Sitting Tennant

Friday’s Sitting Tennant (from Ms Rullsenberg)

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley 15 Comments

David Tennant

Ms Rullsenberg submitted this week’s picture.

  1. Sister Chastity, Rullsenberg: 60.5
  2. Jaradel: 35.5
  3. Toby: 5
  4. Amy, Lauren: 4
  5. Rosby: 2.5
  6. Persephone, Sabine: 1

Toby won last week’s caption competition.

  1. Marie: 167.5
  2. Toby: 166.5
  3. Rullsenberg: 117
  4. Jane Henry: 70.5
  5. Electric Dragon: 61
  6. Persephone: 45.5
  7. Jaradel: 38.5
  8. Rev/Views: 25
  9. Scott 2: 14
  10. Joe, Sister Chastity: 10
  11. Scott: 3
  12. Aaron: 2
  13. almostwitty.com: 1
  14. Stu_N: 1

Sigh.

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below or email me and if it’s judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery.

Every photo displayed on Monday (one per person who sends one in) gets a point, with a bonus point if it’s from the latest DT production; the best pic in the stash each week will appear on Friday and get three points.

You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Friday’s Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points, everyone who contributes getting five points.

US TV

Review: The Middle 1×1

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The Middle

In the US: Wednesdays, 8.30c/7.30c, ABC

Huh. The Middle. Is there a Malcolm in out there somewhere?

Actually, hold it right there. I was going to go into a big long comparison between this and Malcolm and the Middle, but then I realised this starred Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and Back To You, not Jane Kaczmarek from Malcolm in the Middle. So it all fell apart.

Putting that slight issue to one side, there are some obvious comparisons. We have a slight loser mom married to a regular type, loser dad (Neil Flynn from Scrubs). They have three kids. The youngest kid is a bit strange and looks very much like the youngest kid in Malcolm in the Middle. It’s all about the chaos of family life…

You see? It would have worked so much better with Jane Kaczmarek. Why isn’t she in this to make my life easier?

Actually, The Middle (a reference to Indiana, middle America and the middle class not child) is not quite the same as Malcolm in the Middle, even if the tone is the same. Here the focus is very much on the far more regular parents, doing their level best not to cock up in rearing their children – and the rest of their lives – and failing hopelessly, just as their children are.

How much you enjoy this will therefore depend on whether you have kids – and whether you feel like you’re failing in life.

Continue reading “Review: The Middle 1×1”

US TV

Review: Hank 1×1 (US: ABC)

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Hank 1x1

In the US: Wednesdays, 8/7c, ABC

There are plenty of reasons to sorry for Kelsey Grammer. Let’s confine ourselves to the TV ones, though.

He’s been in two of the most popular and best sitcoms in history: Cheers and Frasier. So, everything since has been something of a comedown.

He’s been involved in some truly awful drek since, including Back To You. You’ve got to feel sorry for him for that.

And whatever he’s been in, he’s played a character you’re not exactly supposed to love. In fact, he always plays some pompous twat who has to experience major humiliation with almost every episode.

Now we have Hank, in which Grammer becomes a human piñata for America’s viewing pleasure: a former CEO ousted from his company and forced to downsize in the country. He gets a crap house, a family bitter with him for never being there, and an everyman brother-in-law who takes great pleasure in seeing the misery that Hank now has to endure.

And it’s rubbish.

Poor old Kelsey.

Continue reading “Review: Hank 1×1 (US: ABC)”

What have you been watching this week (w/e October 2)

2 October 2009 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

As you may have guessed, I’ve been watching quite a bit of tele this week and you should have seen the result in a big wodge of reviews. However, on top of this I’ve also seen:

  • Accidentally on Purpose: Episode 2, which was truly dreadful so I’ve given up on it. E4 viewers steer clear of it when it arrives on our scene
  • The Vampire Diaries: Episode 2, to which I can only say, ditto.
  • Hank: review later
  • The Middle: review later
  • The Fixer: Little bit daft, but interesting to see MMA on a mainstream UK show
  • Supernatural: As excellent as always, and nice to see Hector off The Unit getting a job as an archangel
  • House: weird. No instant reset button. A good twist at the end, too (although I did see it coming). No longer can House be accused of being formulaic
  • CSI: Miami: back to insulting our intelligence. I knew it couldn’t last longer than a week
  • Community: last week’s was absolutely sensational, with an ending as well written as 30 Rock. It’s really must-see TV already
  • Mad Men: I played catch-up (not seen Sunday’s though), but the last-but-one episode was excellent

So I’ve still got a big pile of programmes to watch as you can probably tell. Any I should avoid?

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please