Comic-Con 2011 panels: CHUCK, COMMUNITY, DOCTOR WHO, GAME OF THRONES, GLEE, Joss Whedon, RINGER & Women of Comic-Con

In the second compilation from San Diego Comic-Con (the first is here), we have the panels for Chuck, Community, Doctor Who, Game Of Thrones, Glee, upcoming series Ringer, a panel with writer-director Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly), and a special "Women of Comic-Con" roundtable featuring Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski, Fringe's Anna Torv and Nikita's Maggie Q.

As before, you'll have to click through to YouTube to continue watching the panels, as most are split into multiple parts. I think this just about covers all the weekend's Comic-Con panels I'm interested in, but if you have others to share just leave a link in the comments below. Disqus cleverly opens a pop-up window, which is very handy.

TV Ratings: GLEE, season 2 finale (E4)

"... start spreading the news, they're leaving E4..."

Glee's second season concluded on E4 last night, achieving an impressive 1.24 million in the ratings (5.1% of the audience). That's actually down 300,000 on season 1's finale, although 391,000 watched the episode on E4+1—so maybe that's where the missing 300k went?

The musical comedy-drama continued to be one of E4's best performing shows this year, regularly breaking through the 1m barrier, making it one of the most popular digital channel shows.

Of course, Glee's finale is a bittersweet swansong for E4, now that Sky have bought the rights to season 3. Sky plan to show new episodes on Sky1 just days after their US premiere on Fox—scheduling E4 had success with in the second-half of season 1, before reverting back to the typical four-month gap for season 2.

It's a gap that shortens over time (as US TV have regular hiatuses, allowing E4 to slowly catch-up), but is still seen as a problem for modern audiences who have the option to download torrents. It doesn't seem to have dented the audience too badly in this case (do we overestimate how many people download shows like Glee?), but you do have to wonder if a next-day UK premiere would have boosted ratings even higher.

Sky grab 'Glee' from E4

As rumoured, it's now official: Sky have outbid E4 for the UK rights to Fox's Glee. Sky1 is the likely new home of the high school "dramedy" for its third season and beyond. This continues a trend for Sky, as the broadcaster often snaps up the rights to another channel's hit (BBC2's 24, Channel 4's Lost, BBC4's Mad Men) once they've done the hard work selling it to the British public.

Still, it makes sense given Sky's connection to Fox (both owned by Ruper Murdoch), making you wonder why Sky never premiered Glee to begin with. I could be cynical and suggest Fox knew a Sky debut isn't a big enough platform to turn the show into a pop-culture phenomenon in the UK, which it ultimately relies on to sell iTunes tracks and DVDs. No, they needed the buzz of youth-magnet E4 (Glee's their #1 show, often attracting a consolidated 2m viewers), while also getting a quick repeat on nationwide Channel 4. And now it's a high-profile mega-hit, Sky can step in and inherit all that buzz. Well, that's my theory.

Sky reportedly outbid Channel 4 by offering to pay £500,000 per episode--allegedly twice what Channel 4 have been paying. I hope it's worth it, as it feels like the Glee backlash has already begun. I haven't stopped watching the show yet, but I'm definitely less enamoured and have obviously stopped reviewing it. I know other people are also less keen now; watching at a relaxed pace just to fill time, and no longer eager to catch every new episode when it airs. Is that the general feeling with Gleeks, or are most people still committed to the musical mischief of McKinley High?

A Channel 4 spokesman:

"By not renewing the Glee deal, we are freeing up huge amounts of budget to invest in homegrown programming, British talent and of course continuing to discover and showcase what the US has to offer. We are particularly thrilled to have recently acquired The Killing."

What do you make of this news? It wasn't unexpected, but does the change of channel actually mean anything to you? Are Glee's audience the type of people who are probably satellite/cable subscribers, meaning it's no big deal, or will students relying on Freeview now have to wait for DVD box-sets or download? On a business level, is Sky's tactic perfectly reasonable competition, or do you dislike it when they swoop in to pinch another channel's hit? Will you even go so far as to stop watching Glee on principle? Will the show become more of a niche thing in the UK now it's only available to a small section of cable/satellite viewers?

Will Sky poach 'Glee' from E4?

Glee's become a huge hit for digital channel E4 (regularly attracting upwards of 1.2m viewers), and a jealous Sky have clearly been taking notice. In a situation that'll sound very familiar to fans of 24, Lost, House and Mad Men, Sky are allegedly poised to offer a "knockout" bid to bring Glee to their lineup.

Will Channel 4 have the money and inclination to fight Sky to keep the UK rights, or will Rupert Murdoch's pockets once again prove too deep? And while a move to Sky may not sound too damaging for British viewers (as both are on the digital platform), it's worth remembering that Glee gets weekend terrestrial repeats on Channel 4 after E4's premieres. So there will be a chunk of Glee's UK fanbase that will be waving goodbye to the singing-n'-dancing sensation if Sky's plans are successful.

What are your feelings on this, if it happens? Does it matter if Glee moves from E4 to, say, Sky1? Is it just annoying that Sky outbid their rivals for shows they never had the foresight to buy initially, or turned into a British marketing success?

I never begrudged Sky buying The Simpsons in the early-'90s and turning it into a big hit (indeed, it was once a prime reason to get Sky), but it's irksome when they poach hit shows that have been nurtured elsewhere. And, while shows like 24 and Lost didn't fade into obscurity when they moved to Sky (from BBC2 and Channel 4, respectively), they definitely became more niche. Lost used to get around 4m viewers on Channel 4, but Sky were happy with anything over 1m.

'GLEE' 2.15 - "Sexy"

After almost two years, my regular reviews of Glee hereby come to an end. The show isn't the guilty pleasure it once was, and it's becoming a struggle trying to find different things to say about it every week. If anything interesting happens to the characters, or the plot takes an unexpected turn, everything's usually reversed or forgotten about within weeks. And that push-and-pull prevents me from caring about what happens to the glee club of McKinley High.

And in the case of this week's episode, "Sexy", even the return of guest-star Gwyneth Paltrow (who was fantastic in "The Substitute") couldn't enliven things. Her character Holly Holliday was written more like a human being this time (which was good), but Holly consequently lacked the livewire energy that characterized her last time. And none of Paltrow's songs could top the wonderful "Forget You" -- although I appreciated the reprise of her "hit it!" catchphrase, and a passionate tango set to Prince's "Kiss" with Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) wasn't too bad. Naya Rivera was also great in a scene where her character Santana admitted her deep feelings for Brittany (Heather Morris), who likewise managed to find chinks of realism to an intentionally cartoonish character.

But beyond those highlights, this "safe-sex special" was just a less successful retread of episode 14's "alcohol special." I just spent my time wondering why Emma (Jayma Mays) always disappears for weeks on end, and why I keep forgetting she's married to John Stamos's dentist. Maybe because it's a stupid development that wasn't plausible or earned?

I'll still watch Glee every week (mainly for the funny one-liners, hit-and-miss music, and Jane Lynch's scene-stealing), maybe even reviewing a particularly good or bad episode that's worth highlighting, but it's not worth setting aside my time to review every single week now. And that's cool. It gives me more time to blog about something different, and I can focus on TV shows I have more to say about.

Sorry if this annoys anyone who's been following my Glee reviews from the start. I may have soldiered on if feedback had remained strong here, but the Glee appears to have lost its popularity in terms of comments. Maybe the Gleeks who flocked here last season don't appreciate my reviews turning less positive, now the novelty of its "musical-dramedy" format has worn off? But hey, if Glee decides to follow the Skins example and recast the entire show (as it's rumoured to), maybe there'll be enough freshness to resurrect weekly appraisals in season 3 or 4.

written by Brad Falchuk / directed by Ryan Murphy / 8 March 2011 / Fox

'GLEE' 2.14 - "Blame It On The Alcohol"

I brace myself for sanctimonious schmaltz whenever Glee tackles "the issues" effecting today's youth, and there were indeed moments when "Blame It On The Alcohol" started preaching. It doesn't help that half the cast look like they're in their mid-20s, so their concerns about alcoholism looked distractingly naïve. Fortunately, Ian Brennan's script managed to balance the pro's and con's of drinking culture, and this was the first episode in a long time that told a fun story with a decent moral.

Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) was concerned about the levels of underage drinking at the school recently, so tasked Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) with getting the glee club to perform an anti-drinking song at an upcoming assembly. Rachel's (Lea Michele) attempt to write an original song for Regionals flopped because her life experience is so limited (she sang about her hair band), so she threw a party at her house; an event that began with a lifeless atmosphere and suffocating prudence, before spiraling into a raucous riot once Puck (Mark Salling) got the alcohol flowing. During the party, Rachel also snogged Blaine (Darren Criss) in a game of "spin the bottle", which caused Blaine to rethink his sexuality, to the disquiet of Kurt (Chris Colfer). Meanwhile, Mr Schue accompanied Coach Beiste (Dot Marie Jones) to a honky-tonk bar, to sing a duet of "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" and, after returning home, drunk dialed Emma (Jayma Mays) to reveal his abiding feelings for her.

"Blame It On The Alcohol" walked a fine line, but I ultimately enjoyed it because the theme wasn't as trivial as usual and the script didn't take the easy option of condemning drink. "Drink responsibly" was the message, delivered clearly, while giving us some examples of the positives and negatives of boozing. I guess it's easy to sneer at the simplicity of the argument (drink greases the wheels of social occasions, but it gives you a hangover and can lead to embarrassment?!) but it's easy to forget that a sizeable proportion of Glee's audience are pre-teens who could do with their TV role models giving them some pointers.

Rachel's house party was also a very funny scene (of course she has a stage in her basement to perform for neighbours), and it was both amusing and embarrassing to see the cast acting drunk: from Michele pulling faces and looking a mess, to Morrison slurring his words and giving his Spanish class A+ scores on their homework.

I'm finding it a struggle to care about Kurt and Blaine now, though. It was a fun idea to send Kurt away to a different school and fall in love with a boy, away from any social judgement, but the way the story has progressed leaves me cold. The writer don't seem to like the fact it removes Kurt from the Gleesters, so he's always mixing with his old friends, and Blaine's always tagging along. The fact Blaine doesn't seem to notice, or care, that he's leading Kurt on also makes him look stupid or insensitive. This episode had Blaine considering he's bisexual after he enjoyed his drunken smooch with Rachel, before a sober encore convinced him otherwise, which coincidentally gave Rachel a heartbreak she can channel into her songwriting. I hope this means the Kurt/Blaine situation can move forward properly now his sexuality's confirmed, without constantly making Kurt look like an infatuated puppy.

The performances were better this week, although it's becoming a joke how many times they give Artie (Kevin McHale) lead vocals on any track involving a black rapper. I had an odd fondness for the karaoke-style duet of "Don't You Want Me" between Rachel and Blaine at the party, but it was undoubtedly the climactic rendition o Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" that lingers in the memory. Heather Morris took the lead and attacked the choreography with gusto. She's a remarkably good dancer and has a natural flair for movement; it's just a shame her vocals aren't anything more than competent. And while I love her character's deadpan one-liners, I wonder if the writers regret making Brittany two-dimensional comic relief. Or if they'll gradually evolve Brittany into something resembling a person, because I'm beginning to think Morris is wasted as the cutaway for a pokerfaced quip.

Overall, "I Blame The Alcohol" was surprisingly good fun and didn't collapse under the weight of having to make a serious point about the dangers of binge-drinking. Most the of performances were good, the gags were funny, the moral was balanced, and I thought the resolution worked well -- with the hung-over Gleesters vomiting over each other mid-performance, instantly turning their schoolmates off drink.

Asides

• Grey vomit? What were they drinking? Or was the bizarre colour chosen because of some ridiculous rule about taste and decency on US network TV? Similar to how you can get away with bloodletting if the blood's green and belongs to an alien.
• I really wish this show could afford more teachers. It's getting very boring seeing Schue interact with Beiste, Sue, Emma and Figgins. The show came alive when Gwyneth Paltrow's substitute guest-starred, so I'd love to see a few more semi-regulars.
• Stupid but amusing running joke: Figgins constantly mispronouncing Ke$ha's name as "ke-dollar-sign-ha"
• The Schue/Emma relationship was returned to here, with Sue (Jane Lynch) playing Schue's drunken call to Emma over the school public address system, but it's so hard to care about that match-up. It was sweet in season 1, but when they got together it was horribly yucky, so why are we supposed to want them to get back together?
• Becky has a xylophone! Is Ian Brennan a secret fan of UK holiday camp comedy Hi-De-Hi! from the '80s?
• Will we ever see Rachel's two gay dads on the show?

written by Ian Brennan / directed by Eric Stoltz / 22 February 2011 / Fox

'GLEE' 2.13 - "Comeback"

I'm tiring of writing weekly reviews of Glee. I think I've stuck with it for so long this season because (a) I have fond memories of the blissful fun it delivered for much of season 1, and (b) it can sometimes be an enjoyable show to critique even at its worst. But lately, I just feel like Glee's running on fumes, and the way it goes about trying to conjure new stories is becoming ridiculous. What really annoys me is when Glee tries to hide patently absurd ideas behind a shield of political correctness; such as Puck (Mark Salling) falling head-over-heels in love with Lauren (Ashley Fink). It's just a ridiculous mismatch, but if you dare question it you'll be condemned for being sizeist because of Lauren's fuller figure. I just don't think Puck (who always cares so much about what his peers think) would be so openly interested in Lauren, or that Lauren wouldn't be jumping at the chance of dating Puck instead of teasing him.

After last week's assurance that Quinn (Diana Agron) was now convinced she prefers Finn (Corey Monteith) over Sam (Chord Overstreet), this episode reversed all that and Quinn's affections swung back to Sam because he's formed a Justin Bieber tribute act. Not only does all this make Quinn look like a ridiculously fickle and superficial cow, but it just smacks of the writers being incapable of allowing a relationship to breathe and build to anything. Just recently, marriage was on the cards for Quinn and Sam, weeks after they'd started dating! I just can't get invested in TV romances that don't have a natural spark of life. Instead, you can feel the writers moving the characters around like toy marionettes. Sam ends the episode by moving onto Santana (Naya Rivera), like a Ken doll ditching Barbie for Cindy.

One chunk of this episode focused on Sue (Jane Lynch) joining the glee club for a week, as a consequence of her "Sue-icide" bid with vitamin pills, to shake her out of a depression. It was an amusing idea to have the club's enemy within, and I quite enjoyed seeing Sue try and sabotage Rachel (Lea Michele) and Mercedes' (Amber Riley) relationship by whispering poison in both their ears, turning diva against diva, but it wasn't really much to get excited about. And Glee again took one of its sanctimonious turns, with Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) taking Sue to cheer up kids in a pediatric cancer ward, singing "This Little Light of Mine". You can't knock the good intentions behind such scenes, but they're just so mawkish and demand that Sue, for a brief moment, becomes Jane Lynch in a tracksuit. A part of me suspects this kind of thing sits easier with American sensibilities.

That's about all I can muster this week, without starting a diatribe about Justin Bieber. Thank heavens this episode acknowledged that many people think the acorn-haired teenybopper's an embarrassment to music. It may not have been that way if Bieber had agreed to a cameo, like Britney Spears.

In all seriousness, what are your feelings about Glee reviews here? Is it time to call it a day, or just be a lot briefer? And what did you make of "Comeback"?

written by Ryan Murphy / directed by Bradley Buecker / 15 February 2011 / Fox

'GLEE' 2.12 – "Silly Love Songs"

We get an early Valentine present from Glee with "Silly Love Songs" (because the eleventh episode aired after the Super Bowl?), but this would surely have been best scheduled next week. Regardless, it was one of those episodes with a satisfying emphasis on the students (zero screentime for Sue Sylvester), and treated a few of them like real people for a change. However, we still had to swallow the absurd idea that bad boy Puck (Mark Salling) has romantic feelings for stout Lauren (Ashley Fink), which wasn't foreshadowed or even believable based on what we know of those characters.

To briefly recap: Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) set the glee club predictable "love song" homework with Valentine's Day looming, with the members encouraged to sing a romantic song to their sweetheart. Puck became infatuated with Lauren, who was curiously hesitant and often dismissive of his advances (not helped when he decided to serenade her with Queen's "Fat-Bottomed Girls"); Finn (Corey Monteith) capitalized on his celebrity status, following the football championship victory, by setting up a kissing both with the ulterior motive of seducing Quinn (Diana Agron) away from her boyfriend Sam (Chord Overstreet); Rachel (Lea Michele) had a similar plan to recapture Finn's heart by kissing him at the booth; Santana (Naya Rivera) sought revenge after her seditious behaviour was commented on, by intentionally contracting the so-called "kissing disease" mono (aka glandular fever) and passing it onto Finn and Quinn to cause turmoil; and Kurt (Chris Colfer) was dismayed when he realized he's been misreading Blaine's (Darren Criss) feelings for him, as Blaine actually has his heart set on dating Gap store assistant manager Jeremiah (Alexander Nifong).

It was a smart idea to have so many of this week's episodes involve kissing, which naturally suited the romantic theme. As I mentioned, the whole Puck/Lauren storyline was frankly ridiculous, and another example of Glee trying so hard to look PC that it bends realism out of shape. I'm not saying a handsome guy can't find a larger lady attractive, but I'm saying that Puck wouldn't, based on everything we've seen of him and the women he's been interested in (Quinn, Rachel). There are only a finite number of characters on Glee, so it seems that they'll all have dated each other by season 3, even if that doesn't make sense. Finn/Quinn? Sure. Finn/Brittany? No. Puck/Quinn? Okay. Puck/Lauren? No way. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite so bad if you had faith Puck and Lauren will last as an odd couple, but I give it three episodes before the writers get bored and pair Puck with Santana, who's a much better personality fit.

It was another disappointing week for songs, too. Music's very subjective, but it feels like season 2 has had far less toe-tappers than last year, and even the more famous songs don't seem to leap off the screen as they used to. In fact, I'll admit to fast-forwarding through Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T" and "My Funny Valentine", while even Lea Michele couldn't spin magic from Katy Perry's horribly screechy "Firework". And while I was glad writer Ryan Murphy referenced the OTT nature of Blaine singing Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone" to Jeremiah (who looked understandably mortified the Dalton Warblers were singing en masse in his workplace), that didn't make it any less cringeworthy to watch.

Overall, "Silly Love Songs" was better than the Super Bowl episode because it kept things focused on the relationships of the characters, without the sometimes distracting gag-machine of Sue, but it was ultimately a collection of trivial storylines interspersed with weak songs. For a show that can elicit a tangible sense of happiness in viewers, I'm puzzled that Glee couldn't deliver a heartwarming Valentine.

Aside

• This episode was directed by actor Tate Donovan, perhaps best known as Tom Shayes in Damages. He also recently directed an episode of Weeds.

written by Ryan Murphy / directed by Tate Donovan / 8 February 2011 / Fox

'GLEE' 2.11 – "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle"

My reviews of Glee have been less popular in season 2. Maybe it's because British fans have only just started this year, or because my opinion of Glee has grown more jaded and "gleeks" prefer to read glowing adulation? There's nothing I can do about the latter, particularly as the one thing Glee needs is constructive criticism. I still find Glee hilarious at times, the cast are an appealing mix of assiduous actors, some of the musical numbers still leave me with a swelled heart, a clever guest star can be a delight (come back Gwyneth Paltrow!), but it's become very clear that Glee snubs logic and swims in storytelling circles. These aren't fresh complaints, because latter season 1 also suffered from repetition, but it's a problem that naturally gets worse as time goes on.

"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" was the first episode back from a rather lengthy mid-season hiatus, but more notably it aired after Sunday's Super Bowl; a sporting event that 111 million Americans watched live. I'm not sure what purpose it served for Fox to put Glee on after the Super Bowl (it certainly doesn't need the extra exposure), but I'm guessing Fox couldn't miss a chance to pay tribute to the occasion with a football-themed episode. Quite how the Halloween tinge of zombies and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" suits the occasion is anyone's guess!

At William McKinley High, the fraught relationship between the glee club and football team has hit a real nadir. Even Artie's (Kevin McHale) wheelchair doesn't make him immune to a mass "slushying" from the bullying jocks. To combat the social meltdown, Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) and Mr Schue (Matthew Morrison) joined forces, integrating both groups into one club for a week: the footballers expected to participate in the horror-themed halftime entertainment at their own championship game, with some of the glee girls later called into action on the football field. Elsewhere, Sue (Jane Lynch) was all set for her seventh consecutive win at the regional cheerleading finals -- which she aims to win with the assistance of a cannon that will fire Brittany (Heather Morris) into a net --and twisted the knife by rescheduling the final to clash with the football championship, thus forcing Quinn (Diana Agron), Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany to choose between them.

This being an Ian Brennan script, I was expecting it to be funnier, but there wasn't much that stood out as being a very amusing (beyond a few turns of phrase, like "Sueclear weapon"). It was another week of Glee moralizing, which means an inordinate amount of quiet piano music, but haven't we covered this territory a million times before? The glee club is unpopular and the footballers hate them, but it's all born of ignorance and social fears, we get it. This episode also ignored the season 1 episode when the football team were encouraged to dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" in order to help Kurt (Chris Colfer) make some impressive kicks.

So yes, it's unfortunate that Glee seems to hammer home the same points all the time, as there's only so much you can take before the inspiring messages and moralizing starts to be met with deaf ears. The eventual camaraderie between the clubs was undone in the denouement anyway, with closeted gay bully Karofsky (Max Adler) informing Finn (Corey Monteith) that things will go back to the way the were, because that's what high school's about. So, really, what was the point of this episode setting itself up as a breakthrough moment? It's all reset buttons on this show, so enjoy the ride before it ends and restarts. There are usually some funny lines and decent performances to inure you to the pain of its goldfish memory and resistance to lasting change, which helps.

Overall, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" disappointed me in many was. The mashup of "Thriller" with the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Don't Lose Your Head" worked fine as audio, but the choreography avoided Michael Jackson's iconic moves, which is 50% of that song's impact. I was looking forward to seeing the Glee cast perform that '80s classic, but instead we had a bunch of indistinguishable zombies doing their own moves on a field of dry ice. And what's with suddenly having Quinn make a move on ex-boyfriend Finn, after the season's spent so long setting up Quinn and Sam (Chord Overstreet) as the show's big romantic couple destined for marriage? And how long until Glee's characters have dated each other multiple times? Can't this show stick to something and see it through to a natural end, without everything feeling like the writers simply get bored and try to shake things up? It's becoming very annoying. The less said about the embarrassing "brains" chant during the game, the better.

written by Ian Brennan / directed by Brad Falchuk / 6 February 2011 / Fox