Television

I watch a LOT of television, or to be more accurate, I watch an awful lot of television series but I watch them mostly on dvd so I don't catch any of those pesky advert things. Generally I watch the American stuff although I've recently picked up a few more UK series which seem to be adopting the similar production values. I'll watch pretty much anything that doesn't involve members of the public or celebrities, although I tend not to watch sitcoms either at the moment.

Due South

Due South: Season 1

This was a hugely popular series when I was at school, I had them all on video and must have seen them half a dozen times over. Then I forgot about it for 15 years until I saw the first season dvd on special offer and decided to grab it. I was nervous it would destroy my memories - would it still be funny or would it now just be silly? Could the Mountie really be as cute as I remember? I'm so happy to be able to say my memory was not at fault it is still funny and he is still that cute.
This series is actually good, not just cheap and easy Saturday evening family viewing, but directed with style and written with a lot of heart. It does drift a little too far into tedious moralising occasionally, but they keep it down a bit and surround it with jokes and car chases so it's ok. I think what stood out most was the amazing music they use, some beautiful songs partnered with some unlikely action scenes that work wonderfully and make me want to hunt out a soundtrack album.
The other thing that works well are the two central characters. While both appear stereotypical on the surface the writers and actors carefully maintain depth and reality through glances and throwaway lines. In the best tradition of buddy cop pairings, they're apparent opposites who compliment each other perfectly and form a believable bond very quickly.
I really was delighted at how much I enjoyed re-watching this series, even if I did remember huge chunks of each episode as soon as I saw the first scene. After watching 2 episodes I ordered season 2 to watch next.

Special Features: No features sadly, I'd have loved to see some stuff looking back at the series.

Due South: Season 2

Season two is dissapointing compared to season one. I was surprised and pleased to find that I could actually label season 1 as 'good television'. Season two can justifiably have the label of 'entertaining television' but has lost some of the sheen and soul that made season one great. There's a higher concentration of episodes and scenes that are just daft and irritating. In the first season the two lead characters have depth and subtleties, but this largely evaporates in the second season and the whole thing feels like a step backwards.


Special Features: They've dredged up some old promo pieces, mostly location pieces for promotion on Canadian morning shows. They're fun to see but the video quality is pretty poor. The weirdest thing I've seen in a long time though is the clip of Noel's House Party with Paul Gross on it trying to deliver lines with a straight face.

Television Series

Andromeda
   Season 1 | Season 5
Angel
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5
Angels in America
Band of Brothers
   Miniseries
Battlestar Galactica
   Season 3
Big Love
   Season 1
Bones
   Season 1 | Season 3
Boston Legal
   Season 1
Brothers and Sisters
   Season 1 | Season 2
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7
C.S.I.
   1x01 - 1x12 | 1x13 - 1x23 | 2x01 - 2x12 | 2x13 - 2x23 | 3x01 - 3x12 | 3x13 - 3x22 | Season 4 (R1)
   Season 5 | Season 6 | 7x01 - 7x12
Carnivale
   Season 1 | Season 2
Caroline in the City
   Season 1
Castle
   Season 1
Criminal Minds
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3
CSI: Miami
   1x01 - 1x12 | 1x13 - 1x24 | Season 2 (Region 1)
CSI: NY
   1x01-1x12 | 1x13-1x23 | Season 3
Dead Like Me
   Season 2
Deadwood
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3
Desperate Housewives
   Season 1 | Season 2
Dexter
   Season 1
Doctor Who
   David Tennant (2)
Due South
   Season 1 | Season 2
ER
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4
Farscape
   Season 1 | Season 3 | The Peacekeeper Wars (Mini-series)
Firefly
   Season 1
Friday Night Lights
   Season 1 | Season 3
Fringe
   Season 1
Futurama
   1x01 - 1x13
Gilmore Girls
   Season 1
Grey's Anatomy
   Season 1 | Season 3 | Season 5
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
   Season 1
Hotel Babylon
   Season 1
House, M.D.
   Season 1 | Season 3 | Season 4
Hustle
   Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3
I, Claudius
   1976 Miniseries
Law and Order
   Season 1
Law and Order: Criminal Intent
   Season 1
Life on Mars
   Series 1
Long Way...
   Round | Down
Lost
   Season 1
M*A*S*H
   Season 1 | Season 2
Mad Men
   Season 1 | Season 3
Monk
   Season 1
NCIS
   Season 4 | Season 6
Northern Exposure
   Season 1
Party of Five
   Season 1
Primeval
   Season 1
Pushing Daisies
   Season 1
Roswell
   Season 1 | Season 2
Six Feet Under
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4
Sports Night
   Season 1 | Season 2
Star Trek: Enterprise
   Season 3
Stargate SG1
   Season 1 | 9x01-9x10
Stargate: Atlantis
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 5
State of Play
Studio 60
   Season 1
Supernatural
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4
Terrahawks
   1x01 - 1x04
The 4400
   Season 1 | Season 2
The Mentalist
   Season 1
The Shield
   Season 1 | Season 2
The Sopranos
   Season 1
The State Within
   Miniseries
The Unit
   Season 1-2
The West Wing
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7
The Wire
   Season 1
Torchwood
   Season 1 | Season 2
Ugly Betty
   Season 1
Veronica Mars
   Season 1 (R1) | Season 2 (R1) | Season 3
Warehouse 13
   Season 1
Weeds
   Season 1
Will and Grace
   1x01 - 1x08 | 1x09 - 1x15 | 1x16 - 1x22 | 2x01 - 2x04 | 2x05 - 2x08 | 2x09 - 2x12 | 2x13 - 2x16
   2x17 - 2x20 | 2x21 - 2x24 | 3x01 - 3x04 | 3x05 - 3x08 | 3x09 - 3x12 | 3x13 - 3x16 | 3x17 - 3x20
   3x21 - 3x25 | 4x01 - 4x04 | 4x05 - 4x08 | 4x09 - 4x12 | 4x13 - 4x16 | 4x18 - 4x22 | 4x23 - 4x26
   Season 5 | Season 6
Yes Minister
   Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3

 

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