TV Show Of The Week – Entourage

Yeah, I lied and I’m sorry.  In my Weeds article of TV Show Of The Week, I promised that this segment would be out every week and last week I broke that promise and didn’t post a TVSOTW.  Sometimes I get too busy and just can’t post so I’m going to say from now on that this might not be weekly but I will try my damn hardest to try and keep this category active.

Entourage is another show that I only recently got into.  It was only last year that a friend and I went through all four seasons of this wonderful HBO show about the rise of a young, talented Hollywood actor and his childhood friends.  I was initially quite shocked how funny the show actually was, I had seen adverts and clips of the show and didn’t think too much of it.  Like with Weeds, one episode just wasn’t enough, you had to keep watching, half and hour goes too quick when these shows are this funny.

The greatest aspect of the show is the characters, Drama and Ari being my personal favourites.  Drama for being a complete and utter but lovable douche who often says the wrong things or gets himself into crazy situations.  Ari though just steals every scene he’s in, Jeremy Piven is a genius, he’s created such an asshole but one which you could never hate, how could you hate Ari when he does things like this…

The concept of the show is brilliant, it often takes the piss out of the entertainment industry which is great.  The writing and acting is superb, as already mentioned Jeremy Piven always gives his best but all of the main cast are excellent, even the recurring guest stars are wonderful, Billy Walsh has to be given a mention.  It’s a great ensemble cast and I think shows with a good working ensemble cast work better.  The main five characters of Vince, Drama, E, Turtle and Ari all are very different to one another but all bring something different and unique to the show.  The chemistry between them is what works the most, you can see they all work well together and have fun working with each other.

If you’ve never seen the show then all I have to say to you people is try and get the DVDs now, you’ll not regret it.  Entourage is an extremely entertaining and funny show and if you sometimes like your humour crude then you’re going to love this.  Another incentive is that season 5 of the show airs September 7 (in America) so get the DVDs and spend the next month watching this show.

TV Show Of The Week – The X-Files

In anticipation for the release of the next X-Files movie, I thought that this TV Show Of The Week should be about one of the greatest television shows ever created, The X-Files.  There is a lot I could say about the show, probably most has been said before but I’m just going to state why I love X-Files, my memories of the show and what things that should have been done differently.

I had watched only a few episodes of the show when I was younger, catching them on BBC2, certain episodes would stick out for being really scary.  The most terrifying memory was the Tooms episodes, that character was one of the most brilliantly scariest creations in television or even film.  If you ask anyone, fan or just a casual viewer, they always remember Tooms.  Those chilling, frightening moments is what made The X-Files stand out to me.  Sadly as I was only a casual viewer of the show in my early teens, I could never follow the conspiracy plot.  I always wanted to follow the main arc of the show but that just wasn’t possible as I didn’t own any copy of VHS or DVD.

It wasn’t until about 2005/2006 while I was at uni, I used my student loan and bought the complete DVD boxset, all nine seasons in one glorious box.  It was a great day when I got my hands on that, I could now go through all nine seasons at my own pace and enjoy one of the greatest shows ever created.  Though because I was at uni, I had lots of free time and was able to watch the show, hell I didn’t do work.  I powered through the seasons very quickly, I can’t honestly tell you how long it did take me to watch all nine seasons but I know it was quick.  I will always remember that as one of my fondest memories, people might think that’s sad but it truly was a fantastic experience.  After I had done with it, I passed the DVD’s onto two friends and they felt the same way as I did.

The greatest appeal was the variety of episodes on display, you get the mythology episodes and the stand-alone episodes but the stand-alone episodes are all very different, some scary and some extremelly funny.  My favourite X-Files episodes are the comedy ones, e.g X-Cops, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.  Many people probably agree that on a whole the stand-alone episodes are much stronger than the mythology ones and for the most part I agree.  Some people don’t like the mythology of the show too much, they even don’t understand it or aren’t that interested.  Yes sometimes the mythology can become quite confusing but most of the time I understood it.  I liked learning more about the mystery behind the show, I wanted to know what happened to Mulder’s sister and I wanted to find out what the truth was.

You cannot talk about The X-Files and not mention the criticism the show got about it’s nine year run.  Many people think, me included that the show should have ended a lot sooner than it did.  For me, I think it should have ended in season 6 when the The Syndicate were killed.  That moment really signalled the end of the show, after that the mythology of the show just limped along, getting stupid Super Soldiers and having Mulder gone for most of two seasons.

I am not a huge fan of the last two seasons of the show, there are some good episodes in there but as a whole they’re very weak, you can’t have The X-Files without Mulder, it just didn’t feel right.  Sadly when people think about The X-Files they concentrate on the negative aspects, the show should be remembered for redefining sci-fi television, it should be remembered as redefining television.  Ask yourself, if X-Files never existed, do you think we would have shows like Lost or Heroes?  I highly doubt it.  X-Files shaped the future of television.

TV Show Of The Week – Weeds

I am sorry to my non-existent fanbase that there was not a TV Show Of The Week last week, the reason was because I was very busy.  I wanted to have one of these every week considering the title of the column, I promise that from now on this column will be out every week.  Another apology is that this is quite short but I’ve hardly had anytime to write it, next weeks column will be of some decent standard.

Weeds is only a recent discovery, the show is about a widow who lives in a typical white American suburb but she’s a marijuana dealer.  It was only a couple of months ago that I got my hands on the first three seasons on DVD.  I had heard of the show before but never got a chance to see it, the premise of the show intrigued me, it’s certainly a unique one. I basically powered through the first three seasons in about a week or so, I couldn’t get enough of it.

Mary-Louise Parker, she plays lead Nancy Botwin and she’s stunning, it didn’t take long for me to fall for her.  I was shocked to find out that she’s 43, she looks so young and very hot.  She is always a delight to watch, her facial expressions are the greatest.  My greatest character in the show though has to be Doug, if you’ve seen the show then you’ll know what I’m on about.  The things that come out of the guy’s mouth are priceless and it’s always a delight to see him onscreen.

The show is chocked full of drama and comedy, that’s what appeals to me the most.  It’s an extremely funny show, with great moments of utter insanity.  The dramatic moments appear from nowhere and shock you, the show has some great cliffhangers.  So if your assumptions are that because this show is based on the selling of marijuana that you have to be a pothead to enjoy it then you’re very wrong.  I had no idea when going into this show what it was about, I knew that the show was about pot but that’s about it.  It took me over three years to see this show, I’ve still got lots of shows that have been on air for years that I haven’t seen.  Sometimes I regret my decision to watch some of these shows but I never regretted watching this.  Thankfully when I finished watching season 3, season 4 was about to air.  Five episodes have aired from season 4 and it’s still great and fresh.  Check it out and if you think I’m wrong then I won’t listen to your complaints.

It's not thyme.

TV Show Of The Week – Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

I discovered Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations through a recommendation.  I had heard of Bourdain before through the cancelled FOX TV show Kitchen Confidential.  The show itself was loosely based on a book of the same name that the chef wrote.  No Reservations is an American travel and food show in which Anthony Bourdain travels the world, learning about different cultures and cuisine.

With the recommendation I decided to get my hands on an episode, that episode was the Hawaii one.  I decided to choose this episode first because I have a great fascination with Hawaii, it’s a place that I’ve always wanted to visit.  From the first episode I was hooked, Anthony Bourdain is a likeable bloke, with a great sense of humour who is so passionate in what he’s doing.  His passion for food is infectious, it makes me want to try all the things he’s so daring to try.  I’ve only seen about five episodes of the show but what I’ve seen, I have really enjoyed.

What I love most about the show is the food.  I do love seeing Bourdain learning about the cultures of certain countries but it’s the sight of him eating the food is what I love the most. The Singapore and the Asia special episodes are highlights when it comes to showing great food.  A warning for viewers is not to watch the show hungry because you’ll won’t be able to make it through one show, as you will be forced to make some food.  The dishes that Bourdain eats vary, some are spectacular, others are questionable but I’ve got to give respect for Bourdain to be willing to try anything.

I plan on watching more episodes as I’ve found the show quite addictive.  Some episodes of the show can be found on youtube, which is where I watch most episodes.  July 7th bring new episodes, so if you live in America you can find it shown on the Travel channel.  I highly recommend this show if you’re into learning more about different cultures and the food they eat.