Being Jeff Goldblum, basically.

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Cast your mind back a year or so, and you'll remember there was a stonking big writers' strike in the US. That stopped a whole load of shows from completing their run. Heroes, in particular, had to truncate a whole storyline, in which the Shanti virus would have escaped – rather than be destroyed by Peter in episode 11 – which is originally why Nathan would have keeled over during that press conference, rather than because future-Peter shot him. 

The rest of season two would have consisted of two Volumes: Exodus, rather than Villains, and Fugitives, so I'm not sure whether Volume two would have ended at episode 11 or episode 13, as you might have expected. However, they did film some scenes for episode 13, which potentially could have been the first episode of Volume 3. And here's one of them.

I'm not sure exactly where this would have appeared in the scheme of things. While there are arguments to be made about actor availability, sets, etc, it's clear that the following scene was important enough to be a priority shoot. It might even have been the lead-in to Volume 3. 

Although most of the scene did get used in Volume 3, it's interesting to see what the footage hints at in terms of the original direction of the Volume. Is that Jessica or Tracy who seems to be the leader of the baddies – was Niki/Jessica going to survive Volume 2 originally and be the Arthur Petrelli of Volume 3 or was Tracy intended to be a baddie originally? What was the storyline planned for Micah and Monica, who presumably might only have been around as long as Niki was?

Whatever, to me it looks like rather than being the creative uplift the writers claimed, the writers strike did in fact set the show moving in a bad direction as the writers tried to top what they'd already worked out. The Volume 3 hinted at here would have been a whole lot better than the one we ended up getting, even if you can see that quite a few elements of it survived and they weren't that good (eg Sylar/Angela stuff).

Sigh. Still, at least we got back on track with Volume 4, and hopefully, Volume 5 is going to be a cracker now Bryan Fuller's back behind the scenes as a consultant producer.

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It seems appropriate in the wake of certain recent events in European politics to ask a quick meme this week:

Who's your favourite TV politician? Or your least favourite?

I'm suspecting there'll be more than a few West Wing responses, but don't forget the likes of State of Play, Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister, Party Animals, GBH, A Very British Coup, 1984 et al (depending on how left/right wing you are). If you prefer to hit the movies for Dave, The American President, etc, feel free

As always, leave a comment with your answer or a link to your answer on your own blog.

Yes, the world is mental. Didn't know that already? Well, let me break it to you that it is: the world is definitely mental.

Oh, you'd like proof would you? Blimey, you're demanding. Well, how about this video, in which Patrick Duffy and a talking stuffed crab discuss having a threesome with Courtney Cox.

Yes. See?

More crab talk after the break as well.

Continue reading "Mentalism in action: Patrick Duffy and the Crab"

Time for another weird old title sequence. Rupert Bear has been one of British culture's most enduring characters. Originally a cartoon in the Daily Express, the little bear and his weird array of friends have gone on to have many LSD-soaked adventures in other media, especially TV.

For pure scariness, you can't beat the 70s version of The Adventures of Rupert Bear, which terrified many a child, and now can terrify you, too. What a scary little bear.

1. Go to Gordon Ramsay Swears at You!
2. Press the red button
3. Hear Gordon swear at you
4. Done.

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Some people don't get Top Gear. Some people, usually those who haven't watched it, think it's just Jeremy Clarkson being a right-wing nutbag, running over animals in cars while running his own personal carbon dioxide manufacturing plant.

Okay, so JC does get to spew some of his stranger ideas now and then, but everyone takes the piss out of him for being a nutter when he does.

No, Top Gear is about having fun. It's about silliness and mucking around.

Don't believe me? Then watch this video showing the essence of Top Gear: some nuns being given the chance to drive monster trucks.

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Bank holidays are a time to gather round the television and grumble because it's raining outside. Traditionally, it's also a time for broadcasters to put on the same daft old movies they always show at Bank Holidays. Come Christmas, there's The Great Escape, of course, but depending on the time of year, you may get to see North Sea Hijack, Juggernaut or one of the other old redoubtables. So today's question is:

What's your favourite Bank Holiday movie?

You can include movies on DVD if there's one you always watch over the bank holidays.

As always, leave a comment with your answer or a link to your answer on your own blog.

…this is the one to get.