As the title might suggest, Supernatural is the story of two brothers who have been raised to hunt the things that go bump in the night. Despite his valiant effort to escape his father’s less than normal occupation, Sam gets dragged back into it when John Winchester goes missing and he gets back into the habit of dispatching ghosts and dealing with werewolves. Supernatural is currently in its sixth and final season, having already been carried past its creator Eric Kripke original five year plan by its popularity and proving that TV networks have a hard time letting go of their successful shows. The secret to Supernatural’s success is almost certainly down to the chemistry between Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam), who not only pull off a very convincing brotherly bond onscreen but apparently became best friends off screen. I wouldn’t say that either of them are the best actors I’ve ever seen, but whoever cast them should be praised. Given that they’re both from Texas and seem to have a very similar sense of humor, Ackles and Padalecki fall into brotherly camaraderie almost faster than their characters are supposed to after years apart and it all adds to the believability that these two men are at once dependent on and vaguely irritated by each other. Not to mention that they both happen to be very good looking, and to have two attractive male leads in a TV show with plenty of hot women extras but no specific lead female to support them was a very unusual situation that secured a very large female fan base.

Ackles manages to add layers of emotional depth to Dean that make him much more than your typical leather jacket-wearing ‘bad boy’, and what’s more he always keeps something back. Dean is enamored with the simple pleasures in life – sex, food and beer – and while he isn’t the most educated hunter out there, the entire package is charismatic and instantly likeable. Sam wants desperately to get out of his father and Dean’s shadow and become his own man, which makes him argumentative and rebellious and often does more to portray him as the inexperienced little brother than it does to make him independent. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is brilliant as the gruff and distant father figure, with his military approach that at once shows how much he loves his kids and how uncomfortable he is about showing it.

Essentially Supernatural is a story of family. Dean especially thinks that there’s nothing more important than blood and I lost count of the number of times they put themselves in danger to save the life of the other somewhere in the mid second season. The plot makes the most of America’s road trip nature and the Winchesters travel without a home in a ’67 Chevrolet Impala that Dean treats like a person and becomes so iconic that it should very well be in the credits as the third lead character. The first season is very episodic as they tour the country following leads on John that inevitably lead them to a ghoul or creature that they have to destroy, gradually proceeding on a story arc that brings them closer and closer to their father and the truth about what happened to make him vanish. You would assume that it would become irritating to progress so slowly, but each episode is so well crafted and interspersed with humor that you barely notice. My only gripe with the structure is that the entire season is shot in Vancouver (excluding the pilot which was appropriately set and filmed in California), which seems to me is a bit of a waste when the whole of the country was open to them. This was down to budget costs at the time, as Kripke was forced to film on a very tight budget and couldn’t afford to drag cast and crew around, but it brings you out of the story a little when they’re meant to be in Alabama and it’s steadily raining in the middle of summer.

Supernatural is a TV show that was once Eric Kripke’s much treasured creation, and it shows. Even on a low budget, a lot of time and effort has been put into the special effects and research of the supernatural elements of the action and his five year plan plays out perfectly, without giving the impression that anything has been hurriedly added onto the end of a story. I would recommend that you watch the first three episodes, by which point you will probably be hooked by either the writing, the special effects, or simply by Dean and Sam themselves.

Until now. What Spartacus: Blood and Sand brings that other versions have not, is the technological advancements made in special effects.

Season 1 of Spartacus: Blood and Sand starts with what should have been a kindly agreement by the Thracians to fight alongside the Romans. However legatus Glaber decides to disobey orders and sends his men along with several Thracians to fight directly against the enemy, Mithridates. The Thracian (Andy Whitfield), unhappy with this turn of events decides to hell with Glaber and his glory-seeking ways and promptly returns to his village to find many of his people dead and his village burned down.

Arrested with his wife, the Thracian’s sentence is death in the gladiator arena while his wife Sura’s receives a life of slavery. The entire first season is dedicated to Spartacus’ search for Sura.

Finally we arrive in Capua, a town in Italy that just happens to be where the “it” gladiators of the time come to receive training. Immediately plunged into his sentence, the Thracian successfully fends off 4 attackers in the arena and quickly wins the hearts of the people of Capua. This is also where the Thracian appears on the radar of Lentulus Batiatus (John Hannah), owner of a gladiator training school in Capua. It is Batiatus that names the Thracian “Spartacus” after a Thracian king known for his ferocity.

Inside the House of Batiatus we’re introduced to a whole host of characters. Batiatus is the proprietor of a gladiator school with the help of Doctore, a former gladiator and slave of Batiatus. Batiatus’ wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) is unlike many of the women of her time. She flat out gives Batiatus advice, makes demands, and most scandalous of all is having a sordid affair with another of Batiatus’ slaves, Crixus. Spartacus’ only friend inside the House of Batiatus is Varro, a Roman that sold himself into slavery to pay off his debts.

Unable to control Spartacus, Batiatus promises the slave that he will find his wife if Spartacus performs during gladiator fights. Unfortunately Sura is returned to Spartacus in less than pristine condition, a condition for which Spartacus is certain Batiatus is to blame.

After the death of his wife, Spartacus becomes more focused on his life as the Champion of Capua. Unfortunately his role as champion doesn’t please Lucretia or her lover, Crixus, the former Champion of Capua and Batiatus’ prize fighter. Lucretia insists Crixus be given a chance to fight Spartacus in celebration of the Magistrate’s son reaching “manhood”, despite the fact that previous injuries have yet to heal.

In a strange twist of events Ilithyia, wife of legatus Glaber who was thoroughly embarrassed by Spartacus, uses her feminine wiles to convince the Magistrate’s son that he should choose Varro for the fight against Spartacus and make it a fight to the death. This event leads to the crescendo of season 1 of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Spartacus enlists the help of his old enemy Crixus, who has fallen in love with a slave girl, to ruin the House of Batiatus. Outraged from his recent realization that it was Batiatus who had Sura killed, Spartacus and Crixus set on a course paved with blood and horror.

There are so many reasons to love Spartacus: Blood and Sand from the scantily clad cast of characters to the incredibly choreographed fight scenes prominently displayed throughout the season. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this new version of Spartacus has created a generation of new fans impressed by the computer-generated blood and guts during gladiator fights!

Watching Spartacus and Crixus wield swords against a giant beast really sealed the deal for me with this show. It’s real (well fake real) fighting at its best. No gun fights with a million stray bullets, it’s hand-to-hand combat featuring well trained fighters battling, quite literally, for their lives.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand has everything. There’s lots and lots of sex. Sex between husbands and wives, between wives of important men and gladiators, and of course sex among slaves. Women cheer topless from the arena stands for their favorite fighter, while Batiatus and Lucretia use the services of slaves to “warm them up” prior to sex.

There’s too much non-stop action to simply wait until later to watch this show. Spartacus: Blood and Sand is what an historical drama should be. It’s mostly accurate, complete with lavish yet revealing clothing, beautiful jewelry and sepia-toned scenery. It feels gritty and real, especially when Spartacus is forced to fight in the underground pits where the rules are, “there are no rules”.

You’ll be glad you checked out Spartacus. The drama and particularly the strained friendship between Lucretia and Ilithiya show us what it was really like for the original “mean girls” of Capua. Packed with an hour of action per episode, Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a show to be enjoyed by everyone. Women will love watching the gladiators battle it out in next to nothing, while the men will be enthralled by the action and blood present in the fight scenes!

I recommend Spartacus: Blood and Sand to any TV lover over the age of 16, and I dare you to not fall in love with it and rave about it to everyone you know!

In fact, I dare you to watch this Spartacus: Blood and Sand trailer and not put it at the top of your Netflix queue!

UPDATE Oct. 10, 2010

‘Spartacus’ Star Andy Whitfield Diagnosed With Cancer

Andy Whitfield, who plays the lead on the Starz drama ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand,’ has been diagnosed with a treatable form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. In a statement posted to EW.com, Whitfield said, “I’m receiving excellent care, and am feeling strong, positive and determined with an army of support behind me.”

In the meantime, Starz said that it will postpone production on season 2, titled ‘Spartacus: Vengeance,’ while Whitfield, 35, receives treatment for the condition.

It’s no secret that I love television and movies, but what I don’t love is the tired formulaic dramas passing themselves off as groundbreaking and original. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t watch those formulaic dramas, it just means that I was more than pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon Lie to Me, on FOX.

Enter Dr. Cal Lightman a psychologist specializing in body language and microexpressions. Before you fall asleep, I promise Lie to Me isn’t as boring as trying to describe Cal’s job sounds. Cal is the founder of The Lightman Group along with his business partner and best friend Dr. Gillian Foster (remember Kelly Williams from The Practice?). Together they work with law enforcement, military and multi-million dollar corporations to find out who’s lying and who’s telling the truth.

To assist them, Cal and Gillian rely on Loker, Torres and Agent Ben Reynolds of the FBI. Eli Loker is academically and practically trained in microexpressions while Ria Torres is what Cal calls “a natural” at microexpressions when he offers to be her mentor. Reynolds provides Cal and crew with his law enforcement insights and his gun. Sexual tension exists between Loker or Torres but this season that changes while Cal and Gillian have yet to act on whatever emotions they have for each other.

Loker returns to Cal’s good graces in season 2 of Lie to Me after disclosing confidential information to the SEC and subsequently being demoted to the position of an unpaid intern, while uneducated Torres becomes ever more skillful. Loker and Torres work together more often in season 2, leading to an unexpected yet somehow totally expected kiss, and perhaps more.

The second season of Lie to Me finds Cal and the team helping a potential murder witness with multiple personality disorders and a Supreme Court nominee. Intrigued by the young woman who approaches him at a book signing, Cal takes her case and leaves Torres to question a rude wannabe Supreme Court Justice.

Cal’s wife Zoe, played by Jennifer Beals, makes one of several Lie to Me appearances in the first episode of season 2 when she tells Cal that she’s taking their teenage daughter and opening her own law practice in Chicago. Despite his abrasive ways and crude talk Cal is a great dad and promptly buys out Zoe’s stake in The Lightman Group so she can open her own practice in the D.C. area.

The rest of season two is packed with interesting characters including Cal’s old pal Terry, who pulls Cal into his old ways and right into the crosshairs of criminals. Abducted and without the help of his FBI agent, Cal relies on his ability to read expressions and his psychological genius to play the criminals against each other. This episode also reveals just a little more about Cal’s past when it’s revealed that Terry took all the blame for a crime both he and Cal committed.

Season two also finds cal in Afghanistan and Mexico, helping angry farmers, federal witnesses, UFO’s, a dead street fighter and a missing porn star! But explaining all of that would make this review of Lie to Me entirely too long, so lets keep going!

Lie to Me is an interesting show smoothly sailing into yet another season of unique stories and unexpected plot twists. Their use of pop culture icons, celebrities and politicians to illustrate what emotion, or lie, the character is conveying is both genius and insightful!

I highly recommend this show for anyone looking for a good drama that’s not so, well dramatic. Lie to Me is the best kind of drama that rarely deals with personal problems because most of the drama is in the cases…which are mostly murder. However Cal is engaging, charming and down right likable. His laid-back but brash style makes his interrogations insightful and entertaining, think a shorter more Irish version of Dr. House. I can’t tell you how many times I found myself laughing out loud (not just lol, but really laughing) while watching this show.

Throw in a little bit of sexual tension between Cal and Gillian and Loker and Torres and you’ve in Lie to Me a high quality drama packed with intelligent professionals. Call me crazy, but I enjoy watching a show where the person in charge is actually the most knowledgeable person the room!

My absolute favorite part of Lie to Me is that I actually feel as though I’m learning something. Maybe it’s just my perception but as a people watcher, I notice facial ticks more when I talk to people. Sometimes when I’m eating out, I’ll just watch people and see if I can tell what’s going on in their lives. Or I’ll just interrogate my friends on all their deep dark secrets and see how they respond to see if Lie to Me has better writers or researchers!

If you’re in the market for a thinking man’s crime drama, take a look at Lie to Me. There are very few cops, lots of criminals with good and not-so-good reasons, and most importantly there’s Cal Lightman. Come for Cal, stay for the cases, stay for the sexual tension, stay for the lessons in microexpressions.

The sixth season of Grey’s Anatomy returned as the staff of Seattle Grace tries to save the lives of fellow doctors George and Izzie while coping with the introduction of new residents thanks to a hospital merger. Dr. O’Malley does not survive the injuries he sustained while saving the life of another person, leaving his friends reeling and unable to show even a hint of kindness to the new residents.

Izzie is cured of her cancer, but not of her incredible selfishness. After Karev admits that he’s afraid to get close after she nearly dies in his arms, Izzie gets fired and leaves him with nothing more than a “Dear Alex” letter. She eventually returns to Karev to work it out only to find that he’s no longer interested in saving their marriage.

And since this show is all about the relationships, what review of Grey’s Anatomy would be complete without an update? Derek and Meredith, in true Grey’s fashion, celebrated their post-it marriage by getting it on in every nook and cranny of the house! Yang and Owen are still together, but remaining sex-free thanks to Owen’s PTSD and his therapist’s advice. Lexie weighs moving in with Mark then decides that being a mom and grandma makes her want to chop off her pinky finger! After the break up, Mark hooks up with Teddy, Owen’s old war buddy and former wannabe flame.

Owen and Teddy played the “will they won’t they” game for awhile as Meredith closely watched them from a distance. She doesn’t trust Owen and makes no secret of it, eventually spilling the beans to Yang who harbored her own suspicions.

While Derek ponders taking the job as Chief, the actual Chief takes desperate measures to save Seattle Grace and introduces us to the new residents being added to the mix. We meet Doctors Reed Adamson, Charles Percy, April Kepner, and Jackson Avery (who we find out is medical royalty when his grandfather visits Seattle Grace (Harper Avery Award anyone???). They were all residents at Mercy West prior to the merger. Kepner is later fired for a mistake that directly contributed to the death of a patient.

Plenty happens throughout season six of Grey’s Anatomy but the real meat and potatoes of this season is the two-part season finale.

Derek is interim Chief while Richard deals with his drinking issues…again. Kepner is rehired by Derek who felt she deserved a second chance. Deciding she was better at “this” Kepner chooses to stay on as Derek’s assistant. She develops a pretty serious crush on the Chief McDreamy, but I digress.

Right before the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy Derek meets with Gary Clark (Michael O’Neill) the husband of one of his former patients in a wrongful death lawsult. Clark comes back to Seattle Grace in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy with a gun in his hand and payback on his mind. While Clark rampages, the hospital is put on lockdown where we learn about Meredith’s pregnancy in a supply room closet with Yang.

The angry Clark shoots several residents, including Reed and Karev, before starting his hunt for McDreamy.

Lexie and Mark find Karev bleeding in the elevator and calling out for Izzie while they quietly work to keep him alive. Bailey is put to the test when Clark shoots Percy in front of her, forcing her to lie about being a nurse to stay alive. Callie and Arizona get stuck together after their break up over having kids…in the pediatrics wing of Seattle Grace.

Clark shoots Derek leaves and uses the last bullet on himself. And those are just the highlights.

While I did find season six of Grey’s Anatomy to be pretty good, it wasn’t my favorite season until the end. I mean, the cases are always riveting and watching hot people have sex in cramped quarters never gets old, but the whole Izzie situation tired me out and I was glad that she finally left.

The flashback episode of the relationship between the Chief and Eliis Gray while dealing with the early days of AIDS was a season highlight. All in all the season finale really pushed the intensity level on Grey’s Anatomy off the charts! I suggest watching the 2 hours together as one episode for maximum impact. Bailey gets some and show’s she more than just a nazi!

It was kind of sad to see some of the new faces go, but the right ones got left behind. Season six of Grey’s Anatomy was definitely the year that changed EVERYTHING. As I sat in my living room an emotional wreck watching the finale, the only thing I could think was that there was going to be some serious drama in season seven!

Since we’re always interested in actually relaxing not thinking about even bigger problems than ours, it was clear we’re not in for a drama, but a comedy. After refusing to watch or re-watch some stuff, we settle for ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘ and she’s letting me know some friends told her it’s good.

The lasagna is ready now, so we’re keeping our hot meal under our noses and start eating, while watching the beginning.

In few minutes we realize this is not a comedy, as we wanted, but we’re so caught in the action, we can’t be bothered to push the stop button. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is waking up after a hard night of boozing and some more. The gentleman who helped with the “some more” thing is still sleeping. She’s waking him up, scared she’s gonna be late for her first day at work.

We find out where she’s working immediately. She’s an intern or, as her resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) would say: “You’re grunts, nobodies, the bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop. And you don’t complain.”

We also meet her brothers in misery, the other interns: George O’Malley (T. R. Knight) – the cute guy who’s got a crush on her since day one, Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) – the former kid having to deal with his father alcoholism – now a grumpy mean guy still with a good heart,  Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) – the beautiful blond who’s paid her medical school studies by posing semi-naked in a magazine and Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) – the Asian girl the overachiever Beverly Hills kid, top of the class at Stanford.

All these “puppies” need someone to guide them, so, one level above Miranda even are the attending physicians Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) who is, you might have guessed, the cute naked guy she kicked off her apartment few hours ago.

The entire plot is filled with ‘surprises’, just when you are getting comfortable with a “setting”, there’s something new. You will face a lot of mind blowing life situations, there’s quite some drama in it and, just when you’re wiping your tears, there’s some scene that makes you laugh yourself senseless. Comedy and drama are so well woven in this show, that you’ll never be too sad or overly amused.

From all the series I have watched (from what you’ll read here I kinda saw a lot of shows) this has been one of the best, if not number 1. At least for me, this has been an amazing way to spend some time. The soundtrack is sublime, I am using many of the songs in my car’s audio system. The acting is top notch, the plot is always interesting and unpredictable, the scenes are superb. I am sure it’s a series that “ate” a lot of money, when ABC aired it, but, with all the awards and hype it’s been a very lucrative project.

Many of my friends have watched this series, if you are from the few ones who never cared to give it a shot, please reconsider.

Dr. Gregory House is an amazing diagnostician, but lacking any bedside manners. He’s always in a bad mood, caused by his never ceasing pain he’s treating with Vicodin. He’s able to see through his patients’ lies and actually doesn’t put too much trust in their words anyway. Believing all patients are liars, he’s relying on his team of experts and his own abilities to come up with solutions in the most desperate cases.

His team face constant bickering and verbal abuse, still convinced he does have a lot to offer as a specialist. There’s a lot of verbal “ping-pong” between him and the team: neurologist Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), immunologist Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and oncologist James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).

Add Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the hospital administrator, in the mix and you’ll have it all: witty dialogue, funny and ironic replies and a plot that goes from predictable to totally unexpected.

As the seasons progress so do their relationships: some go sour, others grow. An excellent TV Drama, I’d be amazed if you haven’t already watched at least some of it. Anyway, I totally recommend it.