Shadows on the Screen: Winter TV roundup

There's been a lot worth watching on TV over the past few months, with a range of comedy, drama and anthology. As I've said before, watching television is a great escape for me from the work-minded approach I have to take to the movies. So here's what's been filling my spare time....

SOMETHING NEW

Westworld

Complex and twisty, this ambitious adaptation of the Michael Crichton thriller has an enjoyable Groundhog Day premise as it resets itself each morning while building the narrative entanglements. Led by a formidable Thandie Newton (above right), the cast is excellent, diving into characters who are either robots layered with identity issues, guests trying to live a fantasy or creators with god complexes. It's an often thrilling mix, although the open-ended nature of the premise means it could run for years without reaching anything like a sensible conclusion. Yes, it takes a rather too-clever approach that tantalises the audience without giving any proper resolution.

The Young Pope

It's nothing short of tragic that this show failed to spark solid ratings or awards attention. After seeing the first two astonishing episodes as a feature film at the Venice Film Festival, I was wondering if creator-director Paolo Sorrentino could sustain the mix of comedy, drama and surrealism. Indeed he did, and magnificently so. Where this series goes is nothing short of revolutionary. It's witty, disturbing and gorgeous at the same time, and it was impossible to predict how these events would play out. And the acting by Jude Law, Diane Keaton, James Cromwell and Silvio Orlando is some of the very best on TV all year. 

Victoria 

This ITV series starts out a bit dryly, packing in a lot of historical events into a melodramatic set-up, then in episode 4 it shifts up a gear into Downton Abbey guilty pleasure territory, with the involving, sudsy romance between the young queen and her cousin Albert (nicely underplayed by Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes, pictured). Sumptuously produced, this is light entertainment with just a hint of the weight of history. And it's so much fun to watch, that it doesn't really matter that it's not offering very much actual insight into the life of Queen Victoria. ITV should have no trouble with keeping this show running for several years.

The Crown

Like a 100-years-later version of Victoria, with a much brainier script, this series begins with the romance and marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip (the superb Claire Foy and Matt Smith), and quickly introduces the illness of George VI (the amazing Jared Harris). The second episode is nothing short of a masterpiece. Produced to a very high standard, it's the high-calibre writing and direction that elevate this beyond the more soapy Victoria. Netflix went all out on this series, and it shows. And as she demonstrated in Wolf Hall, Foy is one of the finest actors working today when it comes to conveying a lifetime in a glance.

This Is Us

Everything about this show feels a little pointed, but it's beautifully written and acted, with characters who are grounded and authentic. The inter-connections between the disparate members of this family are fascinating, put together in a way that pretty much anyone watching can resonate with. And the issues touched on are strong and meaningful, mainly exploring discrimination on the basis of everything from economy and profession to weight and race. The characters also have a complexity to them that makes them nicely unpredictable, even if the way the writers fit them together is a bit tidy, like a softer, kinder, easier variation on Transparent.

Easy

This lightly interconnected eight-part anthology series is very nicely written, shot and acted, although the attempt to cover a wide range of topics and situations feels a little stilted. Essentially everything comes from a straight-white-male perspective, including the two episodes with rather leery lesbian elements. But there are astute moments all the way through, with sharp casting that includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Orlando Bloom, Jane Adams, Malin Akerman, Emily Ratajkowski and Raul Castillo. The two most clearly connected episodes - about brothers (Evan Jonigkeit and Dave Franco) setting up a hipster brewery in their Chicago garage - are flat-out terrific. 

BACK FOR MORE

Difficult People: Series 2

Deranged, fast and very silly, this show uses dense 30 Rock-style delivery for its smart, snappy humour. Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner (pictured) are ridiculous as two struggling, unprincipled comedians in New York, willing to do pretty much anything for even a hint of success. And the great Andrea Martin as Julie's mum is a stroke of genius. The things they get up to are hilariously stupid, written with an inevitable sense of failure that's rather annoying. But what they say is laceratingly funny, naming names as they go after pop culture targets. And a string of starry guests (including, inevitably, Tina Fey) adds a terrific kick. 

Transparent: Series 3

This show showed a bit of strain in this season, both in the balance of comedy and drama and in the way it developed the central characters. The problem is that these people are becoming increasingly selfish and unlikeable. They're also turning on each other, which is dangerous in a show about a family. The actors are all so good that they continually remind us that they truly love each other, but the characters are feeling isolated, lashing out as they try to survive increasingly impossible situations. We may feel their pain, but it isn't easy to root for anyone.

Black Mirror: Series 3

Moving to Netflix, Charlie Brooker's technology-themed Twilight Zone-style series is seriously beefed up. At an hour long each (with a feature-length finale), these feel more like stand-alone movies than an anthology TV series, especially with the A-list cast including Bryce Dallas Howard (as a woman desperate to improve her social media rating), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (a party girl living in an alternate 1987), Kelly Macdonald (a cop trying to stop a mind-boggling tech attack) and Wyatt Russell (a tester trying a too-real virtual reality game, pictured), plus rising stars like James Norton, Alex Lawther and Sarah Snook. Each episode carries a serious wallop. Unmissable.

You're the Worst: Series 3

Continuing to tilt into the edgier areas of the characters lives, this stunningly well written and played comedy somehow managed to turn even bleaker this year. As their relationship grows, it's getting increasingly difficult for the central characters (Chris Geery and Aya Cash) to be quite so blithely self-involved. So the writers have spread out to indulge in the side characters a bit more, which is kind of distracting since they're all pretty cartoonish, and not nearly as interesting. But the central storyline is as heartbreaking as ever.

Please Like Me: Series 4

This extraordinary comedy from Australia continues to throw curveballs at the audience, with its gang of prickly, unpredictable characters veering from hilariously outrageous comedy to wrenching emotion. This series started off lively and silly, with the usual mix of romantic chaos and family strains. And then in the final episodes it turned astonishingly dark, grappling with serious emotions in a way that's meaningful and important. The mixture of highs and lows is daring, as is the fact that actor-creator Josh Thomas' protagonist isn't always very likeable. But we can't help but love him.

Masters of Sex: Series 4

This show continues to depart from real life with its soapy plotting, as Masters and Johnson (Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, still excellent) began the season feuding and sulking in opposite ends of their laboratory. Ho hum. The strain is also showing in the writers' feeble attempts to keep the superb Caitlin Fitzgerald (as Johnson's angry ex-wife) in the show, while they seem unsure what to do with the amazing Annaleigh Ashford (as Betty the feisty receptionist). It did snap out of the doldrums as it went along, but there clearly needs to be a rethink. And it needs to be sexier than this.

Cold Feet: Series 6

Like a British take on the classic series Thirtysomething, this hit comedy-drama ran from 1997 to 2003, then returned this summer for an eight-part reunion season. The set-up is more than a little contrived, with a sudden marriage and relocation back to Manchester for Adam (James Nesbitt) seemingly because no one ever considered that his friendless 15-year-old son could move out to Singapore with him. And how the plot developed was pretty ridiculous. Still, the chemistry between the actors remains engaging, and it's especially great to see Fay Ripley and John Thomson back in the show's most interesting roles.

Shameless: Series 7

This inventive show wobbled slightly as this season began, straining to find outrageous plots. Some of this was fun (like Frank's "new" Gallagher family), and the darker observations about things like teen parenthood and mental illness are still dead-on and surprisingly moving. A few episodes in, it regained its character-based stride, pushing each person into an all-new form of nightmarish desperation while somehow maintaining the pathos. And as always, the climax was the return of Hurricane Monica (the wonderfully slurring Chloe Webb) in episode 9. And it got better and better from there, right to another brilliant, shattering finale.

SEASONS IN PROGRESS

The Real O'Neals: Series 2

This smart-silly sitcom is expanding on its ensemble cast with spiralling narratives that are a lot of fun. Although it's odd that the show seems to be neglecting its central figure, the gay teen Kenny (Noah Galvin), this year. It's as if the writers can't think beyond the trite cliches they continually resort to, since his storyline is the least entertaining one in the show. It's a mistake to go down this road with a show that started out so fresh. The writing is still strong, and the superb cast keeps the characters endearing. But it seems to be pandering to the masses by simplifying everyone to just one or two personality traits.

Supergirl: Series 2

After Arrow went dark, fragmented and chaotic about a year ago, The Flash followed suit in the first episode of this season, bogging down in its unnecessarily murky convolutions. So their sister show Supergirl probably has one more year before it also heads into creator Greg Berlanti's murky bog. Worrying signs are showing already, with the departure of Calista Flockhart, the show's primary source of comedy sass. And the action is turning increasingly violent, grim and cheesy. But the lead characters are still engaging as they trade plenty of snappy banter, and there's still a whiff of a light touch in the writing, so I'll keep watching for now. But this is the last superhero series I can stomach.

Empire: Series 3

After that fiery first year, this series has struggled to find its stride. The 2nd season was bipolar, lost in messy storytelling in the first half before wrenching it back to the more colourfully entertaining fireworks later on. This season has shot out with a vengeance, thankfully maintaining the focus on characters rather than plot melodramatics. But after the nightmarish events at the end of the last season, everyone is a bit stunned and emotional. Someone needed to bring sexy back. Instead, the showrunners have simply into the boring criminal plots and counter plots, while stupidly sidelining the three sons as damaged souls. Even Cookie looks bored with this.

Modern Family: Series 8
It's probably inevitable that a show that sustained some of the best writing on television would have to decline one day. After the uneven 7th season, this year's shows feel eerily uneven. There is some great dialog, and a general sense of energy, but on the whole the plotlines aren't hugely inventive, leaving the characters spinning their wheels. This show has always been about the joy of developing these people as they grow older, but there's a sense that the writers are unsure where to send them, relying on old gags instead of inventing new ones as the family dynamics change.

Shadows on the Screen: Summer TV roundup

I watch a range of TV series as an escape valve from all the movies, and I like most genres that don't centre on cops, lawyers or hospitals. And I'm about to add superheroes to that list. Anyway, it's been an enjoyable few months, with some solid quality and several guilty pleasures...

SOMETHING NEW

The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story

With staggeringly sharp writing, direction and acting, this dramatisation of the notorious events of 1994 and 1995 is utterly riveting from start to finish. All of the actors are award-worthy; stand-outs include Sarah Paulson's beleaguered lawyer, Sterling Brown as her tenacious partner and David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. And these were only the most complex characters in a show packed with memorable performances. Clearly, the most important thing about this heavily researched show is the balanced approach it takes to finally put the record straight.

The Five

Harlan Coban's mystery took a terrifically snaky path through 10 gripping episodes. Since so many red herrings and character dramas were stirred in, the solution was impossible to see coming, but the ending still managed to be solidly satisfying. Tom Cullen was terrific in the central role, ably supported by a varied, skilled cast including OT Fagbenle, Lee Ingleby and Sarah Solemani as his childhood pals (they are four of the eponymous five, possibly). It's a rare thriller that can deepen the characters even as it makes the central storyline increasingly knotted, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

The Real O'Neals

A brightly silly play on the standard American sitcom, this genuinely hilarious series has five terrific actors playing the O'Neal family, each of whom goes through a sort of coming-out from their superficial good-Catholic appearance, sparked by teen Kenny (Noah Galvin) realising that he's gay. Where this goes is witty and smart, but played for very broad laughs, which cleverly undercuts a wide array of serious themes that gurgle through every scene. The dialog snaps with life, hysterically delivered by a cast we'd like to spend a lot more time with. As these characters mature, it'll be interesting to see how bold the writers are allowed to get within the US network formula. Because if they don't learn and grow, this show is doomed.

Flowers

This blackly comical 6-part drama is so relentlessly quirky that it quickly weeds out less patient audience members with the very first scenes. An eccentric story about eccentric people in an eccentric English village, it's so mannered that it struggles to generate any real emotional kick. Even so, the cast is excellent, anchored by the brilliant Olivia Colman, who makes Deborah Flowers an engagingly flawed matriarch who veers from chirpy optimism to wrenching despair. As her husband and children, Julian Barratt, Sophia Di Martino and Daniel Rigby are intriguing and often surprising. As is writer-director Will Sharpe in what turns out to be a key role. It's a shame the story doesn't quite hang together.

Flaked 

Will Arnett is reason enough to watch this show, although it's pretty insufferable. Centred on a group of losers who are in their mid to late 30s, this show doesn't really have a single likeable character. Much of the interaction is jaggedly resonant, and the cool Venice Beach setting is put to use for maximum hipster value. So it's frustrating that the show feels so stuck in a perspective that's relentlessly narrow: men struggling with identity issues due to a lack of direction caused by past problems. Ho hum.

GOING STRONG

Game of Thrones:
series 6

It became almost a cliche that each episode in this season would end with a major bombshell involving a nasty death or edgy triumph. Daenarys (Emilia Clarke) continues to dominate the show, and teaming her with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) has created the most formidable TV duo in recent memory. The battles have been bigger and more violent, so much so that there hasn't been time for many sexual shenanigans this season. And since they keep killing off the vilest of the villains, there aren't many left to hiss at. As the plot threads begin to entwine, the show is growing more coherent and urgent. And unmissable.

Veep: series 5

Running in parallel with the American election cycle, this season had a lot of fun with the whole primary system, followed by a chaotic voting day. The dialog has been some of the best in the entire five-year run, delivered beautifully by the genius Julia Louis-Dreyfus and company. Although the plotting has a nagging predictability, including the documentary being made by first daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland), the shambolic campaign of the too-idiotic Jonah (Timothy Simons), and the backroom sneakiness of vice presidential candidate Tom (Hugh Laurie). The jaggedly hysterical dialog has been awesome this year, although the bittersweet ending felt like a farewell.

Girls: series 5

This series has been notable for presenting an ensemble of people who are so disarmingly realistic that they seem quirky and almost surreal in the generally accepted fantasy landscape of television. In this season, Lena Dunham and friends all acted on impulse, making sudden decisions based on no rationality whatsoever, which is fairly infuriating for audiences that are hooked on the trite plotting of most TV series. But this show is relentlessly fresh and funny, pushy and annoying, but always surprising, forcing both thought and uneasy laughter. And the final episode in this season is breathtaking.

Silicon Valley: series 3

Frankly, I wasn't sure I'd return to this series, but there wasn't much else on so I gave in. The problem is that the writers seem to only have one trick up their sleeves: make things as miserable as possible for these nerds and their supposedly amazing invention. Every time they get a break and things look like they might actually come together, there is a series of setbacks caused by ludicrous circumstances out of their control. This may comically reflect the reality of the IT sector, but it's annoying to watch a show in which everyone just runs in circles. Especially when the primary cause of most of the pain is TJ Miller's insufferable moron Erlich. Miller's a gifted comic, but without Erlich the show might actually be enjoyable.

BACK FOR SECONDS

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: series 2

This buoyant series continued with its breakneck pacing, zooming through 13 episodes in what felt like the blink of an eye. It was nice to see a bit of deepening for the side characters played by Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess - both play utterly ridiculous people, but this season revealed some surprisingly emotional sides. Ellie Kemper continues to be perhaps the most relentlessly likeable person on TV - adorable, hilarious, silly. Her story is superbly involving. Although it's probably too jarringly nonstop for some viewers, as Tina Fey recreates her 30 Rock formula of packing what feels like 10 comedy gags into each second of air time. 

Grace and Frankie: series 2

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin took their characters quite a bit further in this second season, pushing both their camaraderie and deep differences to various breaking points. The scripts sometimes felt a bit goofy, but both actresses are so good that it's hard to mind much. And there's fine support from Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, on their own journey as the coupled-up ex-spouses, plus Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, Baron Vaughn and June Diane Raphael as their complex kids. This is also a rare show that gives other acting veterans a chance to shine - Ernie Hudson and Sam Elliot both had great roles this season. Geriatric love has never looked so sexy on-screen: there's hope for everyone!

Empire: series 2

After a very rough first half, this season got back on track by concentrating once again on the soapy excesses rather than the grim criminal elements. And the stories mercifully reverted back to the tetchy members of the Lyon dynasty rather than those swirling around them. The big cliffhanger finale was perfectly played, Dallas/Dynasty style. And it suggests that things will continue to return to more camp craziness for the third season. Intriguingly, now that we're used to Taraji P Henson's outrageous attitude and costumes and Terrence Howard's squinty steeliness, it's the three sons who are emerging as much more complex, engaging characters. The question is whether Henson and Howard will let them share the spotlight.

The Royals: series 2

This oddly undercooked series continues with its cheap and cheerful style, mixing very badly written scripts with cheesy direction. The cast is adept, although each moment of resonance is undermined by something eye-rollingly stupid. Still, William Moseley and Alexandra Park manage to find depth in their twin prince and princess roles, while Liz Hurley and Joan Collins have a ball strutting around in high-fashion regalia with their diva attitudes and hidden agendas. And Tom Austen offers some terrific brooding-hunk moments. Trashy and pretty awful, really. But fun.

Schitt's Creek: series 2

After the gimmicky set-up in the first season, this one felt like it was kind of pushing it. A family of four millionaires stranded in a backwoods town, each of the characters pushed forward in his or her life, but without more interpersonal development, none of this quite makes sense anymore. That said, the four lead actors (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy) are so engaging that the show is still hugely entertaining. (While Chris Elliott is still hopelessly annoying.) So if they try to stretch this premise even thinner, I'll still be watching. 

There isn't much on over the summer months - well, not that I've discovered yet - but I am watching the second season of Wayward Pines, enjoying Chelsea Handler's cleverly titled Chelsea, looking forward to the Looking movie and Sharknado 4, and catching up with less promising series I'd previously skipped, like Supergirl.

Shadows on the Screen: Winter TV roundup

Christmas break is a great time to binge watch things I've banked up for months, alternating them with studio screener discs of movies seeking awards consideration. Most of these are limited series that completed their runs (or at least this season) before Christmas. The other three built to a mid-season cliffhanger and will be back in the spring...

DISCOVERIES 

You, Me and the Apocalypse

This offbeat UK-US hybrid has heavyweight comical brilliance in the cast (Rob Lowe, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman) and a likeable double lead in Matthew Baynton. So there were moments of both comical and dramatic genius in this multi-strand tale of the final month before an asteroid obliterates life on Earth. But the tone resolutely refused to gel, existing somewhere in that space between goofy slapstick and edgy satire. In the end, it managed to entertain right to the awkward ending. Would I watch a second series? Possibly, if I needed something vacuous to fill the time.

Master of None

Aziz Ansari brought his stand-up persona to the TV series format in this intriguing hybrid of sitcom and anthology show. Each episode addresses a single theme,while allowing the characters to deepen engagingly. Even the minor roles had layers of complexity rarely seen in TV comedy, popping in and out of episodes like people do in real life - bringing their individual complications with them. It's also a rare show with a proper gender and ethnic angle that mirrors real life. As a result, the 10 episodes seemed to go by far too quickly. Would I watch a second series? Obviously.

Minority Report

Based on both the Philip K Dick novel and the Steven Spielberg movie, this futuristic series had some clever themes and a sharp visual design to it. On the other hand, it badly simplified the moral issues involved, often reducing the premise to a cheesy cop drama that, despite having a strong female lead in Meagan Good, felt eerily misogynistic (apparently in the future women are required to wear plunging necklines, which men have to oogle). This is probably because, as the series progressed, the writers stubbornly refused to add any proper depth to the characters. Would I watch a second series? I doubt it.

The Man in the High Castle

Also based on a Philip K Dick novel, this Amazon series takes a look at a parallel-reality 1960 in which the Nazis and Japanese won the war, dividing up America between them. The result is an intriguing mix of fantasy and political drama, packed with very big issues. It also boasts a terrific cast of likeable actors in complex, sympathetic roles. On the other hand, the production design was almost comically gloomy, and the plotting sometimes felt badly under-developed. But in the end, the intriguing "what if..." themes add a strong kick. Would I watch a second series? Yes, although I wish they'd let the story end properly this time round.

London Spy

More gloominess, this time in an even more relentlessly dark and grey present-day London, where a hapless young guy (the superb Ben Whishaw) discovers that his beloved late boyfriend was actually a spy. Strong support from Jim Broadbent, with spicy roles for underused stars like Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Kate Dickie and Adrian Lester. The production does a great job of creating a moody, paranoid atmosphere, although a hint of fresh air might have made it more engaging. And a plot that had somewhere interesting to go. Would I watch a second series? Probably. I like moody.

MORE DRAMA

Downton Abbey: series 6

Julian Fellowes managed to keep the quality high right to the end of this final season, even if the show has relentlessly smoothed out every intriguing edge with each successive year. This climactic series, plus the two-hour finale, was never as dark or surprising as we hoped. But it gave all of the characters both narrative intrigue and lots of camp one-liners as it brought every plot thread (and then some) to a close. If anything, this last season was even funnier than the previous years, so perhaps it was a good idea to go out on a high.

Fargo: series 2

Instead of playing it safe, producers took this show back 25 years into a massive gang war. The result isn't quite as likeable as the first season, but it's even more provocative and textured, with a large cast of unforgettable characters, most of whom end up dead. Standouts include Kristen Dunst's blank hairdresser and her helpful butcher husband (Jesse Plemmons), two observant and measured local cops (Patrick Wilson and Ted Danson), a charismatic interloper (Bookeem Woodbine), a tenacious native American (Zahn McClarnon) and a matriarch (Jean Smart) who rules through gritted teeth. What happens is twisty, messy and so sprawling that it constantly requires narration to find the path through it. Fiendishly clever.

Transparent: series 2

Quite simply the most beautiful series in production at the moment, this second season pushed all of the characters much, much further, grappling with enormous issues of gender and sexuality, as well as family connections. All of these people are deeply flawed, which makes them eerily easy to identify with as they struggle to find their way. And the brief explorations of how their family's history echoes down through the decades was seriously haunting.

Homeland: series 5

Claire Danes' now ex-CIA operative Carrie Mathison may have gone off the grid for this series, but the writers cleverly managed to bring her right into the middle of a massive terrorist plot. The Berlin setting gave the show a blast of fresh air, as did the inclusion of Miranda Otto as a shifty US official. Along the way, there was some strong, complex drama and several heart-stopping moments, beautifully staged in intriguing locations. And it concludes on a note that allows the show to reboot again somewhere new next year.

MORE COMEDY

You're the Worst: series 2

One of the darkest sitcoms ever made, this strikingly original show delved into depression this year in a way that was unexpected, honest and powerfully moving. This isn't something comedy series usually do, but the cast and crew managed it here while maintaining the show's hilariously brittle vibe,. They also constantly, inventively push these outrageous characters forward. Unmissable.

Doll & Em: Series 2

Dolly Wells and Emily Mortimer continue their rather silly friendship, this season as they tried to write a play about their lives. The show is fiendishly knowing, dry and witty but more telling and emotional than funny. It constantly catches the audience by surprise with its astute comments on both friendship and show business. But the low-key approach sometimes tests the patience.

Please Like Me: series 3

This Australian sitcom is maturing year-by-year into something unusually observant, as its gang of young characters (led by creator-actor Josh Thomas) navigate their way into the thorny grown-up world of relationships and family. Constantly surprising and packed with unexpected laugh-out-loud moments, the show also had a stronger, more resonant emotional undercurrent this year.

The Muppets

This reboot of The Muppet Show cleverly sets the chaos around a late-night TV show hosted by Miss Piggy, which offers the promise of lots of starry guests sending themselves up. But the style of the show (a mock-doc) and the humour (The Office-style idiocy) utterly fail to catch the singular genius of the Muppets. It simply isn't smart, sweet or funny. I lasted four episodes and gave up.

MID-SEASON BREAKS

Empire: series 2

There's been a strange tonal shift in this second season, as the Lyon family escalate their internal warring. The problem is that this has tipped the series from camp sassiness to real nastiness, leaving none of the characters particularly likeable. If rumours are to be believed, there's a similar level of feuding going on behind the cameras, which doesn't bode well for the future of a show that started off so brilliantly. Hopefully the second half of this season will be more fun. Frankly, it needs to feel the impact of Lee Daniels' involvement a lot more than it does at the moment.

Scandal: series 5

Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope continues to grapple with all manner of controversy, and in this season she's at the centre of the storm herself. The plots are melodramatic and soapy, but the interaction is great fun, as the camp excesses of Olivia's now-public affair with the US President (Tony Goldwyn), which is thankfully balanced by serious, shadowy grisliness. But there are fewer proper cliffhangers this year, as the story settles into a straightforward soapy narrative. Bring back the scandals, please.

Arrow: series 4 / The Flash: series 2

These heroic action series continue to intermingle enjoyably, as they use simplistic scripts to explore hugely overcomplicated plots, with characters visiting each others' shows. And the charismatic actors make them addictive - Arrow's brooding darkness is undercut by edgy comedy and romance, while The Flash's lively comedy is subverted by moments of real emotion. A third series (Legends of Tomorrow) joins them in early 2016. Will it have the same mix of badly choreographed action and compelling characters?

Ongoing series I'm watching at the moment include The Grinder (my favourite new show this year), Modern Family, Galavant, Dickensian, and I'm looking forward to Chelsea Does.

Shadows on the Screen: Spring TV roundup

Television is what I do when I want to clear my head, taking 25 or 45 minutes as a break between writing about movies. So I've managed to see a variety of shows over the past few months. Sometimes a show takes over a weekend of binge-watching, which feels like a holiday! It's great to watch something I don't have to write about. Although that's exactly what I'm doing here - these are 16 shows I've been watching over the winter...

QUALITY

Parks and Recreation: series 7
In its final 13 episodes, this consistently smart, funny and almost criminally engaging show visited the near future (these episodes were set in 2017) to wrap everything up on a variety of notes that were witty and moving. Simply one of the best sitcoms ever made,  it'll be sorely missed. At least we know we haven't seen the last of the fabulous Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, Aziz Ansari, et al.


Looking: series 2
Andrew Haigh's loosely constructed series exploring the lives of three gay men in San Francisco continues to make its plot turns realistically random, as the characters find love and friendship in unexpected places. Intriguingly, there's a nagging feeling that all of them are going to end up unhappy, even as lovely things happen in their romantic lives. But that cleverly reflects life in a subculture that's been told for a generation that they're incapable of having that happy ever after. Pointed and thoughtful stuff. Perhaps too complex, which is why it's sadly not been renewed for a third series.
SEE ALSO: my interview with Frankie J Alvarez >

Wolf Hall
The BBC's prestigious period drama traced the arc of Anne Boleyn (Clare Foy) in six episodes through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell (the awesome Mark Rylance). It's dark and brooding, quiet and utterly fierce, packed with creepy surprises and beautifully underplayed characters. The cast is simply amazing, including a terrific performance from Damien Lewis as a watchful, intensely insecure Henry VIII. Sometimes rather dense and murky, but the story's big moments are beautifully rendered. Utterly riveting.

House of Cards: series 3
Much of the tension seemed to be absent from the show this year, mainly because there's nowhere left for Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood to go now that he's the US President. His manoeuvring toward re-election wasn't nearly as compelling, nor was the shadowy rebirth of his henchman Doug (Michael Kelly). On the other hand, Spacey and Robin Wright are both utterly mesmerising on-screen, especially as they traversed the gyrations of their freaky marriage. All of the actors are superb; most notable in the supporting cast were Molly Shannon and Elizabeth Marvel.

NEW DISCOVERIES

You're the Worst
This biting, acerbic rom-com was so much fun that it felt like it ended far too soon - after just 10 brisk half-hour episodes. Chris Geere and Aya Cash are terrific as the self-destructive leads, people who know better than to start a relationship but do anyway. Their struggle to both adhere to and break the rules is complex and very funny, although the scripts sometimes get oddly preachy for such a free-spirited romp. It's as if the writers want to be radical but are still bound by traditional rules themselves, which adds a layer of meta-meaning that's compulsive to watch. Bring on series 2.

Togetherness
This new HBO series benefits from strong performances from the leading cast members Mark Duplass, Melanie Lynskey, Amanda Peet and Steve Zissis as four people grappling with their interrelationships. Each character's actions are rather annoying - this is one of those shows during which we're constantly screaming at the screen - as they jeopardise their connections with each other by doing things that are desperate or downright stupid. But the actors manage to bring out the undercurrents very nicely. And the cliffhanger ending bodes well for a messy Series 2.

Cucumber / Banana / Tofu
Channel 4's experiment in interlinked programming was intriguing enough to hold the interest, although I gave up on the on-demand mini-doc Tofu after one episode. I very nearly gave up on Cucumber too, since its central characters were so irritatingly written and played as cartoon figures rather than real people. The only one who worked was Freddie Fox's bitter queen, a loathsome young man with deep insecurities. He made the show watchable. Banana was considerably better, one-off dramas that peeled away (!) from Cucumber to touch on big issues with some genuinely resonant emotion.

Schitt's Creek
Frankly, I'd watch anything that Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara were in. So even if this far too high-concept sitcom strains to be wacky, it's packed with a constant flow of sardonic, understated humour. It's not immediately clear how the writers will be able to stretch this one joke into a second season, but as long as Levy and O'Hara find ways to play with their terrific on-screen charisma, I'll be watching. And aside from a too-broad turn from Chris Elliott, the supporting cast really grows on you.

BACK FOR MORE

Shameless: series 5
This American remake of the long-running British show contains some of the best writing and acting on TV at the moment. It's a rare show that dares to push its characters into unapologetically horrific situations but plays it honesty, drawing out laughter and brittle emotion instead of sensationalism or preachiness. It's extremely full-on, but the actors ground their characters remarkably, making them likeable even though they all do rather terrible things in an attempt to just get on with their lives. Unpredictable and often exhilarating.

Modern Family: series 6
A consistently high quality of writing sets this sitcom apart, developing characters who grow along with the actors playing them. This season the children are beginning to take over the show, and it's about time, because all of them are terrific actors and their characters are hilarious. The adults are amusing in their own right (even if they drift into caricature now and then), but have little to do but laugh at and worry about the kids, which is of course both sharply realistic and very funny.

Girls: series 4
Lena Dunham's meandering, whiny comedy took a couple of odd turns this season, including Hannah's impulsive, spoiled-brat decision to drop out of her prestigious writing course. But then all of these people are hard to like, even if their self-involvement is eerily truthful. The show is a lot more fun when these complex characters are bantering with each other than when they're off having their own dramas or clearly doomed romances.

The Walking Dead: series 5
This is one of those shows I think I'll stop watching for good after each episode. And yet I keep at it, because they're continually throwing a wrench in the works. I had finally become fed up with this season's repetitive bleakness when our intrepid, depleted heroes stumbled on an idyllic community. Obviously everything will have to go horribly wrong, but I'll hold on until then.

GUILTY PLEASURES

Empire
In its first season, this gleefully trashy soap recalled the heyday of Dynasty with its premise involving a bigoted and unwell patriarch (Terrence Howard), his bickering children and the arrival of his larger-than-life ex-wife (Taraji P Henson, just give her the Emmy now). The cast is so good that it's able to hold the absurd scripts together, especially as characters grapple with everything from ALS to bipolar disorder via closeted sexuality, violent crime and sinister counterplots. The best guilty pleasure in years.

Scandal: series 4
In what is clearly a pattern for this show, the even-numbered seasons try the patience by attempting to add serious plotting rather than the much more entertaining trashiness that makes us want to tune in. This season is especially frustrating because the show's writers seem intent on turning it into a feeble cross between Homeland and House of Cards. The superb actors and tangled plots are still more than enough reason to stay tuned, but please bring back the sudsy fun!

Arrow: series 3
Honestly, this is the most inane show I watch - lazy writing and appallingly choreographed action. But it's also a lot of fun, packed with actors who are hugely watchable (and some tension too because the writers aren't afraid to kill off favourite characters). So even if the whole thing feels undercooked, and more than a little impressed with its own seriousness, it still manages to be thoroughly entertaining and oddly gripping, mainly because it's impossible to predict where it might go. But one thing's for sure: every time the writers push the characters into another impossible corner, there'll be something miraculous to get them through.

Glee: series 6
In its final season, this show slipped further into a parody of itself (which is saying something), but I hung on to the bitter end. Gone were the relevant themes and unexpected plot turns, and in their place were heightened cartoon versions of the characters, fewer songs and indulgent storylines that contrived to bring back the old cast members while ignoring fresher faces. And while Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele became even more insufferable, at least Jane Lynch was still around to make her increasingly insane Sue Sylvester the show's highlight. Although the surge of sentiment in the final episodes was uncharacteristic, and undeserved.