Remember I talked about Nobody’s Watching a while back? It was the pilot for a comedy that didn’t get picked up, but which its creators decided to put on YouTube.
Well, it’s been so successful, Variety reports, it looks like NBC is going to commission six episodes. The fact it’s going to be cheap to make might have swayed NBC, but apparently Web 2.0 is seeping into the consciousness of network executives over there as well.
The thing about Gordon Ramsay is that he’s a bit like a rubbish boyfriend (or girlfriend). Most of the time, you think he’s a bit of a waste of space and wonder what the hell you’re doing with him. Maybe it’s time to dump him, you wonder to yourself. Then he’ll do something really, really nice and you’ll remember why you liked him in the first place.
Last night’s The F-Word was a case in point. Normally, he’s an absolute git to the amateur chefs who turn up in his kitchens, wanting to show him what they’ve got. All he does is shout at them and tell them how rubbish they are. Last night, he had troop of doctors. And he was actually pretty nice to them at times.
He loved all the main courses that they prepared, so much so that when a number of diners complained about the chicken being fatty, he sided with the chefs and told the diners they were wrong.
Then, come the dessert, something even more lovely happened. Ramsay, of course, has another show: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. In that series, he goes to struggling restaurants, tells them what they’re doing wrong, and sets them on the path to recovery. At one of those restaurants, he came across this little old waiter who could do the most exquisite flambé s.
The big surprise of last night was that without explanation, without bigging himself up, Ramsay brought in this waiter to teach the amateurs how to make his speciality, introducing him as the maker of the best flambé s in the country.
It made him seem like a nice person for a change, which was something much to be welcomed. Next week, judging by the trailer, he’s back to coming in late, drunk, and throwing up on the sofa. Or the TV equivalent, anyway.
In the US: Mondays 9/8c, NBC. Starts September 25, 2006
In the UK: Not yet acquired, although Channel 4 is most likely to pick it up
After last year’s sci-fi ‘dump’, where virtually every new drama commissioned by the US networks – Invasion, Surface, Threshold, etc – had an SF theme, it’s interesting to note that NBC’s Heroes is more or less the only new SF show this time round. Even then, it qualifies more as fantasy than SF, since it follows a group of ordinary super-heroes – if there is such a thing – rather than aliens or some other sci-fi staple. It’s not very original and clearly owes The 4400 a debt or two, but it’s actually pretty good.
I realise it’s been a while since I’ve posted a David Tennant picture for your enjoyment. Since apparently it’s a contractual obligation or something, here you go. And I have 156 where that came from.
Freema Agyeman chats with Doctor Who Magazine this month about her role as the new companion, in her first proper interview since the Beeb announced her casting.
Meanwhile, David Tennant gives a local paper something to write about for a change by opening a school fair.
© 2022 The Medium is Not Enough
