Trailer: El Ray's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN - THE SERIES

At first I thought it regrettable Robert Rodriguez will risk sullying the good name of his cult 1996 horror movie FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, but then I remembered there were two straight-to-video movies that did that already. They were so awful I only admit they exist under duress. Turning the original film into an ongoing TV drama doesn't seem possible, let alone close to a good idea, but Rodriguez needs something with brand recognition to draw eyeballs to his fledgling El Ray Network (which launched just before Christmas).

Finale review: FX's AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! Hands-down, American Horror Story (AHS) is the most divisive TV show currently airing, and during every episode I find my opinion changes every five minutes. It can be transcendentally good (well, occasionally), a fine purveyor of gore and strangeness (always), and yet it's monumentally stupid and prone to repetition while wandering down narrative dead-ends. Most episodes feel like they're written by someone who didn't see the preceding script, and has only been told what happens by a drunk friend the night before. It's a show I often want to wash my hands of, and yet I keep coming back every week. It's not simply a case of "hate-watching", either, because that sadistic pastime runs its course. I think it's because the actors are trying so hard to impose a sense of clarity and consistency the writers fail to, and the surprising durability of a show that, for all its faults, is unlike anything else on television.

Review: BBC2's THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH

written & directed by Mark Gatiss (based on the story by M.R James)

This adaptation of M.R James's 1911 short story aired on Christmas Day, but I've only just found time to sit down and watch it. Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who) has been a lifelong fan of the renowned English author since watching the BBC's classic 1970s adaptations in his formative years. Indeed, his career has been largely spent updating or paying homage to his adolescent touchstones; from The League of Gentlemen days, through to his modernisation of Sherlock Holmes, an update of a H.G Wells story (First Men the Moon), and the Amicus horror inspired Crooked House miniseries (also influenced by M.R James).

TV News: 'AGENT X', BETTER CALL SAUL, DOCTOR WHO, CONSTANTINE, FLESH & BONE, HANNIBAL, THE INTRUDERS, 'Sky First Episodes' on YouTube

Below is another collection of recent news stories that have caught my eye, with a few comments from yours truly...

MSN TV: Sky Atlantic's LOOKING

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed the pilot of HBO's new drama LOOKING, about three gay friends living in San Francisco, which debuted in the UK on Sky Atlantic last night...

Looking, invariably branded "the gay version of Girls" (HBO's other comedy-drama airing on Sky Atlantic), is based on an eight-minute short film from 2011 called Lorimer, also written by Michael Lannan and directed by Andrew Haigh. It's the story of three gay friends living in San Francisco: video game designer Patrick, artist's assistant Agustin, and wine waiter Dom. And that's essentially all there is to it – they negotiate and navigate their way through life in the gay-friendly city, looking for love and happiness. A simple premise that evokes the likes of Sex and the City - and that became a cultural phenomenon before falling into big-screen ignominy with the release of the awful second movie.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

MSN TV: Channel 4's THE JUMP

Over at MSN TV today: I reviewed the first instalment of Channel 4's new celebrity reality show THE JUMP, where 12 celebrities compete in a variety of winter sport disciplines...

Timed to capture the spirit of this year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Channel 4 has essentially remade 2003's The Games with a larger budget and more potential for serious injury. Indeed, during training in Innsbruck, Austria, two celebrities have already dropped out: US actor Sam Jones (who played Flash Gordon) over a shoulder injury, and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson – who decided the show wasn’t for her after all. Maybe the perceived pressure of being hot favourite (as daughter of an Olympic skier) was too much. Despite those unfortunate losses (if only for the certainty of hearing Queen's Flash Gordon theme during Jones's events), The Jump still has a decent line-up. This is perhaps indicative of a show offering a genuine challenge and chance to learn new skills, unlike Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

TV Picks: 27 January – 2 February 2014 (Dads, Damages, Good Wife, Last Leg, Looking, Outnumbered, Top Gear, etc.)

Below are my picks of the week's most notable shows, premiering/returning to UK screens...

Pilot review: Starz's BLACK SAILS

written by Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | directed by Neil Marshall

Now that Spartacus has finished its bloodthirsty tale, Starz is desperate for another hit to replace it (no, Da Vinci's Demons wasn't it). It's now pinning its hope on a tough-as-nails 18th-century pirate drama produced by Michael Bay (Transformers) and Neil Marshall (The Descent), who also directs this opener. But it's probably best to remember it's created by Jonathan Steinberg (Human Target) and Robert Levine (Jericho). Black Sails is an imagined prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island, if anyone wants to know what Long John Silver was like as a young man, and why he came to mockingly name his parrot Captain Flint.

Letterboxd: RIDDICK (2013); THE HOST (2013); COMMANDO (1985)

★★★ (out of five)

I belong to a small clique who believe Vin Diesel's Richard Riddick is one of the best turn-of-the-century action characters, who also thinks CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK was a worthwhile follow-up to PITCH BLACK (where its only fault was overreaching). I love the character and the universe writer-director David Twohy created (sort of STARSHIP TROOPERS-meets-STAR WARS), and thankfully enough of a cult has grown to allow the unlikely threequel of RIDDICK—arriving almost a decade after CHRONICLES, which was intended to be the beginning of a trilogy that never happened.

I was excited to see RIDDICK last year, but my enthusiasm was tempered by some mixed to negative reviews when it hit cinemas, so I decided to wait for the home theatre experience with lowered expectations. Having now seen it, it's certainly the least impressive of the three films, but works well enough as an amalgam of the previous entries in the Riddick storyline. It has the 'planet full of vicious aliens' component of PITCH BLACK, plus the 'bad-ass bounty hunters on a manhunt' aspect that fuelled stretches of CHRONICLES. The budget is clearly much lower than the previous movie, but beyond a few weak greenscreens and some Syfy Original Movie-esque space sequences and alien world vistas, the film holds together well. Wisely, most of the money appeared to have been spent on the two main alien creatures (jackal-like canines, and scorpion-like Mud Demons)--which are both impressively designed and vividly brought to life.

TV News: 24, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D, BARBARELLA, HELLO LADIES/FAMILY TREE, LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, MURDER SHE WROTE, TRIP TO ITALY, WALKING DEAD

A collection of this week's best television news stories, compiled by my good self....

Sky announce FORTITUDE

The success of The Killing and Broadchurch hasn't gone unnoticed by the heads of Sky, as they've just announced a new crime drama called Fortitude. The 12-part drama is set in a remote Icelandic town, the titular Fortitude, dealing with its first ever murder. Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia) will play a detective who arrives in town to solve the case, where he meets the local sheriff (Game of Thrones' Richard Dormer) and a governor (The Killing's Sofie Gråbøl) who wants to turn the mining town into a tourist destination.

COMMUNITY, 5.5 – 'Geothermal Escapism'

written by Tim Saccardo | directed by Joe Russo

While the loss of Chevy Chase this season was unfortunate, his character on Community was always being pushed into the background or kept on the sidelines of most stories (certainly from season 3 onwards), so his loss this year hasn't been felt too badly. But losing Donald Glover will be a much bigger challenge for the writers; as Troy was not only a prominent part of the study group, but one half of a hilarious double-act with Abed (Danny Pudi). The writers may only have to wrestle with his absence for seven more episodes before NBC are expected to pull the plug on Community forever, but if it gets another reprieve I'm glad the door has been kept open for Troy to return.

Finale review: Fox's SLEEPY HOLLOW (Season 1)

WARNING: SPOILERS! Fox's supernatural drama Sleepy Hollow was the surprise hit of the autumn and ended its first season of thirteen episodes last Monday. I've been wrestling with this show most weeks, because sometimes it stays focused and delivers some genuinely creepy visuals, then at other times it devolves into a screwy mess of supernatural weirdness. The fact it's a hit isn't surprising to me, because it's so restless in its approach that my guess is most viewers have been swept along on a tidal wave of spookiness and Tom Mison worship. The English actor's fantastic as Ichabod Crane, of course; playing a courteous 19th-century colonial who awakens in the 21st-century to fight a Headless Horseman and other nasties on the eve of Armageddon. I also like Nicole Beharie as his strong-willed partner, Sheriff Abby Mills, and it's great to see the writers haven't forced an obvious romance between the pair.

MAD MEN, Season 1-6 - the customer is always spite

Following on from Game of Thrones and Hannibal, what did the 'customer reviewing public' make of Emmy-winning critical darling MAD MEN..?

[All quotes are genuine, sources from various online customer feedback sections.]

MSN TV: Sky Atlantic's THE FOLLOWING, 2.1 - 'Resurrection'

Over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the second season premiere of THE FOLLOWING, which debuted on Sky Atlantic last night, just a few days after its Fox premiere...

2013 gave us a stylish new serial killer drama which was also a remarkable piece of TV art that rejuvenated a torpid franchise. Yes, I'm talking about Hannibal which airs here on Sky Living and stars Hugh Dancy. In comparison, The Following is a brainless mess of gore, cheap shocks, and cod psychology. It may have been more popular than Hannibal in the US ratings (never itself a sign of quality), but I know which series has more potential to serve up satisfying seasons. I was surprised The Following managed to produce its 15 episodes last year (a stipulation of Kevin Bacon's involvement) as it ran out of narrative juice by week four.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

MSN TV: Channel 5's HELIX

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed the premiere of sci-fi contagion thriller HELIX, which made its UK debut on Channel 5 last night. (This is a reworking of my recent original review.)

I enjoy a good contagion thriller, but I'm not convinced that genre's a perfect match for long-form television. Helix is telling a story over 13 episodes, each representing a different day - potentially for many seasons to come. Or at least, that's the hope. For this reason, it's going to be much harder keeping audiences engaged unless the characters alone are endlessly fascinating, or the story goes against expectations and gives us something much deeper, richer and crazier than a two-hour movie could hope to achieve. It's too early to tell if Helix has any aces up its sleeve, but on the evidence of this premiere, I'm just happy it has some merit.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

MSN TV: BBC1's THE MUSKETEERS

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the premiere of BBC1's new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers, shortened to simply THE MUSKETEERS...

Originally conceived as Saturday night show back in 2007 (occupying the position Atlantis now holds), The Musketeers instead lands in a more "grown-up" Sunday night timeslot. This works in its favour as a common criticism of the shows that keep Doctor Who's seat warm is how they're forced to repress darker urges to stay tolerable for youngsters. Adrian Hodges, lead writer of this latest adaptation, has had mixed fortunes lately with monster melee Primeval and post-apocalyptic remake Survivors. However, The Musketeers is already more promising than both, but much of that's down to its strong casting, well-choreographed action and beautiful scenery (it’s filmed in and around a wintry Prague).

Continue reading at MSN TV...

TV Calendar overhaul

Have you noticed my TV Calendar has been revamped for 2014? It now includes a brief description of all new shows, together with any official images and available trailers (like season 2 of Hannibal, also above). This makes it more visually appealing and will hopefully encourage more people to refer to it. I hope. So please bookmark the page, make us of it, and spread the word if you can!

I'll be renewing efforts to keep the Calendar updated this year with US/UK premiere dates, and most newly released trailers will appear there first. Please get in touch if you want to suggest TV shows to add to the Calendar, or politely point out errors to fix, or changes to make. It's always faster and easier to quickly tweet me.

TV Picks: 20-26 January 2014 (The Following, Girls, Helix, The Jump, Mom, National Television Awards, Room 101, Ross Kemp: Extreme World, Stella, etc.)

Below are my picks of the week's most notable shows, returning/premiering to UK screens...

Letterboxd: POLTERGEIST (1982); RED 2 (2013); THE BLING RING (2013)

★★★½ (out of five)

Tobe Hooper's POLTERGEIST came to my attention in the early-'90s when I was a pre-teen. Back then I remember it had a reputation for being a Very Scary Movie—partly because of an alleged "curse", as child star Heather O'Rourke died months prior to POLTERGEIST III's 1988 release (and the original used real human corpses during one climactic scene). For awhile, it was a movie I only caught moments of on late-night TV when my parents were out. I can't remember sitting down to watch it from beginning to end, and certainly haven't seen it for a good 15 years or so.

In re-watching POLTERGEIST today (31 years after it was made), it has inevitably lost some of the spell it once had. I think it has moments of creepiness (that freaky clown doll), but I wouldn't call it outright scary. It has a fantastic build-up (including a brilliant scene with some magically stacking kitchen chairs* that M. Night Shyamalan loosely recycled for THE SIXTH SENSE), but once the poltergeist activity kicks in the movie instantly becomes a phantasmagorical movie ghost train.

TV News: Fox's pilots, AGENT CARTER, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D, DEXTER, THE FALL, JUSTIFIED and SHERLOCK

Sometimes lots of television news breaks in a week (certainly during the Television Critics Association tour over in the US), so I've condensed some of the most interesting pieces below...

COMMUNITY, 5.4 - 'Cooperative Polygraphy'

written by Alex Rubens | directed by Tristram Shaperro

A spiritual sequel to season 2's "Cooperative Calligraphy" (likewise a budget-saving "bottle episode" using one set), I thought "Cooperative Polygraphy" demonstrated Community's characters and group dynamic better than any other episode in ages. It was also impressive as a farewell to the late Pierce, as the study group returned from his funeral to be immediately wired to a lie-detector by Pierce's executor Mr Stone (Walton Goggins).

HANNIBAL, Season One - the customer is always spite

The first edition of this feature seemed to go down well (which looked at the common man's reaction to Game of Thrones), so let's see what the great intellects of the internet had to say about NBC's fantastic serial killer drama Hannibal...

[All quotes are genuine, sourced from various customer comments sections]

MSN TV: Sky1's THE KUMARS

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed Sky's revival of BBC spoof chat show The Kumars at No42, now shortened to THE KUMARS...

The desire for low-risk success means channels aren't above reviving other defunct hits from yesterday, and the BBC appears to have the most tombs worth raiding. ITV already have Birds of a Feather flying again, and now Sky has resuscitated Emmy-winning comedy The Kumars at No. 42 and re-titled it as The Kumars. Comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar plays a version of himself hosting a chat show from his family home, bankrolled and aided by his fictitious family: solemn skinflint father Ashwin (Vincent Ebrahim) and offbeat grandmother Ummi (Meera Syal, now Bhaskar's real-life wife). The Kumars are back for business, although the show's reflecting the global economic downturn since it went off-air.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Review: BBC2's HOUSE OF FOOLS

All comedy is tough to review, as success or failure depends entirely on individual tastes and sense of humour. All I can say is that I've been watching Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer since 1990's Vic Reeves Big Night Out exploded onto screens, back when I was on the cusp of becoming a teenager and, naturally, trying to find comedy my parents would hate and misunderstand. Their sketch show, The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer, became another favourite of mine in the '90s, but it was their outrageous comedy panel show Shooting Stars that forever endeared them to me. So it's not like I dislike Vic & Bob, okay? But to some extent their joke's wearing thinner than Bob's hair, and my tastes have changed now I'm in my mid-thirties.

GAME OF THRONES, Season One - the customer is always spite

Who cares what snobby, pretentious critics think? It's about time anonymous spleen-venters of the Internet had their say on the world's most popular television shows...

[All quotes are genuine, sourced from various customer comments sections]

Fox chairman Kevin Reilly spills details on Batman prequel drama GOTHAM

Fox are making a Batman prequel entitled Gotham, focusing on cop James Gordon before he became the city's grizzled Commissioner. At the Television Critics Associates press tour, Fox chairman Kevin Reilly dropped more details about this superhero drama—which probably won't feature superheroes, for awhile.

Pilot review: HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE

written by Nic Pizzolatto | directed by Cary Joji Fukunada

A new drama from HBO never fails to elicit frantic hand-rubbing, as the US cable network succeeds more often than it fails (and even the failures are noble, interesting ones). True Detective also has the advantage of starring three bonafide Hollywood stars in Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Monaghan, plus a short eight-hour commitment with the promise a potential second season will tell a completely different story.

CHUCK's Yvonne Strahovski joins Fox's 24

I would include 24 on a list of my favourite television shows of the past decade, despite some rocky seasons in later life, so perhaps it's time to start getting excited for the show's "limited series" revival this summer?

MSN TV: SHERLOCK, 3.3 - 'His Last Vow'

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the third series finale of SHERLOCK, "His Last Vow", which sees Sherlock and Watson up against a creepy master blackmailer...

You know what Sherlock's been missing this year? A great villain. The first series had the lurking menace of Moriarty, which led to the master criminal becoming the focus of the second series (which even threw in femme fatale Irene Adler). In comparison, series three hasn't presented Sherlock with memorable villains who posed either a physical threat or mental challenge, but that all changed with His Last Vow. This finale brought Sherlock back to its thrilling best, ending the run on a high.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

TV Picks: 13-19 January 2014 (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise, House of Fools, The Kumars, Mob City, Mr Selfridge, The Musketeers, Uncle, etc.)

Below are my picks of this week's most notable shows returning/premiere to UK screens...

Letterboxd: ALAN PARTRIDGE - ALPHA PAPA (2013); AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013) & ANCHORMAN 2 (2013)

★★★★ (out of five)

Considering the awful track-record of UK TV characters given their own feature-films, I'm so relieved Steve Coogan's superlative Alan Partridge makes the transition this well. A project that's been rumoured for around a decade, it feels like the spectacular success of THE INBETWEENERS has made British TV production companies take the risk with a movie--knowing that even a UK-only hit will be enough to recoup low financial stakes.

ALPHA PAPA works because the situation is definitely something that suits cinema better than television (slightly), but it's not so grandiose that it betrays the character's small and specific pleasures. Alan Partridge has always been more verbally funny than physically hilarious, so it just makes sense to have a story set inside his radio station (North Norfolk Digital) on the eve of a corporate takeover that sparks a hostage crisis when colleague Pat (Colm Meaney) is sacked and loses his mind.

It's a predicament that puts Alan in a comfortable environment (literally "chatting for his life", as hostage negotiator and Pat's occasional cohort), but during an uncomfortable life-or-death week of craziness where he's suddenly a Very Important Person in the public mind. (I'm actually excited to see what the next Partridge product on television will be, as it would be logical for the character to get a career resurgence in the wake of ALPHA PAPA's events. He would at least get on CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER, right?)

Pilot review: Syfy's HELIX

written by Cameron Porsandeh (1.1) & Keith Huff (1.2) | directed by Jeffrey Reiner (1.1) & Brad Turner (1.2)

I enjoy a good contagion thriller, but I'm not convinced that genre's perfect for television. A movie can go about its business of entertaining you, even if clichés begin to stack up, but it's all over after two hours and you're hopefully left with good impressions in terms of storyline, characterisations and enough unexpected twists to make it feel worthwhile. Helix is telling its story over thirteen episodes (each representing a different day), so it's going to be much harder keeping audiences engaged unless the characters alone are endlessly fascinating (unlikely), or the story goes against expectations and gives us something much deeper, richer and crazier than any movie could achieve in a fraction of the time. It's too early to tell if Helix has an aces up its sleeve, but on the evidence of this double-bill premiere I'm just happy it has some merit.

COMMUNITY, 5.3 – 'Basic Intergluteal Numismatics'

written by Erik Sommers | directed by Tristram Shapeero

I enjoyed Community's double-bill comeback with Dan Harmon at the ship's tiller, but they didn't make me laugh very hard. That changed with the excellent "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics"; a sharp spoof of serial killer thrillers, with a particular focus on the artful style of David Fincher classics like Se7en and Zodiac.

Pilot review: CBS's INTELLIGENCE

written by Michael Seitzman | directed by David Semel

I love American television for many reasons, but it's a sausage-making factory and the huge majority of shows (particularly on mainstream networks) don't feel special and aren't very original. How many modern updates of The Six Million Dollar Man are we going to get? Intelligence is yet another post-Bionic Woman stab; this time with the emphasis on the mental rather than the physical. In that respect it's like a humourless version of Chuck, or that comedy's own antecedent Jake 2.0, constrained by its grounding in the procedural milieu of sourpuss bosses, middle-aged nerds, and foxy female agents...

MSN TV: Channel 4's THE TASTE

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed THE TASTE; the British remake of the US cooking competition with judges/mentors Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. Is it a dish to die for, or will it just give you indigestion?

Inspired by Fox's The Voice (where singers aren't seen during their first audition), last year ABC launched a cookery series with a similar gimmick. In the first round, judges sample anonymous spoonfuls cooked by contestants hoping to join their cooking team. It wasn't a seductive dish for Americans, as The Taste's ratings from a premiere high of 5.82 million viewers to a finale seen by just 3.36m, but maybe Brits will be more receptive? After all, the UK's a global hub when it comes to celebrity chefs and cooking formats—having already exported Gordon Ramsay, Hell's Kitchen, Jamie Oliver, MasterChef, and the Great British Bake Off around the world.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

* Please note that my star-rating was actually ★★ (out of five). Oh, politics.

SHERLOCK, 3.2 – 'The Sign of Three'

written by Stephen Thompson, Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss | directed by Colm McCarthy

Each series of Sherlock's low-point has been the middle episode, sandwiched between two better 90-minutes that work to distract from its shortcomings. Stephen Thompson has been responsible for one already (together with a handful of trifling Doctor Who episodes), so your first reaction is to wonder why he keeps being asked to write more. Of course, it could just be that Thompson does his best with an assignment from creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss that's always going to cause problems.

TV Picks: 6-12 January 2014 (The 7.39, Bletchley Circle, Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, Hostages, Revenge, Stargazing: Live, The Taste, Tomorrow People, This is Jinsy, Voice UK, etc.)

Below are my picks of the week's most notable shows, returning/premiering on UK screens...

MSN TV: BBC1's CATHERINE TATE'S NAN

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed the sitcom special for CATHERINE TATE'S NAN, which may lead to a full series.

Back in 2009, there was a festive special that cast bullying Nan as Ebenezer Scrooge, but this "special episode" felt like it was testing the water for a full-blown series. On the evidence of this "pilot", I'm not against the idea of unleashing Nan as a larger-than-life sitcom monster. Catherine Tate's performance remains exemplary and the laughs came fairly regularly because we're familiar with the character from The Catherine Tate Show's three-series run.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

COMMUNITY, 5.1 & 5.2 – 'Re-Pilot' & 'Introduction to Teaching'

written by Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna (5.1) & Andy Bobrow (5.2) | directed by Tristram Shapeero (5.1) & Jay Chandrasekhar (5.2)

It's a minor miracle that Community has reached its fifth season, having weathered a constant storm of low ratings, the firing of its creator Dan Harmon (which resulted in a mimicking fourth season most fans disliked), and the loss of a regular in Chevy Chase. The storm continues to rage, as NBC have only commisioned 13-episodes this year (seemingly to edge the show closer to the 100-episode ideal for syndication purposes), and Donald Glover will be leaving the show halfway through. But somehow, Community persists. It's so resilient, I think the cockroaches will be watching it after a nuclear apocalypse.

MSN TV: BBC1's SHERLOCK, 3.1 - 'The Empty Hearse'

Over at MSN TV today: I've reviewed the third series premiere of BBC1's SHERLOCK, where the great detective came back from the dead...

How did he do it? How did he fake his death? That was the question. The answer? Well, that's another matter. It's been two years since Sherlock "died", and a moustachioed Watson is now engaged to Mary Morstran (Martin Freeman's real-life partner Amanda Abbington). However, his life is about to be turned upside down again because Sherlock must return. And return, he does.

Continue reading at MSN TV...