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Reviews
Covert Affairs (2010)
Lacking in all areas
I really had hoped that this show would be as well done and fun as the recent USA slate (Royal Pains, White Collar,etc) but this show was mediocre at best and just plain bad at worst.
The bloated pilot was all set-up. All of this could have been done in the first half hour so we could get to the meat of the series, Instead we had 75 minutes of boredom and rehashing of spy movie and TV scenes.
Piper Perabo's Annie is as uninteresting as they come. The reason to take her out of training a and swear her into the CIA a month early is ridiculous. With all those pretty and young agents around, not one of them could speak Russian and play a prostitute? Really? I doubt that.
Christopher Gorham, who is always fin to watch, is doing his best imitation of "Mother" (David Strathairn)from the film Sneakers. Kari Matchett is wasted in the role of Annie's boss who is so insecure about her marriage that she uses illegal wiretaps to eavesdrop on her fellow CIA higher-up husband (Peter Gallagher). Hardly original.
Sorry USA, this is a dud. Unless there are major changes in the rest of the series I can't see any reason to watch. We've seen it all before - when it was done better.
100 Questions (2010)
A truly awful show
I love sitcoms. I really do. Both single-camera like Arrested Development, Community, 30 Rock, Modern Family, etc. and Multi-camera like Seinfeld, Mad about You, Friends, Frasier, Cheers, etc. The fact that there were only five multi-cam sitcoms with audiences this past season was sad. The fact that the latest entry, 100 Questions, was supposed to be a comedy was even more sad to me.
The show is primarily and deeply unfunny. There were a couple bits at the end that elicited a small chuckle, but I had to wait almost 22 minutes into a comedy to have a mild laugh. That's bad. The lead is completely unlikeable. There seems to be the thought that as long as she has a British accent, she will be charming is a misnomer. This actress, in this role, is charmless. I can't speak for her in other roles, because I have never seen her before. I cannot comment on the other actors because now, less than 24 hours after having watched it, I cannot remember them at all. That is a bad sign for the producers of this show.
The dialogue was trite, predictable and snore-inducing. Seriously, how did this script get the green-light? The overly sweetened laughter is a massive red-flag. If the audience doesn't laugh when it's performed right in front of them, it won't be more funny if you add canned laughter. How I Met Your Mother has no audience even though it is show multi-cam style, yet it doesn't feel like canned laughter. You guys need to ask them how they do that. Really. Go now.
NBC - you can do much better. MUCH! Have higher standards with scripts, huh? Unlike what some others think, yours is not a dying brand. It WAS a dying brand, but by keeping quality shows like CHUCK, Community, 30 Rock, and The Office even though the ratings aren't super, you are regrowing your brand in the right direction. Keep THAT up - Don't drag it down with this crap.
The Magic Garden (1972)
Brings back such great memories
I grew up in New York and this show came on when I was four-years-old. I had half-day kindergarten and this was on WPIX Channel 11 in the afternoon. I just loved the music and stories and remember humming them around the house when playing.
I just saw part of an episode on YouTube and for a moment I could remember how it felt watching those shows as a small child. I, of course, stopped watching when I got in 1st grade because it was on before school got out (no VCR's or DVR's back then). I grew up, not realizing that the show was still on until I was in 11th grade!
I also had no idea that there are DVD's and wish my nieces and nephews were young enough to enjoy this show, but now they're all past the demographic, or I'd buy all of them DVD sets. This was so much better than a lot of the kid shows today.