Year: 2007

US TV

Review: K-Ville 1×1

19 September 2007 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Kville.jpg

In the US: Fox, Mondays, 9/8c

In the UK: Acquired by Five for air in early 2008

Ever wondered what would have happened if Fox, rather than HBO, had made The Wire? Then wonder no more, because here it is: K-Ville.

The parallels are clear: both are cop shows; both are set in poor US cities; both have a mainly black cast and supporting cast; and both have a political edge.

Here, though, the parallels stop. While The Wire is edgy and intelligent, has a measured pace with plots developing over seasons rather than a single episode, and well defined, realistic characters, K-Ville is implausible, silly and falls for every cliché the genre has to offer.

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News

Wednesday’s not desperately inspiring news

19 September 2007 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Playing with a kitten

Doctor Who

Film

British TV

US TV

UK TV

Review: Michael Palin’s New Europe

18 September 2007 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Michael Palin's New Europe

In the UK: Sundays, 9pm, BBC1

In the US: Not yet acquired

I feel sorry for Mrs Palin. Isn’t her husband ever home? He’s always off globe-trotting somewhere. It doesn’t seem fair on the poor woman. But then, maybe she gets a share of the proceeds from the inevitable coffee table book from each series.

Now Michael Palin’s off trotting round Eastern Europe. It’s a bit of a whistlestop tour: Sunday’s episode took in four – or was it five? – countries in under an hour. But if you’re used to the Palin formula, it’s moderately entertaining, albeit with diminished returns from previous series.

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Tuesday’s choice selection of news nuggets

18 September 2007 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Film

Comics

British TV

US TV

ITV Play: the wagons are circling

17 September 2007 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Not that I’m suggesting that ITV Play is feeling desperate about its future at all and looking to survive in the wild somehow, particularly now it’s been dumped by ITV, but I’ve now been solicited twice – once on Friday and once on Saturday – by a market researcher for ITV Play, wanting to know my opinions on the channel.

There’s an online survey for me to fill out, which includes such choice questions as:

  • How important do you feel it is that ITV is involved in ITV Play for the programme/experience quality
  • How important do you feel it is that ITV is involved in ITV Play for you to be confident that it can be trusted to be fair and ethical
  • Please choose the TV channel that you consider the most trustworthy that you watch
  • How do you consider ITV as a broadcaster?
  • Are you aware that the guidelines for this type of programme are now under scrutiny?
  • Do you feel that the ITV Play programmes give you enough information about the chances of winning and the number of callers taking part
  • ITV has recently announced it is intention of moving out of overnight ?��Ǩ��Participation’ TV in the form of ITV Play, do you consider this to be a good decision?

Oh dear. Poor old ITV Play, trying to gather together all the majestic power and support that bloggers can provide. At least, I presume it’s them, even though I have to email a btinternet.com address if I have any questions.

UPDATE: It’s not ITV Play after all, unless they’ve planned a very elaborate cover story. Which is always possible, if you’ve ever seen some of the labyrinthine logic that goes into their questions.