Year: 2009

David Simon’s original pitch to HBO for The Wire

17 April 2009 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

A little bit of history for you: David Simon’s original pitch to HBO for The Wire has emerged and been posted online.

Here’s how Stringer Bell was originally considered, for example:

STRINGY BELL – black, early forties, he is BARKSDALE’s most trusted lieutenant, supervising virtually every aspect of the organization. He is older than BARKSDALE, and much more direct in his way, but nonetheless he is the No. 2. He has BARKSDALE’s brutal sense of the world but not his polish. BELL is bright, but clearly a child of the projects he now controls.

Fascinating stuff.

What have you been watching this week (w/e 17th April)?

17 April 2009 Rob Buckley 12 Comments

Time once again for your television recommendations/discommendations of the week? Anything good been on? Anything bad make you want to wash your eyeballs?

Been a little bit too busy to watch much TV this week, and I’ve a bit of a backlog to work my way through, but I would say they’d better be kidding about the ending of this week’s 24 in a double/treble-bluff sort of way or else the best season of the show so far has just gone to pants. And wasn’t the ending of House this week… odd?

PS No spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please? Ta!

Friday’s time travel FAQ news

17 April 2009 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Film

Theatre

British TV

  • Aiden Gillen and Keeley Hawes to star in ITV1’s Identity

US/Canadian TV

UK TV

Playing catch up: iPlayer on the Wii

16 April 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

I’ve only had a Wii for five months* and the option’s been there for a year, apparently, but it’s news to me that you can watch the BBC’s iPlayer on the Wii, so I thought I’d belatedly pass the word.

I haven’t tested it yet, and it’s not as good quality as you can get on a PC, since the Wii has an old version of Flash, but all the same, much better to be able to watch it on your TV than huddled round a computer.

* Bought at my wife’s insistence, I would point out, since games consoles and working from home don’t mix unless you’re a games journalist/professional games player