DVD Review - Super

Super is a darkly comic and lo-fi take on the superhero business from the director of Slither. Starring Rainn Wilson and featuring an all star cast of fantastic character actors, it’s a tale of one man’s crusade against local criminals, “Shut up, crime!” Here’s the official trailer:

This is a great film but could be a difficult watch for those who don’t like their humour dripping in the blackest of black tar. There are elements of Kick-Ass, The Punisher, and quirky indie comedy in the script and they largely to combine a funny, tragic, beautiful mess of a film. The cast is brilliant and everyone in it gives a great performance, Ellen Page in particular is fantastic as the manically unstable ‘Boltie’. Nathan Fillion again displays his supreme comedic skills and shows in a brief few scenes why he should really be in bigger movies. Rainn Wilson manages to be vulnerable yet chilling as a one man wrench-wielding machine, a sympathetic yet ultimately terrifying portrayal of a man who has gone over the edge into a violence filled world of his own creation. The Crimson Bolt is basically nothing more than a maniac armed with a wrench, poor physical fitness, and a shoddy homemade costume.

Kick-Ass is the obvious comparison and this manages to be a less childish and fantastical take on vigilantism. The protagonist doesn’t suddenly become a real superhero with gadgets and wise cracking allies (one of Kick-Ass’s major crimes, other than being shit, was that it didn’t stick to its original ‘realism’ concept). Super is a film that will not please everyone, it is not a  mainstream superhero tale. It’s a dark, comedic, realistic take on vigilantism that also manages to have a heart at its dark centre. The violence can be swift, brutal, and shocking but there’s a strong moral core to the tale, even if it is delivered via a wrench to the face.

Retrotastic - Nathan Barley

It's well weapon.

Nathan Barley was ahead of its time. It came too soon and faded away in a puff of obscurity and audience apathy. I think it's one of the greatest sitcoms to have spawned during the 2000s. Let me break down and pitch this 2005 sitcom to you, the savvy 2011 audience.

Nathan Barley was written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris. Yes, the UK’s favourite critic and curmudgeon, Charlie Brooker. A man who in 2005 was lesser known than he is now but no less grumpy and brilliant. And Chris Morris. THE Chris Morris of The Day Today, Brass Eye, and Jam. A comedy genius and demi-god.

So we have two fantastic writers, PROVEN writers, men capable of making us laugh our lungs out – what’s the concept?

Nathan Barley is based on an item from Brooker’s TV listing spoof site, TV Go Home. Nathan Barley was listed as a reality show that followed the eponymous Barley around and broadcast his weekly activities for our derision. It’s all available here (it contains lots of sweary words so watch out): http://thegestalt.org/simon/cunt/

Nathan Barley the TV show is a sitcom that drops the reality show idea and instead follows the life of perpetually skint journalist, Dan Ashcroft (played by a pre-Mighty Boosh famous Julian Barrett). Dan hates his life, hates his social circle, and spends his days writing articles he doesn’t want to write for an editor who clearly delights in torturing him (played with wonderful, sneering, malevolence by Charlie Condou). Then one day Dan encounters Nathan Barley, a self-facilitating media node, or idiot as Dan repeatedly calls him. Nathan runs his own website, www.trashbat.co.ck, a place where he uploads prank videos, urban art (inspired by Banksy but with none of the intelligence), and terrible flash animations. Nathan is a loud, swaggering, insecure, cock, desperate to impress anyone and everyone with his 'art'.

The problem with this concept is that in 2005 YouTube didn’t exist as we know it today. YouTube didn’t exist. Twitter didn’t exist. Facebook was in its infancy. Bloody hell. Can you imagine the primitive hell hole we all must have lived in then? So the idea of someone being ‘internet famous’ and having a social profile online was an alien concept for the majority of the primitive, stupid, 2005 audience with their books and outdoor living. I bet some of them still used dial up connections. Or MySpace. Poor bastards. The world of Nathan Barley must have come across as some bizarre fantasy world, alienating and frightening. Of course now everyone is plastering their stuff all over every social media site in the universe, and we have all seen a YouTube video and are no longer confused by moving images on a website. Anyone who lives in a metropolitan city has seen the idiots in action, in their natural environment. And while print media and the lifestyle magazines lampooned in the show are slowly dying, they're now all over the internet so now there's no real reason to feel alienated or not really understand who the show is mocking.

Another problem for new viewers is that there are no sympathetic characters. Dan Ashcroft is the closest to a viewpoint character but he’s a hard man to like. He’s miserable and hypocritical with a superiority complex. Nathan Barley is an obnoxious, nonsense spouting, idiot. Claire Ashcroft is less dislikeable than her brother Dan but it becomes clear that her moral principles can be easily compromised in her struggle to publish her work. But then, isn’t that realistic? Isn’t it good that a somewhat larger than life, exaggerated sitcom has characters with actual personality traits and recognisable behaviour? Other supporting characters in the show are broad comedy figures but then most of them are supposed to be ‘idiots’ (apart from Jonatton Yeah? the editor of SugarApe magazine and someone who seems to be above, but also revels in, the idiot culture).

To offset the strange characters and setup, the cast is uniformly excellent. Here’s a list of some of the very talented people in the show:

Nicholas Burns (in the comedy performance of his life as Nathan Barley)
Claire Keelan
Julian Barrett
Noel Fielding
Richard Ayoade
Charlie Condou
Nina Sosanya
The Actor Kevin Eldon
Rhys Thomas
Benedict Cumberbatch

All very capable, funny, comedy actors. Hell, one of them became Sherlock Holmes.

2005's problems aside, Nathan Barley is very, very funny. From the ludicrous fashions that the idiots wear to the unique dialogue spouted by Nathan Barley and his new media peers, it's all weapons grade silliness. Dan's repeated attempts at escaping the idiot lifestyle are hilarious and excruciating at the same time and become ever more desperate. I would guess that Dan is an uncomfortably familiar figure to a lot of frustrated misanthropes.

I would recommend you buy it on DVD because the menu is amazing in its own right. Each menu page has a sketch or scene of its own running in the background, specially made for the DVD menu. Here’s a compilation of the various menu bits that’s really fantastically well cut together:



The entire series is available on YouTube if you’d like to dash off and check it out. Episode one of Nathan Barley is here.

Here’s an interview with Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker, looking back on Nathan Barley. Check it out, it's well fucking futile.

Also, here's Jonatton Yeah? being a tosser (I love it):



Keep it foolish.

Retrotatstic TV - Maid Marian & Her Merry Men

I was ill a couple of months ago and I did what everyone does when they’re dying from a cold, I fired up a DVD and enjoyed some televisual comfort food. I decided to finally crack open my Maid Marian and Her Merry Men Series One DVD and wrap myself in a big nostalgia blanket.

So is Maid Marian still as funny as the eleven year old me thought?

Surprisingly yes. This is essentially because it’s Blackadder for kids. Maid Marian’s first series was written by Tony Robinson and was clearly an attempt at harnessing the Blackadder style for a younger audience. Whereas Blackadder took a cynical look at historical figures, Maid Marian made an attempt to make every historical figure into a very silly person indeed.

The Sheriff (Tony Robinson) is the closest Blackadder-like figure in the show as he is a sneering, cynical, power grabbing man surrounded by idiots. Unfortunately for the Sheriff he’s also an idiot too as he becomes convinced that Robin Hood is a vicious, mean outlaw, despite all evidence to the contrary. Robin, is a metrosexual tailor and a coward. He’s a terrible leader, he’s an awful shot with a bow, and he’s also really, really polite which isn’t much use when you’re supposed to be a fearsome criminal. Maid Marian is the most intelligent character in the show (although given the people she recruits for her gang, she’s not that clever), she’s moralistic, passionate, caring, and also slightly resentful of Robin as he gets all the credit and adulation from the peasants for the Merry Men’s successful deeds.

My two favourite characters though are Gary and Graeme, two guards who bumble around Nottingham having conversations about hot water bottles and football. They’re supposed to be vicious killers in the employ of King John but they’re not very good at their job and usually spend their time annoying the Sheriff by being charmingly stupid. To extend the Blackadder comparison – they’re a pair of Baldricks with swords.

The performances are the right side of pantomime and everyone pretty much talks LIKE THIS THROUGHOUT EACH EPISODE. But then, that's what almost everyone did in Blackadder too. What's great about THE SHOUTING and overacting is that it's not there to compensate for a poor script or to wring a laugh out of poor jokes, it genuinely aids the show's charming atmosphere. There's a musical number in each episode, some are great, some of them not so, but they're always performed with gusto by the cast and usually get by on goofy charm.

My favourite episode of series one (viewed through the eyes of an adult) is Robin The Incredible Chicken which is a parody of the Robin Hood archery contest legend. It's very silly indeed (almost Pythonesque) and contains a tribute to Bullseye too. Sadly, no one has uploaded any clips from this episode to YouTube. Frowny face.

Maid Marian is proof positive that you don't need to dumb down a concept because it's a kid's show. I could blather on but look, here's a clip from a later series of the show (the fantastic Crystal Maze parody) and then there'll be a link to the DVD (although for some reason series one is £12.99 and the rest of the series DVDs are £4.99 each). If you don't find something in the show that makes you smile then I'm sorry but I'm going to have to declare you an enemy of mankind.



Series One DVD

Or the more cost effective Complete Series Set

DVD Review - No Heroics

No Heroics is a comedy show that focuses on superheroes during their off hours. The characters spend most of their time in The Fortress, a bar where ‘capes’ can drink and relax, so long as they don’t use their powers or wear their costumes. The show follows the lives of four capes; The Hotness (an incompetent wannabe hero with heat powers), Electroclash (foul mouthed controller of electrical machinery), Timebomb (a recently retired cape with the ability to see 60 seconds into the future), and She Force (the naïve, third strongest woman in the world).

The DVD collects the first series of six episodes that were originally broadcast on ITV2 (and then eventually on ITV1 in the graveyard slot). The show’s comedy is mainly based around pub based banter with the occasional foray into capes’ everyday activities. There is an impressive amount of world building for a half hour comedy show; the sets are covered in subtle geek references (especially within the Fortress), there are several cape magazines that are much like real world celeb magazines like Heat, and mentions of capes taking part in the Falklands and Gulf War.

The depiction of superheroes in this show is that of cynical celebrities, desperate to raise their public profile via great heroic acts so that they can appear on shows like Power Hour. This struggle for celebrity is represented by Excelsor and The Hotness. Excelsor is Britain ’s most powerful cape and hero to millions but he is also an unpleasant bully when he’s in The Fortress. He constantly torments The Hotness for his inferior powers and desperate attempts at becoming famous. The Hotness is on the bottom rung of the cape ladder, despite being trained at an academy for heroes and having a useful power. The Hotness’s problem is that he’s a fame hungry, self absorbed idiot which always causes him to make poor decisions and usually ends in public humiliation.

Timebomb represents the other side of celebrity, the burned out, indie-cred cape with his own cult following. He’s a gay, Spanish, alcoholic, drug user who has sex with strangers when he’s bored. Timebomb isn’t a publicly famous hero but is well known in The Fortress and amongst villain circles as a very dangerous cape due to his skills in torture. Timebomb is really a parody of the late 80s, early 90s ‘dark’ superhero movement. The funny thing about Timebomb is that he’s comfortable in his own skin and, despite his terrible deeds, is a good friend. I always enjoyed Timebomb’s subplots the most, the episode where he has to protect a rich Saudi prince from assassination is my favourite.

Electroclash is another side of celebrity – the famous offspring. She’s the daughter of the “Richard and Judy of the capeworld” and resents them for setting a standard that she feels she can’t live up to. Electroclash stumbles through life acting like a delinquent rule breaker and using her power to control electrical machinery for her own petty gain (like getting free cigarettes from the pub machine or cash from an ATM). It’s clear that she’s a cape only because that’s what her parents did. Electroclash is the source of a lot of the cruder dialogue in the show but it seems to be appropriate to her character. She claims not to care about her celebrity profile but still gets upset when she gets a bad review.

She Force isn’t famous (although she’s the third strongest woman in the world so I guess there’s a certain amount of celebrity with that) and she tries to keep her cape life and normal life separate. She’s unique in being the only hero in No Heroics who attempts to maintain a secret identity (although she doesn’t wear a mask with her costume!) which everyone else declares to be pointless. In fact, the irony is that The Hotness desperately wants to be famous but wears a mask on his costume, hmmm… there’s probably something smart to be said here, so just imagine I did. Anyway She Force is insecure, desperate for a relationship (going so far as to entertain the idea of dating a cape hater) and sickeningly positive at all times. She Force used to team up with Electroclash to form the duo known as Lady Trouble, but it didn’t last long.

The show is very British, it’s cynical, grounded in realism, but sharp. This show is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre and worth a peek even if you’re not. I’m surprised that ITV commissioned this show as it’s a concept that doesn’t usually translate well on British TV (have you seen “My Hero”?) but I’m glad they did. Although the humour isn't laugh out loud hilarious, there are plenty of chuckles and smiles to be had provided you're not easily offended by bad language or crude references.

There’s no news as to whether there’ll be another series of No Heroics but there’s an American version in the works which I hope will do well, although I can’t help feeling that without the misanthropic streak that the British version has, it’ll become Friends in capes.

DVD Extras – I was shocked to discover this but the DVD contains no commentary whatsoever. What it does contain is a behind the scenes film, a bloopers reel, a geek guide to the show which points out all the background jokes and references in The Fortress, and the perennial but pointless extra – still photos. The behind the scenes film is entertaining enough but there are very few interviews with the actors involved which is a shame. The geek tour is fun and writer Drew Pearce is an amiable host and the level of detail put into the set design is impressive. The extras are a fun addition but my no means groundbreaking or overly insightful.


Arbitrary Rating out of Ten: 7

DVD Review - Dead Set

Dead Set was a show created by Charlie Brooker for E4 and first broadcast over the week leading up to Halloween in 2008. The show was recently repeated on Channel 4 to coincide with the latest edition of Celebrity Big Brother so I thought now would be a good time to take another look at it and review the DVD.

Charlie Brooker is famous for being a curmudgeonly TV critic. Charlie has a show called ‘Screenwipe’ on BBC Four which is used as a platform for his insults and the occasional praise of current television. He also uses the show to educate his audience about elements of television, such as reality TV show construction, advertising, and moral outrages/TV crusades. Anyway, this review isn’t about Screenwipe (which is an excellent show) but rather this is to give you some background on the writer of Dead Set and the expectations of certain members of the audience. You see, Charlie is a TV critic and now he’s become an object of criticism by writing a TV show. Many of his fans expected Dead Set to be satirical and rich with Charlie’s misanthropic views on life and his gift for foul language. Did they get what they wanted? Well, yes and no.

Dead Set focuses on the cast and crew of a production of Big Brother and their efforts to survive a zombie apocalypse. The opening episode opens innocently enough with the production crew focusing on broadcasting a live eviction night episode of the show and the Big Brother housemates argue about eggs. The first episode introduces the threat of the zombies gradually, first via background hints and images, then suggestions of zombie attacks, before finally unleashing them on the protagonists. The Big Brother house soon becomes the only safe haven in the country…

What’s surprising to me as a viewer is that Brooker managed to create a show that wasn’t an outright snark fest or unsubtle satire. Brooker created a zombie film first and foremost. This is clearly the work of a fan of the zombie genre, from the dialogue tributes to other films (“She’s got a face like a Manchester morgue.”) to the familiar construction of the narrative. The zombie story itself is not groundbreaking, there are no twists on the zombie menace, no new theories on their origins or scenes that you haven’t really seen in other zombie films (well, apart from someone creating zombie ‘food’ or ‘chum’). What’s impressive about Dead Set is that Brooker has managed to create a drama that is compelling despite containing largely unlikeable but naturalistic characters. Jamie is the protagonist but although she’s bright and capable, she’s cheating on her devoted boyfriend Riq. The housemates conform to certain Big Brother contestant stereotypes, The Chav Couple, The Flamboyant Gay One, The Streetwise Kid, The Nice But Dim One, The Old Intellectual, and The Gobby One. The stereotypes are convenient narrative shorthand to create a believable Big Brother cast and an appropriately hostile atmosphere. Charlie saves his best dialogue for Patrick the producer (played with gusto by an excellent Andy Nyman) who spends his time insulting everyone within earshot and defecating into a bin. Patrick is an exaggerated character and he’s used to deliver Brooker’s patented tirades and insults to great effect, his rant about reality TV contestants in the penultimate episode is pure Brooker.

The show is shot well; director Yann Demange does a fantastic job of making the best of limited resources. The director has washed out the colour of the film giving it a naturalistic but bleak look and there’s frequent use of hand cameras during action sequences but without the frequent and choppy editing in modern cinema. It’s clear that some scenes suffered due to lack of budget, a car breaks down spontaneously rather than suffering a crash, and there’s a dialogue reference to the engine being covered in skin and blood despite no outward damage to the vehicle. The location shooting is obviously limited to the Big Brother studios and immediate surroundings and there are no ‘money’ shots of deserted city streets or scenes of zombies roaming vast urban areas. Despite these limitations the apocalypse is conveyed through background images, static TV screens and deserted outdoor locations.

The DVD contains a lot of short extras that don’t outstay their welcome. There are interviews with cast, crew, Big Brother host Davina, and Brooker himself. The interviews are all entertaining and never dull, Davina relishes her part in the show and Brooker explains his inspirations for the show. There’s a tour of the Big Brother house that was specially created for the show and there are some fun sequences involving the special effects guys and their gore effects. There are also a few deleted scenes that were originally cut for time.

I have one gripe about the DVD though, the episodes aren’t cut together as one long movie. Although Dead Set was transmitted as 5 separate episodes, it was later broadcast as an omnibus edition. It’s tiring to have to skip the ‘Previously on Dead Set’ recaps before each episode when you’ve selected ‘Play All’. As there are no end credits until the final episode, surely they could’ve cut the end title and the recaps from each episode for the ‘Play All’ feature? Still, it’s a petty gripe but one that annoyed me.

In conclusion, Dead Set is a fine addition to the zombie genre. It’s an entertaining series that captures the dark humour and spirit of Romero whilst using the modern, running zombies of 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake.

Full Season Review - Chuck

Plot: An everyday geek has important government secrets accidentally implanted in his head. He now holds down two jobs, his first as a member of the Buymore superstore’s Nerd Herd AND his second job - secret government agent.

Cast: For a full list go here.

Pros:

Jayne from Firefly (Adam Baldwin) is in it. He plays Casey, a semi-psychotic NSA agent who happens to behave a lot like a certain mercenary from a cancelled sci-fi show. He manages to growl his way through each scene and his exchanges with Chuck are often hilarious.

There are pretty girls in this show. And they spend a lot of time wearing various ‘outfits’. And as for the ladies in the audience there’s Captain Awesome. Or Chuck himself if you like the awkward but good looking nerd type.

The principal characters are all likeable. Over the course of the first season you get to know the characters well, this is mainly due to the majority of the scenes in Chuck being social situations rather than action set pieces. The show resembles a sitcom in the way it promotes characterization over action movie humour. This show has a big adorable heart at its centre as Chuck and his friends are all good people.

Masuka from Dexter (CS Lee) is in it as Chuck’s Buymore store nemesis. CS Lee is great in this show and he gives a different version of his obnoxious-guy performance in Dexter.

There are overarching storylines and past histories that actually pay off. The season starts with some mysteries (e.g. Why was Chuck kicked out of Stamford ?) but you’re supplied with answers by the end of it. I like prolonged stories and mysteries but I also want answers within the same season, I don’t think any good can come of holding out on answers for years.

Chuck is an everyman nerd and doesn’t become a kick ass secret agent over the course of a training montage. Seeds are planted so that maybe one day Chuck will be able to participate in a mission but for now he’s the comedy relief who occasionally comes up good against all the odds (usually due to some pop culture knowledge he possesses).

Cons:

The concept is pretty daft. A nerd becomes a human hard drive for government secrets and they don’t lock him up. Okay, this is explained by having two agents guard Chuck at all times but really he should be locked up. It also means that secret agents and terrorists are constantly traveling through Chuck’s store, which is also a bit silly.

The action sequences are a bit tame at times. There are a few car chases and crashes and a bit of TV style gunplay here and there but I don’t think the budget can stretch to Hollywood levels of spectacle. That said, the stunt men earn their pay in this show as people generally fight and throw themselves around a lot.

Tony Todd is in it but he doesn’t do a whole lot. Give him something to do!

Overall:

Chuck is a very pleasant way of wasting 45 minutes. You won’t learn anything from it (apart from the occasional bit of nerd talk) and it won’t challenge you as a viewer. But you will make new friends as you come to know the characters and get cosy with them. This show is an entertaining diversion and you could do a lot worse than spend time at the Buymore with the Nerd Herd.

Arbitrary Score Out of Ten: 7.5/10

Full Season Review - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season One

T:TSCC is a show about a girl and her pony, together they experience the trials and tribulations of life, show jumping and personal grooming.

Sorry, that’s the blurb for the show I’m developing. Rest assured, I Love Horses: The Series will be an event you won’t want to miss.

Anyway, lame comedy introductions aside, T:TSCC is a show spun out of the famous Terminator movie franchise. Forming a TV series out of a successful movie franchise is rarely successfully achieved (Blade as a recent example of failure), will T:TSCC succeed? Beware of mild spoilers ahead!

The TV series is a continuation of the storyline and events in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and the principal characters of Sarah Connor and John Connor have been recast. Here’s the roll call:

The Cast:

The Set Up:

The Connors are still on the run from the authorities in 1999 after the events of T2: Judgement Day. Sarah has met someone and is seemingly prepared to settle down but she decides to go on the run again when her partner proposes marriage. Sarah is reported missing by her jilted lover and soon the FBI and another Terminator are tracking her and John. Luckily for John, his future adult self has once again sent back a protector from the future, a new model of Terminator named Cameron. To escape pursuit and to prevent the rise of Skynet, the Connors and Cameron travel forward to 2008 in the hopes of destroying Skynet before it is born.

Pros:

Killer robots. The series doesn’t shy away from using Terminators and even gives us an episode set in the future to really up the robot quotient. One of my fears was that the show would either shy away from expensive Terminator effects or become Terminator-of-the-week. I think they managed to find a happy medium by having Terminators sent back in time on different missions. In fact there is only one Terminator in the present whose mission is to kill John Connor (that we know of). Other Terminators that appear have been sent to achieve different objectives. This means the show is more about foiling Skynet’s long term plans rather than the Connors constantly running from a never ending stream of temporal assassins.

Terminator mythology is embraced by the series. We get to see earlier models of Terminator and some backstory to the time machine used by Skynet and the humans. The inclusion of Derek Reese may seem to be a little lazy at first (a brother of a popular character that happens to share the same traits) but it aids the story by adding friction to the group dynamic and provides someone who can motivate the other characters by reminding them of what they’re fighting against.

Cromartie is a chilling foe, he has some fantastically horrific scenes in the show and plays a more intelligent and resourceful Terminator than the traditional ‘Arnie’ or T-800 version. Cromartie has a scene in the final episode which serves as a reminder that he is a ruthless and unstoppable killing machine, which is all the more effective as it doesn’t explicity show the violence, merely the aftermath.

The supporting characters are interesting. I was dubious about having old love interest Charley Dixon become involved in Sarah’s world but it’s clear that his presence is necessary to provide an everyman reaction to events. He’s also useful to the team rather than the annoying hanger-on he could've become. Agent Ellison is also very entertaining as the laid back Fox Mulder-like agent that wants to believe.

Cons:

Sarah Connor’s voiceover at the beginning and conclusion of each episode. Urgh. It’s attempting to recreate the moody voiceovers that Linda Hamilton delivered in the first two movies but it gets really annoying in the TV series. It’s far too melodramatic, pretentious, and pretty dull. Imagine Mohinder’s voiceovers from Heroes delivered in an over earnest fashion (swap the superpowers for killer robots from the future as the topic of voiceover though).

John Connor’s school days. I really don't understand what the show is aiming for in these scenes. The high school stuff is never going to match up to the killer robot side of the show. There are some strange subplots that are seemingly abandoned after an episode or two but I think this is probably due to the strike rather than poor plotting. But why should we care about John’s attempts to fit in at school when the bigger threat to his life is some guy made of metal shooting him with an Uzi 9mm? Also, what’s the deal with Cameron? In the pilot episode she acted like a convincingly normal, human girl but after that episode she acts like a killer robot visiting school for the first time. Did she accidentally delete her ‘pass for a slightly weird teenager’ program?

The first season is very short (only nine episodes) and seemed to get cut short just as it had built momentum. Still, the final episode did leave the audience with a couple of great cliffhanger moments.

Bubbles from The Wire appears in a couple of episodes and is completely wasted. Seriously, the dude can act, give him something to do.

The series also wastes Danny from The Shield as a minor character.

Overall:

I enjoyed T:TSCC, it’s not the best piece of genre television out there but it tries to be slightly intelligent and it manages to indulge its fanbase without being obsessively geeky with it. Whilst Heroes and Lost may get all the press and acclaim, T:TSCC could fit in nicely as the reliable show that will hopefully maintain a steady level of quality rather than wildly fluctuating from one season to the next. The first season pretty much serves as an extended pilot, the second season will show us what the series will become. If the series maintains and improves on its promising start, it could become a hit.

Arbitrary Rating Out of Ten: 7.5