Lost

While I was gone…

9 November 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

…the following exciting things happened:

  • Happy Hour and Eamonn Holmes’ game show The Rich List appear to have been cancelled. It’s not official yet, though. That’s mighty impressive for our Eamonn, since Fox only aired The Rich List once.
  • 20 Good Years has also been shot in the head and buried in the back garden where, hopefully, the neighbours won’t find it. Surprisingly, for a show clearly intended for the over-60s market, the reason for its execution was lack of success in the 18-49 demographic.
  • The wonderful Dexter has been picked up for a second season. Yey!
  • Studio 60 has been picked up for a full season. Half a yey: it’s getting better, but it’s still not there yet, as far as I’m concerned. Find some more targets to be funny about except Christians, Aaron Sorkin. When even the characters start complaining that the show’s sole target for satire is Christianity, you know you need to start thinking about other things to avoid becoming a one-note show.
  • John Corbett is to appear in a US version of the Beeb’s Manchild. That appears to be a slight format change, since the original, which starred Nigel Havers, Anthony Head, Don Warrington and Ray Burdis, was about men in their 50s.
  • David Tennant is ‘cagey’ about whether he’ll commit to another series of Doctor Who after the next one.
  • British actress Lena Headey is to play Sarah Connor in Terminator spin-off series The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Really, you just can’t move for Brits in US shows these days.
  • Men in Trees has been picked up for a whole season and given Six Degrees’ time slot. I knew I should have waited till the fifth episode before dropping it. Damn. The latter show isn’t coming back till January at the earliest. Seeing as I stopped watching it in the middle of the last episode, thanks to near-terminal boredom, that’s not too upsetting.
  • Jericho is to emulate Lost and take a 12-week hiatus before returning in February. The aim is to avoid re-runs, which can spell death in the ratings for serialised dramas.
  • The Nine, which I said from the beginning was rubbish but no-one else seemed to believe me, is getting duller by the week and looks like it’s not long for this world.
  • NBC is to remake The IT Crowd.
  • Martin Scorsese is to make television shows. Maybe.

It’s all go when I’m away, isn’t it?

Channel 4 might stop buying US dramas

3 November 2006 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Once upon a time, Channel 4 was well known for being the home of quality US dramas – and rubbish US dramas, so notorious is probably a better word to pick. But with Lost having slipped through its fingers – to a sour grapes Channel 4 chorus of “Well, it wasn’t very good anyway, the ratings were dropping and we didn’t want it any more so you can keep it Sky One!” – Channel 4’s acquisitions head Jeff Ford is pondering whether the network can even afford to buy US shows any more:

“Acquisitions always used to be there (in our schedules) because they enabled us to afford to do other (more expensive) things,” Ford said. “If they get more expensive, we are going to have to say goodbye to them.”

Hmm. Won’t that put you out of a job, Jeff? For some reason, I missed the point in Channel 4 history when Desmonds was more expensive to make than Friends. Perhaps a bit of history rewriting in order to get a better deal out of the US networks? Some might well argue that Channel 4 used to be chock full of US shows because they got good ratings and were better than a lot of the rubbish that Channel 4 used to put out.

But if not, sounds like we can anticipate more Big Brother and cobblers like NY:LON in our C4 future then.

News

Lost arrives on Sky One on November 18th

2 November 2006 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Kate and Jack from LostLove Lost? Live in the UK? Have a sodding great big dish strapped to the side of your house and pay an exorbitant subscription charge each month? Then you’ll be delighted to hear that Lost, season three, will be arriving on Sky One on Saturday 18th November. It’ll also be on Sky One HD if you’ve really wasted your money and bought an HD set and a Sky HD subscription. And for true money wasters, it’ll be on “Sky by broadband” as well, subject to technical requirements and your having Sky Sports 1 and 2 and/or Sky Movies 1 and 2.

Woo hoo.

The good news is that the six episodes that will have aired in the US by then will all get aired before Christmas; Sky will continue the season in February, with each episode airing just a few days after it airs in the US.

Lost trivia: have you noticed that whenever a major character dies, it’s always at the end of their flashback episode? So if you know, thanks to trailers, that someone’s going to die, as soon as you see the flashback, all sense of mystery is removed and you know exactly who’s going to pass on. Just mentioning that in passing and not because I’m hacked off as a result about last night’s episode. Oh no.

UK Lost viewers: time to get a satellite dish

19 October 2006 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Sorry guys, but Sky One’s bought the rights to seasons three and four of Lost, I’m afraid. Whoops, Channel 4. Three guesses as to whether it’ll air on Sky Three (available on Freeview) or Sky One/Two (BSkyB only)…

Incidentally, episode three of the third season, which aired last night, is really good, so hang on in there in case you find the first two a bit dull.

And, unrelated to anything in particular, my sister has pointed out to me that all of Sayid’s plans are rubbish and end badly. Plus no matter what happens, whenever anyone asks him his opinion about anything dramatic that has just occurred (eg nuclear warhead detonation, attack of wild buffalos, mysterious smoke signals, etc), he always says “About what?”, as though it’s a complete mystery.

Just thought I’d leave you with that thought.

US TV

Third-episode verdict: The Nine

19 October 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

The Nine

Well, the first episode was dull and that was pretty much the high point. Ever since then, The Nine has descended into a sea of tranquillity and tedium that makes watching paint dry seem like an Olympic sport.

Unlike Lost‘s flashbacks, The Nine‘s don’t add a single thing. Two minutes of someone hiding in the bathroom: goodie. That was time well spent. The characters are all bonding nicely, but they’re all about as exciting as filling in a tax return.

So a definite thumbs down for The Nine. Steer clear of it.