And The Awards Go To The Usual Crowd

The Emmys are only on once a year and they're usually entertaining enough but the cynic in me can't help but scoff at some of the winners speeches for some reason. For a two hour gig, Jimmy Fallon (who I find rather Marmite mostly) did a decent enough job but I don't think there was a win that was that genuinely shocking. Most of the usual candidates (Mad Men, House, Glee, Dexter, etc) were up and the wins attributed to them were deserved and all but the Emmys has almost become more about what everyone is wearing (or who everyone is wearing) rather than the actual ceremony itself. Here's to next year though.

I just knew with the way that Mistresses had been going for the past three episodes that the finale wouldn't match up and it didn't. Why the hell didn't the BBC give this a longer run? Because of that shortcoming, we've been left with a rather rushed finale where Trudi and Katie were at loggerheads over the latter's affair with Richard (your blandness will not be missed) but manage to reach some civility because for half the episode you're almost thinking that Jessica's illness might actually kill her off. As glad as I am that it didn't, this along with Siobhan getting Dominic after leaving it so long. This was a good show but this last series showed that the BBC were more concerned with getting out of the way than ending it satsfyingly.

A week into Ultimate Big Brother and you'd have to admit that it's certainly been eventful enough. Josie walked out after two days, John McRirick was evicted after actually being fun and thanks to an argument with Nadia, Coolio was also forced to leave and there was Michelle and Victor from BB5 having some fun in a bedsit at the expense of the other housemates. Even I felt bad for Nikki when she was terrorised with a clown and there was fun with seeing the likes of Anna Nolan, Craig Philips and Stuart Pilkington over the last few days as a part of tasks and treats for the housemates. However the Chantelle and Preston stuff is a little uncomfortable to watch (not to mention that the usual gossip mags are obsessed with them two getting back together) but I did like Victor, Michelle and Nick's little analysis over the antics of the house dynamics and the former occupants from BB11. So far, this has been fun enough, though I can see a Brian or Chantelle victory come next Friday.

That's it - The Vampires Diairies is really getting interesting. Bonnie's totally a witch and while setting candles alight might not be the most amazing thing on a supernatural themed show, Bonnie is by far the best character on this show and can I have some sympathy for Caroline too? Her relationship with Damon should be enough to show fangirls that dating the latter is a bad thing to do. Elena won pointers in this episode for trying to get Damon away from Caroline but lost them for not sticking to her guns and getting answers from Stefan. Also while Stefan's method of incapacitating Damon was genius, I'm more intrigued by this band of supernatural hunters comprising of Tyler's parents, Caroline's mother and Jenna's reporter ex-boyfriend. Nice to know that some people in Mystic Falls are privy to vampires.

I tried to get into Vexed but the three episodes that BBC2 offered me for the last few Sundays made me wished that I hadn't bothered. The problem with this show has been that it's often not funny enough for a straight up comedy and the crassness often underscored anything dramatic. The last episode with Jack and Kate searching for a kidnapped pop star was probably the better of the three but if this show returns next year, it needs to figure out what it wants to be and stick with it.

- Jon Hamm and Paul Giamatti are both confirmed for appearing in the new season of 30 Rock. Hamm's character will be a love interest for Liz Lemon.

- Carol Burnett has been cast as Sue's mother for the second season of Glee.
- Stephen Collins will apear in Brothers And Sisters as Charlie, a love interest for Saul. He'll also appear in No Ordinary Family as the boss of Julie Benz's character, Stephanie.

- Naoko Mori is another actor attached to the SyFy series, Three Inches.

- Lois Smith has been cast as Tom Scavo's mother in Desperate Housewives. She'll appear in the fifth episode of the new series.

Look To The Stars

The last few days since the final five were announced for Big Brother have been interesting enough. Maybe not as exciting as what we've previously seen but credit to the show for trying to keep us entertained until tonight's winner is announced and Ultimate Big Brother takes off. I think at this point in the series, we've seen enough of Mario's meat and two veg but at least he's determined to be entertaining in the final throes of all this and his conversations with Andrew are better than Josie lamenting about John James or Dave's open dismissal of evolution when JJ tried to bring it up. Some of the highlights have been good - Andrew being the ultimate yes man and the perfect day as well. At this point, it doesn't matter who actually wins the show because in some ways, it seems clear that the show wants a Josie victory and she's the only one I could see fitting in with past housemates and celebs for Ultimate Big Brother as well.

In a lot of ways, I am glad that Mistresses is coming to an end because this dour as hell third season is testing my patience. I don't expect laughs a minute but it would be nice for at least one of these girls to crack a fecking smile. However, this episode just saw everything getting worse - Richard confessed to Trudi he loved someone else and died before trying to stop Katie from leaving. Siobhan apparently can't go on a date with a nice photograph because Dominic seems incapable of giving her the right message (which in turns is making me sympethetic with dippy Alice) and Jessica finds out that Mark borrowed money from Siobhan, kicked him out and then realised she was pregnant. I'm not having much hope for this final episode and you know something is wrong when Joanna Lumley herself is adding nothing of interest to the series.

Speaking of disappointments, it's a shame that after six seasons and 100 episodes that Nip/Tuck too has ended on such a low note. Maybe I've been spoiled with finales to the likes of Lost and Ashes To Ashes this year but I expected more from Nip/Tuck. Matt using his own child to get Ava to run away with him was horrid to watch and after all these years, you know there's something terrible about Sean and Christian's friendship when the best thing for it was for them to go their seperate ways. Still, I did like the last supper between most of the characters as well as Liz being made a partner in the business but for me, this was an extremely disappointing last ever episode.

Nine seasons in and it took Smallville this long to do an episode mostly based at a sci-fi convention? Ah well, it was mainly background anyways as well as another excuse to get Lois into a skimpy costume (like this show needs any) but it was also a good one for Chloe and the freak of the week who was a kid that became a superhero and then a monster as well. The stuff with Clark and Zatanna had more of a punch to it than the latter's previous appearance but overall, it's not the most engaging episode we've had this season.

I have to admit that I'm still mixed about The Vampire Diaries. It's enjoyable enough but I swear if I have to listen to Stefan wax lyrical about wanting to protect Elena, I'll start up a drinking game. Here's a tip - how about telling the girl that you're a vampire, Stefan and that your brother is nuts. Damon finally got a lot more interesting this week when he killed that jerk of a football coach, which was a nice way of showing us that he can be dangerous, rather than just implying it. Bonnie's still the best character on this show though and I want to learn more about her witchy ancestors more than I want see the Stefan/Elena/Damon triangle. Also the football related stuff in the episode held no interest for me.

The X Factor and it's hyperbole will be the source of media coverage for the next four months and one can only hope that a decent winner with a decent song can be picked this year. As first episodes went, Geri Halliwell really proved a lot, didn't she? She proved that a) citing that you're the one to discover Cheryl Cole does not make you interesting and b) that she can bloody talk. It also didn't help that her judging skills left nothing to be desired as well. I can only hope that Natalie Imbruglia, Pixie Lott, Nicole Scherzinger and Katy Perry are much better. As for some of the acts, if I never hear of Shirlena again, it won't be a moment too soon. As for the auto-tuning scandal, nothing surprises me anymore.

- John Glover will be reprising his role as Lionel Luthor in Smallville this year. Here's hoping that Michael Rosenbaum agrees to appear as well.

- True Blood's second season will air on Channel 4 from September 16th.

- James Remar will be appearing in the upcoming season of Private Practice. His character will have a connection with Pete.

- James Masters will be starring in a series for SyFy called Three Inches, playing Troy, a leader of unlikely superheroes. He's also in the 200th episode of Smallville.

- Jennifer Aniston will be appearing as a therapist in the second season of Cougar Town.

Death Does Not Become Him

I know I'm late and I apologise but here's my highlights. More to come on Sunday.

Blimey, it's been a mixed few days in the Big Brother house. The house being flooded could be intepreted as a sign that maybe this show should end all the more or it could've been bad workmanship as well, which is the likelier option. Other highlights in the last few day? I'm not gonna say Jo's eviction but I will say that there's a certain glee in seeing virtually everyone in the last few days take John James to task over his treatment of everyone (particularly Corin) and the set of pointless tasks in yesterday's highlights with Sam as a butler and John James becoming crab eyes. I'm also liking that Mario and Corin seem to be getting some actual airtime as well as Josie being a lot more likeable than she has been for weeks. I won't be sad to see this series end but I do hope that John James and Dave are amongst the four gone by tomorrow night.

Now, that was a finale. Misfits has been brilliant to catch up on over the last six weeks and while it's a shame that Sally met her end and everyone else is seemingly none the wiser (except maybe Kelly), the episode had a lot of fun with a purity girl wanting to talk the hedonism out of everyone and pretty much did with Kelly, Alisha and Curtis. I liked that Nathan was the one who resisted it, even if it meant that he had to die, only to wake up in his own coffin. Images like that never stop being scary and I certainly didn't envy Robert Sheehan having to film that. The first season has been a lot of fun and I'm certainly going to be tuning into a second season when E4 airs it later on. Oh and Simon keeping Sally's dead body as a playmate really does prove how creepy that kid is.

The Good Wife has been something that I've been watching on and off for most of the year and has been pretty good. Hardly a series that can be accused of reinventing the wheel but the characters have been well formed, likeable and the plots mostly interesting. Plus the guest stars over the last few weeks, notably Carrie Preston and Alan Cumming have been enjoyable enough, especially as the latter's Gold character served as a reasonable thorn in Alicia's side. The finale seemed to further the Alicia and Will arc that's been dominent with the second of the season, furthered Kalinda's sexuality and also had Amy Acker playing the wife of a man killed because he was about to expose corrupt cops. I'll definitely keep with the series.

Out of the shows I'm highlighting in this blog, why does Mistresses have to be so gloomy? I get that it's probably wise to show the consequences of adultery but even in the first two series we got to see some of the characters have actual fun. With this final series, that's not been happening. Katie can't seem to tolerate her mother, showed anger when she learned her father was a cheat and even snogged Richard. How does Richard pull both Katie and Trudi when he's so bloody boring? Watching him whine and moan about Trudi not wanting to sell her business was a source of tedium and a part of me cheered that she actually got closer to her new business partner as well. As for Siobhan and Jessica, between engaged exes and unwilling to work to get out of debt hubbies, neither of them are having much fun either.

Good news people - Ugly Betty's fourth and final season is finally airing but the stinker is that it's been relegated to E4 and T4 screenings only. It's a shame because I've already seen most of the last year months ago and it's actually very good in places - Season 1 good even. The first two episodes aren't the series best but they did have some high points. Betty trying to settle into her new position was one of them, Daniel trying to get a new assistant was another and of course, the hints that the writers are also going to finally address Justin's sexuality as well. The next 18 episodes are going to be interesting.

- Andrea Bowen will be appearing in Desperate Housewives in the future as well as Joy Lauren, reprising her role as Danielle Katz.

- Anna Gunn has signed up for a guest role in the new season of Lie To Me.

- Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer have posed naked/covered in bood for an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Alan Ball has also mentioned that Hallow (a necromancer/were/medium/witch) will be the main villain for Season 4 of True Blood. The role has yet to be cast.

- An episode of Smallville will force Lois and Clark together in the future.

- Nurse Jackie actor Guillermo Diaz has been cast in an upcoming episode of new ABC series, No Ordinary Family. He'll guest star as Detective Cordero.

Absolute Justice Y'all

Another week in the Big Brother house and this time, they went all a bit Dickens. Plus points to Corin for actually trying to get into her Scrooge character but minus ones to John James who decided to quit his Mrs Havensham part of the task, simply because he couldn't bear to be stuck in a room with Rachel for a whole day. Rather her than some other people in this house's. Mario's magic routine wasn't the best bit we saw out of this task either but at least he got into the spirit of things and that's better than Josie vs. Sam, which dominated the first half of the week. Also, isn't it hyporcritical of Dave to moan about Mario putting him up for eviction during the Save And Replace task when he nominated Mario himself? Seriously, Dave change the record already. Unfortunately though, we're stuck with him for another week because despite both Dave and John James acting like morons, it was Rachel who got the boot. I really don't understand the mentality of people who vote sometimes.

Misfits took something of a dark turn this week. It was only a matter of time before Sally would get her evidence about Tony's death but even I thought things wouldn't go down like this. Are the writers setting Simon up to become a future threat because I can't see how he can come back from killing Sally? Yes, she used him and sure as hell didn't mind smacking his head off a mirror to get away from him but you have to feel bad for her a little though. Simon's always been a bit creepy and now he's a murderer. At least with Kelly it had been self defence but Simon wasn't going to let Sally escape, was he? Luckily though, there were some lighter moments in the episode such as Curtis's various attempts to break up with Samantha (quoting Spiderman did the trick) and realising that him and Alisha were getting serious as a couple. Oddly, the best moments of the episodes were with Nathan being manipulated by a baby and then spending time with Kelly. Not sure I want to see them as a couple but it was nice to see him acting like less of a prick in the latter of the episode than usual. I hope the finale is just as good as this one.

In terms of guilty pleasure, do I have to class Mistresses as one? Okay, so like the shows it's obviously influenced from (Sex And The City, Desperate Housewives), it's unlikely to win prizes for gritty realism but funnily for a show about adultery, it does heavily focus on the negative aspects of it. Katie being the classic example. In the space of the first two series, her adultery has cost her employment and a relationship and going by the growing closeness to the bland Richard in the opening episode here, it's likely that her friendship with Trudi will be shattered as well. I didn't need her mother, Vivienne (played by Joanna Lumley) to drill that home and this whole episode seemed to go out of it's way to show the signs of the core friendships shattering. Siobhan will most likely incur Jessica's wrath when it slips out that she lent Mark money for IVF and will anyone of them forgive Katie for going after Richard? Ending the series after three years isn't a bad idea and this opening episode was decent enough but I was hoping for something a little less gloomy to be honest.

For the next few blogs, I will talk about the final few episodes of Nip/Tuck. The show is clearly winding down and this episode drilled it home. Plastic surgery is so 2004, according to Joan Rivers, who appeared in Christian's dreams here and injectibles are the way to go. Sadly, Christian also had to go to painstaking lengths to prove a point about the relevance of a face lift and even used YouTube for popularity. Of course, it went wrong and him and Sean seem to be on the outs yet again. The dream sequence stuff was interesting - the appearances of Kimber and Christian's father having the most effect but after six seasons, can this show please give Liz a love interest? We got close with Danielle this week and she went back to her husband. Even Kurt on Glee has shown more progress in one year than Liz has in this show's duration.

Breaking news - Smallville pulled off an exciting episode. A really exciting one. Okay, it's the first of a two part story but the Justice League? Bring it on! I know a few of them are embittered and the like (especially with Oliver getting attacked by one of them) but this is definitely a masterstroke for the series and the final five minutes of the episode are wonderful. I really hope that the second part lives up to the great set up here.

After months of giving it a short shrift, I decided to actually watch The Vampire Diaries. I'm not gonna lie - it won't give True Blood a run for it's money any time soon but it's certainly less annoying than the Twilight franchise. The story is fairly predictable. Two sparring vampire brothers, nice but boring Stefan and bad boy cliche Damon have the hots for student Elena, who lost her parents recently and happens to look like a woman that both brothers loved and lost centuries ago. In terms of the characters, the brothers need improving on, Elena's not that bad but her seemingly psychic mate Bonnie is somewhat more interesting along with the mystery uncle of Stefan. The rest of the characters didn't really do much for me to care but I will watch further episodes and give this show a genuine chance to shine.