Community [Television Series]

Currently on an unfortunate mid-season hiatus American comedy Community is a show that despite getting off to what i beleive was a bad start in its first series is a brilliant Sitcom that has taken a place in my essential television viewing that i could barely go a week without missing.

It is made in such a fashion that it takes inspiration from overused, tiresome and plot cliché's so recognisably obvious that it makes you want to pull your hair out ... But oh no, Community absolutely hits the nail on the head with this and have produced an absolutely excellent show that leeches of pop culture like theres no tomorrow which of cause we the audience lap up.

Community is a show about an ethnically, gender and race diverse study group that find themselves involved in all the tired cliches Greendale community college puts them in from Halloween zombies to Christmas and Glee clubs there is no end to the over the top situations the group find themselves in. The best thing about Community though is, i genuinly beleive if you look hard enough you'll find a bit of yourself in one of the members of the study group, allbeit the Kind hearted good mother of the group Shriley, sometimes self centered and loverman Jeff Winger or the wise-assed dick Pierce (Played by the brilliant Chevy Chase).

Community is well and truely such an easy going show that you can pick it up from any episode and just sit back and find yourself enthralled within minutes. Although it has its bad moments at times the show has thousand more good. I really reccomend anyone looking for a lighthearted Sitcom to sit down and give Community a chance. I'm only keeping this review short so i'll i guess this is all wrapped up!

Overall grade: A-

The Walking Dead [Television Series]

The Walking Dead is hopefully the start of a new breed of decent TV horror, which is something pretty darn rare that we are often not treated too enough. Judging from the brilliant reception The Walking Dead received after its first series i'd like to hope things are looking up for the genre, i want more zombies and less vampires!

The series follows Rick Grimes a Sherrifs deputy who wakes up in a hospital to a world which has changed more than anybody could of possibly imagined since he slipped into a coma (Where have we seen this before?) after being shot in a shoot-out he searches his surroundings, an abandoned ward with flickering lights, broken down hallways and barricaded doors. As he makes his way through the dark hospital he finds out that he is the only one that's not in a body bag. Everyone he knew and cared for have supposedly gone, the army have clearly lost whatever battle was being fought. Its all very eerie and brilliantly done. If it wasnt for the cliché opening which wasnt exactly original it'd be a perfect start, but hey! that doesnt bother me i was hooked from the second the titles began.

The apocalypse has come plunging the world into chaos with a virus ravaging humanity turning everyone into mindless undead scourge, Grimes is alone and he must come to terms with that and fight his way through the city in an attempt too find his wife and son, who he is certain are still alive the journey begins. I'm not going to give any plot away or talk about what happens in any of the other episodes as i wouldnt want to ruin an brilliant series for any of you that havent seen it.

The Walking Dead focuses on the characters and their emotional journey as much as their physical hardships in which we are treated too very realistic impact and affects of such an freakishly frightening scenario on the people who remain. There is an incredibly impressive balance moving seamlessly between big battle scenes where bullets and brains fly across the screen to dramatic personal intimate moments of grief , all of which are done flawlessly and give us a real feeling of empathy, even for characters we're not even meant to like.

With all that being said, The show does lack some consistancy and could really do with some more in depth character development which i hope we see in series 2, as 6 episodes in series 1 was far from enough, although it certinarly did its job in making me want more. The whole of series 1 has only given me the impression that was just a small taste of whats to come in Series 2 which is due to premier just around the corner in October.

Overall Grade: B+

Spartacus: Blood and Sand [Television Series]

Spartacus: Blood and Sand is without doubt the best thing to come out of 2010 in terms of television. Billed as the most violent and smuttiest show of the year i couldnt resist giving this series a watch especially as i was looking for something to fill the void left since finishing the first series of Game of Thrones (Which i shall review in due course). The show follows Sparticus a Thrascian who is betrayed by the Romans and captured, snatched away from his loving wife and winding up in the house of Batiatus training to be a gladiator, freed only when he has proven himself worthy of such.

The show has received very mixed reviews across the globe with some slamming it as distastefull and over the top, but i say its exactly what we need no television, i honestly dont think i've ever really enjoyed films and tv shows based upon the romans (i.e. Rome) with the film gladiator obviously being the exception. But this is exactly what i wanted too watch. What red blooded male doesnt want too sit through an hour of slow motion fight scenes with decapitations and gnarly deaths, and when we arent seeing epic gladitorial scenes its pretty much soft core porn. Although this as interesting as it may be was used a little too frequently for my liking and most people i've spoken too or read reviews on and left me thinking 'More sex? Jeez.' I'm not quite sure what made them all so sexually charged but my god they loved to screw. 

Of course the series isnt just about that mindless violence and sex, there is a pretty darn good plot behind it too. Not only are we following the trials and tribulations of our hero Spartacus who vows to escape the House of Batiatus any means nesscercary to be reunited with his wife, we follow fellow gladiator and bitter rival of Spartacus Crixus (who goes on to getting his own series in the shows prequel in series 2) and of course the cunning and sly Batiatus and his equally nasty wife Lucretia. We follow their quest for domination upon the city trying to gain access to a high seated political place, with like Sparticus the pair will go to no limits to get what they want, even if it means murder.

The cast in this show are absolutely brillaint with great acting from the likes of Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), John Hannah (Batiatus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), Peter Mensah (Doctore) (Although for an even better performance from Mensah, see series 2) and Nick Tarabay (Ashur). Of course there are coutnless other actors who deserve plaudit for the part they played in this series but i cant give them ALL praise personally.

Finally, a short word for Andy Whitfield who as many fans of the series know was suffering with cancer and was unable to continue filming for the series after series 1 and was on temp leave until he could return after he had fought his illness. Sadly passed away after his battle with Cancer on September 11th 2011. Chris Albrecht, president and chief executive of Starz, said in a statement, “The man who played a champion on-screen was also a champion in his own life.” Mr. Whitfield faced cancer with “courage, strength and grace,” he said. In addition to his wife, Mr. Whitfield is survived by two children and a sister. In her statement, his wife described him as “our beautiful young warrior.” She said he died in her arms.

Overall Grade: A+