Wet Saturdays and Summers where everything is far from summery mean only one thing, DVD reruns. Yesterday saw return visits to Peep Show and Futurama, while today is the predecessor, The Simpsons, Season 4. It's a bizarre choice, especially considering how little of a The Simpsons fan anymore. That said, these are the classic episodes, that are still thankfully funny in every area. It's interesting that, despite the show now being in it's twentieth-something year, the best episodes come from this very season.

Marge vs. the Monorail is my favourite episode, period. Originally aired in January 1993, fifteen whole years have passed since it premiered. With the show's continual failures and decline in quality, I think it's safe to say that this accolade will never be passed onto another episode. Sure, we can be hopeful this isn't the case at all, but lets not shit ourselves- I don't like change and the writers of the Simpsons nowadays have no standard of quality. No matter, here's some reasons why I love Marge vs. the Monorail though:

• Phil Hartman guest stars and has a huge role in the episode. Troy Mclure and Lionel Hutz are probably the two best recurring characters the show has, but in this episode Hartman plays Lyle Lanley a whimsical conman cross-breed of the two, and without gushing, is undoubtedly the best thing about the episode.
• There's singing, and dancing. Midway into the episode the entire population of Springfield breaks into song encouraged by the afore-mentioned Lanley. Musically, and lyrically, it's the best song the show's ever housed, laden with funny one-line cameos and incredibly catchy. To many, this song will immedieately be synonymous with the episode, and perhaps, classic Simpsons.
• There's random violence and quick-fire laughs. A popcorn truck blows up, conjoined twins are seperated because of a high-speed anchor and freuquent examles of the Springfield mob mentality and the ongoing rivalry and feud with neighbouring town, Shellbyville.
• Mr Burns' disguise as Mr Snrub, "yes, that'll do!" , the family of opossums, and Homer's all-time awesome line, "I call the big-one Bitey!". Really, ideas and scenes this random and nonsical needs nothing more said about them, they're legendary.
• The episode focusses largely on Marge, with the writers' desire for Bart to be cool and Homer's adventures into absurdity, thankfully both given a backseat. Marge's continued presence as the protagonist and driving force behind the episode is an interesting change, and the episode benefits from it.
• References, there's lots of them. Batman, Star Wars, Star Trek (thanks to the awesome inclusion of Leonard Nimoy) and most importantly, The Flinstones, the opening of the episode seeing Homer escape from work singing with so much reference and tribute to the music of the Flinstones theme-tune, before ending in, again, random quick-fire violence.

By the end of the episode everything is wrapped up neatly, with no future consequences (although EPA later reappear in the Movie), and it really is one of those episodes where you can tune in without previous viewing, laugh, tune-out, and remember. The amount of times i've watched it is silly, but with each viewing the episode retains exactly what made it so funny, endearing and exciting as previously, smiles not being effect of the humour, but a constant presence throughout the twenty minutes. I know what's going to happen, I know what the next line of the song is, and yet...yet it's pivotal viewing. It's the best episode of The Simpsons because it combines and mixes exactly what is so good about the show in the first place, and to great effect.

If you know someone who has never heard of or watched The Simpsons, simply, this is the episode you point them towards.

The fifth season of Channel 4's Peep Show came to an end recently, and by that I mean, yes, I was meaning to write this mini-review sooner. As my favourite TV comedy the thought that it's ended is obviously pretty upsetting, but the good news is that now thirty half-hour episodes in, the show is still going strong.

Once again, and inevitably they're nowhere near as good as the opening two seasons, but that these episodes can't match the standard set by the early seasons is only because of time and just how pivotal and fresh those first few episodes were. That's not marking them down in anyway, because the core idea and formula of the show, as ever, remains interestingly unique- after all, how many shows exist on TV today that are set for the most part in first-person with audible thinking of the characters? The answer's irrelevant, whatever the number, this would probably be the best example of such an idea.

Following on from Mark and Sophie's disastrous wedding that dominated and closed the entire fourth season, series five returns to the single episode narrative of previous seasons while still retaining the story arc of the previous year, this time the fallout and consequences of that very wedding. Highlights include Mark's attempts to get back into the dating game as well as the constant rivalry with co-worker Jeff Heaney. Jeremy meanwhile runs out of money, commits credit fraud and joins a cult, while collectively the two manage to get their widescreen TV stolen (and the subsequent one smashed), fall out, go to some gigs, and play a game of 'Who's The Daddy?' when Sophie becomes pregnant. As ever, those scenes and thoughts of pure cringe that dominate the episodes, are also in place. Similar to last year the real focus of the show seems to be on Mark's adventures while Jeremy once again seems to get the short straw, but as has always been the case, it's the chemistry and exchanges between the two that really make the show to begin with, and fans will be pleased to know there's plenty of comedic exchanges between the two.

Despite this, recurring characters are again, thankfully plentiful. Super Hans continues in many episodes to be Jeremy's sidekick and partner in crime, while Mark's boss Alan Johnson once again has recurring appearances. Big Suze from previous seasons is in a reduced capacity, while Nancy, once again, has disappeared entirely. In their place however there's the new character of Dobby, a character so well-materialised and crafted she seems as if she's been on the show for absolute years, and is undoubtedly one of the best things about these episodes. With luck, a return for next year will be inevitable.

Earlier this year writer and creator Jesse Armstrong announced that there was no intention to stop making the show, as a result of the characters never changing. While this is true for even this season, the continued adventures and troubles Mark and Jeremy find routinely find themselves in continue to amuse and entertain, and the prospect of more episodes of an already winning formula, is an exciting one.

My Toynami 3rd Wave Futurama figures arrived today -after the usual minor issues and obligiatory feud with the Royal Mail of course. They'd been on pre-order for a few months now, and while I think they were scheduled to be released in August, i'm well chuffed the date was brought forward and they arrived today.

 
Wave one and two was Fry and Zoidberg, Leela and Zapp, while the third wave sees the arrival of Bender and Kif- TV most infamous robot and the ever depressed green space sidekick. As with the previous figures there's a range of props and accessories -again annoyingly, most of them can't be held properly- and they compliment the character and maybe even add to the figure's appeal. Bender comes with extra pairs of eyes for 'angry face/sad face' lark, while Kif comes with his hat from Where The Buggalo Roam, and one of the sphere 'enemies' from the War Is the H-Word episode. There's also a framed photo of Amy, but this is a weak addition, second only to the possibility of an actual Amy figure.

Out of the two, Bender is undoubtedly the better figure, and perhaps even the best out of all those released so far. Even better, is the fact that his head can be unscrewed and replaced with Nixon's head-in-a-jar, as depicted in, A Head in the Polls, the best episode ever, fact. Wave Three also means that the Robot Devil figure is finally completed. The figure is all long and skinny compared to the rest, but it matches the character, and he's still a lot better than the horrible Fry release from earlier. And he's got a magnetic top hat, so, win.

The fourth wave of figures (which I think are already out?) is a Fry reissue, this time with superhero attire dressed as Captain Yesterday, and Nudar, from the recent DVD film. I'm passing on them both, but future releases include a Leela as Clobarella, Lrrr and Calculon. All must haves, and if they're anywhere near as good as the existing figures, fans are in for a treat.

'West' from Season 2 of Heroes.

Being the geek that I am I saw the second season months ago, but with my rewatching of it as BBC2 finally gets round to airing it, two things are still immediately clear from that primary viewing. One, the episodes and stories are nowhere near as good as that of the opening year, Two, West is an irritating twat who deserves to be forgotten about for all coming episodes.

#1 | #2

LOST finally returns next week, to wrap up it's reduced fourth season, and presumably answer a whole heap of questions regarding the overall mythology at the sametime. It's sad, because while up until now we've all been craving answers, as the show enters it's final years -and over-arching mysteries are answered weekly with subtle answers- there's still that recurring craving for more mystery. Hopefully these next six episodes can provide on that front, while providing a cliffhanger that will hopefully keep our minds interested and mangled for the best part of a year. We'll see soon enough.

Either way, here's a list of my six favourite episodes, non-ranked. I've seen some other sites doing this while we're on hiatus, so I thought i'd have a go myself. And hey, if it means DVD rewatching these episodes again, it's all win.

Deus Ex Machina

This was the seventeenth episode of the first season, and to this day, still remains perhaps my all-time favourite. In their continued efforts to get the hatch open, Boone and Locke go on an island-prompted adventure and discover a crashed Beachcraft suspended in the trees- complete with radio communication to the later revealed character of Bernard and numerous links to that of Mr Eko, who would also make his debut the following year. The plane would end up falling with Boone still inside, killing him shortly afterwards, but Deus Ex Machina marks the beginning of so much more, with the subsequent birth of Aaron, a minor introduction of 'Desmond', and the first real beginnings of hate between Jack and Locke- a rivalry that very much still exists today. For the first time ever we're introduced to Locke's father, and via island surrealism throughout the episode, Deus Ex Machina ends with one of the saddest, yet iconic scenes ever in the show's history. Boone's death is undoubtedly a MacGuffin, but the episode, as a whole, is pivotal viewing.

Maternity Leave

Though being a mid-season episode in the second year, Maternity Leave deals a lot with some of the issues and questions of the year before, in particular the period of Claire Littleton's capture at the hand of The Others. Still a relatively unknown group back then, Maternity Leave rewards viewers with plenty of new information on the group, while still tantalisingly omitting core information. Claire is still the most underrated character on LOST, so what makes this flashback all the more special is it's slight detour from convention, as the scenes featured are actively memories and bad reminders from Claire herself- at the start it's a flash-jumble of images, but as the episode progresses these faces and places begin to make more sense, before resuming to standard flashback procedure. Recurring scenes with Season 1 favourite Ethan Rom, only help make the episode all the sweeter.

Live Together, Die Alone

The season finale for the second season, LTDA is a real shock to the system. Things in this episode get wickedly surreal, and here, more than ever, the show loses it's genre tag as simply being 'drama'- this is where it goes undoubtedly sci-fi. With the Swan hatch interior having dominated the season, here it's simply blown up in an explosion of purple, as Locke and Eko discover what really happens when the button isn't pushed. Elsewhere, the party of five led by Michael get ambushed and captured by The Others -setting up for a big story arc the next year- and Desmond is reintroduced as full-time cast, as well as given his own flashback. It's a story of love and island mutiny, and we're shown his circumstances that led him to the island in the first place, as well as his first three years, alongside a previously introduced flashback character the thought of which, still surprises. More than this, the island's true age is hinted at with the reveal of a foot statue- a part of the mythology yet to be revealed fully, but easily, one of the most twisted and insane discoveries on the show that is just so deliciously out-there.

The Constant

The Constant is the most recent episode in my list, and once again breaks flashback convention.The fifth episode of the fourth season, it sees Sayid and Desmond heading to the off-shore Kahana, out of curiosity and interest, as to who these people here to 'rescue' them, really are. Things don't go to plan though, and on the way there upon hitting turbulence, Desmond has flashbacks to his life in the army. Except, he's really there, and his consciousness randomly floats between present day and 1996- time-travel without moving your body. It's incredibly daring, and the prospect alone feels, to begin with, as if the show's jumping the shark. But if you've made it this far, you've passed those kind of hurdles before, and the idea is so flawlessly executed that it makes complete sense, and additionally, continues the theme of true love integral to Desmond's backstory. Being relatively recent, it's an episode I won't spoil, but it's so detached from the rest of the current plots and characters that it's immedieately striking and unique. It's a very special story and episode, so isolated and self-contained, that there really is no excuse to not watch it.

The Other 48 Days

With the thirty epiosdes before it focussing entirely on the survivors of the 815 main section, The Other 48 Days shifts interest towards that of the tail-section, and their harrowing experiences at the hands of The Others. It is, as the title suggests, the experiences of the last forty-eight days from an entirely different perspective, and with it, an hour of television with only cameos fom the regular cast. Because of this substansial shift the episode is pretty exciting, and seeing entirely new characters and the crash from their perspective is incredibly rewarding. While nothing new is revealed to an enormous extent, the small ties that exist between this episode and the past forty-eight days of the main story and characters are so deviously subtle they're easter eggs themselves. Genius- as with the proper crash in the Pilot episode, the opening minutes of this episode are epic.

Through The Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass is an incredible episode. As the finale to last year's third season, the episode seemingly has everything that makes LOST so good in the first place. Mystery, surrealism, romance, death, and most excitingly, mindfuck. Here, as with every finale, the survivors are split up, all heading off on their own adventures and journeys of redemption, discovery and revenge. The core castaways finally head to the radio tower to call for help, Sayid, Jin and Bernard sacrifice their own personal safety for that of their friends, Juliet and Sawyer make the most unlikely on-screen duo ever, and finally, Desmond and Charlie head to the Looking Glass underwater station to complete the cycle of events that will lead them all home, minus Charlie after his heroic destiny. Additionally for two whole hours the episode's centricity flash seems baffling and minus effect-it's dreary Jack in his ever-dreary past. Or is it? Because the ending of this episode and indeed third season moves the show forever forward, changing the game entirely and not only wrapping up the previous three seasons, but setting up the big story arc for the next three. Jack and Kate are off the fucking island. Is there more? How did they escape? Where's Claire, and best of all, why-o-why does Jack want to go back there of all places? It is, without exaggeration, the perfect midpoint and episode of the show's first three seasons.

Will this selection of episodes be completely different in three years time? Lets hope so.

 LOST: This hiatus is killing me #1

A delivery came today, at 9.30, following a momentarily earlier wake-up from some Jehovah's Witnesses at the door. They brought bad news, but the delivery man brought good news- the Futurama figures I ordered a while back, finally arrived.

The figures are produced by Toynami, with the first wave consisting of Fry and Zoidberg released September last year, while the second wave -and the Leela and Brannigan figures- was released in January. I'm late to the party sure, but once i'd discovered them I was pretty intent on getting a set for myself, and overall, i'm pretty pleased with them. By and large the figures aren't really posable, with the obvious exception of the Fry figure, interestingly, the worst of the lot. The design and painting is kind of ruined by the numerous articulate joints, and even though he can move his limbs, you can't have him standing unless those legs are in the default position. Additionally- why include props if the figure can't hold them? Poor show.

The other three are thankfully a lot better, especially the weighty Zoidberg and Zapp figures, generally devoid of posing, but at the same time, the figures that look most spot on with their animated counterparts. Leela's great too, but unless i'm mistaken, i'm pretty sure she was a lot 'curvier' than what she is here. No biggy. The figures come with props too though -in the case of the Zapp figure it's an awesome Nixon head- but also components to build another figure, the Robot Devil, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. It's only half completed currently, with the remaining parts coming with the Wave 3 release of Kif and Bender. Understandably it's not as well built as that of the regular figures, but I know i'd still prefer seeing an Amy/Hermes/Farnsworth figure instead, or even in the future, though that may mean waiting a while. Presumably the number one fear of the distributors is that these characters won't sell as well, but I know that beyond that i'd love even more 'obscure' characters like the Hyperchicken and Elzar. Ok, maybe now i'm getting a little ambitious.

With the Futurama TV series prematurely dead, and only the remaining promise of DVD movies it's undoubtedly the case that as great as Futurama is, the franchise is regrettably past it's prime. That said, i'm already planning on pre-ordering more of the figures, and i'm sure, it's something that numerous other fans will be doing as well if these first figures are anything to go by.

Season 4 of LOST got off to a great start. Since the finale last year the show has seemingly completely moved into new directions, and four years in, character development still continue to surpsise, amaze and shock. Eight fantastic weeks later from the premiere, and the show's on hiatus because of the WGA Strike- four weeks on nonLOST until the next batch of episodes are ready. I've seen a couple of blogs doing lists of the blogger's favourite episodes, and while that still might be something I do, today, it's a video, summing-up the last three years and sixty nine episodes with one single question-

'What?'

(Via Eye of Polyphemus )

Serial DVDs with no option of 'Play All'.

I'm pretty sure i've got some 24 DVDs that suffer the same problem- undoubtedly the show the 'Play All' function was invented for. It's nonsense.

I've become completely engrossed with the TV show Dexter recently. In it's US homeland the show may be getting ready to enter it's third season, whereas i've just watched the third episode, but it's a show i've been meaning to check out for ages. Award wins, critical acclaim, this review from Jon, and just general buzz- it's nice being finally able to catch up with the rest of the world. The show aired late last year on digital telly's FX UK, but with ITV having second-run rights it's something i'm only now able to watch, even if it does mean having to stay up late to watch the show due to afore-mentioned network's bad handling.

The show, as may be obvious already, focuses on the character of the same name, Dexter Morgan, a blood-splatter forensic working for the Miami PD. As far as TV preferences go Crime & Detective lark is usually at the bottom of the hierarchy, but both Dexter the show and character are completely unconventional, refreshing and exciting. The character of Dexter couldn't be more against the norm- here's a forensic scientist who's skill and ability in this area takes more than just a professional turn, as each episode sees him targeting a member of society to satisfy his bloodlust. Avenging deaths, taking out the trash, fighting, ultimately, for the greater good while satisfying that urge for murder.

It's a dark subject matter, with equally disturbing visuals to accompany, but the show is creepily satisfying and sometimes charming, usually through the use of the central character's narration. His life is dark, it's sick, someone who is anti-social and seeking justice at the same time; someone with a hell of a lot more depth than the entire casts of some shows. The formula's morbidly unique, but several times during my first three hours viewing I can't help but think of Nip/Tuck. Maybe it's the blood against a palm-tree background? The character so well-crafted he's far from perfect? That internal hating of the protagonists and their relationships with the world? I could go on, but such comparisons do nothing but undermine the show- so far it's a show that ultimately can't be compared perfectly to anything else.

Three hours in and already a desire for more, prompting a frantic urge to play catch-up. That's exciting.

In all honesty, Jin and Sun Kwon are my two favourite characters on LOST. That's not to say I don't like Ben, Locke et al along with the rest of the fanbase, but since the early days of the debut season, the Kwon husband and wife duo have been consistently interesting, fascinating, and incredibly deep characters, that most people usually forget about in the grand scheme of things. In a fictional universe inhabited by a clairvoyant, a cursed lottery winner, an evil mastermind and a one-time disabled hunter now recovered, the fact that Sun and Jin are merely a married couple is a major draw and a well-fought win for normality in the show, in essence, the two characters that still remind of the simpler times of those opening plane crash episodes.

Along with the rest of the show's ensemble however,  Sun and Jin too have been given their own development, and again, while not seemingly integral to the mystery and mythology of the show, their own personal backstories are forever interesting, often simply a tale of mere love and nothing else. Ji-Yeon seemingly continues these conventions, as Sun is rushed to hospital to give birth to Jin's baby, via a comment about her being one of this season's big things, The Oceanic 6. She gives birth to a daughter, while much of Jin's time is spent hunting for a cuddly panda as a present; a seemingly simple and charming couple of scenes with a plot-twist mindfu*k that cheats the viewer completely the way the show is renowned for. You'll love it, but Sun & Jin fans will thankfully be pleased that the episode has frequent exchanges between the two back on the ol' island of doom. A charming story of love, as always.

But as with last year, the focus in Ji-Yeon and indeed the season is once again entirely on the new characters, and not purely the survivors. This episode sees the exposition of the freighter plot and all the new stories that come with it, slowly moving the show's over-arching plot, while, inexplicably raising plenty of new questions and setting up for, presumably some answers next week before the show goes on hiatus. If we'll get them is another matter, but thankfully Ji-Yeon provides more than a filler episode that some would label it as, and once again proves that LOST, is still as good as it ever was. We may be in the fourth season now, but promises are being delivered, and all those early stories and characters are looking to come back in more than a big way.