LOVEFiLM buy History's THE VIKINGS

The History Channel's first serialised drama The Vikings has found a home in the UK. Unexpectedly, it's landed at the feet of Europe's biggest film rental company LOVEFiLM. After so much Stateside buzz about Netflix and Amazon getting into the "original programming" business, it looks like LOVEFiLM would like an online exclusive too. Who knows, they might make a few dramas of their own one day.

Should 24 restart its clock?

In the wake of Fox axing Touch after two seasons (the sci-fi drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as the father of an autistic boy who can predict the future), it appears the network's offering Sutherland the opportunity to reprise his role of super-agent Jack Bauer in a ninth season of 24, which was cancelled in 2010.

Original executive producer Howard Gordon is apparently on-board (having posited the idea of a return to Fox), along with fellow exec/writer David Fury. Talks are very early, but it appears to hinge on Sutherland agreeing to return to his most famous role, in light of 24 failing to make the hoped-for transfer to cinema. The reasons for that have been a mix of unsuccessful scripts, together with difficulty working around Sutherland's work schedule. Well, the latter isn't a problem now, but maybe those script issues were bigger than we thought. Did the writers struggle to create something that would work as a satisfying two-hour movie, bearing in mind the unique aspect of 24 was its "real time" format?

COMMUNITY, season 4 finale – 'Advanced Introduction to Finality'

This is the probable end for Community, unless the producers agree a deal with NBC to keep it on-air for another half-season*. But I'm not sure where you go now Jeff (Joel McHale) has graduated from college, unless they awkwardly backtrack in some unconvincing way, and I think I'd prefer to see Community disappear forever... safe in the knowledge we got two excellent seasons, one good season, and one well-intentioned misfire.

HANNIBAL, 1.7 – 'Sorbet'

There's a memorable shot in "Sorbet" when a disgusting and unrecognisable arrangement of flesh is gradually revealed to be the throat of a beautiful opera singer, as the view pulls out of her gullet. It encapsulated Hannibal for me; a show that's ultimately about the ugliness that inhabits seemingly normal and even beautiful people. The show is asking us to believe a character like Dr Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) wouldn't arouse any suspicion by now, but that's ultimately the fun of the show. It helps that we know Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) will expose and catch him one of these days, too, so until then it's just a fascinating game of cat-and-mouse—where the mouse is unaware he's befriended the cat.

MSN TV: BBC1's BRITAIN'S BIGGEST HOARDERS - Series 1

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed the new documentary series BRITAIN'S BIGGEST HOARDERS, which is rather self-explanatory.

It isn't most people's idea of entertainment, but there's a curious fascination with hoarding right now. It started with How Clean Is Your House?, which would occasionally stumble upon someone with stacks of stinking rubbish touching their ceilings. Those discoveries have since become their sub-genre, and the latest is three-part documentary Britain's Biggest Hoarders. In each episode, Jasmine Harman (daughter of a mother she helped conquer a hoarding habit) tries to use her personal experiences and insight to help others suffering the same psychological condition.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Teaser: THE WORLD'S END (2013)

Looking forward to #WorldsEnd from Messrs Pegg, Frost and Wright. youtu.be/YF-4c8U-mUI

— Dan Owen (@danowen79) May 8, 2013

... it even has another 'fence gag', which means this is definitely a trilogy after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

MSN TV: BBC1's THE APPRENTICE (series 9) and Sky Living's HANNIBAL

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the series 9 premiere of BBC1's business reality show THE APPRENTICE; then cast my eye over Sky Living's US crime drama HANNIBAL, which brings Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter to the small-screen. (The latter review is an abridged version of my original review when the show made its US debut.)

I was a dyed-in-the-wool fan of The Apprentice for years, but I must confess I gave up on it last year. Its durable format suddenly felt worn; with similar "personalities" among the entrepreneurs and tasks that didn't feel fresh or interesting. It's been recycling its various tics and tropes for ages, but the producers usually find ways to make you either forgive or forget this repetitiveness.

Continue reading 'The Apprentice' at MSN TV...

Hannibal Rising, the atrocious 2007 prequel, appeared to kill off everyone's favourite anti-hero. However, the franchise has found an unlikely champion in Bryan Fuller - a writer best-known over here for quirky flop Pushing Daisies and now the man behind Hannibal, one of the most anticipated Sky Living acquisitions.

Continue reading 'Hannibal' at MSN TV...

MAD MEN, 6.6 – 'For Immediate Release'

My favourite Mad Men episodes are often the ones where seismic events hit the workplace, and "For Immediate Release" delivered one of the best in the merger of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and its competitor Cutler, Gleason & Chaough—in a deal intended to win a lucrative deal with Chevy, while simultaneously taking it to the big time as one of the country's top 25 ad agencies. There's still time for this dream to come crashing down around Don (Jon Hamm) and Ted Chaough's (Kevin Rahm) ears, as I somehow don't expect Mad Men to end on a happy note when it finally comes to an end, but for now it's cause for celebration.

THE IT CROWD finale being filmed

It all went quiet with Channel 4's geek-friendly sitcom The IT Crowd after series 4 ended in 2010, mainly because the showbiz careers of Chris O'Dowd and Richard Ayoade skyrocketed and their schedules became difficult to work around.

(No, most UK shows don't get their talent under watertight years-long contracts to stop that sort of thing from happening.)

However, while an intended fifth series has been ruled out (which was to be co-written by writers who 'auditioned' online), the promise of a series finale is being realised. The show's creator Graham Linehan told the audience at a German re:publica conference that The IT Crowd will film a 40-minute farewell episode later this month, for probable broadcast later this year. Linehan wrote the script over a year ago, but only now is there a window of opportunity with the actors.

The special will once again star O'Dowd and Ayoade as IT tech support geeks Roy and Moss, working for their line manager Jen (Katherine Parkinson) and her boss Douglas Reynholm (Matt Berry).

Are you excited to see The IT Crowd return one final time, three years after the last episode aired?

Trailer: CBS's UNDER THE DOME

CBS have released a full trailer for their summer series Under the Dome, and it looks pretty good. I have serious doubts about its longevity, even over a self-contained 13-episodes, but it's hard to argue with the talent here: Neal Baer (ER, Law & Order) is the showrunner, comic-book maven Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man) is an executive-producer, and the pilot's directed by Niels Arden Oplev (the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I don't doubt Under the Dome will have a fun pilot, when the small town of Chester's Mill finds itself inexplicably cut off from the rest of the world by a gigantic dome-shaped invisible barrier, but how long can you make that interesting for? Even if the characters are well-written and engaging, once the initial intrigue has faded... will you be quite so taken with this miniseries by episode 5 or 6? That will be the real challenge here, but I have a soft spot for US miniseries based on Stephen King books, even if most don't achieve the gold standard of It. I just hope this isn't another Tommyknockers.

UNDER THE DOME premieres 24 June on CBS.