John From Cincinnati Cancelled

crap!!! hbo has announced that they have cancelled the very good John From Cincinnati after one season. this sucks... not only was it a good show, but it had been getting better as the season has progressed.

this isn't the first time david milch (the brilliant creator of the show) has had a show cancelled by hbo. he was also the man behind Deadwood - at least that show made it through season three

i know they are getting desperate for another big, marquee-type show with the end of The Sopranos and before that Six Feet Under and Sex And the City before that. and with other networks like showtime and fx on their heels with some high-quality programming of their own. however, that doesn't make it all better.

anyway, i guess there isn't much more to say here beyond my disappointment with hbo

Season Finales: The Shield & Weeds

ya, ya, i know i am a little behind, but since i don't get fx or showtime with my cable package (i don't know if any package in canada provides them) i have to catch up with some of my favorite shows on a bit of a delay. with that out of the way, i can tell you all that this week i finished season 3 of Weeds and season 6 of The Shield, and all i have to say is WOW!

especially for The Shield: last seasons finale was crazy and i didn't know how they were going to play this season out. then when macky found out who really killed lem and with only a few days left before he was going to be forced out, again i wasn't sure where they were going to take it. but they took it to some good and dark places. having shane playing both sides of the armenian mob and then having to protect macky's family was all intense, good stuff. not that you need a recap of the whole season. but lets just say it was another great one and keeps it easily in my top 5 favorite shows on tv. i was really disappointed that it was only a 10 episode season.

as for Weeds: season three was another good season and i liked how the whole married-to-the-fbi thing went sour. and of course justin kirk as the brother-in-law is always great (just now with two less toes). as for the season finale, the last 10 minutes were awesome! with the two gangs with the guns pointed at our 'heroes' and her on the phone with her son with the pot in his trunk and the perfect score/music playing, and then the police arriving at the car... that was some great stuff.

Weeds season three is just a couple months away, so don't forget to check that out and for the Shield you will have to wait till 2008.

FX Is All Set

fx began its life years ago as a run-of-the-mill cable channel showing 20th century fox movies and reruns of fox television shows (i'm talking about after the whole fx live and interactive thing before that). however, today it has created quite a line-up of original programming that is second to none (not even hbo).

i bring this up in the context of the network just having announced a second season pickup of both Dirt (haven't watched it yet) and The Riches (great show). not only that, but they have also set their schedule for the rest of 07-08 as far as their other shows go as well. - check out a few more details here.

No Ragging On these Riches

i finally got around to watching the pilot episode of fx's new show, The Riches (i know it is late, but there is a lot of tv to watch people). anyway, needless to say i really liked it.

the show stars eddie izzard and minnie driver as a husband and wife who, with their kids, have spent their lives as con artitsts/moden gypsies. However, izzard has started to have a change of heart/midlife and spiritual crisis and decides that things need to change. this leads to the family taking over the identity of another couple and trying to live their lives: as izzard's character says, and it is a great line, "we are going to steal the american dream."

this is a dark comedy/dramady with strong writing an original concept, wit, interlligence and a very engaging cast - especially izzard who is wonderful. the opening scene at a high school reunion is a great way to jump into the show.

it is only the pilot, but it was a good one and one that seems to bode well for another smart and interesting show on fx, which is becoming quite a strong player in the quality-cable-tv wars with shows like The Shield, Rescue Me, Nip Tuck and now this. hbo better watch out - and showtime isn't looking to shabby either these days with the likes of Dexter, The Tudors and Weeds.

this is another show that i will definitely be checking out more episodes to see if it continues to live up to the promise of the pilot.

grade: A

Shields Up

The Shield on DVD

with all the hype surrounding the start of the final nine episodes of The Sopranos, the 6th season premier of The Shield on fx might have been missed by many out there. or at least it hasn't gotten the hype it deserves.

the show, about a team of corrupt l.a. cops is one of the best shows on tv and it has been consistently good throughout its 5 seasons already. in case you aren't completely caught up i don't want to give away how season five ended, but needless to say it was intense and season six has picked right up where it left off last year.

forest whitaker is back this season, playing the internal affairs detective determined to bring down michael chiklis' character, vic makay, if it is the last thing he does. while the main characters, makay and his crew, are bad and corrupt the show manages to make you root for them (and this is a guy, makay, who we saw murder another cop in the pilot episode).

a lot of that has to do with the idea that they are doing bad things to bad people (except for the cop of course): they might take money from drug dealers to let them ply their trade and they might kill and forgo the law in order to cover up their misdoings, but if someone is dealing drugs to kids or importing a mass amount of weapons into the country, etc... they are right there knocking down doors and knocking in faces to get the bad guy. and you don't want to mess with their families - they have a strong moral code (albeit a very selfish one most of the time) but it works to complete the picture of who these guys are. things aren't black and white and playing in that gray area is one reason the show is so good. (the characters are based on actual l.a. cops who were convicted on many charges years ago, and i have heard that the the cops on The Shield are not as bad as the real ones they are based on)

of course there is also the great acting, writing, directing and the hand held camera work that adds to the intensity of the show.

if you are a fan of the show then i'm sure you were right there when season six started a few weeks ago, and if you haven't been watching it then get yourself all the past seasons on dvd and catch up before you start watching season six. enjoy!!!

grade: A+

Last Week Of Donnelly's On Television

so as i told you a couple days ago, The Black Donnelly's is getting canned. while that was initially supposed to happen in a couple weeks, nbc has announced that it will happen a week early. which means that two nights ago was the last airing on tv. i say it like that because the remaining six or so episodes will be streamed on nbc.com - that's at least something, but it doesn't make me less angry at nbc for canceling a quality show.

i was thinking that it would be great if fx or hbo or showtime picked it up, as it is the kind of show that feels like it should be on one of those networks. alas, i don't see it happening though.