TMINE

Question of the week: which current TV show would you change and how?

22 June 2011 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Right now, a whole bunch of executive producers and writers are working on the next seasons of their shows. For the first time in months, they have time to think, reconsider, re-tool and generally improve their show. And with actors always trying to negotiate their contracts around now, it’s all a time for producers to consider recasting.

So this week’s question is a chance to delve into fantasy writing league: 

Imagine you’re the showrunner of your favourite TV show – what changes would you make to the show to make it better for next season and why?

As always, leave your answers below or link to your response on your own blog.

Happy sixth birthday to The Medium Is Not Enough

21 June 2011 Rob Buckley 17 Comments

A birthday cakeHappy Birthday, The Medium is Not Enough. Yes, six years ago (amazing, huh?), this blog emerged into the light of the Internet with its first two posts: previews of Prison Break, the not-unpopular Supernatural and the still-unseen Global Frequency; and tedious cruft about The Omega Factor (which I ended up writing a review of after all when I got stuck for a Lost Gem).

Haven’t we come a long way since then, as we’ve branched out into picture caption competitions, borderline stalking, nostalgia for old kids’ shows and The Guardian‘s favourite feature, a look at old Big Train sketches. Which I don’t do any more.

The thank you list to all the commenters has now grown so long it’s actually impossible for me to thank you all individually, but an especially big thank you to the regulars Toby, Marie, Jane, Rullsenberg, SK, Bob the Skutter, Stu_n, Aaron, Hannibal, Electric Dragon, Mark Carroll and the other David, without whom I’d be as mad as that bloke on Oxford Street with the megaphone who just shouts at people, as well as a big “Welcome aboard” to all the new commenters who joined in this year.

As always, if you have any suggestions for what else you might like to see on the blog, please let me know below. If you don’t, I’ll just have to dream up something insanely stupid like Dick Heads* again.

Have a nice week (and, indeed, year),

MediumRob

* Actually, now I think about it, that was one of yours, wasn’t it? Might be a dual edged sword this asking for readers’ ideas thing.

Thursday’s eloquent Hobbit news

19 May 2011 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Doctor Who

Film

  • Stephen Fry joins The Hobbit
  • Ian McKellen, Judi Dench and Gillian Anderson to star in The Buxom Strumpet
  • Plans for Thor 2 to come out at the same time as Iron Man 3 [minor spoilers]

British TV

US TV

Doctor Who reviews this year?

3 May 2011 Rob Buckley 12 Comments

So for the last few years – ooh, four now I think about it – I’ve been doing episode-by-episode reviews of Doctor Who. Now that was fun. It was enjoyable, because no matter what happened, David Tennant and whichever his companion he was with + Rusty and one of his nonsensical scripts almost always added up to fun.

However, Steven Moffat’s in charge and as much as his intricate plotting and general cleverness make Rusty’s best efforts look like the doodlings of a High School child, they lack Rusty’s exuberance, depth of emotion and general fun. In short, I’m finding them a bit more like hard work than anything I actually enjoying. I’m not even sure I really care about DW enough any more to want to review them.

I know – I’m such a neophile.

So the question is, what with

  • me already committed to two hours of Spiral every week for at least another week
  • a workload that’s seen me working three out of four days for the last two bank holiday weekends and with no proper time to blog until Friday
  • high quality reviews available elsewhere from the likes of Frank, Jane and Stuart

do you actually want my usual full-on reviews or should I reduce Who to the Friday “What Have You Been Watching?” slot unless I feel particularly inspired?

Your opinion matters, so leave a comment if you do want the reviews (or if you don’t because you think they’re rubbish).