So Jason Gardiner, in case you don’t know, is one of the judges on ITV’s Dancing on Ice. He’s basically got the Simon Cowell role of bluntly telling people they’re rubbish – usually because they are. In case you weren’t watching on Sunday, he had a bit of a fight with one of the former judges, Karen Barber, who is now the dancing coach for the contestants:
Ooh, nasty, hey? What I find odd is that Jason Gardiner was the “culture gay” on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (UK) – the nice one, in other words. How versatile – or is it MPD? And why did some producer somewhere at ITV think “You know what – let’s have him as Mr Nasty”?
We’re three episodes into Portlandia and it’s still proving a rewarding, if not totally uniform experience. Essentially a skewed look at the kinds of weird and typically ultra-liberal people allegedly supposed to inhabit Portland, Oregon, it’s a lighter version of the League of Gentlemen, mostly fun characters played by the same actors, but with the occasional bit of horror thrown in for good measure. Happily, viewers of That Mitchell and Webb Look, worried that characters would here be repeated ad nauseum and milked dry, needn’t worry, since most characters have lasted two episodes at most. It’s pretty much all-new, every episode.
Episode one has proven to be the highlight of the series, with some excellent tunes and great sketches, although it wasn’t completely perfect. Since then, it’s become more of a wry, rather than laugh-out-loud show. This vid is pretty much typical of the show. Here, rock singer and guitarist Aimee Mann has fallen on hard times and is now cleaning houses for a living:
It’s that kind of wry, odd, left-leaning humour that typifies the show. However, there are just plain fun characters (a couple whose business is putting pictures of birds on things and a bicycle messenger) and some plain disturbing ones, too (a with a slightly abusive relationship where Fred plays a female character and Carrie Brownstein plays the male character).
You really have to be of a certain niche to enjoy this “to the max” but it can be very funny stuff and it is one of the funniest and best observed shows on the box at the moment.
Carusometer rating: 2 Rob’s prediction: Might get a second season but don’t bank on it.
Ali is, of course, very busy right now, what with being one of the most in-demand actresses this pilot season and having to go to the post office. So, this week, Random Acts is being sub-contracted out to the world’s most random man, Crispin Glover. Right now, Glover is touring the UK with the second part of his Big Slide Show – “a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books he has made over the years”, including one about rat catching. Catch him if you can.
Just to keep all you Ali lovers happy though, here she is staring at some strange plants with Idris Elba:
Have you seen Ali Larter or one of her sub-contractors acting randomly? If so, let us know and we’ll tell everyone about it in “Random Acts of Ali Larter“
So in an effort to get us all interested in the fact Rachel Stevens is hosting the Orange Wednesdays red carpet show for this year’s BAFTAs, they’ve got her all dolled up. Since she’s more famous these days for being really good on Strictly Come Dancing a year or two ago than for S Club 7 and her solo singing career (“Some Girls” wasn’t bad. Any others? Anyone?), the BAFTA organisers have got her dressed up as a dancer.
However, I’m not sure getting her to mimic Natalie Portman’s Black Swan look was the way forward…
