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Fincher's House of Cards is more 'inspired by' rather than a straight remake but you still get the central conceit of a Machiavellian politico who frequently breaks the fourth wall and addresses the viewer. Once I rewatch the original I'll be able to see how closely they compare in terms of plotlines.

I only saw the trailers for the new Yes Minister (the originals are sitting on my shelf, love 'em) and thought it looked appallingly dated and cheesy especially when compared (and I know that's not very fair because I suspect they're chasing different audiences) to something like The Thick of It.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I have always wondered, is a cinephile supposed to watch TV shows as much as films? I consider myself to be a film enthusiast but I never watch TV shows. And I mean literally, I have never watched a TV show and I still don't watch any.

I've always preferred movies, I've just never been bothered to start watching a TV show because I've always felt that they're not my thing. Is this bad if you're a movie fan?

I don't think of tv at all when thinking of who or what is a cinephile. I've always watched lots of tv, but for the last 5-10 years, I've prefered tv and watch a hell of a lot more of it than I do film. Almost exclusively, in fact.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

TV drama has upped the game considerably in the last 10 or 15 years. Look at the new House of Cards, for instance - devised by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey.

Gone are the days when a role in a TV show was necessarily a step down for a well known movie actor.

Nothing wrong with watching TV unless you're a massive, throbbing pseud. There are as many movies I wouldn't watch as there are TV shows.

EDIT - Did you catch the Top Gear special, HK? First half was pretty good, I thought.

I nearly lost my license in a WRX Subaru....

Yes, I watched it. I quite enjoyed it as well, though, to be honest, not as much as last week's 'car for old people'. I showed that episode to my mum and she loved it. Thought the car was brilliant.

The new Yes, Prime Minister is very stagey and looked nothing like The Thick Of It... Which I approved of because, as you may remember, I have no love for The Thick Of It.

I think Armando Iannucci is where our comedic tastes divide, HK.

I've been using my new Netflix streaming subscription to mainly catch up on TV shows - The selection isn't outstanding but better than the movie choice. What I'm most impressed with is the quality - I'm getting HD streams wirelessly to a PS3 (which uses an old style Wireless G router, I think, so it's not the fastest) with no buffering at all and Dolby Digital + sound, which is a half way house between standard Dubly 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD.

The app also remembers where you've paused, handy when trying to race through an entire season of something and for £5.99 a month I think I might stick with it.

I've briefly used the LoveFilm streaming service and Netflix is miles ahead in terms of picture quality and user interface.

Second episode of Sue Perkin's Heading Out, much better than last weeks episode. Enjoying this series.

SouthPark, A Scause for Applause
Only watched this since I heard it mentioned Belarus, which is where my parents are from. I'm not that big on the show, some episodes are alright, but this was great social satire tackling band wagons and the Lance Armstrong issue.

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The Following - I think this could be the episode where I can see the end in sight. The next episode of two should tell me whether I drop this or not.

Half way through House of Cards now. It's become my favourite TV show since The Wire.

Spacey is excellent but Robin Wright (accomplishing the possibly unique feat of channeling Glenn Close and Ellen Barkin at the same time) is just as good, and her character has more layers. Then there's the Elfin Kate Mara and the willowy loveliness of Sandrine Holt.

Honeykid, you'll like this.

Looking forward to it.

The first two episodes of Parks and Recreation, just started here and enjoyed the episodes I watched.

Classic Simpsons and Arrested Development are my two favorite shows. I also like 24, The Office (US), and The Walking Dead, as well as several classic shows.

Finished up with the House of Cards reboot this evening. Consistently excellent.

Now's the time for my Deadwood revisit, I think, and both shows share a co-star.

Last two episodes of Engrenages/Spiral series 4, what a fantastic ending to the series!

What I'm watching at the moment:

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Pretty entertaining stuff so far, with a very good Patrick Stewart as Picard, but there are a few throwaway characters (Crusher), and the storylines are a bit "villain of the week", but I like it a lot so far.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: I have the same problems with it so far as I do with TNG (villain of the week storylines), but I'm enjoying the Whedon wit and charm in the writing and the lead characters make for an engaging sort of "Scooby Doo" dynamic.

The L Word: I paid $16 for the first season and it was worth every dollar. Good acting and writing ground a show that features lesbianism prominently, but doesn't allow it to define it's characters. I was extremely invested in each character's struggles and issues, and if the second season is as good as this was, I'll be with it for a while.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

^ I loved The L-Word, still yet to see the last series though. If you like The L-Word I recommend a British series called Lip Service but it's unfortunately been axed after only two series.

Episode one of a new British zombie series called In The Flesh, really enjoyed this first episode and it has an interesting twist to the zombie genre.

What season are you watching? Season 1 is very 'Villain of the week', partly as it's the first season and partly because it was only half a season

Storming through Madmen series 4. I want to catch up before series 6 is aired...but I know I'm going to regret doing this cos that means it's near the end. Love this series.