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I used to scoff at romantic drama series that my mother loved to watch, be it Hong Kong, Taiwanese or Korean drama series. I thought that there was not much entertainment value in these sappy love stories, and I just did not understand how she could become so hooked onto it. However, embarrassed as I am about this, I have to admit that I became addicted to a Korean series after some coercion from her, and I actually found that it was very much lively and entertaining. Full House is highly recommended by this reviewer.

As mentioned, I am not a fan of sappy romance (quite the contrary, really), thus it must have been something special to capture my attention like ‘Full House’ did. ‘Full House’ is a Korean television series about the tumultuous and hilarious relationship between an aspiring novelist Han Ji-Eun (played by the lovely Song Hye Kyo) and Lee Young Jae (played by Korea’s poster-boy megastar Rain). Young-Jae is a talented actor who just gained stardom in Korea.

This romantic comedy starts when the house that Ji-Eun’s father built for her gets sold to Young-Jae by Ji-Eun’s two friends who were in need of money. This was done without Ji-Eun’s knowledge and Ji-Eun ends up agreeing to live with Young-Jae under the same roof. Comedy ensues as viewers are treated to everyday scenes of how the messy and tomboy-ish Ji-Eun and the fiery-tempered Young-Jae get along. Eventually, due to complications from a love interest, Young-Jae suggests signing a contract of marriage for half a year. Although this was a marriage only on paper, romance slowly blossoms between the pair. Yet due to complications due to both their respective love interests, they eventually decided to divorce. Predictably, like most romantic series, a happy ending is imminent, as Young-Jae returns to find that Ei-Jun had been waiting for him all along and they get married, this time genuinely, and live happily ever after.

This is a truly enjoy watch. Every episode is never mundane, due to the two highly different and uncompromising personalities and clash of both their characters. The series is made interesting as both have their quirky antics and that headstrong stubbornness as they squabble relentlessly. Initially, their conflicting idiosyncrasies bring much delightful chaos to the household. The lovable and bubbly Song Hye Kyo delivers a commendable performance as Ei-Jun, a naïve but spunky character. Rain’s acting falls short in comparison with Song Hye Kyo’s, expectedly due to his lack of acting experience. However, they do complement each other very well on-screen and viewers will find Young-Jae also a very endearing character, no matter how stubborn and loud-mouthed he can be.

‘Full House’ contains a significant number of heart-wrenching moments as well, especially during the period that Young-Jae decided to break up with Ei-Jun. Scenes are delivered competently by veteran Song Hye Kyo and Rain actually does an admirable job of evoking the tears of audiences.

It is no surprise that Full House is a series with one of the highest ratings in countries like Philippines and Singapore. Although the plot is predictable towards the later parts of the series, the show more than makes up for it with the comical portrayal of the everyday lives of the pair. ‘Boring’ is one adjective that would never be used to describe this series. Coupled with a touching soundtrack, this is a definite must watch for fans of romantic comedies. ‘Full House’ remains as my sappy, romantic favourite television series.

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Save the cheerleader, save the world. Sounds preposterous? Yet ‘Heroes (TV Series)‘ has given this single line international fame and built an entire television series upon it. This television series went on to become an internationally acclaimed hit series, nominated for numerous Golden Globe and Emmy awards. Produced by Tim Kring, this series is into the second season in the USA, continuing from where the first season dramatically ended.

‘Heroes’ is a science fiction drama serial and revolves around a group of seemingly unconnected individuals who suddenly discover overnight that they possess superhuman abilities, such as the ability to fly, regenerate rapidly and teleport. A chain of events forces them to rapidly learn to control their newfound powers and to adapt to life with their new abilities. Eventually, each of their actions will culminate in them being involved in helping to avert a catastrophic explosion that threatened to rip New York City asunder.

The plot unfurls in a comic-book style, with each episode jumping from one story/character to another. The main characters include high school cheerleader Claire Bennet (who can regenerate spontaneously), Congress candidate Nathan Petrelli (who can defy gravity and fly), Japanese clerk Hiro Nakamura (who can ‘control the space-time continuum’), Niki Sanders (who has a split personality and near superhuman strength) and day-nurse Peter Petrelli (who is able to absorb and retain powers of people who are in close proximity). Each of them is drawn out of the comfort/monotony of their normal life, to seek an answer about their inexplicable abilities. The characters eventually find out that they are all inexplicably linked together, and every action that they carry out actually has a significant effect on events of the future.

The plot is further spiced up with the introduction of a shady organization called simply ‘The Company’, which seeks to manipulate those with special abilities. Another antagonist, Sylar, also appears and his emergence threw the lives of the characters into complete disarray. Gabriel ‘Sylar’ Gray has the ability to know exactly how intricate objects function, and he manages to use this ability to steal abilities from others, by first killing them, then cutting up their heads to study their brains.

The show pilots with an episode showing a few of the random individuals with special abilities, one of them being Peter, who has recurrent dreams about him flying. As the story progresses, some of the characters meet, and their fates eventually intertwine. They all discover that sometime in the future, a large explosion would erupt in the heart of New York City and it was further revealed that this was caused by a man exploding. Peter and some of the others embark on a journey to try to prevent this disaster of cataclysmic proportions. However, soon they hit a snag as Peter realized that it was actually himself who exploded in the future after absorbing radioactive powers from another man. They were perpetually hounded by operatives from ‘The Company’ who want Peter to explode to further their own twisted agenda. Hot on their trail also is Sylar, the deranged serial killer who wants to drain their special abilities for his own.

This show has some really breathtaking special effects - Claire regenerating her horrifically-mangled hand to another man (D.L. Hawkins) walking through walls to a woman named Meredith controlling a ball of fire in her palm. Plot-wise, it is a very interesting mix of characters that the producers created. From the adorable and rather naive Hiro to the darkly brooding Niki, the idealistic Peter compared his pragmatic brother, Nathan; the characters’ various antics provide for some very enjoyable entertainment. Character development was commendable, and one good example would be Noah Bennet (Claire’s father). He was portrayed as a villain initially, but eventually he was a valuable help in averting a crisis, and it was revealed that his prior actions were driven by the desire to protect Claire.

Sometimes, it is difficult to fully follow the plot. More often than not, I find myself having to make use of the commercial breaks to run through the storyline in my head so that I could clearly understand what exactly was happening, such was the manner of twists and turns in the Heroes storyline. Other than the content being totally out-of-the-world, it is further exacerbated by Hiro’s frequent jumps in the time, be it back to the past or on to the future.

Given that the majority of the cast are relatively unknown, I am actually seeing very impressive acting from the cast. The standard would not be any lower than any Hollywood blockbuster in cinemas today. The plot is a very addictive one, the audience would be very much tempted to keep watching to find out what Dr Suresh has found out regarding the link between human evolution and superhuman abilities or to find out how Sylar manages to systemically hunt down individuals to acquire their power. It is a very riveting watch and at the end of every episode, I would be sitting there wishing that the next episode would come sooner.

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The realm of magic and entertainment has a new celebrity. Once dominated by the likes of David Copperfield, we have seen the influx of many practitioners of ’street’ magic and arguably, the most successful of them all is David Blaine. It would not be unfair to say that David Blaine revolutionized the entire magic scene.

David Blaine is an American illusionist and stunt-performer who plies his trade practicing magic on the streets of American cities. He is the producer and host of two television serials ‘David Blaine: Street Magic‘ and ‘David Blaine: Magic Man‘, as well numerous special events of himself performing large-scale and high-difficulty stunts.

In the serials, a camera crew follows him on his walks through the city streets as he goes up to members of the public to perform his street magic. A recurring theme that occurs with each episode is that he first starts of with ’sleight of hand’ tricks, before progressing to more spectacular tricks. Usually he makes use of simple tricks, for example making coins disappear then reappearing on a person’s body, to fully get hold of the audience’s attention. When their curiosity is piqued, he then goes on to more daring and more flamboyant displays of his ‘magical’ prowess. My personal favourite is when he levitates in the middle of a street, without any props or assistance, to the bewilderment and shock of the people nearby.

He also attempted several high-profile, highly challenging stunts on national television. His most recent stunt was performed in November 2006, named Revolution. He was chained to a rotating gyroscope which was suspended above a parking lot in Times Square. He was trapped in there for two days before he started attempting to escape from his shackles. It was a breath-taking sight, especially for the audience present at the scene, as he defied very possible death to perform the stunt. He emerged from the contraption unscathed, much to the relief of onlookers.

With the emergence of David Blaine on the scene of magic entertainment, the entire face of magic has altered. Magic used to be a very pompous display, a la David Copperfield, be it running through the Great Wall or making elephants disappear. Expensive props, attractive and scantily-clad female assistances, extravagant light displays and so on. However, the term ’street magic’ shot to insane popularity, and this new wave of magic performance was fronted by David Blaine.

Street magic became so much more compelling to watch, compared to conventional magic. Street magic is engaged on the ‘audience’s turf’, it was impromptu. There is no stage or props or a helping hand to fool the audience. Levitation on a street is just that much more believable than when it is done on a set stage. Making an assistant disappear behind a cloak does not seem that credible when someone else can make your own watch disappear with a wave of his hand.

It is this brand of engaging entertainment that made David Blaine a successful magician. This is so different compared to the magic acts that I grew up with, with all the pomp and glamour. David Blaine’s street magic is a welcome change, to the otherwise dour magic industry, and I would like to thank David Blaine for injecting a spark of life into an industry that was fast becoming monotonous.

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Do you remember your 16th birthday celebrations? I certainly do. I was stuck at home studying for my national examinations, but I reckon other people would have more exciting 16th birthdays. Well I couldn’t have been more right, especially in the USA, where a teenager’s coming-of-age is such a significant milestone. In fact, it is so significant that it is possible to create an entire television series purely on 16th birthday celebrations. Allow me to introduce to you MTV’s My Super Sweet 16.

The first season aired in 2005 and it was so popular that it produced a total of 5 seasons to-date and spawned numerous spin-offs like My Super Sweet 21 aired on MTV’s Spring Break.

All the 16th birthday celebrations documented here are not just any plain Joe’s or Jane’s. Featured celebrations are lavish and outlandish; some are so wildly extravagant that it would leave audiences gaping. Evidently, the main stars of the show are sufficiently affluent (their parents’ fortunes, mind you) and have a penchant for flamboyance. Each week, MTV chooses a Sweet Sixteen-er to feature on this series. Cameras, lights and the works would follow every step that these Sixteen-ers take to plan and execute their birthday celebrations. Beginning from the excitement during the planning and brainstorming phase, to the frustration of the preparatory phase, and obviously, the actual day itself, accompanied with the usual nervousness and jitters.

This series offers the audience a peek into the lifestyle of the uber-rich. In almost all of the shows, parents give free rein to the Sweet Sixteen-er, on the mere fact that it would be their 16th birthday in a matter of days. Other than the seemingly limitless expenditure budget, parents make all the effort to placate the teenager, no matter how ludicrous and unrealistic the requests might be. And in accordance with the fairytale hype of the show, these ‘unrealistic’ requests are usually fulfilled, much to the delight of the birthday boy/girl and to the glee of the invited guests.

In one episode, a girl named Alyson from Arkansas wanted a military-style theme for her party and specially catered a fleet of Hummers specifically for her grand entrance into the party venue. Custom-made dog tags were handed out as invitations, and a faux volcano was installed at the party site for the ominous atmosphere. On the actual day, when the Hummers were delayed, Alyson threw a huge fit and went into a rage, as her guests already started partying without her. The whole episode was peppered with many other tantrums when Alyson didn’t get what she wanted.

This entire series gives us a somewhat depressing insight on extravagant parties that we, the ordinary, would never be able to afford. This is purely brainless visual candy, watch-and-forget “bimbo” entertainment, and has no re-watch value whatsoever, but it does guarantee you a visual treat. Also, be ready to meet teenagers spoilt beyond imagination, too indulgent in the superficial lifestyles that their parents brought them up in. I believe most audiences would gawk and look in awe at the spectacle, as did I on several occasions, but beware - watch more than 2 episodes and it’s likely that you will build up a certain disdain for the teenagers and their families for being so needlessly wasteful, and disgust at the way they whine and throw tempers when things don’t go their way.

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With a large number of medical based drama series like Grey’s Anatomy, Nip/Tuck and Scrubs inundating the television schedules, I tried to make myself focus on viewing one series at a time. However, most of the above programs focus mainly on drama and conflict of the surgeons within the surgery room, with emotional tensions thrown into the fray between the doctors and patients. I feel that House, M.D. offers a new insight at what it means to be a doctor as well as a new brand of medical drama.

The English actor Hugh Laurie assumes an American accent to cast as the eccentric Dr. Gregory House, a rebellious medical genius. Joining him in the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, are the hospital director, Dr. Lisa Cuddy(Lisa Edelstein), his best friend-cum-tumour specialist, Dr. James Wilson(Robert Sean Leonard), as well as his team members, Dr. Eric Foremen(Omar Epps), Dr. Allison Cameron(Jennifer Morrison) and Dr. Robert Chase(Jesse Spencer). His job in the hospital is simple, it’s not dissecting people within the surgery room, but instead a new twist, he’s a diagnostician. He and his team finds out what is wrong with the patients.

Instead of adopting a serious and emotional theme within the story, the scriptwriters instead opt for something new and never seen before, comedy. Indeed, Dr. House, despite being a respected and known medical genius within the hospital, is known for his odd behavior and sometimes obscene quirks. Having personally watched a few episodes myself, I can assure that audiences are amused when they see the lovable Dr. House in all sorts of predicaments, for example taking a dare that he can diagnose patients in a clinic without touching them, leading to scenes of him forcing the patients to take their own temperature, as well as other medical procedures on themselves. And the list goes on and on.

Despite his very unorthodox treatments and extremely terrible bedside manners, Dr. House is still almost always right as he readily accepts the most bizarre cases, shocking both his team members as well as the patients with his stunningly accurate answers, despite taking a very unprofessional route to it. A reoccurring theme is that Dr. House uses his theory of “Everybody lies” within the story, referring to the fact that every patient always lies about their medical situation and lifestyle in order to hide them from their loved ones. By pressing this theory onto them, House gets on the nerves of almost every single patient with his witty remarks and sardonic personality, but at the very end, never ceases to amaze them with a correct judgement.

Drama still is present in the very “battles” House has with his patients, irritating them, in addition to the side plots about House’s own personal problems which includes an ex-lover and medical issues as well. Along the way, he occasionally falls out with his team members due to the extremity of his tactics and cause conflict within one another.

Using a delightful blend of comedy and drama, it is not a wonder that the rare and unique character of Dr. House has led to the program earning so many awards. Despite the show frequently using incomprehensible medical jargon, as well as a sophisticated sense of humour which might not strike you the very first time, the series is still a great choice for a wide range of audiences.

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