TV Series Review
In the 2008-2009 TV series, I have selected 8 shows to follow, some of which are returning series, and some new. The returning series are Desperate Housewives, Heroes, Brothers And Sisters, Ugly Betty, Supernatural and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The new series are 90210 and Legend Of The Seeker.
Desperate Housewives
One of the highly watched series currently, the series has been set to run for 9 seasons, as confirmed by ABC, originally only intended for a 7 season run. I was not a fan of this series when it first came out, and only started to follow the series after it had aired for 2 seasons, and I was not disappointed. After a few episodes, I was hooked to the series, and especially loved the narrator, Mary Alice, played by Brenda Strong, where her death triggered the series. Among all the housewives, she is the most mysterious, as though the mystery behind her suicide was eventually revealed in the Season one finale, there were still many unanswered questions regarding her past and through the seasons, I believe they would be answered one by one.
Currently, the series is showing Season 5, set 5 years into the future, and the mystery is revolving around Edie Britt’s new husband, Dave Williams, who has returned to Wisteria Lane with revenge on his mind. So far, this season has been quite entertaining, with some episodes living up to its name of being the most watched drama. However, the mystery for this season appears to be quite simple and not as mysterious as the past 4 seasons where viewers are unable to determine the whole truth until the season finale. And with Nicolette’s departure soon, her character Edie Britt would be killed off, making the series lose one of its star characters. I can only hope the mystery will have some kind of surprising twist like the past 4 seasons, and wow us once again with its original magic. One of the highlights of this season so far was seeing Brenda Strong appear as Mary Alice in the series’ 100th episode. Usually, her appearances in the past few seasons, with exception from Season one, is very brief, and viewers might just miss it, as she appears only in flashbacks and dream sequences. However, in the 100th episode, she actually appears for about ten minutes in the episode, and if you haven’t seen Mary Alice before, you certainly wouldn’t miss it this time. It is also through this episode we get to know a little more to the day she killed herself, and one can’t help but feel sad for one of our well loved housewife.
Ultimate verdict: This is by yet, one of the most well received TV series in the states, maintaining its high ratings even at the fifth season, and I am strongly supporting the network’s decision to let it have a 9 season run. We all need a little desperation humor now and then.
Heroes
This series is also one of the highly watched series ever since it was introduced, and the first season contained lots of adrenaline episodes that made viewers want to keep on watching. Since season two, the series had started to decline in ratings, and now currently into season three, creator Tim Kring is hoping the ratings will go back up. Now airing volume Four: Fugitives, the plot moves on to Nathan working with the President to capture those with abilities and putting them in a facility, with his justification that these people are dangerous. This course of action puts our favorite heroes on the run, thus making them fugitives, and also dwells into our favourite villain, Sylar, making a journey to learn more about his past. Personally, I agree that Season Three’s plot is an improvement from Season Two, however, it has sort of lost its edge, and adrenaline when compared to Season One. While the plot in Season Three is generally interesting, it doesn’t give me the strong urge to want to know what happens next, as compared to Season One. This could probably account for the declining ratings in Season Three over in the States. While NBC has renewed the series for a fourth season, we can only hope the writing will improve with the upcoming episodes.
Ultimate verdict: This used to be a brilliant show, and I hate to see such a potentially good show go down the drain. I can only hope with the return of director, Bryan, the series can earn back its viewers as in my opinion, this series has the potential to go for at least a total of 5 to 6 seasons.
Brothers And Sisters
Whoever thought that family drama could be so popular among the US audience? Indeed, the highlight of this series was watching the Walker family bicker and argue every episode and then apologize to each other by the end of the episode. For such a series, the teleplay must be good, and I have to admit, the writers for the dialogue are good, as a lot of the arguments really set one thinking, and more often than not, one party always loses in the argument. The other highlight of the series is that one of the key characters of the series, Kevin Walker, is gay, and the gay audience can look forward to plots regarding his love life and how he eventually marries Scotty by the second season finale. The series is currently into its third season, and word is that one of the key characters, Tommy Walker, will be written off the series due to the fact that the actor playing Tommy, has some personal issues for bad behaviour on the set and from series regular, be reduced to recurring appearances. This series started off with a similar way like its brother series, Desperate Housewives, whereby the story is triggered by the death of someone in the family. In this case, it would be William Walker, the father of the Walkers, and husband to Nora. His death brought his family closer together, and they start to learn his secrets one by one, including the fact that he had a mistress, Holly, and for almost two seasons, the Walkers thought that Holly’s daughter, Rebecca, was their half-sister. We learn that this is not true, and that Rebecca’s biological father was someone else, and that William Walker had another mistress elsewhere, and their real long lost half brother was Ryan Laffety, a character introduced in the middle of season three. While it has been entertaining watching the Walkers bicker among every episode, I would like to see where this series is going. Is there going to be more to this series than just quarreling and learning that they have many half brothers and sisters out there? Because if this keeps up, it’s only a matter of time before this series gets the ax.
Ultimate verdict: This series is apparently well-liked by the people in the States, a series that lasted longer than I expected, and probably would continue to earn its popularity, especially with the recent 2 hour episode drama in the hospital. Who knew Americans like a little family bickle now and then to relieve their everyday stress? Of course, the good teleplay helps too. With the way it’s going, Brothers And Sisters can go on for at least another season or two.
Ugly Betty
A refreshing comedy about an ugly girl finding her place in the world of fashion, inspired by the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Seasons one and two have been great, especially watching Betty juggling between work and family, and her love life. The downside of Season Three currently airing is the change in location of filming. Due to this change, several cast members were dropped, like the gorgeous Henry, who played Betty’s love interest for Season One and Two, and her other guy, Gio, whom she met during Season Two. I really felt that Betty and Henry were a very compatible couple, and to split them up was certainly heartbreaking. While the third season continues to keep up with hilarious antics by Betty and the rest of the cast members, I feel that the show has lost a little of its edge, and probably explains why ABC is temporary putting the series on hold and only finishing its run a few months later than scheduled. Besides, the third season has no real major story arc like the first two seasons, which does not give viewers something to look forward to. Also, one of the characters, Christina, is also leaving the show, and I suppose one of the reasons could be due to the fact that her character is getting more and more redundant with each episode. If not for the fact that she was Wilemania’s surrogate, Christina wouldn’t even have any reason to be on the series!
Ultimate verdict: The series has been renewed for a fourth season, and truthfully, this is an enjoyable series, with the potential to last a few more seasons as it is light-hearted, funny, and clever. There’s also the constant family values being preached from time to time, and showing how even the less beautiful people can also accomplish things as well as the rich and famous.
Supernatural
This is one of the rare shows that features two guys as the lead, fighting evil and magic, and I have to admit, I didn’t have much faith initially in the series. However, the series is now into its fourth season, and I have to say, the two brothers are hot! Especially Sam, who has a well muscled six-packed body! The few episodes that have him topless were priceless and to die for. That aside, the series actually has fresh and original ideas as the two brothers go demon hunting almost every episode, the story arc for the past 3 seasons was about them going in search of their father, finding out why their mother was killed, and learning about Sam’s destiny in all of these. In the latest season, Dean has been revived by the arch-angel, Castiel, apparently needing him by God to help in the battle against Lucifier, who would be free if the 66 seals containing him was opened. The series’s creator has stated that he has penned the series to only last for 5 seasons and will end it on a high note. However, I would think that the series has the potential to go on for another season or two if the plot is good. Why end it so soon if the series does well? Especially with two hot looking brothers?
Ultimate verdict: This series has the potential to last for 6 seasons or more, depending on the ratings, and I hope the creator will consider the ratings and extend the series
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
I was not a fan of the Terminator series, in fact, I never even caught the first three movies. However, when this series came out, I was intrigued as I never thought they could make it into a TV series, and with Summer Glau as the gorgeous terminator sent to protect John Connor, I was even more drawn to the series. Having watched Summer Glau fight in the movie, Serenity, I looked forward to her fight scenes in the series. This was a series set after the events of the second Terminator movie, but before the third. Mostly, the creator stayed true to the movie, but yet had leeway to create a universe of his own, allowing the writers to write another possible future for John Connor and his family. Since the title of the series is about Sarah and not solely just on John and the terminators, Sarah herself does get spotlight episodes from time to time, and the series will see episodes dedicated to each of the series’ regulars, from John, Sarah, Summer Glau’s character, Cameron, and John’s uncle, Reese.
With each episode, I am growing to like the series, as for an action packed genre, the series has a lot of character development, as this series is basically talking about Sarah and John’s efforts to prevent Skynet from destroying mankind in the future. Though the series’s first season contained only 9 episodes due to the Writer’s strike, the second season has been given the green light by Fox for a full season of 22 episodes. The writing is good, and though there are some episodes with little to no action, I don’t exactly complain as the teleplay is good, and viewers get to understand the characters much better. I will definitely support this series.
Ultimate verdict: I am really starting to like this series, and minus the few episodes where nothing happened and all we got were Sarah’s dreams and more talking, this series really does have good writing, and it’s just that it takes longer for things to happen due to character development. Since the second season, I watched each episode with anticipation, wondering what was going to happen next, and what the writers had in store for us. I truly hope the series will get a renewal for a third season.
90210
This is the 4th spin - off of the ever popular Beverly Hills 90210 that made Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty the hottest teen stars way back in the 1990s. I did catch a few episodes of this popular series back then, which ran for 10 seasons before coming to a close. The high school drama must be so popular that they revived it for a 4th spin - off featuring a new set of family, and the latest generation of high school problems. We have the three female lead characters, Annie, Silver and Naomi, a fresh set of girls with their own girl issues and fun. There’s also some hot guys like Ethan and Tyler there to make girls drool. To add power to the series, old stars from the original series like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty will reprise their roles as Kelly and Brenda. Even Tori Spelling will reprise her role as Donna later in the season, and so far, the first season is set at 24 episodes. The series is quite entertaining so far, and it’s quite interesting to watch old characters come to the screen again. I suppose high school drama will always be entertaining to watch as we watch the kids deal with issues like pregnancy, sex, drugs, betrayal, high school dances and much more. Since I missed the original series, I am determined to follow up with the latest spin off and see where this goes. I just hope the original casts continue to lend their support from time to time as these new stars need time for viewers to get used to them.
Ultimate verdict: I am surprised that not only has this series gotten a full 24 episode order for the first season, it has been renewed for a second season! While this series is entertaining, the theme of the series is kind of ‘been there, done that’. I mean, isn’t ten seasons of the original ‘Beverly Hills 902010’ enough? Why do we yet another spin off of an original series? While they gotten back Brenda, Kelly and even Donna, how long can the writers keep the viewers watching with recycled plots and non attractive stars? We can only stay tuned and find out.
Legend Of The Seeker
This is a new series spawned from famous author, Terry Goodkind for his Sword of Truth series. Being a fan of the author myself, I was excited when I heard of this new series being produced. The first season is actually based loosely on Terry’s first book, Wizard’s First Rule. The reason the title of the series is changed as the writers of the series felt that it was too restrictive for them to come up with plots outside its context and thus revised it to be Legend Of The Seeker. Avid readers will see that while as a whole, the plot stays true to the book, there are several episodes completely written out of context that has nothing in relation with the first book, but staying true to the legend.
Ultimate verdict: I enjoy watching this series, and hope that the writes don’t spoil it for us by coming up with larger than life plots. So far, it has been believable and good, with an attractive lead, and a beautiful actress as the Mother Confessor. Avid readers of Terry’s novel have to learn and accept the series is merely taking thin plots in and out of the book, and not following closely to the first novel. In fact, the plot about the ungifted, which was only written in Terry’s 7th novel, is already in episode 16 of the series! I will continue to support the series as it has been renewed for a second season. Hopefully, they will not stray too far from the novel or readers will definitely complain.
Desperate Housewives
One of the highly watched series currently, the series has been set to run for 9 seasons, as confirmed by ABC, originally only intended for a 7 season run. I was not a fan of this series when it first came out, and only started to follow the series after it had aired for 2 seasons, and I was not disappointed. After a few episodes, I was hooked to the series, and especially loved the narrator, Mary Alice, played by Brenda Strong, where her death triggered the series. Among all the housewives, she is the most mysterious, as though the mystery behind her suicide was eventually revealed in the Season one finale, there were still many unanswered questions regarding her past and through the seasons, I believe they would be answered one by one.
Currently, the series is showing Season 5, set 5 years into the future, and the mystery is revolving around Edie Britt’s new husband, Dave Williams, who has returned to Wisteria Lane with revenge on his mind. So far, this season has been quite entertaining, with some episodes living up to its name of being the most watched drama. However, the mystery for this season appears to be quite simple and not as mysterious as the past 4 seasons where viewers are unable to determine the whole truth until the season finale. And with Nicolette’s departure soon, her character Edie Britt would be killed off, making the series lose one of its star characters. I can only hope the mystery will have some kind of surprising twist like the past 4 seasons, and wow us once again with its original magic. One of the highlights of this season so far was seeing Brenda Strong appear as Mary Alice in the series’ 100th episode. Usually, her appearances in the past few seasons, with exception from Season one, is very brief, and viewers might just miss it, as she appears only in flashbacks and dream sequences. However, in the 100th episode, she actually appears for about ten minutes in the episode, and if you haven’t seen Mary Alice before, you certainly wouldn’t miss it this time. It is also through this episode we get to know a little more to the day she killed herself, and one can’t help but feel sad for one of our well loved housewife.
Ultimate verdict: This is by yet, one of the most well received TV series in the states, maintaining its high ratings even at the fifth season, and I am strongly supporting the network’s decision to let it have a 9 season run. We all need a little desperation humor now and then.
Heroes
This series is also one of the highly watched series ever since it was introduced, and the first season contained lots of adrenaline episodes that made viewers want to keep on watching. Since season two, the series had started to decline in ratings, and now currently into season three, creator Tim Kring is hoping the ratings will go back up. Now airing volume Four: Fugitives, the plot moves on to Nathan working with the President to capture those with abilities and putting them in a facility, with his justification that these people are dangerous. This course of action puts our favorite heroes on the run, thus making them fugitives, and also dwells into our favourite villain, Sylar, making a journey to learn more about his past. Personally, I agree that Season Three’s plot is an improvement from Season Two, however, it has sort of lost its edge, and adrenaline when compared to Season One. While the plot in Season Three is generally interesting, it doesn’t give me the strong urge to want to know what happens next, as compared to Season One. This could probably account for the declining ratings in Season Three over in the States. While NBC has renewed the series for a fourth season, we can only hope the writing will improve with the upcoming episodes.
Ultimate verdict: This used to be a brilliant show, and I hate to see such a potentially good show go down the drain. I can only hope with the return of director, Bryan, the series can earn back its viewers as in my opinion, this series has the potential to go for at least a total of 5 to 6 seasons.
Brothers And Sisters
Whoever thought that family drama could be so popular among the US audience? Indeed, the highlight of this series was watching the Walker family bicker and argue every episode and then apologize to each other by the end of the episode. For such a series, the teleplay must be good, and I have to admit, the writers for the dialogue are good, as a lot of the arguments really set one thinking, and more often than not, one party always loses in the argument. The other highlight of the series is that one of the key characters of the series, Kevin Walker, is gay, and the gay audience can look forward to plots regarding his love life and how he eventually marries Scotty by the second season finale. The series is currently into its third season, and word is that one of the key characters, Tommy Walker, will be written off the series due to the fact that the actor playing Tommy, has some personal issues for bad behaviour on the set and from series regular, be reduced to recurring appearances. This series started off with a similar way like its brother series, Desperate Housewives, whereby the story is triggered by the death of someone in the family. In this case, it would be William Walker, the father of the Walkers, and husband to Nora. His death brought his family closer together, and they start to learn his secrets one by one, including the fact that he had a mistress, Holly, and for almost two seasons, the Walkers thought that Holly’s daughter, Rebecca, was their half-sister. We learn that this is not true, and that Rebecca’s biological father was someone else, and that William Walker had another mistress elsewhere, and their real long lost half brother was Ryan Laffety, a character introduced in the middle of season three. While it has been entertaining watching the Walkers bicker among every episode, I would like to see where this series is going. Is there going to be more to this series than just quarreling and learning that they have many half brothers and sisters out there? Because if this keeps up, it’s only a matter of time before this series gets the ax.
Ultimate verdict: This series is apparently well-liked by the people in the States, a series that lasted longer than I expected, and probably would continue to earn its popularity, especially with the recent 2 hour episode drama in the hospital. Who knew Americans like a little family bickle now and then to relieve their everyday stress? Of course, the good teleplay helps too. With the way it’s going, Brothers And Sisters can go on for at least another season or two.
Ugly Betty
A refreshing comedy about an ugly girl finding her place in the world of fashion, inspired by the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Seasons one and two have been great, especially watching Betty juggling between work and family, and her love life. The downside of Season Three currently airing is the change in location of filming. Due to this change, several cast members were dropped, like the gorgeous Henry, who played Betty’s love interest for Season One and Two, and her other guy, Gio, whom she met during Season Two. I really felt that Betty and Henry were a very compatible couple, and to split them up was certainly heartbreaking. While the third season continues to keep up with hilarious antics by Betty and the rest of the cast members, I feel that the show has lost a little of its edge, and probably explains why ABC is temporary putting the series on hold and only finishing its run a few months later than scheduled. Besides, the third season has no real major story arc like the first two seasons, which does not give viewers something to look forward to. Also, one of the characters, Christina, is also leaving the show, and I suppose one of the reasons could be due to the fact that her character is getting more and more redundant with each episode. If not for the fact that she was Wilemania’s surrogate, Christina wouldn’t even have any reason to be on the series!
Ultimate verdict: The series has been renewed for a fourth season, and truthfully, this is an enjoyable series, with the potential to last a few more seasons as it is light-hearted, funny, and clever. There’s also the constant family values being preached from time to time, and showing how even the less beautiful people can also accomplish things as well as the rich and famous.
Supernatural
This is one of the rare shows that features two guys as the lead, fighting evil and magic, and I have to admit, I didn’t have much faith initially in the series. However, the series is now into its fourth season, and I have to say, the two brothers are hot! Especially Sam, who has a well muscled six-packed body! The few episodes that have him topless were priceless and to die for. That aside, the series actually has fresh and original ideas as the two brothers go demon hunting almost every episode, the story arc for the past 3 seasons was about them going in search of their father, finding out why their mother was killed, and learning about Sam’s destiny in all of these. In the latest season, Dean has been revived by the arch-angel, Castiel, apparently needing him by God to help in the battle against Lucifier, who would be free if the 66 seals containing him was opened. The series’s creator has stated that he has penned the series to only last for 5 seasons and will end it on a high note. However, I would think that the series has the potential to go on for another season or two if the plot is good. Why end it so soon if the series does well? Especially with two hot looking brothers?
Ultimate verdict: This series has the potential to last for 6 seasons or more, depending on the ratings, and I hope the creator will consider the ratings and extend the series
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
I was not a fan of the Terminator series, in fact, I never even caught the first three movies. However, when this series came out, I was intrigued as I never thought they could make it into a TV series, and with Summer Glau as the gorgeous terminator sent to protect John Connor, I was even more drawn to the series. Having watched Summer Glau fight in the movie, Serenity, I looked forward to her fight scenes in the series. This was a series set after the events of the second Terminator movie, but before the third. Mostly, the creator stayed true to the movie, but yet had leeway to create a universe of his own, allowing the writers to write another possible future for John Connor and his family. Since the title of the series is about Sarah and not solely just on John and the terminators, Sarah herself does get spotlight episodes from time to time, and the series will see episodes dedicated to each of the series’ regulars, from John, Sarah, Summer Glau’s character, Cameron, and John’s uncle, Reese.
With each episode, I am growing to like the series, as for an action packed genre, the series has a lot of character development, as this series is basically talking about Sarah and John’s efforts to prevent Skynet from destroying mankind in the future. Though the series’s first season contained only 9 episodes due to the Writer’s strike, the second season has been given the green light by Fox for a full season of 22 episodes. The writing is good, and though there are some episodes with little to no action, I don’t exactly complain as the teleplay is good, and viewers get to understand the characters much better. I will definitely support this series.
Ultimate verdict: I am really starting to like this series, and minus the few episodes where nothing happened and all we got were Sarah’s dreams and more talking, this series really does have good writing, and it’s just that it takes longer for things to happen due to character development. Since the second season, I watched each episode with anticipation, wondering what was going to happen next, and what the writers had in store for us. I truly hope the series will get a renewal for a third season.
90210
This is the 4th spin - off of the ever popular Beverly Hills 90210 that made Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty the hottest teen stars way back in the 1990s. I did catch a few episodes of this popular series back then, which ran for 10 seasons before coming to a close. The high school drama must be so popular that they revived it for a 4th spin - off featuring a new set of family, and the latest generation of high school problems. We have the three female lead characters, Annie, Silver and Naomi, a fresh set of girls with their own girl issues and fun. There’s also some hot guys like Ethan and Tyler there to make girls drool. To add power to the series, old stars from the original series like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty will reprise their roles as Kelly and Brenda. Even Tori Spelling will reprise her role as Donna later in the season, and so far, the first season is set at 24 episodes. The series is quite entertaining so far, and it’s quite interesting to watch old characters come to the screen again. I suppose high school drama will always be entertaining to watch as we watch the kids deal with issues like pregnancy, sex, drugs, betrayal, high school dances and much more. Since I missed the original series, I am determined to follow up with the latest spin off and see where this goes. I just hope the original casts continue to lend their support from time to time as these new stars need time for viewers to get used to them.
Ultimate verdict: I am surprised that not only has this series gotten a full 24 episode order for the first season, it has been renewed for a second season! While this series is entertaining, the theme of the series is kind of ‘been there, done that’. I mean, isn’t ten seasons of the original ‘Beverly Hills 902010’ enough? Why do we yet another spin off of an original series? While they gotten back Brenda, Kelly and even Donna, how long can the writers keep the viewers watching with recycled plots and non attractive stars? We can only stay tuned and find out.
Legend Of The Seeker
This is a new series spawned from famous author, Terry Goodkind for his Sword of Truth series. Being a fan of the author myself, I was excited when I heard of this new series being produced. The first season is actually based loosely on Terry’s first book, Wizard’s First Rule. The reason the title of the series is changed as the writers of the series felt that it was too restrictive for them to come up with plots outside its context and thus revised it to be Legend Of The Seeker. Avid readers will see that while as a whole, the plot stays true to the book, there are several episodes completely written out of context that has nothing in relation with the first book, but staying true to the legend.
Ultimate verdict: I enjoy watching this series, and hope that the writes don’t spoil it for us by coming up with larger than life plots. So far, it has been believable and good, with an attractive lead, and a beautiful actress as the Mother Confessor. Avid readers of Terry’s novel have to learn and accept the series is merely taking thin plots in and out of the book, and not following closely to the first novel. In fact, the plot about the ungifted, which was only written in Terry’s 7th novel, is already in episode 16 of the series! I will continue to support the series as it has been renewed for a second season. Hopefully, they will not stray too far from the novel or readers will definitely complain.