TV Picks: 25 February – 3 March 2013 (Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Celebrity Juice, CSI, Cube, Heading Out, Lightfields, Mary & Martha, Oscars 2013, Shameless, etc.)

Below are my weekly picks of the most notable TV shows premiering/returning to UK screens...

10 Things People in TV & Film Never Do

They may look like you and I, but characters on TV and at the movies are a very different species. Below are 10 things fictional people never do, which flies in the face of normal everyday experiences.

Trailer: GAME OF THRONES – season 3

HBO has released a one-minute trailer for the third season of Game of Thrones, which looks mightily impressive. I'm glad I stuck with this show through a dense and occasionally plodding first season, because it's really turned into something very impressive and remarkable. I don't read George R.R Martin's books, but I hear the third is widely considered the best (and season 3 will be tackling the first half of "A Storm of Swords"), so it's time to get excited for the return of Westeros. New faces appearing include Mackenzie Crook (The Office), Tara Fitzgerald, Ciarán Hinds (Munich), Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis), Anton Lesser (Primeval), Tobiaz Menzies (Rome), Diana Rigg (The Avengers), Iwan Rheon (Misfits), Clive Russell (Sherlock Holmes) and Thomas Sangster (Love Actually).

Update: 03/03/13 - the extended trailer contains even better footage...

GAME OF THRONES returns 31 March 2013 on HBO, and 1 April 2013 on Sky Atlantic.

COMMUNITY, 4.3 – 'Conventions of Space and Time'

The idea of Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) attending a convention for their favourite sci-fi show (Doctor Who pastiche Inspector Spacetime) offers so much potential for geek-friendly references and pop-culture lampoonery, but "Conventions of Space and Time" didn't make good on its promises. There was a mildly enjoyable storyline about Troy's friendship with Abed having to overcome fresh obstacles—after Abed revealed he knows Troy's dating Britta (Gillian Jacobs), before making a new friend in British fan-boy Toby (Little Britain's Matt Lucas)—but it wasn't enough. I also quite enjoyed the subplot with Pierce (Chevy Chase) becoming part of a focus group on a US Inspector Spacetime remake, and using the fawning attention to make all manner of stupid suggestions—although quite why a modern-day TV exec would hire Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210) as the eponymous time-traveller is anyone's guess.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 3.21 & 3.22 – 'Graduation Day: Part 1 & 2'

Mayor: Mmm. My God, what a feeling. The power of these creatures. It suffuses my being. I can feel the changes begin. My organs are shifting, changing, making ready for the Ascension. Plus these babies are high in fibre. And what's the fun in becoming an immortal demon if you're not regular, am I right?

The two-part conclusion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's third season begins with an episode of piece-moving; some of which felt like it should have been dealt with many episodes ago. I'm a little alarmed that after almost a whole season, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the gang are still mostly clueless about the Mayor's (Harry Groener) planned "Ascension"—other than it will coincide with their Graduation Day, appropriately. I still don't like how this season's on-going concerns were handled, so I'm torn with this season overall. The show definitely has more confidence and ambitiousness, together with characters that are being written better, but the long-term planning feels quite haphazard by modern standards.

BLACK MIRROR – 'White Bear'

The following review contains major spoilers, so please don't read unless you've seen the episode in question, or spent 1999 screaming "Bruce Willis is a ghost!" in shopping malls...

Last week's premiere "Be Right Back", while emotionally rich, didn't take its overused sci-fi concepts anywhere new. Black Mirror's second episode, "White Bear", was also a bit of a hodgepodge of ideas, although the narrative felt more gripping and propulsive. And the trump card resolution added some deliciously dark and satirical flavours that elevated the whole episode in retrospect.

BEING HUMAN, 5.3 – 'Pie & Prejudice'

The midway point of series 5 arrived with a largely non-mytharc storyline from Jamie Mathieson, which felt more like your typical episode of Being Human. There wasn't much that felt particularly new here, but it was efficiently put together and ended on an effective oh-shit moment for the character of Hal (Damien Molony)—but even its predicament of a vampire having a relapse has been done before, to far grander effect with Mitchell back in series 2. Still, thanks to total absence of Crumb and a limited storyline for Mr Rook (Steven Robertson), together with more of a focus on telling a strange supernatural yarn, "Pie & Prejudice" went down quite nicely...

TV Picks: 18-24 February 2013 (666 Park Avenue, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Brit Awards 2013, Dexter, Jack Taylor, Piers Morgan's Life Stories, etc.)

Below are my picks of the most notable TV shows premiering/returning on UK screens this week...

Trailer: NBC's HANNIBAL

NBC have finally released a trailer for their TV series based on characters created by author Thomas Harris, popularised in movies like Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon. (We'll forget the atrocious prequel Hannibal Rising.)

MSN TV: Fox's THE WALKING DEAD, 3.9 - 'The Suicide King'

Over at MSN today: I've reviewed the mid-season 3 premiere of AMC's THE WALKING DEAD, which had its UK premiere on Fox last night.

There's almost no point being critical about The Walking Dead, because it continues to be a ratings juggernaut that can't be killed. This mid-season premiere entertained 12.3 million cable subscribers in the US, which is mind-blowing considering AMC would be overjoyed with three or four. The show isn't close to being as well-written or performed as AMC's other award-winning combination of Mad Men and Breaking Bad. However, it has clearly captured the mass attention and loyalty of a viewing television audience, something neither of the aforementioned shows have quite achieved.

Continue reading at MSN TV...