BLOODLINE – Season One

★★★☆

Created by the troika behind FX's legal thriller Damages—Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman—Netflix's Bloodline is a very different show on the surface, but the underlying skeleton's much the same. In both shows, episodes are bookended by flashforwards to events that seem inconceivably shocking, whilst being interrupted by flashbacks that gradually explain character behaviour and the causes of current conflict. It's a great structure to hang a thriller on, but five seasons of diminishing returns with Damages taught me to be cautious about expecting the jigsaw to fit together in a wholly satisfying way...

DAREDEVIL - Season One

★★★★

'Into the Ring' • 'Cut Man' • 'Rabbit in a Snowstorm' • 'In the Blood' • 'World on Fire' • 'Condemned' • 'Stick' • ' Shadows in the Glass' • 'Speak of the Devil' • 'Nelson v. Murdock' • 'The Path of the Righteous' • 'The Ones We Leave Behind' • 'Daredevil'

(Spoiler warning: the following review shouldn't be read if you haven't seen the entirety of season 1, although an effort's been made to avoid ruining the experience by mentioning notable deaths and revealing the ultimate outcome. But still, caution advised...)

I've started my Netflix trial...

Believe it or not, I've only just become a Netflix subscriber this weekend. Although, technically, I'm just on a one month free trial—having been encouraged to give it a go with the release of Daredevil's complete first season on 10 April. And here are my first impressions and thoughts:

Trailer: Netflix's DAREDEVIL

The final trailer for Netflix's DAREDEVIL series has been released, which confirms it's going to be very gritty and they've shunned Marvel's red costume with horns. Unless Matt Murdoch will be donning that outfit towards the end and they're just keeping it secret? Whatever. For now, he's a street ninja. Appreciated seeing footage of Vincent D'Onofrio as nemesis Kingpin this time, too. Does anyone else think the show's logo is tonally at odds with the footage we're seeing, though? The entire 13-episode season will be available to binge on 10 April.

UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT - The Complete First Season

★★★☆

'Kimmy Goes Outside' • 'Kimmy Gets a Job' • 'Kimmy Goes on a Date' • 'Kimmy Goes to the Doctor' • 'Kimmy Kisses a Boy' • 'Kimmy Goes to School' • 'Kimmy Goes to a Party' • 'Kimmy is Bad at Math' • 'Kimmy Has a Birthday' • 'Kimmy's in a Love Triangle' • 'Kimmy Rides a Bike' • 'Kimmy Goes to Court' • 'Kimmy Makes Waffles'

The Office's Ellie Kemper is utterly fantastic in Netflix's UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, playing the eponymous heroine rescued from a doomsday cult, having spent fifteen years living in an underground bunker with three other ladies, later dubbed 'The Indiana Mole Women' by the media. Kimmy's an incredibly naïve but optimistic woman, with a persistently upbeat attitude and desire to break free of her sudden "victim"-status and make something of her 'second life', in the wake of this subterranean rebirth. The entire show's geared towards the notion of positivity overcoming obstacles, as Kimmy's cheerful demeanour and beaming exudes a plucky radiance that sweeps people along to mostly positive ends.

Trailer: Netflix's BLOODLINE

Yes, Netflix have another original series imminent: BLOODLINE. This concerns a wealthy Florida family, who are forced to confront their dark past when the 'black sheep' of the family (Ben Mendelsohn) returns to celebrate the 45th anniversary of his parents' hotel...

Trailer: Netflix's DAREDEVIL

It's our first look at Marvel's newest TV series, streaming exclusively on Netflix. And unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter, DAREDEVIL is a much bigger deal in the comic-book world...

Trailer: Netflix's THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT

It's the first trailer for Netflix's new sitcom THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, created by Tina Fey (30 Rock). It concerns the eponymous woman (Ellie Kemper) who's rescued from a doomsday cult, after spending 15-years in an underground bunker. Adjusting to the modern world, Kimmy gets a job as a nanny for an Upper East Side socialite (Jane Krakowski), and laughs ensue.

Finale reviews: THE AFFAIR (Season 1) • DEREK: THE SPECIAL • THE WRONG MANS

It's the time of year when U.S shows have their mid-season or seasonal finales, and UK shows have Christmas specials that occasionally act as series-enders. So I just thought I would briefly cover three shows I've been watching, that ended very recently...

Newsbuzz: CONSTANTINE cut, Netflix save Tina Fey's cult comedy, Fox adapting GLOBAL FREQUENCY

NBC have refused to give their new supernatural drama CONSTANTINE a "back nine"; additional episodes to take it beyond the thirteen hours commissioned. The show hasn't been cancelled, but it's a sign the network isn't entirely happy with its longterm prospects. Maybe they just see the benefit of a cable-length run, rather than force the writers to crank out more episodes (which does tend to mean a saggy middle, past a natural end-point, in these circumstances). The ratings haven't been abysmal (considering it's in a Friday night timeslot U.S TV abhors) and it's a very marketable show overseas, so I'm optimistic of renewal...

Watch the entire DAREDEVIL panel from New York Comic Con!

Marvel's new Netflix series DAREDEVIL was a highlight of the recent New York Comic Con weekend, and they've kindly uploaded the entire panel (embedded above). It featured stars Charlie Cox (Matt Murdoch/Daredevil), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy), Vincent D'Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin), Bob Gunton (Leland Owlsley), and others.

TRUE BLOOD beauty Deborah Ann Woll joins Netflix's DAREDEVIL

Marvel's Daredevil TV series on Netflix is filling out very nicely. We have Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire) as The Man With No Fear himself, joined by Rosario Dawson (Sin City) in an unspecified role, Elden Hensen (Hunger Games) as best-friend Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson, and Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black) as burly villain Kingpin. And now you can add Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood) as the leading lady, secretary Karen Page, love-interest for Cox's blind lawyer Matt Murdoch. See, I knew the demise of True Blood was a good thing for everybody.

Pilot review: FROM DUSK TILL DAWN – THE SERIES

Back when writer-director Quentin Tarantino was riding high on the double-whammy success of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, he teamed up with Desperado director Robert Rodriguez for a Tex-Mex B-movie that was half fugitive gangster film and half bonkers vampire horror. From Dusk till Dawn (hereafter FDtD) wasn't a huge success upon release in 1996 (making $25m from a $20m budget); but it gained a cult following on video, only to sour the goodwill with two atrocious straight-to-video follow-ups. On that note, it seemed evident FDtD was a one-off cult gem to be savoured by fans of either director. I count myself as being amongst the movie's vocal fans, so didn't want this unlikely TV remake to crash-and-burn. And it didn't, although it certainly confused me...

Question: I still think Netflix's business model is overrated, don't you?

It's a year since Netflix released the first season of House of Cards, and it was most people's first experience with their unique business model: simultaneous, instantaneous, global distribution of every episode to subscribers. It was a game-changer for lots of people, as the idea of an on-demand streaming service creating big-budget, award-winning drama would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. 2013 belonged to Netflix in many ways; at least in terms of their ability to become a talking point in media circles.

Netflix to stream BREAKING BAD spin-off BETTER CALL SAUL overseas

The Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, revolving around Bob Odenkirk's unprincipled lawyer, should be arriving on AMC next year, but it's just been announced that Latin American and European subscribers can stream the episodes on Netflix. The entire season will be made available on Netflix to US and Canadian subscribers after its finale.

Netflix launching four Marvel TV shows: DAREDEVIL, IRON FIST, JESSICA JONES and LUKE CAGE

Marvel dipped their toe into broadcast television with ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which hasn't exactly set the world alight but pulls in around 7m viewers most weeks. A TV show for Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is still on the cards, following the success of the short movie attached to Iron Man 3, but Marvel are now pressing ahead with four 13-episode live-action shows to debut exclusively on Netflix: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage.

DAMAGES creators making the latest Netflix original drama series

Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler (co-creators of the FX/DirecTV legal drama Damages), have earned a 13-episode order for an original series to be produced by Sony Pictures TV and streamed exclusively on Netflix.

My never-ending catch-up pile

I've scaled back blogging to spare my sanity in the past year, but I'm actually watching more TV than ever before. How ironic! The shows I review weekly are either long-standing favourites I can't bring myself to stop writing about after so many years, or things that are just fun to let off steam about (True Blood). There aren't that many new shows that have become regular fixtures for review this year, actually—beyond Hannibal. But I still manage to review lots of US pilots and premieres along the way, so things will get much busier in the autumn. However, I thought I'd quickly go through some of the shows I am watching but haven't blogged about much, if at all...

MSN TV: AMC's BREAKING BAD, 5.9 - 'Blood Money'

Over at MSN today: I've reviewed the incredible mid-season premiere of BREAKING BAD's fifth season, "Blood Money", which is streaming on Netflix UK and Blinkbox soon after its US transmission on AMC.

One of the great television injustices has been Breaking Bad's treatment by UK broadcasters, with Fox (formerly FX) and 5USA doing a poor job publicising it when the series aired here years ago. It's quite simply one of the best TV shows of the past decade, and arguably one of the all-time greats. More accessible than The Wire and more riveting than The Sopranos, Breaking Bad has at least achieved cult status on British shores (thanks to the online community's adoration), and I'm overjoyed Netflix and Blinkbox secured deals to stream the last episodes so close to US transmission. What's more, it has blasted its way back on to AMC, its US cable network home, with record ratings of nearly 6m viewers.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Review: Netflix's ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT - The Complete Fourth Season

written by Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely, Richard Rosenstock, Caroline Williams, Dean Lorey, Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton / directed by Mitchell Hurwitz & Troy Miller

It's relatively common for British shows to continue past 'cancellation', if only as irregular specials (The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools & Horses). Many UK shows even have long gaps between runs, too, such as Fawlty Towers--where four years separates its two series. Owing to its more business-like nature, cancelled television shows don't get revived as often in the US with the same cast or crew involved; and if they do it's usually because they were highly successful once (Dallas, 24), and not low-rated commercial flops a niche audience adored. That said, things are changing in the wake of Veronica Mars getting a $5.7m movie through Kickstarter donations, and the rise of on-demand providers looking for exclusive shows with a ready-made online fanbase...