One of the two biggest problems with the first season of BBC’s new Robin Hood series arises early on in the first episode: why go for a young Robin Of Loxley (Jonas Armstrong), when it is clearly stated he’s coming home from The Crusades? When one thinks of the two past Hood incarnations, the strangely good/bad flavor of 1990’s Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and the much underrated TV film from 1991 with Patrick Bergin, we sort of expect at least, that Robin look like he’s closer to 30 years of age, then opposed to in his 20’s. Yet, as the new BBC show progresses, that little issue is swept under a rug, as the series warms the viewer over with charm. So what are the other two problems?
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While the 3rd season of Smallville felt like a step back, the 4th season gets the series back on course. Creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar take their biggest creative leap from the original sources with the arrival of Lois Lane. Played by Erica Durance, this version of Lois Lane is more spunky, cynical and independent than previous incarnations. Like a great sixth man coming off the bench, Durance brings a raw energy and new life to the series.
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The producers of Smallville have claimed that season three was perhaps the darkest. After viewing all the episodes, I would have to agree. To some extent this season shifts the focus from Clark to Lex, where we watch him struggle with his own demons both internal (madness) and external (his father Lionel). While the relationship between Clark and his biological father Jor-El is inspired from Christian scripture, the relationship between Lex and his father, Lionel, resembles more of a Greek tragedy. Although the third season was ambitious in going a darker route, much of the success of the show was due to its light-hearted humor and over all good nature.
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Heroes has been described as a good series for those who don’t usually like super-heroes. Well, that may be but I do like super heroes and I love Heroes too. I love nothing better than watching seemingly ordinary people discover that they possess special powers like being able to fly or read people’s minds. That’s why I loved the first half of Spiderman I, before he started fighting the Green Goblin and the special effects got out of hand. Heroes, feels like one big first half of Spiderman I

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Cliffhanger endings can either make you more excited for the next installment or make you wish you not wasted eighteen hours of your life in front of the television. The cliffhanger ending of the first season had Clark leaving Chloe at the spring formal in order to save Lana from a deadly tornado. Thankfully, with the first episode, titled Vortex not only picks up where the previous season leaves off, but sets the second season of Smallville to a more dynamic direction.
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People fall under two categories: Superman people and Batman people. Superman people can like Batman and Batman people can like Superman, but they can’t like them equally. Being a Batman person myself, I’ve shrugged off anything dealing with Superman. The only reason why I watched Superman Returns is because it had been a long time since the Man of Steel appeared on the big screen. Like all other Superman films, it was okay. So my enjoyment of Smallville is rather surprising. While building on the Superman mythology, Smallville creatively mixes elements from The X-Files and Dawson’s Creek.
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High quality, highly addictive series appear to be in abundance compared to say ten years ago. Perhaps it is my subjective perception, or perhaps the quality and quantity really has improved, whatever the case, I am very happy to be able to choose between the likes of 24, Lost, Rome, Desperate Housewives, The L Word (no comment on that quality) and now, Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a weird name for a series, but not so weird once I discovered it was taken from the book Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body. Still, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from it or even that it was a medical series when I started watching.It is my most recent addiction.

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I’d heard quite a few things about Firefly before I finally got to see it. About how it was cancelled by Fox but later made into a movie (Serenity, just out here in Europe). About how only 14 episodes were ever made. I knew it had a cult following, but then which sci-fi series doesn’t. What I didn’t know is how much I’d enjoy it.

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It’s always risky to embark upon watching a series that has been hyped as much as Desperate Housewives was, so I postponed watching the pilot episode for as long as possible, hoping to forget the hype. As it turned out, the atmosphere and characters of Desperate Housewives made me forget the hype rather quickly as I was sucked into the surprisingly dark and complex world of suburban Wisteria Lane (a strange name they must have come up with in an attempt to find one that really didn’t exist).
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On hearing the name “Hell’s Angels”, most people are likely to think of thugs on motorcycles cruising over the highway, wearing their brotherhood ‘colours’. Few will know how the Hell’s Angels came to be such a worldwide brotherhood of men on bikes and this 40-minute documentary offers insight into the roots and development of the feared biker-gang.
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