From Big to Small Screen.

Hi to everyone,

As there is not much happening in the movie world this week I thought I would take a look at the latest television shows that are coming to the small screen this autumn and which of them I am most looking forward to.

Now that Breaking Bad has ended after five terrific seasons all my hopes are on the upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy, which is also in its last season.

This has taken over as my  most anticipated show on TV at the moment. Created by Kurt Sutter, it is by far the most gripping of dramas around, with brilliant writing and actors who portray such incredible characters. I was a late comer to the show, and while on holiday two years ago I binged watched seasons 1-3 and never looked back. Like all good things I understand it has to come to an end but I hope they create a spin off as they have done with Better Call Saul which follows a probably the funniest character from Breaking Bad, my choice would be to build a show around Bobby Elvis Munson as he tries to resurrect his Elvis tribute career, unless of course he is killed off in the last season.

My next choice has to be the absolutely gripping Boardwalk Empire starring one of my favourite actors Steve Buscemi.

Set in Atlantic city during the American Prohibition era. This upcoming season will be the fifth and final season in the series, a series that has gone from strength to strength and has been nominated for many Emmy awards but alas has only collected three, shockingly no best actor award for Buscemi, due in part to the popularity of Brian Cranston in Breaking Bad. Maybe in this final season Buscemi will finally get his reward. The show is broadcast on HBO so the graphic content is definitely for adult viewing only which makes it all the better as the scenes are not meant to be sugar coated in anyway.

When I was a youngster in the '70's I remember my mother watching a British show called Upstairs Downstairs which followed the lives of a rich family and their servants all living in a London based house in the early 20th century. What I remember is being so bored having to sit through the weekly episodes, as we only had one TV, and in those days there were no computers so there was not a lot else to do. Fast forward to the present time and we have a similar show, but on a far grander scale, called Downton Abbey and I'm completely hooked as I know millions of people are.

I love it and I'm sure my dearly departed mother would also have been a fan. But I'm sad to say my teenage son is not into it, but luckily he does have other things to do as I'm engrossed in the lives of all the wonderful characters. Created by Julian Fellowes and having an ensemble cast of superbly talented British actors. Downton is now into its fifth season with Christmas specials and I have heard rumours that the creator Fellowes is planning a prequel special following the early relationship of Lord and Lady Crawley.

The two best American channels HBO and FX seem to have the monopoly on the best shows on TV at the moment when you consider that FX will put out their fourth season of the critically acclaimed American Horror Story: Freak Show, but there is also Netflix which has announced that after the success of House of Cards They will now be venturing into the superhero field, in conjunction with ABC studios, with a series of individual Marvel hero stories including DareDevil, which will conlude in a super team up series. I sincerely hope that they do a better job than the terrible Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D  which was so bad that producers ABC should have cancelled it after the first season, but instead have renewed it for a second season. The hugely popular DC comic character Arrow is returning for a third season and there will also be a premier season for The Flash who had a cameo in Arrow. Even though Marvel are well and truly ruling the movie world it would seem that DC are leading the way in TV shows at the moment.

On the comedy front you certainly can't go wrong with the hilarious Modern Family, which like my favourite comedy Veep, just gets funnier and funnier. It will be the shows sixth season, which just shows the talent of the writers that they are still able to come up with fresh material for the actors. The Big Bang Theory is returning for its eighth season with another three seasons scheduled up until 2017, so be prepared for a lot more wanting to punch Sheldon in the face.

So in general the upcoming shows should brighten our dark nights.

Until next time.

Miles Dunton.