Posted on February 1, 2008 | Post a comment |
Doctor Who
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Posted on February 2, 2008 | 2 comments |
In the UK: Friday 1st February, Channel 4, 9pm
In the US: Maybe SciFi since they seem to like him
Of late, Derren Brown has become less of a magician and more of a de-bunker. If you've read Tricks of the Mind, you'll know he spends a good proportion of it debunking psychics, astrologers and others, while Derren Brown: Séance did more or less the same thing on a much larger scale, as did his stage show.
Which is nice. He's becoming The Amazing Randi for a new generation of idiots viewers and probably a more effective one.
Now, he's turned his attention to homeopathy et al. How did he try to point out the flaws in people's thinking? By developing a system that he said would successfully predict the results of six horse races - then getting a poor single mum to bet all her money on the final
race.
Posted on February 2, 2008 | 2 comments |
In the US: Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC
In the UK: Sundays, 9pm, Sky One. Starts tomorrow
Characters re-cast: 0
Major characters gotten rid of: -1
Major new characters: 2
Format change percentage: 10%
It's been a while since the format-busting finale of season three of Lost. With the exciting addition of flash-forwards, no longer were we in the dark about whether our hapless Oceanic survivors ever get off the island or not: yep, they get off but they're not happy.
Despite the wait, with help at hand - or is it? - we pick up right where we left off with the new season.
Hands up anyone who thought we were going to get any more answers this episode.
Continue reading "Review: Lost 4x1"
Posted on February 3, 2008 | Post a comment |
We're having a bit of an Ace of Wands roundtable over at Half a Dozen Streets… Feel free to join in!
I would have reviewed the third series boxset when it came out but Action TV and TV Today have already had a go – not that I necessarily agreed with them, I was just a bit late coming to the party...
For those of you who aren't familiar with the theme tune and title sequence, here they are. Brilliant, aren't they?
Posted on February 4, 2008 | Post a comment |
Doctor Who
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Posted on February 4, 2008 | 1 comment |
Ah, ITV. How dearly it loves to imitate the Beeb. That goes right down to the scheduling, including messing around with the timings of its Saturday night shows. How many times am I going to have to use the mighty power of the Internet to catch up with Primeval because I've missed the first 15 minutes again?
Anyway, it must be fabulous being a professor of “dinosaurs and things” in the brave new world of Primeval. You get to run around with a sub-machine gun with an ever-lasting supply of bullets, shooting at stuff. You get to look at dead animals and rather than say “my, I've not seen something like this in the fossil record before. There are so many marvellous new discoveries coming out of the Gansu Province of China these days, aren't there?”, you can firmly pronounce them the future of shark evolution without the slightest shred of evidence. You get to act like a dopey teenager around the ladies. And you never, ever have to use a comb.
Continue reading "Review: Primeval 2x4"
Posted on February 4, 2008 | 3 comments |
First, a brief apology - I'm behind in my Big Finish reviews. Trouble is, while I've been working from home for the last week, enabling me to put some actual work into the blog for a change, it means I haven't been doing any commuting. No commuting, means no iPod listening (except when I'm doing the housework), so I've not been listening to any of the plays. Never fear, though, I hope to have reviews of The Bride of Peladon, Condemned and Dead London sometime soon.
But 1st February marked two important events. Number one: Big Finish redesigned its web site again so that it's almost usable. Almost. They have a slight issue with labelling. You'll see. And they could do with hiring a proofreader (hint, hint).
Number two: it's started to sell its plays as downloads. No more ripping to iPod for me then. Woo hoo.
Almost.
Let's look at the pricing. Price of a two-disc play on CD: £14.99. Price of a download: £12.99. Hmm. Okay, so, you're not having to pay P&P either, but that's not a huge reduction. £2 less and I don't get the CDs, the box liner notes, etc? (Well, I haven't bought any yet, so maybe you get them as PDFs).
I don't feel “incentivised” by that. All the same, I suspect that'll be the way forward for me from now on. How about you?
Posted on February 4, 2008 | 5 comments |
Following on from the Bonanza Channel, here's a new channel for your perusal: DMAX, located on Sky channel 155 and Virgin channel 197.
I only noticed it because <DEEP BREATH>they're showing Airwolf every day at 3am, 8am, 1pm, 7pm. OMG! OMG! OMG!</DEEP BREATH>, although they're showing it out of order (but tune in folks, season one started again today).
But I have no idea who it's aimed at (following our discussion of Dave) and whether its marketing spiel makes the slightest bit of sense.
Consider its tag line – 'Everyday heroes' – and hateful marketing mission statement:
DMAX, straight-up entertainment 24-hours a day. With compelling drama, action adventure and ground-breaking documentaries, DMAX is a feast of entertainment packed with extraordinary characters you will want to see over and over again.
Yet, now consider its extended marketing hate:
DMAX's on-screen heroes offer a whole new take on reality TV. These are everyday heroes whose real lives make fascinating and compelling viewing. They are cops, mechanics, sailors and squaddies, people who aren't afraid of taking the knocks or getting their hands dirty.
From the fearless fishermen out to land the Deadliest Catch to the body beautifiers of Miami Ink, from the battling bike-builders in American Chopper to the multi award-winning cops of NYPD Blue, these are heroes to believe in.
How exactly are tattooists 'everyday heroes'? Airwolf was many things, but reality TV? I think not? NYPD Blue? Not drastically realistic, but getting there, I admit, but still not reality TV. Their extended marketing spiel directly contradicts the initial marketing hate. What a schizo channel.
Clearly, this is all marketing lies, designed as a 'beard' for men who just want to watch action shows and documentaries about manly men, but who don't want to admit it.
How big do you reckon this demographic is? Or are you just going to be tuning in to watch the documentary about fishermen? Or Airwolf?
Read more on What have you been watching this week? (w/e 3 July)