[Topher]

It started on Wednesday, but yes, definitely the last and Karen looks completely different!

She does - it was Vintage Outnumbered though, brilliant.

PEDANTIC MOTHER *!!!!

Haha - I couldn't really call him out for that, could I?!

[Nicola_Red]

Anyone else watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I quite like it so far. It's a bit Scrubs-esque in style and as we've previously discussed I had issues with Scrubs, but still pretty funny.

What issues did you have with Scrubs? Personally I love it, I've definitely seen each episode many, many times. I'm pretty sad.

It was mainly the way the characters were drawn - so many tired old stereotypes, particularly the women. There wasn't a single female character I felt was nuanced or complex - they were all just caricatures. I appreciate that a lot of TV shows suffer from this, but something about the way they did it in Scrubs really irritated me. My former flatmate used to watch it on a loop, so I've seen all the episodes several times, and the more I saw them the more irritated I got by it. To be fair I didn't really find it funny either, but that wasn't anywhere near as much of an issue. And the way the writers made a huge deal about the 8th series being the end and then just let themselves be bought out to make another was also kind of laughable.

[chrysostom]

All of the characters in scrubs were caricatures, no?

[Nicola_Red]

Yeah, I guess so. Would you say that's the case with a lot of TV shows? (I'm not sure what I think, so genuinely asking.)

[chrysostom]

Less so than Scrubs (although Community, TBBT & Friends would be on a par) - always worth wheeling out this (originally from Char):

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/9-re ... same-show/

I think sitcoms in general require the main characters to be a collection of often expressed traits as usually there's only 22 minutes to express their personality, and it's usually mindless escapism!

[Nicola_Red]

Interesting. I've still never watched Community - despite wanting to, it's one of those things I've just never got round to. I agree to an extent about TBBT, but I have to admit I've never thought about Friends in that way - perhaps cos when I watched it originally I was 19 and not really thinking about such things. I can't say why it bothered me so much about Scrubs, though. It's something I need to consider further - well, maybe not need

[chrysostom]

In other sitcom related chat - I'm just about to watch the last episode of Arrested development, having watched all 4 series this month.

I can't believe I didn't watch this years ago.

[Bonanzoid]

In other sitcom related chat - I'm just about to watch the last episode of Arrested development, having watched all 4 series this month.

I can't believe I didn't watch this years ago.

As a newcomer, how'd you find season 4 in comparison with the others?

[Badger Mark]

Watched the 3rd of the latest series of Sherlock. A pretty crazy episode. Very curious to see how they're going to explain what happened at the very end.

Has there ever been an explanation why they're only doing 3 episodes at a time? Is it just an issue of Cumberbatch and Freeman wanting short commitment times so they can do other things? I understand the seasons for a given show don't run anywhere near as long as they do here in the US (although there are signs that that is starting to change a bit), but is 3 unusual?

[Topher]

Three is unusual, I don't think it's down to Freeman and Cumberbatch, because they were far less wanted when Sherlock started and they've always done the three episodes. I suspect it's a combination of having 90 minute episodes (it's a BBC production, so they are 90 minutes with no ad breaks remember) and keeping people wanting for more.

[Badger Mark]

Thanks. Sounds reasonable.

[JayE]

Just finished Series 4 of Breaking Bad. It's getting so good now. I can feel the end coming.

[chrysostom]

I can feel the end coming.

*snort*

[JayE]

Would it make things better if I said my intention was to make it sound like it was an innuendo? (It wasn't by the way.)

[chrysostom]

That would make it worse.

[The Deadly]

It's not a Tuesday unless you can feel the end coming. It's what my dad always told me.

[Bruvva]

In TV news, Brooklyn nine nine is probably being renewed despite absolutely flat-lining ratings-wise recently (lost 25% of its viewers in one week).

And, ummm, they're making a tv show based on the comic, Preacher. A story about a man who becomes possessed by the offspring of a demon and angel and then goes on a journey to find god and ask him why he's abandoned people. To say it's likely to irritate the more religious people is a colossal understatement. Worth getting hold of in comic form but as to whether it'll make a good TV show, I don't know. Seth Rogen's attached to it apparently, I have no idea if that's good or bad.

LIFETIME is moving into SCI-FI by commissioning THE LOTTERY , set in a near future where Humanity has become virtually sterile, 100 fertilized embryos (designed to carry on the Human race) will be given out to 100 women via a lottery.

HBO has given a full series order to comedy series THE BRINK and will tell the story of a world moving rapidly towards World War Three and the three characters , the US Secretary of State (Tim Robbins), a lowly foreign service officer (Jack Black ) and a us fighter pilot (Pablo Schreiber ) who must pull together to save the world.

BBC America is developing NOTTINGHAM , this retelling of Robin Hood speculates that the Sherriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood are the same man . The Sherriff is forced to take up the mantle of Robin at night after his wife is killed by Knights of King John and not punished...

MTV had ordered ten episodes of EYE CANDY, when a female tech genius realizes one of her cyber suitors maybe a stalker and serial killer , she decides to team up with a team of hackers to find the killer.

[Badger Mark]

The only one of those that interests me at all is the sci-fi one. But since it's going to be on Lifetime I'm skeptical that it will be any good.

Has Sleepy Hollow made it over to the UK yet? It was a big hit here in the US. I thought it was pretty good overall. Some critics here panned it because the plot was pretty silly overall, but it turned out to be a lot of over-the-top fun. And the season finale was a real cliff hanger.

[Nicola_Red]

I have literally only just realised that Andy Samburg from Brooklyn Nine-Nine also played the son-in-law in Cuckoo. I can't believe I didn't twig it was him. Not that he's returning to Cuckoo, but still.

[Topher]

What? Cuckoo's not returning to Cuckoo?! Bugger!

[chrysostom]

In terrible news, there is to be an American remake of Cuckoo, which led me to this list of UK TV shows which have been remade in the US. Of all of these which I've seen, I've only enjoyed The Office (which I thought was brilliant).

It's quite extraordinary that they persist!

[Nicola_Red]

No, Cuckoo is not returning to Cuckoo, which kind of sucks. Taylor Lautner is joining as a different character. We'll see how that pans out. I don't get how the Americans can remake it - will the Cuckoo character be British?...

That list of US remakes is interesting. I once happened upon an episode of the Fawlty Towers remake on some random satellite channel, although I'm not sure if it was 'Amanda's' or 'Payne'. Either way it was awful. It always seemed weird that they tried remaking Coupling, as that was itself a copy/rehash/remake of Friends.

[Topher]

Well, as long as Greg Davies is returning I guess, it still has potential.

[chrysostom]

No, Cuckoo is not returning to Cuckoo, which kind of sucks. Taylor Lautner is joining as a different character. We'll see how that pans out. I don't get how the Americans can remake it - will the Cuckoo character be British?..

The producers explain the transition between lead actors will be managed as follows: "Shortly after renewing their wedding vows, Cuckoo flew the coop to continue researching his book. While on walkabout in the foothills of the Himalayas, he went missing... eventually presumed dead.

"It's now two years since his disappearance and life in the Thompson family house is only just getting back to normal. Ken and Lorna are looking forward to a future without the kids under their feet. Dylan (Tyger Drew-Honey) is about to go to university and Rachel is rebuilding her life with her new boyfriend, a nice-but-dull lawyer, Ben. Despite appearances, Cuckoo's absence is still felt - not least by his young widow, Rachel. Everyone worries she's lost her mojo since the tragic events in Asia.

This fragile equilibrium is well and truly shattered when a handsome and mysterious young stranger (Taylor Lautner) appears in Lichfield, looking for the man who found fame and philosophy in the simplest of hot snacks: the jack-et po-ta-to."

Sounds fun.

[JayE]

Watched the series finale of Breaking Bad last night. I'm going to miss this show so much now that I've finished it but I'll probably re watch the entire show again at some point. I genuinely thought the ending was really depressing though. I never saw Walt as the bad guy, from the very start all he wanted to do was provide for his family with the many years of Chemistry research he did, and from the start he only ever retaliated to the things that happened. Best show I've ever seen, the acting is beyond anything I've ever seen too.