TV Meview 13-14.12.2008

Only one weekend left till Christmas! Am I really going to commit to posting about everything I watch over the next week or two with all the specials and Christmas themed programmes I know my wife and kids are going to want to watch? Bah! Humbug, says I!

Well at least there's one less thing to watch each weeknd for a while now. X-Factor went out with whimper and a wail on Saturday as the person I DIDN'T want to win went ahead and won it. How thoughtless of them. Can I ever pick a winner? Just once?

Although I predicted Eoghan would win it last week my heart was really with JLS. Do we really need another strong voiced female singer belting out yet more pop ballads? Have we not had enough of those this year with Beyonce, Leona, Gabriella Cilmi, Duffy, Adele and others? I wanted a new generation of boy band to get the win. There's such a dearth of talent in that niche that Westlife could afford to take a year off and let Take That and Boyzone come back and get some love. Okay, so they would have Louis Walsh looking after them so they probably would have ended up sounding just like Boyzone and Westlife, but maybe not.

I liked the choice of single they have for release this year, 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen, appaently. I've not been a fan of the last couple, but out of the two I definitely felt JLS' version was better.

In between the performances and the results show was 'The Girls Aloud Christmas Party'. A total cheesefest purely designed, in my opinion to inspire future talent show contestants that they really can become superstars. It was almost a throwback to the kind of 70's shows that people like Cliff Richard used to do where they'd sing songs, on their own or with guests, and have a few 'humourous' sketches peppered in between.

Has variety made its comeback complete? Is Harry Hill the new Benny Hill? Who's going to volunteer to be the new Jim Davidson?

The show wasn't as bad as all that as it relied quite a lot on the Girls Aloud back catalogue and their performances. At the end of the day even if you don't like the music you can't deny they're great to look at!

Sunday was Fringe-less so instead we had to find something else to watch. FX came to our rescue with a couple of episodes a supposedly hit NO.1 US show (although I'm not quite sure how they qualify that as I think it's broadcast on Cable over there). Burn Notice is something I've heard rumours about although I couldn't quite remember what they were.

Upon watching it I realised its probably been championed by rabid Bruce Campbell fans who think this guy is the best actor on Earth. Well, if earth is some sort of 'medicinal herb', like grass, which no-one else in the world partakes of, then yes that would be a correct statement.

Burn Notice came across like the The A-Team or Macgyver, but with Noughties production values, even if it's directorial flourishes were straight from the Eighties.

That said, I can't quite say I didn't enjoy it. Recognising it for what it was meant you could actually suspend your critical faculties and say okay this is just meant to be a bit of fun. Enjoy it!

I don't know where in the series I came in, but by the end of the first episode I knew who everyone was and what their roles were in the show, even if I didn't catch on to the overall plot driving the show until I watched the recap at the beginning of the second of the episodes.

This might keep me going till Fringe returns. My wife liked it too, so if we can usually agree on something then it ends up getting watched regularly.

Come the new year though Sundays are going to be all about the Abrams!


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