Get the first question wrong on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. It’s just so upsetting, watching it happen before your eyes…
Month: July 2006
Preview: Hidden Palms
INT. OFFICE – DAY
We are in the office of a PRODUCER. He’s in his late twenties and full of coke and gym-induced energy. It’s sunny outside – it’s LA after all – but there’s the faint sound of a breeze. As the producer happily plays with his A-Team action figures, we slowly realise that the breeze is actually a whistling noise coming from between his ears.
There is a knock at the door.
PRODUCER
Come!
He giggles. He said come. That one always cracks him up. He returns to playing with Mr T.
Enter JUNIOR WRITER excitedly. Junior Writer is even younger than the Producer, Harvard-educated and has wanted to work in television his whole life. He hasn’t been paid in two years, even though his internship only lasted six months. But that’s all right: his trust fund is extensive.
The notepaper he carries in his hand contains The Idea.
JUNIOR WRITER
I have it! I have an idea for a new show.
Producer looks up. There’s only a slight glassiness to his eye from the coke. Slowly, he realises what this means.
Music from the Volkswagen EOS ad
Want to know what the music they used in the Volkswagen EOS ad is? You know, the tune that starts “I woke up dreaming…”. You know, this one (although this is the US version and has a completely different track. But it has the same visuals, just so we know what I’m on about)
Well, it’s by an unsigned group called The Dallas Guild and it’s called “Men in White Coats”. You can hear their work on their own site or on their MySpace page. Sorry, no iTunes link because of that whole unsigned thing.
US TV
Weirdest channel I’ve come across yet
If you have Sky, you’ll probably have done this yourself. You’ll flick through the EPG looking for something to watch and none of the main channels will be showing anything. So slowly you start scaling your way up the EPG to channels that have roughly seven viewers each and are dedicated to useful things like dog-bonnet crocheting.
I came across the most bizarre one the other night. The Bonanza channel. Yes, an entire channel dedicated to that lovely Western starring Lorne Greene. It’s something you can do I guess: the series started in 1959 and finished in 1973, so that’s 14 years of episodes that you can show. I shudder to think of the DVD box set possibilities.
But seriously. How many people want to watch nothing but Bonanza? And if they did, would they not worry about missing episodes when they have to do things like go to work, eat and sleep? I wonder how long it would take for the channel to get back to an episode you’d missed. Or do they just show the same series repeatedly for a month or two then work their way onto the next series?
Ah the crazy world of the Bonanza Channel….
Five’s plans for a new channel are in even bigger trouble
Everyone’s fifth-favourite channel, Five, unveiled its multi-channel digital strategy a little while ago. One of the main elements of the strategy was to have a channel called Five US dedicated to US imports. It wasn’t long before Hallmark threw a spanner in the works by refusing Five US access to some of the most popular imports, such as House and Law and Order.
Well, it looks like Hallmark – in conjunction with the Beeb and ITV, which is busily trying to expand its US import roster – has done it again. It’s just acquired four new US shows:
- Smith, starring Ray Liotta and Jonny-Lee Miller as genius tacticians who plan and execute multi-million dollar robberies (hasn’t started yet in the US)
- Jericho, a drama about the chaos that ensues in a small town in the wake of a nuclear disaster (hasn’t aired yet)
- Psych, starring James Roday as a fake psychic (starts on the USA Network next week) and
- Saved, about a paramedic who’s a compulsive gambler (Airs on TNT. I’ve already reviewed this. Twice).
With ITV already having picked up the forthcoming Six Degrees (by Lost and Alias‘ creator JJ Abrams), Raines and The Black Donnellys, I’m guessing that Five US isn’t going to be the best network for US programming we’ll ever see.