What's happened to TV?

It wasn’t so long ago when I used to look forward to the new season of my favourite TV shows but times are changing it appears. Now my TV screen is stuffed full of boring reality shows – with the odd gem such as Any Dream Will Do, of course! If you scroll back through my old posts you will discover I am a fan of Lee Mead. Nevertheless, as far as my old favourites are concerned most are disappointing me and most of the new ones don’t turn out to be nearly as good as I expected…

LOST… they have lost the plot completely on this one it seems to me. I used to love it but now it has reached the final season it can’t finish soon enough for me and get these ridiculous plot lines wrapped up in a comprehensive fashion- somehow I doubt that! Now we have each episode concentrating on one character, showing their life on the island and their life as it would have been if Jacob hadn’t poked his nose in. The only reason that keeps me turning on is the delicious former bad boy, Sawyer, played by the scrumptious Josh Holloway.

24…It is nearly over for 24. Fox has announced this is the last season. I agree, just how many terrorists plots to blow up parts of the USA can Jack be expected to stop. It is getting annoyingly repetitive. Also Jack Bower has mellowed and isn’t as unpredictable as he used to be. That’s exactly what I liked about him. If I recall correctly he chopped off some guys hand in season One. Nevertheless, one thing that did surprise me this week was what Dana did next! That came out of left field. Before this she had been getting on my nerves; she was becoming as irritating as whingy daughter Kim in the first few series. Now it appears she is on the side of the terrorists! I am sure Jack will save the day one again but please don’t kill him off. I want him to have him a long and happy retirement, preferable married to Renee, being the perfect granddad in LA.

FRINGE…still okay but then it is only season two. Walter Bishop is the character who makes it for me.

NCIS…. Still going strong in the States with massive viewing figures. What frustrates me most is Tony DiNozzo played by the cute Michael Weatherly. I loved Michael in Dark Angel, but his character in this show is so damn irritating most of the time, and a hunky hero should not be irritating. He is so juvenile yet he is supposed to be a great agent. Please let him grow up.

GRAY’S ANATOMY/ HOUSE… no opinion, I don’t watch medical shows. I gave them both a try but they didn’t pique my interest in any way.

SADLY MISSED SHOWS….Angel/Farscape/Battlestar Galactica

Now for the future!!!!

V…Looks promising. I liked the original V mini-series and even the TV series, although the aliens did become way too campy. Bitchfest between Diana and Lydia. Why oh why did they just show 4 episodes and then have a 6 months hiatus – weird decision that.

CAPRICA…so, so disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing how the Cylons first came to be and evolved but all we get is Zoë and her irritating family and friends. A total turn off for me – it has none too good ratings – yet it has already been renewed.

FLASH FORWARD…not bad, still deciding.

SPARTICUS Blood and Sand….Due to be shown on Bravo this summer, it had copious amounts of blood and brutality, and lots of naked/ semi naked bodies. It is Rome with swords and gladiators, but I am enjoying it. Scripts have got better after the first 2 episodes.

TORCHWOOD/DR WHO… I love Captain Jack, but he may be a while returning as he is visiting Wisteria Lane at present. We have a new Dr WHO. Can he replace David Tennant, we will have to see.

THIS IS WHAT I CLASS AS THE DESSERT. My motto - “Always save the best until last,” so these too shows are the best as far as I am concerned...

First there is SUPERNATURAL...scary just got sexy…whoopee. Great show, great cast, brilliant stories. Jensen and Jared two seriously cute guys. I fell for Jensen initially in Dark Angel and his old character there is similar to Dean Winchester in ways. We have dark scary monsters, even Lucifer and we also have Angels, some being seriously bad guys – great idea. Dean ending up in hell at the end of season 3, that was awesome and done so well. They have still to avert the apocalypse (Dean and Sam will do it guys, they always do) but after that we now have season 6 to look forward to as well. This is one of the best shows on TV.

DRUM ROLL HERE… my favourite TV show is – LEGEND OF THE SEEKER. What! I hear loads of you say, because this show seems to have gone under the radar somehow, and this show is SO, SO underrated and there is nothing remotely like it on TV. It comes from the same stable as Hercules and Xena but there the resemblance ends. Legend of the Seeker is no tongue in the cheek parody; it is a fantasy in every sense of the word. It is also an exciting adventure story with a beautiful romance which cements it together. The two leads have brilliant chemistry, the cinematography and locations are stunning – it is filmed in New Zealand and unsurprisingly a large amount of the production staff worked on Lord of the Rings. The costumes are great, no plastic chain mail and swords aka Merlin and the music by Joseph LoDuca has already won an Emmy.

The hero, Richard (The seeker) is played by the pecksilicious Craig Horner and his beautiful and mysterious companion Kahlan is played by the beautiful and statuesque Bridget Regan. Add into the mix a wizard, Zedd, played by Bruce Spence (Mad Max, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit) and a deliciously nasty villain called Darken Rahl, Craig Parker, who is also good looking and charming. Season One really hit its stride with episode Eight Denna. Richard is captured and tortured by a Mord’Sith ( They are leather clad women who live to torture and serve Lord Rahl) Craig’s performance in this is stunning. From then on the show just got better and better, with barely any disappointments. Now we are halfway through Season Two and they have added a sexy Mord'Sith to the mix and the show has risen to even greater heights. Note you can see it on the SciFi channel in the UK.

By the way did I mention that Craig Horner is so deliciously ripped you can’t take your eyes of his chest, and has abs to die for. Thank god the writers find lots of opportunities for him to take off his shirt, and the chemistry between him and Bridget both on and off screen is great. PLEASE TRY TO CATCH THIS SHOW IF YOU CAN…more people need to know about it.

Deanna

Hello SAMHAIN!

Virgin closed the door on Black Lace towards the end of last year and I waved my editor Adam off to, hopefully, greener pastures. I am now pleased, well absolutely delighted to be honest, to say that my first book with SAMHAIN will come out in September 2010.

It is the longest book I've ever written so far, some 125,00 words. I admit that the vast majority of my books were far longer than the permitted 75,000 word max for Black Lace and had to be cut, which I hated, but I was never allowed to indulge myself as I have for Savage Kingdom. It is set in the same fantasy world as two of my former books - Savage Surrender and Wild Kingdom - hence the title! Whispers here - I've always had problems with titles but oddly enough coming up with this one was incredibly easy.

Savage Kingdom tells the story of Nerya a young woman from the kingdom of Freygard and Jaden, a handsome warrior. They find themselves forced to work together in difficult circumstances and thus their adventure begins... I can't say much more without giving something away, but the lands they come from face a fearsome enemy and there will be many trials ahead from them both.

More about Savage Kingdom, and the other books I am working on in the weeks ahead.

Deanna