The Office (US) Season 4

Season 4 of The Office now viewed. This was the season that was heavily affected by the wriers strike so we only got 14 episodes. This series was probably the best I've seen so far, lots of character development and Pam and Jim together at last!

My two favourite episodes in this season came back to back and featured the troubled relationship between Micheal and Jan. Deposition (Episode 8) was hilarious thanks to Micheal cocking up the interview for Jan's lawsuit against Dunder Mifflin for unfair dismissal. But it was also pretty sad when Micheal got to hear that Jan did not rate him as a manager and that David Wallace (DM head honcho) didn't really consider him as a serious contender for Jan's old job. We also got to see how little Jan cared about Micheal when she submitted his personal diary as evidence in the lawsuit. But in between the sadder moments we got some comic gems like when Micheal drops his catchphrase 'that's what she said' during the lawsuit hearing and then tried to back track without much luck.

The following episode titled 'Dinner Party' delves deeper in to Micheal and Jan's strained relationship. This is very much apparent during the 'tour' of the house where it's obvious Jan dominates and Micheal is forced to the sidelines. In quite a sad moment, it is revealed that Micheal sleeps on a stool at the foot of the bed whilst Jan takes the whole bed because she has 'space issues' Things steadily get worse as the night goes on and Dwight invites himself dragging along his old babysitter as his date! Things eventually spill over and Jan smashes Micheal's beloved plasma TV with his beloved Dundie award!

One other person who really came in to prominence this season was former office temp turned high flying exec - Ryan. As the season wore on, the now semi-bearded Ryan went from trying to do his job well to grade A douchebag. In the epsiode 'Night Out' we learn that Ryan is a drug addict and gets his ass whooped by a bunch of girls. But Ryan gets his just desserts when he is arrested in the season finale for fraud and carted off by the cops. Goodbye Ryan and goodbye Dunder Mifflin Infinity!

The season finale saw the exit of a Dunder Mifflin regular Tobey as he headed off for Costa Rica, but not before he was given a rock with a note saying 'suck on this' from Micheal! Talking of Tobey, he was involved in one the most akward moments of the season when he patted Pam on the knee which turned out to be a full on grope! Tobey's replacement Holly, played by the awesome Amy Ryan (she's awesome because anyone who was on The Wire automatically becomes awesome!) clicks with Micheal despite a shaky start. The best part of Amy's debut was her interaction with Kevin who she thinks is 'special' thanks to some misinformation from Dwight!

Series 5 is shaping up to be a cracker thanks to the introduction of Holly and the fact that Jan is pregnant (even though Micheal is not the father) Plus what will become of the love triangle that is Andy - Angela - Dwight! And will Jim get to propose to Pam?

Chuck

Chuck has surey got to be the best show on TV right now. Not only is Zachary Levi excellent as the geek turned spy, but we get to see Yvonne Strahovsky get dressed (and undressed) every week!

Spoilers!

Being one of those people who doesn't get around to watching shows until long fater they have aired, spoilers have become a major problem. After I watch a really good episode of a TV show, I like to go on line and find a decent review of the show and see if others had the same opinion as I. It's also a good way of picking up things you may have missed the first time round.

Unfortunately, I seem to inadvertently find things out that I really shouldn't. So here's a few things I have spoiled for myself by web browsing and unwittingly clicking on links that revealed something I really didn't want to know! The spoilers in RED are the ones I have yet to see!

The Shield
Lem's death (Wikipedia)
The end of Monica Rawlings (TV Squad)
Shane kills himself and his family (TV Squad)
Julien joins the Strike Team (Wikipedia)

House
Cameron and Chase get together (TV without Pity)
House loses his cane (TV Squad)

Bones
Dr Zach Addy assists a serial killer (Wikipedia)
Booth & Boone share a snog (Sky One)

The Apprentice UK
Firing of Paula (Radio 5 Live)

Hell's Kitchen
Paul and Danny the final 2 (TV without Pity)

The Apprentice US
Joan Rivers in the final (possibly the winner) (TV without Pity)

The Office
Micheal Scott leaves Dunder Mifflin

I'm sure there is plenty more, so I will update this post when I can.

The Shield

Just finished watching Series 4 and 5 of the Shield and I have to say they were amazing. At the start of Season 4 we find the Strike Team have split up and gone their own way and Aceveda has now moved on to the council. The new captain of Farmington, Monica Rawling comes in and puts her faith in Vic Mackey to head up her new street team. I think season 4 definitely defined two characters that I was a bit undecided on. Firstly Aceveda showed his true colours and his deal with Antoine Mitchell showed that his ambition of becoming mayor was more important than that of the death of two police officers. Meanwhile, Shane Vendrell proved him to be a prize jack ass. Shane got himself mixed up with Antoine Mitchell and had to be bailed out by Vic otherwise he would have been toast. Glen Close was absolutely brilliant in her role as Monica Rawling and the scene where she realises Aceveda and Phillips have canned her is superb.

Season 5 saw the arrival of Forest Whitaker as IAD officer Kavanagh who turns out to be one of the most hated indiviuals in the history of the Shield and that is all down to Whitakers performance. The war between Whittaker and Mackey is epic and each episode the tension is cranked up a little bit more. The final episode where Lem is killed by Shane was emotional in so many ways, you hated Shane for doing it, but you could also feel his anguish as he felt he had no choice. The Shield is only second to the Wire when it comes to cop shows. And to think, I was brought up watching the Bill!

Britains Got Talent

I'm not a huge fan of reality TV and although I was a little intrigued by the act Signature from last year, I've managed to avoid Britain's Got Talent for the first two seasons. That all changed when I watched an epsiode at work one night and these weird and wonderful people from across the country had me hooked. Watching Susan Boyle was one of those moments of the year that everyone was talking about. The eventual winners Diversity along with their rival dance group Flawless brought us some straight up funky dancing. With father and son combination Stavros Flatley we got the laughs and with Two Grand, the grandfather and grandaughter Opera singing duo we had the emotion.

The Susan Boyle phenomena kicked off shortly after her peformance in round one but the most surprising aspect of her rising fame was how well recieved she was in America. The Yanks went nuts for the Scot culminating in her appearance on Oprah. But along with the instant fame came the reality that some people are not made for that kind of constant media attention and it was soon apparent that Boyle was cracking under the pressure. Meanwhile acts like Diversity and Shaheen (the 12 year old singer) got on with their job without the media frenzy. Diversity brought something fresh in each of their 3 performances and deservedly won the contest. I hear Susan Boyle checked her self in to the Priory shortly after the show ended.

I tried watching the American version the other night, but to be honest, Jerry Springer just doesn't have the same kind of charm as the brilliant Ant and Dec. Roll on next year!