The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory
Genre: Sit-Com
Theme: Nerds, Physicists, Hot girl next door

TBBT come from the creative minds of Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady

I've only watched a few episodes of Chuck Lorre's Two and a Half Men and a few episodes of Bill Prady's Gilmore Girls, and neither from their beginning. I know both shows have huge fan bases, but I've never got around to catch any of them. Lorre and Prady co-operated earlier at Dharma & Greg back in the days, but when I learned these guys started working together again to create The Big Bang Theory about a group of geeky physicists and the hot girl moving in next door, I didn't think more of it at the time. Of course chatter about its qualities soon enough reached me, and I had to check it out. The rest is sit-com history, or something along those lines.

Just like when they were kids

A cast without made stars

I haven't seen more than a couple of various episodes of 8 Simple Rules either, and that's all I'd seen from Kaley Cuoco (Penny) until TBBT. Not enough to be impressed by her acting or taken by her beauty. I'd seen Simon Helberg (Howard) in his supporting role at Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but his role was far from big enough to really establish him in my memory (despite some quite memorable impressions). I also barely knew Johnny Galecki (Leonard) from his guest appearances at My Boys the year before. I'd never seen Kunal Nayyar (Raj) at all prior to TBBT and most noteworthy is the fact I hadn't seen Jim Parsons (Sheldon) before either.

The on-screen story of The Big Bang Theory

Anyway. TBBT is the story of the two highly intelligent physicists, Sheldon and Leonard, sharing an apartment and additionally two other smart friends, Howard and Raj, all working at Caltech, an university in Pasadena (Los Angeles County). When the transvestite across the hall moves out, a beautiful blond girl moves in there and that's it for life as they knew it. They just don't know it yet.

Sheldon is by far the smartest of the four friends, but he's also the one with least social skills. The competition being Raj, whom can't speak to beautiful women, it tells a lot. Leonard on the other hand wants to branch out, and discovering Penny moving in he sees it as an opportunity. Penny being a social outgoing girl and working as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory while dreaming of becoming an actress, isn't exactly book smart. A lunch invitation and a following favor is the beginning of their interactions, and the show is based on those interactions between such different people and how they influence each other, how they change and how they learn from each others strengths and skills.

It's also about a lot of geek allusions to everything from comic book superheroes to Star Trek characters and scientists and physicists who has changed the way we look at everything around. Add video games, lack of exercise, lab work and every other nerdy aspect to the mix, and you've got the world Penny is colliding with.

One of the lovable Penny traits

Kaley Cuoco is Penny

One of the reasons Kaley Cuoco's Penny works so well as the hot girl next door is seen left. She doesn't always look like a million bucks on the show, but rather quite often when one of our nerds knocks at her door; she really looks like she's coming straight from bed with her tired look, comfy clothes and fluffy hair. If she'd always looked like the Maxim-babe Kaley also can appear as, the show would miss out on an entire layer. Penny is in my opinion the second most important character of the show, but without her to attract our physicists out of their usual orbits in the first place there wouldn't been as much of a story.

Sheldon, mind blowing in so many ways...

The comedic genius

The most important character is Sheldon Cooper, and in my opinion Jim Parson should have won Emmy for that character a long time ago. His comedic talent and timing is so incredible, his acting stands lonely at the top of sit-com standards and he's of course also got the most interesting character to work with. Sheldon doesn't get social norms, he doesn't care for wasting energy learning something as trivial as driving, but he's got few problems spending time learning Finnish or Mandarin in-between other research, his strict routines and hobbies. Without the polarized mind and knowledge of Sheldon Cooper, TBBT wouldn't have been half the show it' today.

The minority support


Raj and Howard have important balancing roles, but there is no doubt they are the supporting characters of the group. Howard is the Jewish engineer still living home and the only one of the boys without a doctorate, but he holds a master's degree in Engineering from MIT. He's the kind of guy hitting at every girl, but with less success than most who rarely hits on girls at all. Raj is from New Delhi, India, and is extremely shy when it comes to women. He can't speak to them at all, a pathology much to Penny's amusement when she first get to know them.

Coffee and make-up does wonders

Why TBBT is my favorite running show?

TBBT is funny because of the allusions towards geeky pop culture, because of the science discussions even if you don't understand more than bits and pieces of them, because of how little Penny understands of both the work and hobbies of the boys and because of all those small quirky habits of Sheldon combined with his lack of social skills and lacking knowledge of everything about human interaction. It's funny because of a well written script with simple one-liners as well as layered jokes within one of the many fields one or more of our friends are familiar with. And TBBT got a big heart, always remembering to develop their characters according to their interactions with each other as well as foreign elements.

I'm far from convinced smart is the new sexy, but The Big Bang Theory is no doubt my favorite TV-show of those currently airing and Jim Parson's Sheldon Cooper is by far my favorite character of those hanging around TV-sets these days.

This review is based on the first three seasons and it's content and rating is subject to change based on new season(s), a possible drop in quality, replaced actors/actress, writer(s) leaving or running out of ideas, or just about anything else likely to influence the quality of a beloved TV-show.

Favorite Shows

Alphabetically sorted within each category and rating

Currently airing shows

 Fringe

The Big Bang Theory

Flashpoint 

Spooks

Bones

Castle (2009)

Chuck

Entourage

NCIS
Nikita

One Tree Hill

Ended shows

Coupling (UK)
 Dark Angel

Dawson's Creek
Seinfeld

The West Wing

The Wire

Veronica Mars

Alias

Friday Night Lights
Friends

Monk

NewsRadio

NYPD Blue

Sports Night

Third Watch

only a selected few shows mentioned here...

...of all those worthy of this rating...

...in this specific category

 Beverly Hills, 90210

Corner Gas

Party of Five

The King of Queens

The O.C.

Two Guys and a Girl

The Sopranos

Without a Trace

Prematurely canceled shows

Shows with a maximum of one season aired...

...and plenty of potential wasted by networks

Cupid (1998)
 Firefly

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Kidnapped
Moonlight
The Good Guys

Fastlane

TV-miniseries

Band of Brothers

Lonesome Dove
Pride and Prejudice

John Adams

Hyped shows

You'll not find rated here...yet

Either I just haven't gotten around to them...

...or I haven't rated them because I watched them too long ago...

...or they could be backed up on my own death row for shows queue

Arrested Development

Battlestar Galactica

Boston Common

Breaking Bad

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Carnivale

Deadwood

Dexter

Everwood

Freaks and Geeks

Gilmore Girls

House

Lost

Mad Men

Six Feet Under

Square Pegs

The Office

True Blood

Twin Peaks

 Young Americans

This page will be continuously updated

as there will be show-links added to my reviews of each show as they come along,

new shows will be added as they...

...are discovered /...begin airing /...are canned too early,

some shows might drop so much in quality as seasons pass by
they disappear from my lists,

some shows improve or disappear after they're revisited

and so on and so forth.

Summer 2010 shows pt. II

Covert Affairs Action-suspense-drama
Seen 3 episodes

It's impossible to start watching Covert Affairs without thinking about Alias. Back in those days Jennifer Garner became the most interesting spy on TV, but she didn't really have that much competition. These days we've seen the entire Alias from the mind of J.J. Abrams, we've seen eight seasons of high quality MI5 spy-action from Britain in Spooks and maybe most of all we've seen the quirky Chuck trying to figure out a spy-life among his nerd-friends at Buy More. It's not easy coming up with a new spy show, while being both high-tech enough to capture the society of this time meanwhile interesting enough on the human level.

Piper Perabo (once upon accelerated into fame thanks to the 2000 hit Coyote Ugly and recently reviewed on the sister-blog in a supporting role in The Prestige from 2006) plays our new spy-heroine, Annie Walker. Her partner, who mostly helps her in a James Bond's Q-kind of way thanks to his blindness, is Auggie Anderson played by Christopher Gorman (Jake 2.0). Annie recruited into CIA isn't just thanks to her skills, as there's some unknown to her connections through her ex-boyfriend. Pulling the strings are the married CIA-mid level bosses Arthur and Joan Campbell, played by Peter Gallagher (The O.C.) and Kari Matchett.

Covert Affairs have several problems. First out it feels like amateur hour, whether you compare it to Alias, Spooks or even Chuck. Secondly the need of pairing a rookie agent with a blind man is, not surprisingly, too much to take serious. Thirdly the family life of Annie reflecting on her cases, is just annoying and without a larger purpose. The same can easily be said about the marriage problems of the Campbells. There are several other issues I could address, but I think I've made my point.

They can still manage to take it to a more professional level in just a few episodes, excusing them self by pointing towards their lead being a rookie agent, polish their out-of-spy angles to more entertaining TV and maybe manage their arch story with Annie's ex-boyfriend in a better way. then they might be onto something, as it's still a spy action-adventure-show and who doesn't love them? On the other hand they might have lost all their viewers before then, or even worse... got canned. Barely a three thus far. It doesn't promise well for the Covert Affairs of Annie Walker.

Rizzoli & Isles Cop-drama-action-suspense
Seen 3 episodes

I don't mind female detectives, I don't mind female examiners and I don't mind a feminine look at the entire way cop-shows are handled, but I do mind cliches, weak dialogues and ordinary cases flushed with less than ordinary drama.

Angie Harmon (Law & Order) is Jane Rizzoli, the tough-as-nail, non-feminine detective more likely to play with guns than dress up. Sarah Alexander (NCIS, Dawson's Creek) is Maura Isles, the know-it-all medical examiner with a new date every night, nice dresses even at murder-sites and the polar opposite of her friend.

Together they are... Well. They are quite boring to be honest, but I guess the creators aimed for being a good team. At least according to the poster. I suggest you rather spend your time on something else, but that's me.

The Glades Cop-drama-action-suspense
Seen the pilot

A Chicago cop is thrown out of the force thanks to a shooting and a wrongful accusation of having an affair with his captain's wife. He joins the state police in a small town in Florida, and once again we have a show about a big city cop adjusting to life in a small society.

Matt Passmore have got the role as our new hero, and unfamiliar to Passmore from earlier I'm anything but impressed. He managed to crush any interest I might have had in this show, in just an ordinary short pilot. While the intro-story was average at best, the attitude, lacking charisma and overall acting ability of the leading man made this an easy show to cut from my schedule.

Huge Drama-teen-family
Seen the pilot

Huge takes us with Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray) as Willamina, to a wight-loss camp at Wellness Canyon. This TV-show is based on the novel with the same title, by Sasha Paley. As usual with ABC Family shows, it's all about the good in people. No surprise when it takes place on such a spirit-camp, and body-image issues are a major part of this show while pitching the usual about inner qualities.

I'm probably not as shallow as Hal, and I really don't need the usual supermodel-wannabee-actresses to enjoy a show. I do however need an interesting storyline, and from watching the pilot it all feels like I could predict the entire season. I know overweight is a major problem in USA, and I bet they are desperate to get a show able to gain focus towards it, preach against bullying and land a couple of new big role models in the wake of Precious.

Nikki Blonsky was both acting well and she was fun in Hairspray, and she also made a good impression during the pilot here. The script she got delivered didn't hold the same standard, and it all became to boring and predictable for me.

Summer 2010 shows pt. I

There's a major change around for my TV-blog. Unlike movies, rating TV-shows fairly on a 1-10 scale is almost impossible. Doing it on a scale including half-scores even more so, so as a result I'm taking the TV-ratings back to the stone-age and the good old dice rating.

So. Getting the most important announcement out of the way, it's time to talk about TV-shows again. In between everything else going on, I've had the time to revisit some dear old on-screen friends. All of them top-rated shows, all of them well worth spending time with more than once and only one of them still running. I'll get back to that in a while (another post or two), as I'd like to start my rating with some early impressions of the first bunch of this summer's new scheduled shows. Here's my take on four of the new shows I've checked out thus far from the rainy summer of 2010:

The Good Guys Action-comedy
Seen all 9 episodes

From Matt Nix, the creator of Burn Notice, comes this new comedy-action cop show. Much like his first creation, also The Good Guys aims for an audience looking to enjoy some easy entertainment without too many twists and turns making it impossible to catch an episode whenever you feel like it.

We follow the washed-out, drinking, womanizing and one-case-hero cop Dan Stark (Bradley Whitford(Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The West Wing)), who's only reason not being off the force is the fact his one heroic story involved saving the Governor's son from kidnapping thirty years ago. While still on the force, he's on the other hand as low on the totem-pole as a detective can get. He and his rookie partner Jack Bailey (Colin Hanks(Roswell)), are assigned routine small crime cases like bicycle theft and the likes. Bailey follows the rules and knows the book, but doesn't really come across as a promising cop to those higher ranked.

Together this duo usually takes their pity-cases to another level through luck, hard work or coincidences. All according to whom you ask maybe. Along with Whitford and Hanks, Jenny Wade plays an important support role as Bailey's ex-girlfriend as well as being the Assistant District Attorney and the second important supporting role is Diana Maria-Riva as the duo's Lieutenant.

Anyway. The Good Guys pays homage to old cop-shows from way back, when big cars, attitude and kick-ass detectives was the norm on TV. I really enjoy the balance between old-school cops and the humor worked in mostly through the Dan Stark character of the extremely talented Bradley Whitford (no secret my appreciation is much thanks to his major roles on the two before mentioned Aaron Sorkin quality shows). Stark telling Bailey stories of how he and his old partner Frank used to do things back in the days, is usually worth the episodes alone. You got to enjoy the humor to really appreciate this show, and it might sometimes take a while to really get into the mood. I enjoyed it from the beginning, but not until the 6th or 7th episode did it really explode into a top notch show for me as my viewing experience was lifted by the knowledge from past episodes.

The Good Guys got early renewals for a second season, and then they decided to stop airing it on the summer schedule after nine episodes; rather accelerate it into their fall schedule. As a result their summer is now over, but more from The Good Guys in late September.

Rookie Blue Cop-drama
Seen 2 episodes

Rookie Blue is another cop show, molded in the same way as parts of good old Third Watch and much like last years new show Southland. Like Flashpoint and The Bridge in later years, also Rookie Blue comes out of Canada, so there should be no doubt Canadian TV is taking steps in reaching markets these days. Third Watch and Southland had a rookie cop. Rookie Blue is centered around a group of rookies, and how they stack up against their challenges arriving from the academy.

The cast includes Missy Peregrym(Reaper), Gregory Smith(Everwood), Charlotte Sullivan, Enuka Okuma and Travis Milne as the rookies, and then their partners, some detectives and family and so on.

I'm definitely going to check out a couple of more episodes, being a huge fan of Third Watch. I enjoy the focus on street cops who has to deal with a variety of challenges, rather than most cop shows who only focuses on detectives and murders. Still. I wasn't that interested in the principal characters from the start. The drama parts also seemed a bit amateurish compared to other shows who's done this or similar before. There's plenty potential, but so far I fear they are heading towards mediocrity.

Scoundrels Drama-comedy-family
Seen 2 episodes

Scoundrels is an American remake of the New Zealand show Outrageous Fortune. I really don't like remakes in general, but on the other hand I've never seen the NZ-show.

Scoundrels tells about the West's, a small-crime family used to warrants, theft and handling stolen merchandise, just to mention a few of their activities. The show kicks off with Dad going to jail for five years, and the Mom (Virginia Madsen) deciding to take the family onto the law abiding ways of living rather than getting more members of the family sent away.

I guess the premise is decent enough, and if the humor had been my kind I might have enjoyed it. Maybe I'll have to check out the NZ-original. When it comes to humor the US remakes often takes another direction. I digress. The family in question isn't really very interesting. I didn't care much for any of them after two full hour episodes, and then there's most definitely something wrong with the idea. Also the actors and actresses seems rather mediocre. The law abiding ways of the Wests might find their audience, but I'll not be one of them.

Haven Sci-Fi-drama-mystery
Seen 3 episodes

Haven is based on Stephen King's novel The Colorado Kid, and takes our heroine FBI-agent Audrey Parker to the small town Haven in Maine. A town where cursed people lives in exile, trying to live their everyday lives in peace. As forces awakens the curses, Audrey is sent to Haven after an escaped prisoner in the pilot. She finds the prisoner dead under strange circumstances, and her curiosity brings her into investigate closer what happened. She finds unrelated clues pointing towards her mother once being in Haven, a mother Audrey never knew as she grew up an orphan. As the arch-theme goes Audrey is offered a position at the local police if she likes to stay figuring out about her past and the forces at play.

Besides the arch-theme, every episodes takes on a new cursed person and the influences and danger it has on the town. Audrey, played by Emily Rose (ER, Jericho, Brothers & Sisters), is partnered up with the local sheriff's son, Nathan, on cases. Nathan is played by Lucas Bryant, his father the sheriff is played by Nicholas Campbell and also Eric Belfour holds a supporting role.

While Haven could have been interesting from the premise, their focus seem to be a little to much Eureka-ish for me to enjoy. Not to crap on Eureka, but the premise of a special town and the awful happy ending focus (maybe not morally awful like most would have a problem with, but looking at the storytelling and the flow, arch and creative freedom... such a obvious morale point of view crushes the quality) is more than I can bare in the long run. The pilot managed to hold some kind of interest, much because of the feel of potential, but in the two following episodes everything went fast downhill. Not only was the cases less interesting, but also the acting, the storyline, the chemistry and the lead characters personality went from maybe potential to abused potential. Audrey Parker live in the shadow of heroines like Fringe's Olivia, and then I really don't blame Emily Rose that much for failing to seize her audience.

Cupid (2009 remake)

"Love is passion. Love is heat, chemistry, sex." -Trevor, Roman god of love

That's just what this remake lacks. What the original Cupid had plenty of. Passion, heat, and chemistry at least. I love they tried to remake this show. It had a lot to offer, and the cult success of Veronica Mars could help creator Rob Thomas create some fresh interest in his first TV project's potential. It's just a bloody shame they crashed and burned casting.

Jeremy Piven was believable in the original role, and his passionate ways helped sell 'Cupid's point of view on love. And Paula Marshall was equally brilliant as his opposite, creating scenes that actually sparked on screen. The duo, and some great writing, was the original Cupid.

Bobby Cannavale is an awful cast as 'Cupid'. I never believe in his character. I don't believe anyone in the singles group would consider taking the advice from this guy. He's just too boring, and lacks the charisma needed. I like Sarah Paulson. She was great in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but she never manage to come across with the same grace and heartfelt convictions Marshall did a decade ago. It sure doesn't help she'll have to act of Cannavale, while Marshall had Piven, but she's not that convincing on her own either in scenes 'Cupid' isn't there.

The dynamic between the two leads was incredible in the original. In this remake it was quite honestly forgettable. The banter never sparks, their opposite views never come to life, they make me wish someone never hire that casting director again and worst of all; I notice the writing is actually good, but they can't bring life to it.

As mentioned reviewing the original, I never enjoyed the 'Champ' character there. Here they learned, and the two siblings hired to play supporting roles is much more convincingly played and spent. That was a good cast, and a great improvement on one of the originals few flaws.

The writing is also in many ways more polished, which makes it work well these days. It's more focused, while it keeps the banter and references. A shame they didn't have a duo to perform it. Also a shame they chose much of the material I disliked most from the original, to recycle here. 'The Linguist' was never my favorite, and I didn't enjoy a revisit. Overall this version somehow didn't attract as interesting guest stars either. Connie Britton, Lisa Loeb and Tiffany Thiessen among those I remember fondly from the original.

I applaud those who decided to pull the plug on this show, because Cannavale ruins the good writing. I'll rather remember the original and the intentions of the show, and who knows. Maybe a third one day sees the light with an equally good cast as the original duo.

Cupid

"You ever watch Fame? You know what I have in common with Bruno, Leroy and Coco? I'm going to live forever. What about you? You going to live forever? See, it would saturate my pleasure gland to rip your skin off and make ponchos for the kids. So keep your paws off my shrink here, because I'm a frustrated taxidermist and I'd love to go deep on you. We on the same team, butter bean?" -Cupid, Roman god of love

Back in 1998 Rob Thomas got his first TV show creation picked up, long before Veronica Mars, his writing on Dawson's Creek or anything else TV related. The show was about a man claiming to be 'Cupid', the Roman god of love, sent to earth as punishment, having to get hundred couples together without his trusted magical bow and arrows. Thrown in jail and skipped to a psychiatric hospital thanks to telling his story, he's faced with the psychiatrist, 'Dr. Claire Allen', who's assigned his case. He eventually fakes getting over being 'Cupid' and is released in her care, but immediately after released admits to her he's sticking to his cause of getting hundred couples together. Not only together casually or sexually or anything like that, as only 'true love in the eye of the gods' count towards his tally.

Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall was cast as the leading duo in question, and their chemistry and abilities are undeniable. Both very much needed to pull off this kind of show. While 'Dr. Allen' works to figure out who this delusional 'Cupid' really is, our 'Cupid' works hard on getting couples together.

Paula Marshall as 'Dr.Claire Allen' and Jeremy Piven as 'Cupid'/'Trevor Hale'

The chemistry between our leading duo is a huge part of why this show worked so well. With two opposite views on matchmaking, as 'Cupid' was aiming for fire and 'Claire' for commonality, there's always something to disagree or argue about. Their relationship is evolving throughout the show, and to me this duo ranks quite high up there amongst TV show duos of all time.

The writing shows several signs of typical Rob Thomas thing to come in later works. His pop cultural as well as highbrow references, the dynamic banter and the general feel of the dialogues are all very similar to what I've come to love later in Veronica Mars, a show I've never made any attempts to hide my love for. Unfortunately the directions shown throughout the season, 14-15 episodes, Cupid got, also proved Thomas' lacked TV experience and good advise on this show.

I hated the 'Champ' character. He got way to much airtime, and was almost less important than 'Ms.Dent' in the earlier mentioned Veronica Mars were he did the same mistake. In Cupid the actor obviously had a lot longer contract than he should have had, as it had to be easy to spot for the writers they had very little useful to write him into.

There's a couple of other wrong directions chosen, but avoiding spoilers I'm not going to mention them here. And I'm looking to avoid spoilers, because I really recommend checking out the episodes made of this show. It's lighthearted and heartwarming at the same time, it's witty, the leading duo is great in every way and there's a lot of good guest stars attempted to be coupled up during the episodes. With this leading duo cast and a few changes, this show could really have become something amazing. Last year a remake was indeed launched as there was obvious more people than me spotting its potential, but the remake had other issues which I'll get back to in its review later.

NewsRadio

"No. No, I'm at the station right now. Yeah. No, then I got to go to the factory, then I got to go to the building site. Huh? No, that's just for fun. I like to watch the big trucks."
-Jimmy James, owner of radio station WNYX and eccentric billionaire

NewsRadio main cast

NewsRadio starts out kind of slow and out of focus, much like many other half hour comedies. Anyhoo. It doesn't take many episodes to realize they are something different. The main reason they stand out is because they don't always go after the cheap laughs. They trust their audience to see the development in characters and actively seeks out to make us laugh thanks to those changes over time and those understandings of the characters.

NewsRadio is made with love. An ensemble cast obviously enjoying them self while working on it, great characters molded with the actors and the ensemble in mind and with very good scripts as a platform. My only regret is nobody knew to say "Enough is enough.With Phil gone we shouldn't make the fifth season. Let's do a double episode to honor him and wrap up these characters, and then let the show live on in memory along with Phil."

In memory

Phil Hartman

(September 24, 1948 - May 28, 1998)

Rest In Peace

Better shows than NewsRadio have run too many seasons, the final season of Coupling springs to mind, but few if any have as good an excuse as NewsRadio to why it went downhill. The tragic murder of Phil Hartman May 28, 1998, only 16 days after the airing of the fourth season finale of the show, in reality killed the show as well. They tried moving on without the character of Bill McNeil, and their first episode of the fifth season was a moving tribute. How often they had to stop shooting that episode because the cast broke down in tears is something no-one kept count on, but there's no doubt the loss of their colleague and friend affected the cast in ways easily seen on the screen especially in that episode.

If you've never seen the entire NewsRadio I'll give you my advice. Watch only the first episode of the fifth season, and call it quits. The 21 episodes after that one doesn't hold the same quality, even if it's funny enough every so often. The problem is they forgot a couple of important notes on the characters we'd grown to love, they never managed to work them self past the loss of Phil/Bill and in the end they never got an ending the audience can live happily after with the knowledge of.

Dave Foley and Maura Tierney as Dave Nelson and Lisa Miller

The fifth season character of Max Lewis probably didn't stand a chance anyway they played it, but to me Jon Lovitz isn't especially funny either. I didn't even enjoy his two guest appearances in different parts during the first four seasons. Then Max Lewis kept annoying me the entire final season, which obviously is difficult to get past reviewing it.

I got to remind myself to fairly review the show as it was, but the fact is to me, as a TV lover, I feel you should take the time and acknowledge Hartman despite of the biggest reason NewsRadio was so good; It's an ensemble cast.

To me the roles of Dave Foley as Dave Nelson, Phil Hartman as Bill McNeil, Maura Tierney as Lisa Miller and Stephen Root as Jimmy James is the four walls elevating it to the show it was, but Joe Rogan, Vicky Lewis, Andy Dick and Khandi Alexander probably had the same spot with others as some of those four had with me, and even with me they all had important roles in balancing the ensemble. They spent four seasons airing quality comedy, without ever escaping the treat of cancellation. They had Seinfeld and Friends taking all the glory in those days, but NewsRadio is a well kept secret as one of the 90s classic comedies. Maybe they even was a little ahead of its time. The fact remains they didn't ever get as much praise as they deserved, but it's never to late to catch up with golden shows just because they've stopped airing. NewsRadio is four season+one episode of high quality comedy. Enjoy.

Samantha Spade (Without a Trace)

Poppy Montgomery is Samantha Spade at Without a Trace

I got to admit Samantha Spade was quite a while the sole reason I stuck through Without a Trace. 7 seasons with 160 episodes, and not all was equally interesting to say the least. The character of Samantha Spade was however one of those cops balancing her personal emotional state interestingly with her work at the New York Missing Persons Unit at FBI.

Jack Malone and Samantha Spade

Still. Their cases was always the most important part of Without a Trace, and they didn't go as far into personal issues as NYPD Blue went. I do however think Without a Trace balanced it out quite well, and Samantha had more than enough of a personality to not be just another cop in just another cop show.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

"We're all being lobotomized by this country's most influential industry. It's just thrown in the towel on any endeavor to do anything that doesn't include the courting of 12 year-old boys. Not even the smart 12 year-olds, the stupid ones, the idiots. Which there are plenty thanks in no small measure to this network. So why don't you just, change the channel? Turn off the TVs do it right now." -Wes Mendell, Executive Producer Studio 60

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip main cast

Television is a completely new ballgame these days. Networks fill the air with reality shows where contestants eat worms, stay the longest on an islands or live the longest imprisoned in camera filled houses. Scripted shows costs more to produce, quality actors costs salary while reality shows gets fame seekers for free and people still watch the trashy reality shows making them better suited to gain advertiser money.

S60 wasn't afraid to kick off their show by saying so. And by letting Aaron Sorkin loose to follow up his huge The West Wing success with actors like Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet collecting paychecks, they took a high priced dice throw from the get go. S60 didn't have to gain some success to survive. S60 needed to be a killer hit to stand a chance.

Then it doesn't really matter the show is one of the best ever written and performed by quality actors. S60 only got a season, but it's 22 episodes you shouldn't miss out on. You'll easily recognize Sorkin's writing both in the wit and smartness, but also in the way the dialogue drives the drama. It's no doubt one of those shows canceled way to soon, and not because of a lack of quality. It was canceled just because television today is a completely different ballgame.

The West Wing - season 1

"Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." -Josh Lyman, White House Deputy Chief of Staff

The West Wing main cast

The first season of The West Wing is a stunning display of television at its best. OK. So Mandy Hampton wasn't the most interesting character ever made for television, but hey; At least they got a lot right. The casting came very close to a home run. Add the ability to make politic interesting, add the walk-and-talk, add characters with layers and humanity in both their shortcomings and their emotions, and you come close to summing up the first season of The West Wing. Of course you'll still be way short, as its strength is the complexity and that's not something you sum up in a couple of short lines.

New drama doesn't get much better than this. It's filled with passion and yet manages to use wit, relations and human reactions to drive the stories forward. They never bash their view to death with repetitions, but we're never in any doubt on were they stand. The first season of The West Wing is close to perfection in script writing and character building. Managing to keep the smaller episode stories interesting as they went along was the icing on the cake making it an instant success.

Who knew politic could be so interesting prior to The West Wing?

And between all these political victories and losses, it's all those small moments I'll always remember the most from the first season of The West Wing. Moments reminding us also the people with the most powerful jobs in the US are people who gets touched by others in so many ways.

The first season of The West Wing is nothing short of excellent entertainment. I've got no problem recommending it strongly if you have yet to get acquainted with the White House senior staff, and if you are familiar with them this might maybe serve you as a reminder to say hello to an old friend.

Dig a hole and fill it up

To be honest the only reason Life turned up at my short-list after its cancellation was the prospect of a couple of episodes featuring Jessy Schram. The young and beautiful Jessy caught my attention during her short spell at Veronica Mars; a show I've made no attempt to hide my affection for. After watching about half of the episodes made of Life until being pulled, I've got few problems understanding why it lost its airing slot. It's just not very good. The never ending zen-stuff is nothing but annoying, the main characters are also more annoying than interesting and the recurring interview-repeats are beating their message into the viewer. It's just lazy work and sloppy TV.

Jessy Schram as Rachel Seybolt and Damian Lewis as Charlie Crews at Life

After watching The West Wing I wanted to get more Bradley Whitford. Taking a short break from Sorkin I'll save Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip a couple more weeks, so I decided to check out Burn Up. A mini-series about politic, climate changes and oil-interests starring Whitford, Neve Campbell and Rupert Penry-Jones. Taking a liking to Neve during her Party of Five days and at least getting to know Penry-Jones on Spooks, I had few doubts they had done their job with the casting at least. Politically motivated drama-thrillers are never easy to pull off. It's tough to find the correct balance in how to present both sides, it's difficult to get the amount of intense scenes vs informative once correct and they need to touch a string with their audience to really ever have any opportunity to accomplish their target.

 Neve Campbell and Bradley Whitford in mini-series Burn Up

They don't quite succeed in Burn Up, but Whitford is interesting in his part and Campbell does a better acting job than I've seen from her in a long time, if I've ever before. I wasn't that impressed by Penry-Jones, and he's unfortunately the main character. The first part of this series is also quite a lot better than the final half. I really don't care enough the last 20 minutes or so. They haven't managed to get me invested enough in the story, no matter how important the premise of the series actually is. If you get across Burn Up it's worth watching, but you don't exactly need to go out of your way to get a hold of it.

In pilot-news I've checked out The Forgotten. If you can't manage to make even the pilot more interesting than this, you should realize the idea isn't very good to begin with. I can understand what they were trying to accomplish, but they really should realize they stepped between genres in a way they could never become a winner. Also seen the pilot of Crash, and while it didn't quite catch me there's something there in need of exploring. I'll for sure at least watch one or two more episodes until making up my mind.

Aaron Douglas as Frank Leo at The Bridge

And finally there's a show at least managing to entertain me for the runtime of the pilot, even being a double episode, in the Canadian produced The Bridge. A highly entertaining pilot, but the second episode was a huge step down. I haven't gotten around to the third yet, but while the opening had some street-cop feel I fear it'll lose its footing with the union-take being their main point of view as it seems. Still a show I'll give at least a couple more episodes to convince me one way or the other.