Sixty Second Review

Absolute comedy genius this week and what a great start to season two of The IT Crowd. How do Moss & Roy get themselves into such outrageous situations? When attending a gay musical with a workmate who appears to fancy Jen but a few signs point to him being homosexual. Once at the musical Moss & Roy get stage fright while going to the toilet because of the attendant. We see Roy use the disabled toilet and pull on the alarm thinking it was the flusher.

I haven't laughed this hard or long in a quite some time. Brilliant writing, quirky characters and outrageous situations had me laughing nonstop for the entire length of this episode. Comedy this funny is few and far between.

I was worried that the writers may have run out of material after season 1, but they have come back stronger than ever and have set the bar very high for the rest of the episodes.

I cannot recommend this show highly enough. This is a show that you can't afford to miss.

I really enjoyed the first few episodes of New Amsterdam, the idea was some what fresh and gave the writers had a lot to play with. We all enjoy visiting the past and seeing what was and John's 400 years gives us a lot of opportunities to do that. New Amsterdam started off really strong but fell into a rut mid season. The whole show is resting on the shoulders of one actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who plays the lead character. The supporting cast are left in John Amsterdam's shadow with no outstanding performances.

The show lacks a strong sense of humour, which would really help pull the show together. The show is similar to Joss Whedon's "Angel" in some respects (minus the blood drinking). But at times New Amsterdam takes itself a little too seriously.

The season was cut short due to Fox and the writers strike which was another sore point for New Amsterdam. It crippled the show, not having a full run to capture an audience and left viewers brooding with a lack of closure with a story ending half way through.

Only time will tell if John Amsterdam will be able to continue his quest to find his one true love and gain mortality... If we hear the news either way we will let you know.

After discovering last week that this was going to be the final episode I had my hopes up for something worthy of a season finale. I find myself sorely disappointed, this episode was just another normal week in John's life, nothing extraordinary. But I think we have Fox and the writers strike to blame. As I believe that 13 episodes were ordered but the rest were canceled after episode 8. So this would explain why things were left so 'open'.

Again we get a peek at John's darker side, good to see that he hasn't used his powers for good for his entire life. His play fight with his captain was predictable, but really what got my back up was the fact that the owner of "Soulmates" couldn't smell the difference between scotch and apple juice. What this show is missing is a little streak of comedy...

There is no confirmed word if New Amsterdam will be given a green light for season two. Its disappointing that the shows creators didn't get a chance to play out their ideas for a whole 13 episode run. I really hope they had grander ideas than what we have seen so far.

The closing scene is true to form, only an immortal would walk in the middle of a New York City street...

Season 1 of Skins was fresh, something different almost a Dawson's Creek on party drugs. They didn't pull any punches and it was an in your face like it or lump it. Season two took a darker turn, we were confronted with Tony's accident and the group having to deal with his new found disability. The writers were put in a position where they had a shocking ending to season one but had to follow through and deal with the aftermath.

My favourite episode this season would have to be Episode 5 dealing with Chris who would have to be my favourite character. We also discovered mid season that the creator had made the decision to replace the cast every two seasons. Giving us fresh faces and new stories. Fans have come together in an attempt to save the current cast members from being axed. But I'm sure that their fate is already sealed.

Overall the season took a different direction from the first. While it is important that shows evolve as their characters do Skins still managed to stay true to its form. Replacing the cast maybe a risky move and I was disappointed in the way that so many things were left open at the end of this season.

We'll see what the future holds for Skins later this year...

I know what I wanted from the season finale of Skins. I wanted to see the characters deal with Chris's death and for us to farewell the current characters and maybe have a sneak peak into what the furture holds for Season 3 of Skins. But I'm left a little disappointed. In a stupid prank Sid & Tony steal Chris's coffin and have a car chase around town. This was sticking to the 'in your face' comedy styling that Skins is know for. But I have to say that I found it a little distasteful.

Everyone who has graduated High School understands that its the end of an era. Leaving High School is a big deal, your whole world changes. Friends you've know for years part ways and things really are never the same. The episode hang true to that fact.

My complaint about this episode is that things are simply left up in the air, Sid & Cassie's relationship is left unresolved. We don't get to see Tony & Michelle say goodbye. What is Jal doing? It's true that things change once High School is over but it would have made sense to have a final shindig or farewell party before everyone parts ways.

I did enjoy the final scene giving us a chance to farewell the current cast. It would also appear that Effy maybe taking centre stage next season. Although, nothing is confirmed, so maybe they will follow up on Sid & Cassie next season? If we learn anything about next season we will let you know.

But I'm left disappointed overall with the episode, we as viewers need closer. But I'm left with hope that maybe next season we'll see what came of Sid & Cassie. Farewell to the current cast of Skins it's been a journey!

Excellent, after last week's effort Underbelly is back on track. Suffer the Children is exactly what Underbelly should be. The episode was paced well, all the events playing out and well timed. I'd also like to note the lack of sex in this episode. They seem to use Sex Scenes as filler, if there isn't anything exciting happening in the story they use sex as the filler.

The killing of the final Moran brother was brutal exactly as Carl would have wanted it. The crime so heartless and it was portrayed extremely well on screen.

I was starting to loose faith in Underbelly but this week they really delivered. They returned things to original standard of the first few episodes. Great television and I'm proud that it was produced in Australia.

I'm still trying to digest this episode. What a weird hour of television. At first I found myself angry. For the fact that they were playing down the climax of last week's show. A five minute music montage and Chris is right as rain. Cassie is a complex character to say the least. Getting Sid punched in the face on purpose? I enjoyed the Disco scene at her school but this made little sense overall.

Cassie did speak words of truth saying that everyone is "messed" up and that everyone was going to leave and go their separate ways. Chris's mother comes into the picture and Cassie learns that lying to protect the people you love maybe appropriate in some circumstances.

Then Chris dies (which is quite shockingly graphic) and Cassie flees the country before the ambulance crew can even pronounce Chris is dead. We then find ourselves watching Cassie in New York. Look normally I love watching Skins its a wild ride, where you never know where you are going to end up. This episode gave me such mixed emotions.

First I thought that Chris's condition was an effort to jump the shark. Then Cassie was making no sense to anyone. Chris dies, then Cassie finds the money to flee overseas? After she had stolen a shirt for Chris? Plus she had said that she never wanted to leave Sid? For a while there I thought that maybe next season we're going to see a USA version of Skins...

Skins is normally best when you just go with it, don't think or process what you're watching. But this week they missed the mark. Sure everyone is a little messed up, they should have ended things on a high. Not on a depressing note with Cassie running away not being able to face things. Next week looks like its going to focus again on Chris's death.

Its going to be the last episode in which we can farewell the current case of skins as they will be replaced in season three. Please end things on a high note! Its been a great series so far, please don't ruin it!

This week more of John's fairly recent past is revealed. John is reunited with his old partner Andy, to learn of his cancer due to his shooting. (Great to see some old faces this week - Chris Bauer who played Fred in Third Watch & Kristine Sutherland who played Joyce Summers in Buffy).

Reclassified was predictable in parts, particularly the ending. John solves the case and of course Andy dies happy. I think I would have rather seen Andy die with his wife by his side not his old partner who he hasn't spoken to in some time. The story did twist and turn, but not enough for it to be interesting.

The ending scene where John gets shot was surprising, yet expected with the gang boss claiming that he was a dead man. The episode really should have ended there and left us in suspense for next week. But instead we're given a dream sequence which doesn't make any sense and then we see that John is awaking in hospital.

Plus I thought that John's girlfriend "Dr. Sara Dillane" would have reacted to John's shooting with a little more professionalism. She's a doctor she would have inspected the wound while applying pressure while calling 911. Having her scream for help adds more drama but is unrealistic.

Mistakes like this make this show less enjoyable. I look forward to what we will be given for the season finale and if New Amsterdam will be renewed for a second season.

Cloverfield is something different, something that hasn't been done before. A modern day monster movie similar to King Kong or Godzilla but told using a unique point of view similar to Blair Witch. This is what gives Cloverfield its edge, you feel as if you're watching things as they happen. You know as much as the characters do. As the story unfolds you discover everything as the characters with you.

The way that the monster is revealed slowly and the special effects aren't overdone leaves everything feeling raw and real. Clever online marketing built up the hype and tension towards the release of Cloverfield. With the first trailer being shown at the premier of Transformers and being left unnamed. We saw MySpace profiles for the character show up, other mysterious websites all linking into the plot somehow. This all added to the storytelling and is so much more successful than trailers and posters alone.

Cloverfield has so much to offer, everytime I watch Cloverfield I pick up something I missed the last time. The movie is paced perfectly, building up to a climaxes then coming back down for a breather right until the very end. There isn't anything that I didn't like about this movie.

A truly great effort from everyone involved. There is rumours about a second Cloverfield movie next year. They will most likely keep a tight lid on any information as they did for the first movie. But if we hear anything we will let you know.

If you haven't already seen Cloverfield, or if you have seen it only once - I recommend you watch Cloverfield.

Underbelly is starting to loose credibility. At the centre of this week's episode is Moran's underground money loaning operation. Which stags a teenager whose dream it is to open his own hot pie van business. First he is offered the money at no doubt interest free rates by Mrs Williams but declines. He is then declined at the banks... So then when the clear option would be to return to Mrs Williams he goes to a loan shark at and signs up at some stupidly high interest rate... Of course he can't make the repayments and the loan shark takes his grandmother's property as payment. Look, before this he should have went to Mrs Williams and asked to borrow the money and repay the shark. Even when Mrs Williams witnesses the shark taking goods for payment she does nothing but insult the shark. When clearly she should have offered to pay the kids debt.

This is a major plot hole or maybe something that the writers have made up to make us feel more attached... But it seems that they are using this event as the straw that broke the camels back. With Carl now declaring war on the Moran family.

Again I think underbelly is distorting the story too much in order to hype things up to keep us watching. Truth is always better than fiction. I just can't buy that a kid who wanted to start his own business would be so stupid not to see a solution right under his nose and then kill himself, because that wouldn't clear his debt anyway.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You never know what to expect from Skins and this week we have a look at the serious issue of teen pregnancy. Larissa Wilson at the tender age of 19 who plays Jal gives an impressive performance. Cassie plays an almost twisted fairy god mother with her wrapped advice and guidance.

Learning this week that our beloved cast was being replaced come season three shows that they really can really let loose on the characters towards the end of the series. Chris's illness was hinted at mid way through the episode but my attention was instantly pointed back at Jal's condition.

It does have a sense of suddenness about it, we've never been given any clues about Chris's condition before. But again that's what a good twist is all about - you don't see it coming. There is also a hint of resemblance to the story. I can almost predict that Chris will die and Jal will have their child in his memory.

We're getting towards the business end of the series with two episodes left. It will be interesting to see how they wrap things up. I enjoyed this weeks episode but hope we can get back to something less depressing next week.