Top Ten TV Shows of the Noughties - Brawnystyle! Part Two - May Contain Spoilers....

So I'm back, and this time it's with the second half of my Top Ten TV shows of the Noughties. If you didn't enjoy the last one, then you probably won't enjoy this! In order to mess it about a bit, before I start on with the top five proper, I'm going to throw in two more extras who don't qualify because they started before the year 2000.

Angel
Vampires, Demons and Street Gangs, Oh My!

What it is: Spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, featuring good vampire Angel as he moves to L.A. and forms what is basically a crime-fighting team. But it's not as cheesy as it sounds.

Why I like it: Well crafted storylines, no fear of developing complex serial plot arcs, and it's ability to change the team / motivations / entire scenarios often enough to keep it fresh, but not so often it's confusing. It's funny, it's tragic, it's incredibly well-written, and most of all, it retains all the good elements of Buffy without having to put up with the bad bits (such as, well, the actress playing the titular character herself. Seriously. I know a lot of people find her hot, but I just find Sarah Michelle Gellar to be irritating, whiny and only capable of acting with three facial expressions (Angry, Sad and Smiling (And even when she smiles she looks dead behind the eyes))!! Dawn (aka Michelle Trachtenburg) was less annoying! Rant Over.) And also, Angel's final episode? Superb.

What I don't like: It's got a few filler episodes, and ones that just don't grip me (I am particularly reminded of Waiting in the Wings from Season Three, I don't know why). And some of the character hook-ups are strange to say the least (Angel and Cordelia? Really?).

Favourite Character: Angel. Or Spike (who doesn't stay with the show until Season Five I grant you, but his Season One guest spot is hilarious)

Family Guy
Shut up Meg.

What it is: You all know what Family Guy is, right? Surreal, stupid, animated show about a Rhode Island family including the maniac baby and the talking dog?

Why I like it: It is frankly hilarious. Not always, I grant you, but they follow the same comedic principle that drove films like Airplane! (Throw enough jokes at the screen and a good number of them will stick) and it works for them. They can do a wide range of stories, and, judging from creator Seth MacFarlane's ridiculously profitable deal with the FOX network, they will continue to make episodes for many years.

What I don't like: As I said, there are occasional jokes that do nothing for me, and references to (usually U.S. based) pop culture/entertainment that I don't understand, but none of that spoils my enjoyment.

Favourite Character?: Brian. Cos who doesn't love an alcoholic talking dog who likes to sing?

And now - back to the countdown... I can feel the tension as you read this...

05 - Torchwood

We fight aliens. In Cardiff.

What it is: Dr Who spin-off that follows the adventures of Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper and the rest of the Torchwood team as they defend the earth from aliens all the while being based in Cardiff.

Why I like it: Because it's one half Dr Who, one half cheesy 90's Sci-Fi, and one half crazy ideas and action sequences (and yes, I know that adds up to one and a half, but I think that's a very suitable description for Torchwood!) It doesn't feel that it has to sit in one place, and consequentially it can do whatever kind of stories it wants, from the crazy and stupid (such as Cyberwoman in Series One, where you get the wonderful visual of a half converted cyberwoman. In metal stilettos), through horror film (Series One's Countrycide) through to a serious thriller (most of Series 3 - the wonderful Children of Earth). Oh, and they have a cool base, and a pterodactyl. What's not to like?

What I don't like: Well, it's hard to say really. The first series was a little... variable in quality, but I enjoyed most of it nonetheless. And since then it's only gone up, until the frankly fantastic Children of Earth. It's one of the few TV shows that I have absolutely no idea where it'll go next... and that's exciting!

Favourite Character?: Captain Jack Harkness.

04 - Chuck

If he has a computer in his head, does it need virus checking?

What it is: Chuck, a college drop-out who works at the local supermarket's technical support section, gets an e-mail from his old college room-mate, which, when opened, fills his brain with NSA secrets and turns him into a walking supercomputer called "The Intersect"

Why I like it: Action, Comedy and Adam Baldwin all combine to make this an absolutely hilarious series. Again, it's a series with a formula, but that isn't afraid to throw in true game-changing twists to shake up the status quo. It has story arcs and ongoing threads, but not to the extent of you having to have seen every previous episode, and it just WORKS. It's great. Plus the central three performances from Zachary Levi (Chuck), Adam Baldwin (Casey) and Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) are absolutely fabulous. And Scott Bakula plays Chuck's Dad!

What I don't like: There's not a lot really! It does, like most U.S. series' have a few filler episodes, but on the whole it's excellent.

Favourite Character: John Casey.

03 - Lost

Once upon a time, there was an island...

What is it: Seriously? You've never heard of Lost? OK, some people crash on a desert island, and weird stuff starts to happen...

Why I like it: It's an intricately plotted series, incorporating a large amount of science fiction and mythological elements, with (mostly) brilliant characters, and it's not afraid to pose question after question and to change the rules when required, but always sticking to it's own internal logic. Plus, it has BRILLIANT cliffhangers...

What don't I like: There were several filler / dull episodes in Seasons 2 and 3, but it's clawed it's way back from them and now it is essential viewing week in and week out. As I said above, most of the characters are brilliant, although Jack does spend far too much time moaning for my liking. Oh, and for some reason, no-one ever seems to tell anyone about things they've seen! And in some episodes, they do seem to be better at writing cliffhangers than the actual episode...

Favourite Character: Desmond Hume.

02 - House M.D.

The Doctor is in. But you might not want to see him.

What it is: Medical drama based around Dr Gregory House, a diagnostic specialist with a brilliant deductive mind and no interpersonal skills whatsoever.

Why I like it: What appears to be at first glance a bog-standard medical procedural show is actually a master-class in how to keep a long-running series interesting. The characters are fabulous, and sometimes the medical story takes precedent, and sometimes the character-driven stuff does instead. It's so well balanced, and not afraid of taking risks (for example, the end of Season Three / start of Season Four where Houses' fellows all quit/get fired, so he replaces them... and in a shocking moment for a television series, he KEEPS the new team, while the old team work in other parts of the hospital...) But all in all, I like it because of Hugh Laurie's performance. Very few actors could actively make you root for House while all the time doing things as mean as House does. I bow down to Mr Laurie.

What I don't like: It does occasionally segue into schmaltz, the way American dramas can do, and I'm a little worried that the current slight softening of House will end up making it just a standard show rather than the extra-special one it is at the moment. But that hasn't happened yet...

Favourite Character: Dr Gregory House. And Wilson obviously!

01 - Doctor Who

One Man, One Police Box, it's time to save the Universe!

What is it: It's Dr Who. The longest-running science fiction series ever. Watched by millions every episode (at the moment). What do you mean you still don't know what I'm talking about? It's the one with the police box and the guy with two hearts who can change his face... ringing any bells?

Why I like it: It's brilliant. And I am of the opinion that it has always been brilliant. Regardless of wobbly sets, unconvincing aliens and Colin Baker's costume, it has always had greatness within it. Sure it's been through phases, starting as a children's show, before graduating to Science Fiction, then going through periods of Horror and overt Comedy before returning to it's family show position it is in now. However, I suppose I ought to specify what bits of NuHu (i.e. Dr Who that re-launched in 2005) I like, being as that's the reason it's in this list. Well, I just think they nailed it. Both Doctors (Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant) played the part to perfection, and while they had some brilliant episodes and some average ones, some fabulous companions and some average, there's been nothing that I think has done any damage to the long existence of this character.

What I don't like: Again, it's had a couple of rubbish episodes (my own personal worst being Fear Her from Series 2) but other than that it's been brilliant. Except I don't really like Rose with the Tenth Doctor - just feels like there's no chemistry there and they tried to force it.

Favourite Character: The Doctor. Of course.

Well, good blog readers, that's it for my Top Ten TV shows of the Noughties. The Doctor won (of course he did, I would imagine that was a surprise to exactly NONE of you) but I just wanted to re-emphasise how much I've enjoyed it. Bring on Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (Spring 2010).

Next time on my blog..... well I don't know what will be on here next time, because I'm not psychic. So wait and see...

Television - A Poor Man's Gold

In case you didn't know, I like to watch quite a lot of TV, both home-grown (Dr Who, Torchwood and many many comedy programs) and imported (Lost, Chuck and a lot of other US episodic drama), and I watch some of them on actual TV, many more via DVD, iPlayer and some .... other internet methods.

And recently, with the start of the new US TV Season, I've been going back to old favourites, and I also thought I'd try a new series, Flash Forward, which is currently airing here on the cultural wilderness known as Five. (On reflection, I'm being too hard on the poor channel, it does occasionally show good things - the current exception to it's "if it's not a procedural or a film, it has to be a rubbish documentary" rule is Ross Noble's Australian Trip, which IS a documentary, but not one of their usual ones with titles such as "The Giraffe that taught English as a Second Language in an obscure Antarctican Village", or "My Mother, the Top Hat". Whoops, I appear to have digressed a little, back to the point)



So, having sat through a few Flash Forward episodes, I'm sure you are all wondering what I thought of it. Is it, as some say, the new Lost?

Well no. Because there's no island, polar bear, obscure scientific research organisation or (so far anyway) Jim from Neighbours. (But it probably won't be long, he does turn up in just about every U.S. Drama Series at some point). But it's also not that because, unlike Lost, which started with an event that was unexplained, and has at every turn thrown up new events to be explained, Flash Forward's event was documented. And that is (for now, anyway) the ballgame. The event happened, this is the aftermath.

Except.... it just doesn't grip me. I tried my best, I sat through all the standard character types, assuming that at least one of them would develop, or that the plot might take an interesting turn, but I ended up actively switching off mid-way through episode 3 (I think), because I had completely stopped paying attention. I have no desire to watch it, and unless anyone that I know tells me that it gets better (as many people did with Heroes when I originally gave up a similar number of episodes in), then I probably won't give it a second shot. Although I will want to know the explanation behind the event and, more importantly, if it gets re-comissioned for a second season, I will want to know how they're going to continue as they will have passed the flash forward date by that point...

So for the moment, that's off my schedule. Which leaves me down to just two US shows that I am regularly watching as soon as I can after they air (being as Lost and Chuck don't re-start till after Christmas), one of which is the aforementioned Heroes.



Heroes and I have a intricately weaved past. Every time I try to give up on it, something happens to pull me back in. In the first season I watched a few episodes, and gave up until, towards the end of the season, a friend advised me to watch, and I did, watching the vast majority of season one in one sitting. At which point I grew excited for the finale, and then disappointed when I actually saw it. Still, a show that good must get better in Season Two, right?

Wrong. Season Two was just messy, lazy, and to be honest, only had enough plot (yes, I said plot, people travelling to see someone else for 8 episodes is NOT plot!) for about 4 or 5 episodes, and introduced some of the most annoying characters. Ever.

So Season Three? Tim Kring, creator, stated they'd learnt from the mess of Season Two, and had a new plan...and it sort of worked. In bits. But we got ANOTHER dystopian future (the third in three seasons) that needed to be stopped, we got characters completely changing their minds on things just for the sake of the plot, we got convulted Time Travel plots, Ali Larter playing a different crazy blond woman, Peter and Sylar both becoming way too powerful.... And Nathan being an ass. As always.

And I'm now a few episodes into Season Four, and I still don't know whether I want to stick with it. Of course, I will, because I'm hooked. And I have to know what happens. And its almost as if the writers know that, and are just twisting us along. For every good moment (Peter/HRG team-ups and Matt/Sylar mind battles), we get multiple bad ones (Sylar with Amnesia, A random selection of carnival villains, ANOTHER potential love interest for Peter (who has a frankly useless power), HRG moping, Claire entering a bisexual relationship (and that wasn't done for ratings at all was it??) and Angela Petrelli - just generally being as useless as she has been for three years). But this is where Heroes has got me, and Flash Forward hasn't. I cared about them at the start. And I'll therefore take all the crap, just to see how it ends. But Flash Forward? I'll just read about what happened.

"But Brawny, what's the other show you are regularly watching?" I hear you all yell. (Well I don't. But I can imagine that might be what you're yelling. Or at least that you might be gently mumbling under your breath as you peruse this blog. Or maybe you don't care. Well stuff it. It's my blog, and I'll tell you). It is, of course, the wonder that is House M.D.


By all rights I shouldn't particularly like this show. I'm a big fan of high-concept TV, which it isn't. I'm a big fan of sci-fi, which it isn't. And I usually can't stand procedural shows. Which it is. But it's just so damn good. Hugh Laurie is outstanding, and flanked by a superb support cast. And the writing is good, and funny. And it breaks with procedure JUST enough that it feels different, and you do often feel that an episode could not follow the schedule of
Mysterious illness - Ideas - Patient gets worse - More Ideas - Patient nearly dies - House has random thought that he connects to Patient - Patient saved - Interspersed with a subplot either involving Cuddy or Wilson, depending on who is less involved in the actual medical case.
And this season particularly (Season 6) has been outstanding, causing genuine changes in the Status Quo, (and yes, I'm aware I've capitalised that as if it was the band, but I like it. And as I pointed out in an earlier set of brackets, it's my blog. So if you don't like it, tough!) and I have no knowledge whether they are permanent changes, but it's a show that's never been afraid to do that before, so who knows?

To conclude : Watch House - Avoid Flash Forward - Put up with Heroes.