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It took me an hour and a half after the episode aired on BBC America before I could turn in a blog post about “The Bells of Saint John”…

So along with statues, shadows, clocks, gas masks, cracks in the walls and Lord knows what else, now we have to be afraid of our Wi-Fi networks.  Damn you Steven Moffat!  DAMN YOU!!

(But he sure knows how to run Doctor Who like nobody’s business, doesn’t he?)

Three months after we last saw The Doctor (Matt Smith) in the 2012 Christmas special “The Snowmen”, our hero is again sulking in solitude: this time at a monastery in England circa 1207.  Considered mad by his fellow monks (not the first no doubt), we find the last Time Lord contemplating, perhaps obsessing, with the newest enigma of his long life: Clara Oswin (Jenna Louise-Coleman, in her first regular Doctor Who episode as ...

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For the record, I wanna state that I just knew what Glenn was doing when he went walking along the fence!  Let’s hope he thought well enough to sanitize that thing…

(Guess we’re gonna see a spate of The Walking Dead-inspired weddings now, huh?)

There’s been a pattern this late in Season 3: seems that AMC’s The Walking Dead has been oscillating between “unbelievably greater television than we possibly deserve” and “better than much else”.  The latter isn’t where The Walking Dead should be: not after everything else that has happened this season.  Last week’s “Prey” was an example.  It ended on a great shot but c’mon: forty minutes of The Governor stalking Andrea coulda, shoulda been much more fun.

But “This Sorrowful Life”, this week’s episode and the final before next Sunday’s season finale, brought the pendulum swinging back… before making us watch it break completely off ...

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Found out some sad news yesterday: Frank Thornton, an amazing British actor who shone in every part he played but will forever be most remembered as the unflappable Captain Stephen Peacock on the BBC’s legendary comedy series Are You Being Served?, has passed away at the age of 92.

(Does this mean that Peacock is now spending an eternity listening to Mrs. Slocombe prattling on about her pussy…?)

I know that 92 is a good run but still: Thornton made millions laugh during the very long run of Are You Being Served? (along with its sequel series Grace & Favour) and he will be sorely missed.  Of the original cast, only Nicholas Smith – who played Mr. Rumbold – is still with us.

Frank Thornton leaves behind his wife of 67 years.  I found that to be pretty dang remarkable in this day and age.

So ...

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What if Game of Thrones came out a decade and a half earlier, in 1995?  Back when the style of fantasy television was dictated by shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.  What would it have been like?

Very likely, something like this…




So if Sam Raimi had made Game of Thrones back in the day, who would Kevin Sorbo have played? My guess is Eddard Stark.  Maybe a shaven-headed Bruce Campbell as Varys, or at least Petyr Baelish.

And Lucy Lawless?  No doubt about it: Cersei.

Kudos to YouTube user “hunterlsanders” for such a great piece of work!...

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Rick, no.  You almost lost your mind.  Do this and you will lose your soul.

The Walking Dead, Arrow on the Doorpost, AMC, Rick Grimes, The Governor

Despite the resolution to one of the show’s bigger mysteries – what happened to Morgan and Duane – I thought that last week’s episode “Clear” was almost too quiet a departure from what we’ve become accustomed with AMC’s monster hit series The Walking Dead.  But having just watched “Arrow on the Doorpost”, I see how there was a lot more in the previous installment that was investment toward the eventual payoff.

And judging what we saw in the final moments of “Arrow on the Doorpost”, that’s gonna be a hella payoff when Season 3 wraps at the end of this month.

(I just realized yesterday that my birthday is not only Easter Sunday this year but the night before sees the return of new Doctor Who episodes, and Easter night brings the season ...

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Sherlock, BBC, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Sherlock HolmesI will admit: last month when my girlfriend started swooning and gushing over the BBC series Sherlock, telling me that “you have to watch this!” my internalized reaction was something akin to “oh geeeeez… NOT another Sherlock Holmes adaptation.”

No disrespect intended but seriously: how many times can one go to 221 B. Baker Street and not know what to expect?  I’ve probably watched all the Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone, along with 1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes (does John Lasseter’s computer-animated stained-glass knight still astound, or what?) and everything in between.  Even The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother.  Be it straight adaptation or screwball comedy, when it comes to Holmes I’ve seen it all.

But Kristen wanted to share that weekend together watching the six episodes comprising Seasons 1 and 2 of Sherlock.  Quietly resigned to anticipating nothing to write home about, I settled ...

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The Walking Dead, Carl Grimes, Chandler Riggs, I Ain't a Judas, AMC

Did anyone else come away from this week’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead thinking that regardless of how little time we saw of him, that the highlight of “I Ain’t a Judas” was Carl (Chandler Riggs) talking to his father Rick?  Because that’s what keeps sticking out most in this blogger’s mind ever since watching it last night.

I have said it before and I will say it again: if Chandler Riggs doesn’t get an Emmy nomination this year, then I will be more than extremely disappointed.  Carl is a character who has solidly destroyed the mold of child characters on television and Riggs deserves some mighty high accolades for the strength, courage, restraint under stress and sheer wisdom that he has portrayed for such an exceptionally young actor.  Carl is becoming a true leader right before our eyes.  The scene before the opening title where he comes to ...

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Most of you have seen this already, I’d bet. The only thing I know about Downton Abbey is that it has the inimitable Maggie Smith among the cast and for that alone I’m gonna make time to eventually watch this show.

This series must be a big deal. For one thing my Facebook front page was loaded with all kinds of numbstruck horror over the weekend because of the Downton Abbey season finale. And then there’s the fact that Sesame Street has now spoofed it! Even without knowing the particulars of the source material, I thought this was pretty funny.

So here is “Uptown Downton Abbey”…

...

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And mind ya, that was just from the final five minutes!!

Two things I will say before anything else: that after “Home”, this week’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, David Morrissey has damned-well earned enough street credo to be top choice to play Randall Flagg in that forthcoming film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand.

Yeah, just try to get that idea out of your head now that I’ve put it there. I dare ya…

Second: Daryl Dixon is the most awesomesauce-loaded BAD-ass on television since the invention of the cathode ray tube:

Norman Reedus more than deserves an Emmy nod this year, for the life he’s brought to Daryl. Along with Chandler Riggs (hey, wouldn’t it be soooo appropriate if both Daryl and Carl got supporting actor nominations?).

“Home” delivered everything that has made The Walking Dead the best drama series on television right ...

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It’s currently taking me about 20 hours to watch a new episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead after it premieres on cable. That’s out of voluntary choice however, because I’m a good boyfriend. See, m’lady Kristen is a huge fan of this show too… but since we’re over an hour away from each other and she doesn’t get regular cable (note to self: get Roku as soon as possible) we just wait ’til our schedules can jibe the next day, then we sync my DVR and her Internet streaming and voila: we get to see one of our favorite shows together after all!

But I gotta tell y’all: with it being more than two months since the crazy events of “Made to Suffer”, those 20 hours between last night and early this evening were torture to wait through…

“The Suicide King” picked up right where “Made to Suffer” ended: ...

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