17/08/2008 by Victoria.

So the decent TV is starting to creep back into the schedule, which must mean the cold weather is on its way.

Which is rubbish - as it’s already pretty cold, with light showers forecast in my area until Friday. Nevermind, here’s the latest roundup.

Olympics, still.

So England is third in the medal table. What happened to the news coverage of the floods in Northern Ireland last night?

Hand on heart the sole event that has been vaguely interesting was the hurdling today or when the Australian silver medalist rowing team kept hugging one of the officials in the medal ceremony. I can live without the cycling - what with it’s paranoid over your shoulder duals and coaches patting female cyclists on the bottom before they release them into the race - I mean, there’s no way that ’s happening with the male cyclists. And I can definitely live without the womens marathon complete with endless close ups of their slow mo leg muscles, and that contestant who stopped, ran to the front, stopped, started again, stopped, tried to sit down until an official hurled off the track.

How many days left now? This coupled with the return of the football season is really more sport than I can take.

Who do you think you are?

I think I’m excited. I love this show, it’s storytelling, history, family, ambition, emotion, crime and a good use of the BBCs resources - all in one. Patsy Kensit’s episode, the start of the new series, was brilliant, and even if you don’t like family history, you’ll end up loving this show. Can’t wait to see the American version, on NBC too.

Britain from above

Is it possible for Andrew Marr to make a boring show about Britain? Even footage of him diving into Sussex wearing a cone head helmet can be forgiven. Not sure this should be Sunday night viewing, and not 100% on the 30 minute specials showing on BBC2 after the main episode, but this show has the same effect as a Herman Wouk novel - you feel both entertained and full of knowledge.

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08/08/2008 by Victoria.

If you’re managing to BBQ this week, the weather seems determined to wimp out by 5pm, don’t you think? then try this salad.

Now that the Olympics are here, TV is really going to be patchy.

At least the opening ceremony had something new, even if you don’t think China should be hosting the Olympics you’ve got to admit a middle-ages gymnast running around the stadium in the middle of the sky, torch still flaming, was pretty cool, even if he did get ahead of the unfurling screen graphics at one point, the ultimate cigarette lighting of the huge torch (which I’m sure will help ease the smog), was more than expected, even Huw Edwards got carried away calling it the best opening ever.

When else are you going to see thousands of people mimicking doves flying too? Beats a mexican wave anytime.

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29/07/2008 by Victoria.

Has BBC got a death wish?

Why do they insist on dropping these great mini-dramas on weird nights within the same week? Don’t they know we’re programmed to watch things weekly?

Burn Up

Bradley Whitford was great as ever in this climate change/oil power/Kyoto conference drama. He outacted the remaining cast put together as Mac, unhinged and strangely loyal, pumping action and emotion through each scene. Like a deeper Kiefer/Jack from 24.

So does the backdrop of Climate change add anything to the normal political/big business power games mini-series? Similarly to le Carre’s The Constant Gardener, I suppose it taps into a subject matter than worries us in the same way the bomb or the cold war worried previous audiences.

The fact that there is no conclusion, solution or outlandish precedent for government reacting to a real oil shortage lets Burn Up pull the punches as they wish.

I’m so starved for decent TV that I even thought Neve Campbell was good in this. My only gripe was the finale held on the roof of a sky scraper, which I literally couldn’t watch, as I feel like I’m going to throw myself off the ledge, or at least off the couch. I wonder if this technicque could also up the ante for run of the mill shows; like a random tarantula on the head nurse’s shoulder in Casualty?

Anything else?

Back to You - Great episode last week with a racoon on the loose, maybe this series will turn good, like 30 Rock did.

The Colbert Report - Watch it nation, it’s the best thing on at the moment. Or watch clips online.

The Soup - Yes I know, I’m complaining there’s no good TV and watching TV clip shows. The Soup is on form though, with a nice cameo from Simon Pegg & Jessica Hynes promoting Spaced on DVD.

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20/07/2008 by Victoria.

Tonight we popped into Liverpool to see the tall ships whilst dinner was cooking (free range chicken portions and chunks of potato and kumara roasted with olive oil, oregano and salt and pepper for 70 minutes at 200 degrees C).

So the TV for the dinner tonight was Top Gear, and the show was same old, same old: funny, annoying, funny, offensive, then out of nowhere, the incidental music for Jeremy and James’ 25K luxury car segment was Pavement, Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era. I suppose it’s fitting, but so random, as it’s over 16 years old and was never a hit to start with, despite retrospective admiration.

Anyway, after that bombshell, here’s another - I think I may actually like one of the Dragon’s Den ‘judges’, Mr Peter Jones. No, not because he’s tall, you see Top Gear is the second media exposure I’ve had to Mr Jones this month, and he comes across so much better than he does on the show, where he seems to be fixated by suits and workwear (does he have an investment in formal attire I have to wonder…). So, Mr Jones is planning to give his children their fortune (i.e. his hard earned cash) by annually match funding whatever they can earn, and even tripling it if they decide to go into a worthy, but modestly paid profession. Intriguing.

All the same, will I be watching the new series of Dragon’s Den? Don’t know, as I can’t stand the poor sods being torn down plus the new promo is awful. As someone trying to launch a business though, I suppose I better.

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18/07/2008 by Victoria.

Lab rats

Ok, so it’s a little wincy, but Lab Rats is good, solid, British comedy. The female characters are interesting for once and Chris Addison is charming as ever. It reminds me of the Goodies, and I like it, so there.

 The Colbert Report 

If you don’t have FX, you can watch the Colbert Report online. And you should. It’s brilliant satire, and the UK has nothing to touch it at the moment.

Fraid there’s little else on at the moment, plus I’ve got Sky Movies for the next three months. Any suggestions for shows to watch/look out for?

In other news, I’ve been baking.

Posted in Recipes, TV | 1 Comment »

09/07/2008 by Victoria.

Jezebel, not just a red dress after all. 

Why the lead writers from Jezebel ever agreed to talk at an event called Thinking and Drinking is beyond me. But they did, and several jokes about rape later, Jezebel (now being toted by Huffington Post as the breeding ground for anti-feminism and the route of all eveil) is in a state of furore.

Jezebel postees are annoyed they are being labelled as anti-feminist, or feminist in equal quantities. There’s a mixed response from the readership on the overiding question to come out of the Thinking and Drinking evening, is it wrong to not report rape? (i.e. you owe it to other women to report it), which is hijacking the normal comments maelstrom that ensues over a photo of Jennifer Garner and her daughter Violet or the weekly roundup of sexism in blogs and the media that makes Jezebel cool. This is all a bit bemusing but I’ll still head to Jezebel for “Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women. Without Airbrushing”. It’s a damn site better than Perez Hilton.

The Colbert Report

Wow, FX have Season Four of the Wire (which I can’t watch yet because I’ve never seen Series 1-3, but I might start Sky+ing for Winter anyway - that’s right, I have 48% free on my Sky+ box, I could tape 24-hour news if I wanted), they also have the Colbert Report.

Featuring Stephen Colbert, who used to be a correspondent on Jon Stewart’s the Daily Show, the Colbert Report is a satire on political pundit shows and is worth watching, every Tues - Fri nights.

Criminal Justice

How good is Pete Postlewaithe? Why did BBCs programmers decide to chuck out this great 5 parter over one week, instead of five weeks? Lame!

Back to You

Kelsey Grammar is still more Frasier than Chuck Darling, the returning ”preening gas bag”who has to retreat back to PA TV. Patricia Heaton is as good here as Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond, plus she’s believeable as a different character, lead anchor Kelly. The supporting cast is solid sitcom, but I just don’t know, the couple of shows I’ve seen were funny but the chemistry wasn’t either Raymond or Frasier standard. Still, there’s nothing else on, so catch it on E4 or repeated Channel Four on Sundays. If you always fancied yourself an Anchorman, make it happen.

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03/07/2008 by Victoria.

Do you even know who Mikey is? Mikey Havoc perhaps, the godfather of irreverent TV from NZ? Naw, it’s some schmuck from Big Brother, which I’m not watching, so sorry if you’ve ended up here, after using Mikey + eyebrow as your Google keyword search.

This week I’m:

Taping (Well Sky+-ing) Criminal Justice,

Watching random BBC shows, Tribal Wives (Quite good, but I had to flip over when the Chief killed the goat and I got sick of past alcoholic Lana crying, so did the tribe, but in a friendly way, “Oh my god she is crying again”), Bears in the Woods (Giant Pandas, Grizzly Bears, Bears fishing) and the inevitable Wimbledon tennis-fest.

Waiting for the finale of Brothers & Sisters (No it’s not incest, Rebecca isn’t a Walker after all! Does anyone else think everytime Calista Flockhart comes onscreen, she’s married to Indiana Jones?)

Still taping Location, Location, Location - three weeks running now

Testing the new E! reality timewaster, Denise Richards’ It’s Complicated - It’s not, she seems kinda normal.

Enjoying sports event song montages - they’re the best bits, no matter what the song.

Looking forward to the first Tri Nations rugby game, All Blacks vs South Africa at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Nothing like the Haka to make you feel patriotic over your breakfast.

Wimbledon & Glastonbury

Seems BBC is getting smarter with their interactive offerings, although the presenters are still a step behind. Tim Henman and Mac were chatting away on the Interactive service, unaware it would seem that we could see them too, as they gestured and giggled (mostly Henman) and saluted passing players, adding an extra dimension and making them both more likeable.

Glastonbury - how long til they phase out Edith Bowman and we’ve got a one man Zane Lowe show?

One idea for interactive would be to have any conversation from the guests in the ‘Green Room’ on Johnathon Ross coming up as subtitles whilst we watch Ross’ ‘lewd‘ antics. It’s a dangerous path for Ross to keep at - soon he’s going to become such a dirty uncool old man that the naughtiness of Graham Norton’s show will no longer be an issue, and there’s no contest for who is funnier and a better caretaker for their guests.

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26/06/2008 by Victoria.

Well you know what? There’s not much to say about the TV I’ve watched in the last week. It goes like this..

 Sex and the City

I’ve not seen the film yet (and don’t want to watch a pirated version thank you, no fake Fendis for me) so the lull in prime time tv (by that I mean 10pm onwards) has meant I’ve hooked into the triple bills of SATC, season 3-4 on Paramount each weeknight. It’s the Aiden/Carrie cheating with Big/Charlotte marrying Trey story arc at the moment and I love it.

 Snog, Marry, Avoid

Jenny Frost hosts this weird make’under’ show where the nation’s fake-tanned, eyelinered and primark bedecked beauties stand in front of a screen, where a female voice ‘Pod’ (Personal Overhaul something) asks them questions about their self image interspersed with questions like,

Would Men want to buy you.. Dinner, Jewellery, A Kebab.

99% say Kebab

“Wot really?!” 

At the end of this humiliation the victim is asked how many of the people surveyed would snog, marry or avoid them. Of course it’s all avoiders, haters, so they consent to the Full Make Under.

What I can’t really convey here is how boring the show’s format is - for all the snide laughing at the OTT tanned ones, the Pod voiceover and strange eighties graphics take up way too much time.

After taking off their makeup, the girls are declared natural beauties, “sexy but classy” and Jenny Frost catches up with them three months later, chatting about how harsh Pod is, have they kept up the minimal make up, well actually just avoiding acres of fake tan and wearing clothes that cover them, no extensions, no Jodie Kidd blonde hair colour is the regime. This is addictive, and can’t be as bad as Big Brother, which you couldn’t pay me to watch.

The Soup

This Saturday is the best 20 clips this year so far. Enough said. E! 11pm

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17/06/2008 by Victoria.

So the Apprentice is over and the only thing to watch on Sunday night is Brothers and Sisters on E4. What is the world coming to? I even found myself watching a repeat of Ray Mear’s extreme survival in Belarus!

Mary Queen of shops

There’s a pretty standard theme to this series, even if the shop keepers in this series so far have been nasty and bullish. Mary Portas, fashion guru, visits the shop, which is about to go out of business.

After slagging off the exterior and interior, all justified, she meets the owners and starts the lessons:

• Be aware of trends (could involve going to a fashion show, otherwise read fashion mags like Marie Claire, or at least Grazia for god’s sake)
• Define who your target audience is, don’t try to appeal to everyone
• Be able to style your customers - boutiques need to offer a personal stylist service
• Visit successful high street/fashion stores and steal their ideas for merchandising and store layout/presentation
• Buy collections in advance of the season, developing relationships with key small labels
• 90% of the time, change your name

 See? I just saved you an hour of Mary Portas’ yelling at some poor delusional Al Fayed wannabe. It’s good yelling though, I wouldn’t miss it and rarely does it descend into the embarassing or naff, like most makeover tv. In fact it’s worth watching just to see what Mary is wearing herself.  All BBC need to do now is let us nominate shops for mini Mary makeovers in particular areas! Check out her website and find out which tribe you belong to.

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13/06/2008 by Victoria.

Lucinda was looking slightly malevolent in her beret in the You’re Fired audience on Wednesday, trying to steal Helene’s thunder.  All a bit depressing really with Alex, who has been just as destructive and unhelpful and moody, being joshed and not really challenged for that behaviour, Helene was strung up for her bad moments, Victoria Wood and Amanda Patel both scolding her for being a bitch in business, the only nice thing they had to say was “Oh you looked very beautiful in your pant suits”. In Helene’s own words, “Pot ..kettle.”

So Lee has won. This is the first time in three years I think Sir Alan has made the right choice. I’m speechless. What on earth am I going to watch next week?

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