Ten, 9:30 pm

Sydney Morning Herald, November 10, 2008

Oh no, not another cop show with a quirky hero and his sassy female offsider. Well, yes, but this is above average. The presence of British bloodnut Damian Lewis as Detective Charlie Crews helps, as does sharp writing and sparky chemistry between Lewis and his co-star, Sarah Shahi (Detective Dani Reese).

Los Angeles is in chaos after an earthquake, which is making life difficult for Crews and Reese as they hunt for a murderer who has escaped from prison a year after they put him away.

Ted (Adam Arkin) has his own problems, suffering a bizarre injury in the quake.

There are some dizzying plot turns, many of them quite unbelievable, but it's a thrilling and occasionally amusing ride with plenty of snappy dialogue.

Brides

(2004) SBS, 10pm

Sydney Morning Herald, November 10, 2008

It's 1922 and Greece is at war in what is termed the Asia Minor Catastrophe. A ship, the SS King Alexander, is outward bound from Athens, en route to the US with a cargo of 700 mail-order brides -- mostly poor Greek women but some from impoverished areas of Turkey and Russia -- heading to the US as companions for immigrant Greeks unable to find local women to marry. All the women have photographs of their intended partners and realise their prospects abroad are more viable than at home, where times are tight and men in short supply. But leaving their homeland is frightening, and apprehension aboard is high. Niki Doukha, bound for an arranged marriage in New York, meets Norman Harris, an American photographer on his way home to a failed marriage. Can they sustain one another and find genuine love in place of the fate predetermined for them by circumstance? Damian Lewis and Victoria Haralabidou shine in the lead roles of a sensitive film bankrolled by Martin Scorsese. Culture, honour, fabulous wedding dresses and a simmering sexual tension.