News

Every week day, I let you know what’s happening in the world of television from around the world

News

Bravo picks up The Unit and Blade

29 June 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Dennis Haybert: the coolest man alive Good news for Dennis Haysbert fans in the UK. The Unit (about which I have written reasonably extensively) has been picked up by Bravo as a replacement for the now-dead Alias. No word on when it will air, but that’s good news all the same, even if it is Bravo.

Also being added to the mix is the TV version of the Blade movies, unsurprisingly called Blade. This has had reasonably poor reviews in the US, so may not be such a great addition to the Bravo line-up. But you’ll be able to see my review of it some time over the next couple of days, I hope, so I’ll be able to let you know if those crazy critics are right or wrong.

BFI events

NFT’s got some TV classics next month

28 June 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The remake may have been rubbish, as was the sequel and… erm, those clips from the final episode that were around for years, but A for Andromeda is getting a massive amount of attention next month.

Julie Christie as Andromeda in A for AndromedaThe one remaining 1961 A for Andromeda episode, which only got handed back to the Beeb this year, is getting an airing at the NFT on the 10th. This special event will also feature appearances by members of the cast and crew. As if that weren’t enough, a DVD release that will include all sorts of things, including the remake, the remaining bits of the sequel (probably) and some “intriguing extras”, will be following shortly afterwards, either on the 17th or the 24th. Is there something ‘Andromeda-ish’ about July I should know about?

Adam Adamant Lives!As an aside, following the Andromeda showing at the NFT, there’s another special event, this time featuring Adam Adamant Lives! A “little-seen” episode of the series will be shown and once again, cast and crew will be on hand to reminisce. If you’ve never seen Adam Adamant, I’ll just say it’s an acquired taste: watch one episode and you’ve seen them all more or less, but it’s kind of fun to see Gerald Harper prance about as an Edwardian adventurer who’s frozen in ice and wakes up in the 1960s. I’m not sure if Harper is going, but if he is, I’m not sure I’ll have the nerve to ask him how he managed to go out with Sarah Alexander for so long. Honestly, I’m not making this stuff up! She really did (scroll down to the bottom). If you can’t go to the event, you can always buy the DVD.

There’s supposed to be a bundle deal if you buy tickets to both events, although I couldn’t find the option on the site. I’m hoping they’ll only charge me the bundle price (yes, I’ve booked already). Maybe you have to phone to get the discount price? Oh well.

If you’d rather watch something a bit more serious and a bit less fantastic, also showing at the T (not sure that’s going to catch on, but I’ll give it a try) in July are some Armchair Theatre plays, with producer Leonard White coming along to reminisce, too. Should be well worth it.

Billie’s reason for leaving

27 June 2006 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Again, assuming it’s all not some elaborate bluff, thanks to the Radio Times (via Entertainmentwise), we learn why Billie Piper’s leaving Doctor Who:

The longer I stayed, the more scared I’d be of leaving because it’s so comfortable and nice. I’m utterly grateful for the whole experience but you have to take care of yourself and do what you feel it right.

Okay. Not much of an explanation, but I suspect that’s the best we’ll get until her autobiography comes out. She’s 23 and she’s writing it now. At that age, my autobiography would have filled a couple of those notepads you find in hotel rooms.

News

Is the Daily Show poisoning democracy?

26 June 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The Daily ShowHere’s a fun academic study for you. A bunch of “political scientists” stick two groups of people in front of TV sets. One group gets to watch Bush and Kerry’s 2004 Presidential campaign; the other gets to watch CBS Evening News’s coverage of the campaign. They both then get to watch The Daily Show. The result? They both end up more cynical about politics.

What’s the conclusion? Well, The Washington Post swiftly derives the following idea from the slightly iffy study: “Jon Stewart and his hit Comedy Central cable show may be poisoning democracy.

Now I could dwell on geeky things about the study that make it pants anyway, like why there wasn’t a control group, how they managed to find people who hadn’t seen the 2004 Presidential campaign and so on. But here’s another interpretation: if you’re shown videos of people saying things that appear quite nice (particularly since they’ve been through focus groups to ensure they sound nice), you’re likely to give them a high approval rating; show them that these people are lying to you or saying things that are blatantly contradicted by things they said earlier and you’re likely to get cynical and less likely to believe them in future.

In other words, maybe it’s not the Daily Show that’s making people cynical – maybe it’s the politicians and the Daily Show is just exposing them.

News

Hustle to hit the big screen

23 June 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Robert Vaughn in HustleHustle is going to get turned into a movie now, according to the Hollywood Reporter (via Cinematical). Fox 2000 has grabbed the rights to the show, but Kudos, the production company behind Hustle, is still going to have a hand in it, with creator Bharat Nalluri producing and writer Tony Jordan penning the screenplay.

I can’t say I’m thrilled – never watched it for one thing. What I can say is that anything that gets Robert Vaughn back onto cinema screens has to be good. The man is a legend.