Year: 2006

UK TV

Review: The Secret Millionaire

30 November 2006 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

Secret Millionaire Ben Way

In the UK: Wednesdays, 9pm, Channel 4

In the US: Not acquired yet

Ben Way is a tosser. Or at least, you take one look at him and think “What a tosser”. He has that posh-boy haircut and posh-boy voice. He has a posh suit and posh monogrammed cufflinks, one marked B, one marked W. If it weren’t for the fact that someone seems to have done it already, you might be inclined to punch him.

But that’s prejudice for you. Millionaire he might be, but he’s from a poor, single-parent family and is a self-made man, having spent the last decade building up his own business. And he’d like to give some of his riches to some deserving causes. To this end, he goes undercover on a Hackney council estate to decide which person most deserves thousands of pounds of his money – all while escorted by a film crew.

Continue reading “Review: The Secret Millionaire”

CBS pulls 3 Lbs.

30 November 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Ooh, they’re vicious at CBS. The show’s only reached episode three, yet CBS has just pulled 3 Lbs. because of low ratings. Hang on, didn’t Smith get cancelled in the same time slot because of low ratings? Dear oh dear.

The show’s producers had a chance to shoot eight episodes, so maybe we’ll find ourselves in a similar situation to Smith and thinking the show could have been good, given half a chance, once they’re aired on Innertube, etc.

The best of this year’s bad sex

30 November 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

It’s time for the results of the Literary Review‘s annual bad sex award. First-time novelist Iain Hollingshead has managed to take the top place, and you can read the nominated passages from the shortlist over at The Guardian.

I was particularly taken by David Mitchell’s “If Dawn Madden’s breasts were a pair of Danishes, Debby Crombie’s got two Space Hoppers”, but Hollingshead’s “we’re lost in a commotion of grunts and squeaks” has a certain je ne sais quoi, I must admit.

News

David Tennant to host The Friday Night Project

30 November 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

David Tennant in velvetThe Sun reckons David Tennant is going to host the first episode of the next series of The Friday Night Project. Did he do something wrong in a previous life? Did he build a house on an Indian burial ground?

Incidentally, Daniel Craig is now saying the next Bond film should have gay scenes*, potentially involving 007. He cites Doctor Who as an example of their new-found acceptability with the masses. Who knew Craigy was a Who fan?

* No explanation of what exactly a “gay scene” is. Gay sex scenes? Bond noticing two gay men walking around? Talk about hedging your bets…

US TV

Review: 10 Items Or Less

29 November 2006 Rob Buckley 5 Comments
10 Items or LessFull Caruso

In the US: TBS, Mondays, 11/10c

In the UK: On a network that looks suspiciously like TBS but is actually a supermarket.

The Office Ten Items Or Less is a comedy show set in an office a supermarket run by a weak manager who just wants to be everyone’s friend. His staff are all a bit rubbish…

Oh I give up. There’s no point bothering with this one. It’s a rip-off of The Office, it’s partially improvised and it’s not funny. There’s no subtlety, no cleverness to the humour, very little originality – a bad manager who uses Japanese martial theory to motivate his employees? What a concept! – and I wanted to turn it off after ten minutes.

The Medium is Not Enough hereby declares 10 Items or Less to be a five on the Carusometer. This equates to a show so bad in every single aspect of its production that it seems to have been put together by David Caruso, although his mum might have done the set decoration.

PS: It’s “10 items or fewer”, curse you!