Good Things Come in Threes

So, a while ago I was complaining that there wasn't really that much on TV. Well, okay I was watching an episode of the Sopranos a day so I didn't exactly have nothing. But not much.

So now I'm completely spoiled for choice. I've already written about US drama Mad Men, I'm nearly all the way through Ashes to Ashes (which is picking up the pace, but I wish Alex would stop screaming) and I've been watching Lost which is becoming completely unbelievable (when you think about how realistic it was in the first series, it makes you cringe sometimes. In a good way).

But there are now three more shows that have come to light. One is an old favourite. The other two are funny, quirky and dark in places. So first, my old friend. House is very intelligent, in a strange way. If you get bamboozled by some of the medical terms in the show, there's always a neat explanation (but every episode there's an unfortunate case of Lupus, or the patient will be cured when House has a brainwave and realises they have a genetic disease). But it's the tensions between House, his boss Cuddy and his best friend Wilson that are the best parts of the show. Without giving away much, the season opener with House's guitar going missing is a scream. I hope he doesn't get a new team (Foreman was sacked, and both Chase and Cameron resigned at the end of last season) because then it'll be extra fun watching Cuddy squirm at House's unorthodox methods.

Next, we have the fourth series of Boston Legal, and this is a show that I've only just started watching. I think everyone on this show has a mental problem or a beef with one of the other characters. It seems like the whole law firm is taken over by nut cases with strange pasts or secrets to hide. It makes for some very funny situations and cases though (take homophobic, sex-crazed Denny being arrested for solicitation in a courthouse toilet, for example). It's pretty far-fetched but somehow you feel endeared to the characters for their quirks and start loving the show as a result.

I've saved the best show until last. Dexter. A show about a serial killer working for the cops as a blood expert and taking care of people who've escaped the justice system in his spare time. This series is just so dark, but it's so funny as well. It does have serious moments, but they're usually followed by something humorous to lighten the mood. The thing is, all of the TV Critics here said that ITV were taking a massive gamble on showing it (here, it was originally aired on FX) but if there are enough people out there that think like me and like a lovely, juicy, dark, blackly comic serial that has a lovable murderer as its main character then it wasn't a gamble at all. I'll probably freak out if the Sky+ doesn't tape an episode. I'm hooked. I don't want the series to end!

So, I've gone from being TV deprived to being completely spoilt. And, with the new series of Desperate Housewives starting tomorrow, things are looking up!