read the review of first season, I decided to find some time and see what Boston Legal has to offer. And without any reservation I will say that Boston Legal is one of the best series to air on any American TV in the past decade. Sharp writing, eccentricity, humor, great cast and message in every episode are something we really needed on TV in a single show.

I am not big fan of lawyer or cop dramas, and in the recent years nothing original is done with the genre. We have endless line of CSI shows that are getting boring, countless incarnations of Law and Order, and not a single original element in any of them. Sure, they were interesting in the beginning, but producers simply don’t know when to stop and to think of something fresh and interesting.

And than, there was Boston Legal. And while it’s lawyer centric, series introduced original and fresh perspective and characters that are unusual and eccentric. First season was really good, but for the most part they were still searching for the right formula, and some of the characters were not as good as they will became in second seasons. Often changed cast members in second season were not as pronounced as in first, and the story telling is better as well as the way the series is shot.

Story

In terms of the story, episodic nature is still in play, but this time we have some stories spanning over a number of episodes. It’s still fast paced with several cases presented in each episode, and with writing that is improved over the writing in the first season. But, it’s very hard to convey how good the humor is, how witty and smart. No matter how arrogant and self centered characters are, you will never see them only like that, you will see how deeply they are in fact good and how the arrogance is earned and even deserved.

This is series that is more funny than most of the sitcoms you have on air now, and it’s not something you would take too serious, it’s great fun with occasional moments of truth that will make you think.

Cast and characters

Season 2 again had significant changes in the cast. Rhona Mitra and Monica Potter have left the series, and that is certainly a lost for the show. But, replacements are also good, starting with Julie Bowen. She is great addition to the series even though her character was a bit undeveloped in the beginning. Mark Valley’s Brad is still equivalent of Ken doll, or as they refer to him as Buzz Lightyear. Even though his role is not that big, he is still good and interesting character. Candice Bergen came to the series in the late stages of first season, but her role is very important and she does a great job.

Boston Legal, Season 2

And now, we have Alan Shore and Danny Crane. Two absolutely amazing characters, both earning their actors many awards including Emmy. James Spader is perfect as Alan Shore, and the arrogance, self importance are showing not as central element of the characters. He is always fighting for his clients and he doesn’t loose. His closings are something you simply need to hear. Amazing. William Shatner as Danny Crane is excellent and much better than in first season, since writers have improved some of the elements of his character and made him not annoying anymore as he was at times in first season.

Production

One of the things I had problem with in the first season is that camera work was too choppy and at times distracting. But, that’s all fixed with second season and now it’s effectively used to tell the story. Music has not changed much, and it’s still good and very effective.

Conclusion

Excellent show, really excellent. I honestly haven’t felt good about watching something new as I did with Boston Legal. get the DVD’s or try to watch in in syndication and watch it. It’s really worth it. Great.

Series about lawyers. Again. My first thought was, how they still make such shows, it’s getting boring already. But, when I have seen Boston Legal, I have realized that I am wrong. It’s very different from any other series in the genre. Series creator David E. Kelly is one of the most productive and popular creators, who already made several very popular TV series like Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope and L.A. Law.

Production

David E. Kelly managed to make very interesting and never boring series with great actors that remain the strongest element of the series. Boston Legal is spin-of of another successful series The Practice, sharing some of the cast members and characters. Boston Legal premiered in 2004 on ABC with first season having 17 episodes. First season pulled of highest ratings from all 5 seasons, and managed to reach more than 12 million viewers on average.

Story and cast

It’s set in Boston, in the fictional company Crane, Poole & Schmidt. And in the main role as Denny Crane is William Shatner, best known as the legendary captain James T. Kirk from the Star Trek series and movies, and i was curious in seeing him in very different role as a lawyer. Crane is ‘the best lawyer’ in history (he says that about himself), and for 45 years he has never lost the case. Until…

Series has episodic structure with not many connections between episodes, each one about new case. We are following Danny, his moody behavior, always ready to argue and doesn’t care about insulting anyone including friends. It’s hard to describe exactly his performance, but you need to hear his introduction to understand exactly how great this character is. He is egoistic, selfish, but very capable to turn any situation to his advantage. And he doesn’t really care if his client is guilty or not, he always does his best to set them free.

Boston Legal, Season 1

Charming Candice Bergen is in the role of Shirley Schmidt, another partner in the firm, and she is the only one that really understands and know Crane and she is always ready to help him. And her looks maybe deceiving, because in the court she is real lioness working hard to help his client. She is also ruthless, and uncompromising when in the courtroom looking to discover their secrets.

The third main character is Alan Shore, played by James Spader. He is afraid of commitments, changing women daily, never opening to love, but real king of the courtroom, master at manipulating the jury using stories often unrelated to the trial.

Rest of the supporting cast is really good, and as said before, casting is done really good with Boston Legal, not a weak link among them.

Conclusion

What to say in the end. You are missing if you have not seen the Boston Legal. So, get the DVD sets and start watching, it’s really fun. And more reviews will be written soon. Stay tuned.

Swedish writer Henning Mankell created Kurt Wallander in 1991 in the novel Faceless Killer. And so far, 10 novels and a collection of stories are published. And, so far a series of films was made in Sweden, and also a TV series, also in Sweden. But, the stories and characters also made it’s way into the BBC and the latest incarnation of TV adaptations featuring great Kenneth Branagh in the role of Kurt Wallander.

Story

First season had 3 feature length episodes, that aired in 2008. Adapted novels were Sidetracked, Firewall and One Step Behind. I didn’t read any of the novels, but reportedly, BBC adaptation is very faithful to the original novels, maybe a little darker and moodier. As the scripts go, they are done really well, all episodes have good balance and pacing, slowly revealing the mystery and leading to solution.

Characters

Kurt Wallander is police inspector, working in Sweden, in city Ystad. Reportedly, Kenneth Branagh approached Henning Mankell personally, and wanted to play the role of Kurt from the start. And, I must say, that he is really great. Dark, troubled and disconnected from his family, devoted to work first. All episodes work really good in deep character development and showing what drives Kurt, his relations to family (ill father and daughter). Support cast is also good, starting with Jeany Spark in the role of Kurt daughter Linda and Sarah Smart as Anne-Britt Hoglund, Wallander partner in the Ystad police station.

Production

Branagh was not the first choice to play Kurt, and before him BBC considered David Morrissey, Clive Owen and Michael Gambon among the others. But, Branagh meet Mankell who was already involved with BBC, and the decision was made. Series is made in Sweden, in Ystad.

Kurt Wallander

Many aspects of the production were Anglicized so that terms are closer to English speaking audience. Also, interesting fact is that Branagh and directors didn’t watched Swedish movies and series, and they managed to offer a fresh view of the character and the series as a whole. First season had very high ratings, and was very well received from audience and critics, and has won many awards. In turn, many countries have purchased right to the series, expanding the success.

BBC plans to continue with similar treatment, trying to repeat the success of the Inspector Morse series, with feature length episodes

Conclusion

This is another great BBC series, and I recommend it to all who love police procedurals. Review of second season is coming soon, and also, I have managed to get my hands on the Swedish Wallander series from 2005–2006, and I will watch and review all 13 episodes of that series also.

Witchblade is comic book series from Top Cow Productions, made in 1995. So far they released over 130 comic books. And in 2000, some of the comic book creators collaborated in creating TV movie and later TV series based on the Witchblade. Witchblade is an ancient and mystic, and even sentient, self-aware armor that can be used by women only and that unleashes great power through the one that wields it.

I had a chance to glance over some of the comic books, but I didn’t read any of them. So, watching the TV movie and TV series was not about comparing the comic book to the series. Comic book fans were divided about the TV series, and so were the critics at the time.

TV movie is more of a double episode that serves as introduction to the story, and is focused on the our main character Sara Pezzini getting the Witchblade and learning how to use it, and how to control it’s power.

Witchblade

Characters

I must say from the start that I didn’t like Yancy Butler as Sara. I can’t tell exactly why, but her performance was just off most of the time, and I had trouble to like the series main character, and that’s always bad thing. Supporting cast is not bad in general, and I had no major problems with rest of them. But overall, there isn’t one character that stands out. I hope that TV series will improve on this.

Production

This TV movie look, well, like a TV movie. Special effects are plain bad, and I can’t get over that. Armor effects, dreams and everything else is looking awful, and I really hope that they managed to get more money for series season 1 and 2 and improve on bad visuals. Music is on the other hand really good, not much original, but they used great selection of rock songs.

Conclusion

I am not impress by the TV movie of Witchblade. I will be watching TV series in the next days, and hope that it gets better. Anyway, both movie and both seasons are available in a single DVD box set, so you may wanna give it a chance.

Each year there is a new TV series about lawyers and justice system in America. And those series are always welcomed and always have high ratings. These series are mostly dynamic, and in some cases very realistic with no taboo subjects in the choice of the cases for each episode. Shark is not so different from many other series with same subject, but mostly relies on the excellent cast as the main drive of the show.

Cast and main story

It would be easy to be critical of these series, and the stories in the context of the entire justice system of US, and the ways to find and explore holes in it. James Wood is in the role of the series main character Sebastian Stark who became a prosecutor after the career as the defense attorney. He also acts as a cop, forensic investigator or anything else needed because he only trusts himself and his team. He is charismatic, and charming, and egoistic and everything he needs to be. Jessica Devlin is his boss, and in this role of charming, intelligent and seductive prosecutor is Jeri Ryan, well known to TV and sci-fi fans everywhere (Seven of Nine of StarTrek Voyager). The rest of the cast is filled with younger actors in roles of the advocates in Starks team.

Shark Cast

Series is in a classic procedural form, with case per episode basis. You will be able to see a great deal of characters life outside of work, and that is something you don’t see very often in similar procedural shows with the main focus on the episode cases. Series is fast paced, driven by excellent chemistry between Ryan and Woods, uncompromising and willing to sacrifice some of the main characters for the sake of storytelling.

Production

Series is created Ian Biederman and produced by 20th Century Fox, even though it was made for CBS. And in the two seasons produced it was nominated for several awards including Emmy for music.

Conclusion

Series is full of emotions, and will make you cry as much as will make you laugh. I think that watching James Woods in this role is worth it, so grab it and watch it if you get the chance.

Season two is starting the new trend in the series, with much darker tone, while still funny. The themes and the story line will be more serious and Nancy will go deeper into the drug world underground while trying to expand, and getting mixed in the whole process starting with own weeds growing house. This season starts the decline in the series writing, and while this one is still good, things will go downhill fast with later seasons.

Story

Nancy has just found out that Peter is DEA agent, and that has a biggest impact on the story line this season. I had a lot of problems with everything around Peter, and most of it was very unrealistic. The whole DEA subplot was the weakest part of the season. Main story line is about Nancy trying to expand, and with help from Conrad setting the grow house. Conrad has developed a great strain of plant that will be their main product. But, their fast expansion will attract many new enemies trying to ruin their business and take the strain for themselves. Again, the whole insight on the gang activities while tries to be funny, fails to deliver, again showing them unrealistic. But, on the other hand, there are several minor subplots I liked, like the one revolving around Silas and his girlfriend Megan, or few plots with Andy. These smaller story lines are really great, and they are the main reason I liked the season overall.

Andy and Yael in rabbinical school

Cast

Andy and Silas are my favorite character this season. Andy trying to get out of the army by signing in the rabbinical school (beautiful Meital Dohan plays Yeal, the instructor in the school) and his many schemes are real fun to watch.

Conclusion

Good season for Weeds, not as good as first. Darker stories they wanted to tell are spoiled with some unrealistic characters. If you overlook that, the rest is really good.

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes spanned over several years and had several full feature length episodes. The same format is used with the third series that had 6 standard episodes and 3 full feature episodes. And this time around, stories are all from the book series under the same name. Unfortunately this series is not as good as the two previous were, and the quality will go down further with last one. Still there are some great stories here.

Stories adapted for this series were mostly good, but some were just too long, and full featured length was not the best solution for some of them.  First full featured The Master Blackmailer was excellent, and this story benefited by the extended format. This episode showed a different side to Holmes and a problem that he couldn’t solve using the conventional means. But, the other two full featured episodes The Last Vampyre and The Eligible Bachelor, were not that good, they were too long and and a bit boring. Vampyre screenplay is not written well, and is not even close to the written version (The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire). Bachelor is just boring, and too long and even the good screenplay couldn’t help that.

As for the standard episodes they were quite good. But there was one more reason for failing of full feature episodes (they were made in 1992 and 1993). Jeremy Brett was getting sicker again, and this time that’s visible on the screen. But even in episodes that were not so good, you can see the genius of his acting behind the sickness. In some of the episodes you will see more of Watson than Holmes, but Edward Hardwicke is up to the task proving that he is a good replacement for David Burke.

Even with the problems this series of Holmes adventures had, it’s still a worth watching. So, grab the box set and start watching. And I also recommend the written collection of stories, many of the great ones were not filmed.

First set of episodes title The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, was a great success, and the new set was now based on the second book of stories called The Return Of Sherlock Holmes. Series continues some time after the end of the first season and apparent death of Sherlock Holmes. Most of the things in this new series have stayed the same in terms of actors and production, with only one major new cast change of the role of Watson.

Starting with this season, Dr. Watson is played by Edward Hardwicke. Previous Watson, played by David Burke was also excellent, but I like Edward in the role more. Jeremy Brett is now even better. But, at one point his role was in question because he was faced with personal tragedy (death of his wife), and he even ended up in the psychiatric hospital for some time. But, once he got back, Holmes got even better. But, his state of mind will eventually get worse  over the next few years.

Holmes and Watson

Stories

Choice of stories for the Return, was better and includes some classics like The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Musgrave Ritual, Wisteria Lodge and more. This time, there are two full feature (90 minutes) episodes (The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles). Dramatization is better, and these is definitively the best collection of stories in the whole series.

Conclusion

Excellent set of episodes, not to be missed. Grab the box set and enjoy.

Weeds is not a classic comedy that is made only to make you laugh. This is mostly a dark comedy with excellent, funny and intelligent writing and truly great cast and very actual theme that is rarly presented for TV the way Weeds have done. Series is created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Lionsgate Television for Showtime network. Episodes are under half hour long, and this first season had total of 10 episodes.

Story

Suburban mother and recently widow Nancy started dealing marijuana after the death of the husband and loss of income, so that she can still have the same life style as before. She has two sons and in the first half of the season, her dead husbands brother also moves in. First season shows mostly basics of the weeds dealing business and occasional confrontations with other dealers, and first steps to set up wider network of buyers.

But this is only a part of the Weeds. Main story is actually on relations between members in the Botwin family faced with the tragic loss and the new life that Nancy has to lead to survive. Also, we will see how things work in a small suburban community, and that appearances can be deceiving. Story is really tought provoking with many flawed character constantly making bad descisions, and getting themselves deeper into problems.

Weeds: Celia and Nancy

Cast and characters

Mary-Louise Parker is amazing as Nancy Botwin, but that is not a big surprise, because she is great in any role. Her brother in law Andy is played by Justin Kirk and he did great job in portraying irresponsible and lazy character. Elizabeth Perkins is great as Celia Hodes, best friend of Nancy Botwin in the beginning of the series. Without going too much into details, it’s really hard to find someone who is not up to the task.

Conclusion

First season of Weeds is really great, and fun to watch. For the next 2 season series will mostly maintain the quality of this first season, but after that things will be changed for the worse. For now, grab DVD or Blu-Ray with the fisr season and spend few hours on this great show.

When it comes to police/crime genre, in the last decade there was many, many series created and they usually try to reinvent the wheel, adding a lot of high tech, special effects, shaky cameras and all kind of distractions. In the end the result is a bad show. But, Castle is different. This series rely on the cast and characters, great partner chemistry, humor and very good stories. And the good news is that it will be back very soon.

Cast and characters

Nathan Fillion plays Richard Castle writer of bestselling series of books and after experiencing writers blockade, he finds new inspiration after helping police to solve murders set to copy the murders from his books. He works with detective Kate Beckett (played by beautiful Stana Katic), and at first she is not very thrilled working with him, but his friends are mayor, chief of police and many more influential people, and she is kind a stuck with him. But over time their relations evolve, and they are really great partners.

Nathan & Stana

Nathan is really funny (as usual) and his characters manages to get himself in all sorts of troubles. He is very comfortable in the roel ‚as much as he was in the Firefly, and that really adds to the quality of the series. Rest of the cast has also done a great job, and are great support to the Nathan/Stana duo.

Writing

Stories are not very complicated, mostly regular but interesting cases. Castle is working on a new novel and he is using real police work as an inspiration for the story and characters.

Castle cast

Character development is very good, and you get to know many things about characters past, and you really can understand them much better.

Conclusion

ABC did a great job for the show, and fortunately they decided to give the Castle a chance with the second season. Season will start on 21. september and there is a potential for a full 22 episodes season, but that’s not confirmed yet. I recommend that you get yourself a DVD box set and watch the series, it’s really good fun.

Deadwood is another HBO series based on the real events and real people. This time, the period is the end of the 19th century and location is camp at first, later town of Deadwood in South Dakota. This is a real town, and was one of the many in the period settled by prospectors having gold claims in the the region. Story of Deadwood series spans over 3 seasons and tells the story of events from 1876 and 1877.

Cast and characters

There are too many characters. And because of that first half of the season was complicated to follow. But once we get the view into more important characters, things got better toward the end of first season. Most of the characters are based on real people and real events from the period. Seth Bullock is a famous lawman of the period, and overall great character played by Timothy Olyphant. Some parts of his life are changed to better serve the story, and the same goes for most of the characters based on the real persons. Overall, cast performances are very good and even excellent even that many of the character lacked the real depth and had very little of the back stories. Some of the characters were just over the top for my taste, like the Calamity Jane played by Robin Weigert. She did a great job, but the Jane was written that way, and from what I have seen that’s very different from actual Jane.

Writing

Deadwood

There are several concepts that series is build around and that includes lack of law in Deadwood and the ways things worked. Deadwood was a camp, that at one point needed to be recognized as a proper town involving politics and that was also corrupted and twisted with self interests, bribes and killings. In my opinion they managed to show the real face of the West in that time, but again, first half of the season was confusing and without real focus. But, last 4–5 episodes really caught my attention.

Production

Series is done great, and that’s exactly what you expect from HBO. They really know how to make period series. Deadwood is very detailed, dirty and it looks really realistic and gives you the sense of how the Wild West looked like. I didn’t liked the music, because reminded me too much of the music written for Rome and Carnivale  that I already watched.

Conclusion

This is only the first season, and I am watching second one, and it’s definitively improving. So, I recommend that you try it, knowing that series will change and be better.

First season of Life on Mars ended with Tyler managed to sort out some of the issues that he thinks are holding him back in 1973. He remembers more of his childhood, but no matter what he does, he is still stuck in the past. But now the new development troubles Sam even more with someone messing with his life support back in 2006, and he tries to find out ho was doing that and how to stop him before he kills him.

Cast

As the changes from the first season go, you will see improvements to some of the characters and expanded roles. This is especially the case for the role of Annie. I really liked the Liz White as Annie and I was glad that she got more screen time and more important role to play.

Writing

The stories are really great and more diverse then in the first season. I guess that writers felt free to explore the world of the seventies. Main, Tyler, storyline has got a new twist with someone trying to kill him. He seams more comfortable with his state and him being in the past and that will culminate in the series finale when he will be given the choice to make.

Conclusion

What more to say, than that this is the great series and that you definitively need to see it. I will soon post review of the US remake of the Life on Mars, and you can see how different (or similar) two series are, and why making remakes is always a bad idea.

Well, Dexter is something else. It’s very refreshing to see the series like this, unlike anything you had chance to see on television. Dexter is based on the Jeff Lindsay first novel in the book series about Dexter called Darkly Dreaming Dexter. First season is the only season based on the book and later seasons have their own original (but not that great) storyline. Dexter is a dark tale about the serial killer that also narrates the story.

Characters

This is a story about  Dexter Morgan, forensic investigator specialized in blood spatter and in the same time he is a serial killer. But, he kills only bad guys that police couldn’t get to or courts set free. Dexter is played by Michael C. Hall, and he does a truly wonderful job with the role. As we get to explore Dexter’s dark side we will learn about his past, his strange nature that made him into the cold blooded and calculated killer that plans and carefully executed all the killings.

Dexter and company

Dexter has a girlfriend Rita (played by Julie Benz), but they relationship is sort of a cover up for Dexter so that he appears normal. He also has a half-sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), she is a detective working in the same department with Dexter. Dexter often remembers the past and the things his adopted father was teaching him (his father Harry is played by James Remar). Cast is completed by the police detectives and colleagues.

Story

During the first season we will learn a lot about Dexter’s past, his reasons and motivations for the killing, the twisted sense of justice that drives him. In the center of the story is the pursuit for the so called The Ice Track serial killer.

Production

Showtime did an excellent job with the series, but I didn’t liked some of the visuals used for the Ice Track killer murders because they didn’t looked right to me, but they were very effective nonetheless. Series has interesting soundtrack that really outlines the dark tone of the show.

Conclusion

This is not to be missed. First season is really excellent. I didn’t liked season 2 that much, and I am yet to see season 3, but this first one is great. So, grab DVD or Blu-Ray and start watching.

Life On Mars run for two seasons, and the story was wrapped up and there was no need to make any more episodes. But the basic idea is just too good to let it go, and so the new series is created. But, instead of Sam Tyler we have a new main character and time traveler of sorts. And the new time traveling destination is now 1981. No matter how similar idea is, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes are very different series.

To be faithful to the original, title for the series is again from a David Bowie song, and the single from 1980 and the album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

Cast and characters

New time traveler is Alex Drake. She is a police psychologist, and she got shot in 2008. She wakes up in 1981 as police detective transfered into the department of Gene Hunt. Hunt and several other detectives from Life on Mars are still here and they are all played by the same actors. In the role of Alex is wonderful Keeley Hawes.

Story

All episodes have a great stories, and they are as good as the stories for the Life on Mars. Different time caused the stories to shift to different subjects like gay rights, nuclear energy, police brutality and human rights. But, as the main storyline goes, Alex knows what happen to Sam Tyler, and she knows that he thinks that he traveled to 1973. In the first episode we will get an explanation what happen to Sam in both time-lines. And Alex thinks that everything that is happening is created by her subconscious and that she is only seconds from death in 2008. She also hallucinates, and she can see her daughter from 2008, and she is followed by the clown, like the one David Bowie is on the cover of the Ashes to Ashes single.

Alex and Gene

Production

Once again, BBC has done great job on recreating the period series is set into. Gene has a new car, this time it’s red Audi Quatro. Also, music is changed and now it’s less hard rock and more pop and disco that were very popular then. I am not the fan of that music, but the selection of songs is still great and it helps a lot in getting that early eighties feel to the series.

Conclusion

Ashes to Ashes has completed 2 season so far, and in the january of 2010, a third and final season will be aired. Until than, I recommend you catch up with both Life on Mars and first two season of Ashes to Ashes. I will publish reviews of second seasons for both show in the next week.

Every once in a while, a new series is created that will use the classic idea of a police drama and add something new and interesting. And the end result in this case was a series called simply Life. It’s a real pity that series lasted only two seasons, but at least they managed to wrap the main storyline. There was a rumor about some other television will pick up the series after cancellation by NBC, but so far that is not happening.

Main story

Charlie Crews is a police detective wrongfully accused for triple murder, and sentenced to prison for life. After 12 years in maximum security jail he was released and returns to his police job, and gets 50 million dollars settlement. Damian Lewis is excellent in the role of Charlie, and he has proven again that he is excellent actor. His partner on the force is young detective Dani Reese, played by wonderful Sarah Shahi. And while they are working on cases, he also investigates people that set him up in the first place. That main storyline is very complicated, with many people implicated in the cover up, and it will take a lot of time before Charlie discovers the truth.

Characters

During the first season we get to know the way Charlie is changed by the prison. Most of that is wrapped by the short narrated Zen-Buddhism quotes. Characters are great, and not only Charlie and Dani. Charlie’s lawyer, his accountant and jail buddy, Charlie’s former partner. Some parts of every episode are filmed as a documentary and his friends, his ex wife and few other people are talking about Charlie. Humor is also a big part of the show, and Charlie is often puzzled by the new technology invented while he was in jail.

Life season 1 cast

Production

Show is basically the police drama, and for the most part looks like any other similar shows. But, it’s not very important because the story and characters is what the series about. Music is excellent, and mixed with narrations are very important for driving the story.

Conclusion

I really recommend Life. Catch the reruns or get the DVD’s, because it’s really worth watching. Season 2 review coming soon.

Life on Mars is another on a long list of great series made by BBC. Both critics and viewers reacted extremely positive, and Life on Mars is, and remained one of the best rated series on BBC with  5 to 7 millions viewers during it’s two seasons run. Interesting fact is that series is conceived decade before it’s actually made and rejected by the BBC because of the program politics at the time. Thankfully, show was made after all.

Series creators came up with original concept for a police drama that is set in 1973, and follows a detective Sam Tyler who gets hit by the car in 2006, and wakes up in 33 years in the past. He is a detective in the past time-line, and is transfered to Manchester police department. And he is trying to understand what’s happening to him, is he really back in time, or he is dreaming and hallucinating in his own time after the accident. Series got the name after the song by David Bowie that is also used in the series.

Casting and characters

One of the strongest element in the series is the cast, and each actor is casted spot on and they managed to create great characters. John Simm is in the main role of Sam Tyler, and with Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt made on of the greatest police detectives tandems I have seen in a long time.

Writing

Sam Tyler is in center of the story and through out the series he is trying to get home. From time to time he is experiencing strange phenomena causing him to hear voices and see things not really there and he is even more confused what the truth really is. Each episode is a separate case they investigate, and some of them remind Sam about his own time and work. Humor is very important and it’s written as very smart and often subtle.

Production & Music

Life On Mars

Again, as in best tradition of the British productions, they managed to make excellent recreation of the period and to make a choice of excellent soundtrack  with music from the seventies, and as I mention again use of Bowie’s Life Of Mars as a main theme, often used in the moments something new about Sam’s state of mind is revealed.

Conclusion

This is excellent show, and you will want to use it over and over again. My recommendation is to get DVD or BluRay and enjoy it in full, because for US market all episodes are cut to fit into the program scheme.

New Amsterdam had a real potential, but due to low number of viewers, FOX did what they do best, canceled the show. This show didn’t even had a chance to prove it’s strength, because nowadays everything revolves around high ratings and New Amsterdam really needed much more time for the complex main storyline that spans across centuries. These 8 episodes barely scratch the surface of the long life main character had.

The show

John Amsterdam (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) died over 400 years ago, and was brought back to life by the tribe of Indians that lived in the territories where New York lies today. And he will stay immortal until he finds the one, the love of his life, no matter how long he has to wait. Nikolaj did really great job with his character, and this role proved to me that he will be great in the new HBO show Game Of Thrones. He is a detective, and his partner is played by Zuleikha Robinson. As usual, she proves once again that she is a excellent actress.

Each episode is about solving one crime, and as the case progresses, John remembers his past. These flashbacks are not chronological, but each of the episodes shows one more side to his complex character, his past, things he have gone through.

Production

New Amsterdam, partners

Special and visual effects are excellent, and they include many sequences of transformation of New York though last few hundred years. Music is also excellent and has a lot of influences from different times and also includes a lot of jazz. But, all that also made this show expensive, and that is one of the reasons for the show cancellation.

Conclusion

This is an excellent show, and if you get the chance to see it in the reruns, you definitly need to do that. DVD will be released soon (announced for the december).

Everyone has heard of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, created by the  sir Arthur Connan Doyle over a century ago. And since then, many movies were made. And in 1984 Granada TV Production started working on the TV series that premiered on ITV same year. Over the next 10 years they made 51 episode divided into several seasons and television movies. And in episodes, in role of iconic Sherlock Holmes was Jeremy Brett.

Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes are made of 13 episodes broad-casted in 1984 and 1985. Those episodes feature very good selection of Sherlock Holmes stories including legendary Scandal in Bohemia, Dancing Men, Red-Headed League, Resident Patient and Speckled band. Adaptations are done very well, and they keep along the original stories. All stories are featured in the the first published collection of stories under the same name.

Sherlock & Watson

Jeremy Brett managed to create unique interpretation of legendary detective, and for me his performance will always be ultimate Holmes. I have read all the Holmes stories, and for the most part Brett is exactly what I have imagined written Holmes to be. Many actors played Holmes over the last hundred years, but none of the come close to Brett. Dr. John Watson is played by David Burke and he also did a great job. They make an excellent tandem.

Production

British TV production has again proven up to the task of making a period adaption that looks amazing. Recreation of London from the turn of the century is very believable. Costumes are very detailed, and the same goes for the transportation, trains, boats and everything else. And you can see how the life looked liked back then when things were not moving fast as they are moving now, some other much different ime.

Conclusion

Really excellent show, and worth a watch. In case you want to read about Holmes also, you can grab a book with all stories A.C. Doyle has written and see if the Brett is as good Sherlock as the one in the book.

A decade ago, CSI: Las Vegas has aired for the first time it was very unique kind of show bringing forensic sciences to mainstreams TV. And, due to enormous success, many more similar shows were created over the years. One of them is Bones. Bones is based on the works and novels of real forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, and is set in fictional Jeffersonian Institute in Washington DC. So, why this show is different from CSI?

As I said, this show is based on the series of novels and works of Kathy Reichs. Main focus, as the name suggests is forensic anthropology based on the analysis of bones and reconstruction from bones. And Bones is the nickname of the show lead Dr. Temperance Brennan, played by Emily Deschanel. Her partner, FBI agent Seeley Booth is played by David Boreanaz famous for his roles in the Buffy and Angel. They are working with specialized team to solve crimes using nothing bot bones.

Cast and characters

Chemistry between Emily and David is great, and that is the main driving power of this show. Their dialogs are never boring mostly because of the fact that Bones is not familiar with the most of the pop culture, and all the references and remarks from Booth she doesn’t get. Character development is good with a lot of back stories, but at the times that doesn’t feel complete, and things are known to be left unexplained. I would like to point out the appearance of Billy Gibbons from Texas hard rock band ZZ Top who play father to Angela, computer expert and artist played by Michaela Conlin.

Season 1 cast

Writing

Well, this is where this show fails. Most of the episodes we have seen before on the C.S.I. or Crossing Jordan, but this time we have a chance to see it from the bones perspective. Still, a feeling of deja vu is all over. There are bunch of original cases, and I believe that some cross overs are necessary, but still this is generally not a good thing. Also, the level of tech-talk is just too much for me, and at times you will be left out not understanding what the hell they are talking about.

Production and visuals

In some areas they went too far, like with creating holographic super computer system that can be used to easily recreate the human face and features based only on bones. While that is possible, here is that far from reality, but still necessary to move a story along quickly without days or months of waiting for computers to finish they job. Level of details when the remains are used is simply amazing, and that is one of the highlights of the show. Music is for my taste too generic and another not soo good thing about Bones.

Conclusion

All in all, Bones is a good show, and this first season is part of finding the direction show wants to take, and will take in the next few seasons. You need to watch it for Bones and Booth if for nothing else.