Things I learnt from last week’s television

24 (Fox)

There are ways to make family reunions bearable.

Celebrity Big Brother (Channel 4/E4)

People will watch anything. Judging by the ratings, racism is entertainment.



CSI (CBS)


Sometimes, the plots of even the best shows make absolutely no sense.



Heroes (NBC)


A week is a long, long time when a show is really, really enjoyable. I want the next episode now! Also, Christopher Eccleston will never be cast as anything except an angry northerner, no matter where in the world he’s employed.

Psych (The USA Network)

Give a show six months’ rest and when it comes back, sometimes, just sometimes, it will be better than when it went away.

Smallville (The CW)

Even when a plot has been done well by countless other TV shows, it’s still possible to do it again and still make it good, creepy and interesting. Also, actors who have been in shows for six years will remember how to act when they’re given something new to do for a change. Things we already knew: Clark is an idiot – go with Chloe, you nutter.

Studio 60 (NBC)

If you’re the hero of a TV show, you can act like a stalker and the girl will still want you by the end of the episode. It’s also really easy to learn Mandarin Chinese from a phrase book.

Supernatural (The CW)

If you’re doing a “monster of the week” show, don’t bring the same monster back – twice – unless you can actually make it interesting.

The Class (CBS)

If you piss off sitcom producers, they can excise you from the titles and publicity material faster than Stalin.

The weekend’s news

Honey to the Bee

Doctor Who

Film

  • The Mummy 3 is coming packed with spoilers.

British TV

US TV

Friday’s news

John Inman



I’ve been released. No more jury service! I’m free! I’m free! Not in an Are You Being Served? way. You know what I mean.

Doctor Who

  • Lis Sladen, Anneke Wills and others will be appearing at the Quality Central Hotel in Glasgow on 3rd March. [via LiveJournal]
  • BBC DG Mark Thompson gives whole heaps of praise for the Doctor Who ‘factory’. He also talks about 360º commissioning way too much.

Film

  • There’s a trailer for Danny Boyle’s new movie Sunshine over on SciFi Pulse.

British TV

US TV

Thursday’s news. Just one more day

Curses. I thought they were going to let me go, yesterday, but now they’ve promised me a potential “quick one- or two-day” trial. Anyway, here’s the news.

Film

  • Doug Coupland’s jPod has been turned into a short film which you can view online.
  • There’s a not-great trailer for Highlander: The Source on YouTube. Well, more like a rough-cut of the first two minutes. Doesn’t look promising though.



British TV

US TV

Tues news

Choose life

Art

Commercials



Film

British TV

US TV

  • Fox has a trio of new pilots: Canterbury’s Law, about a rebellious female defence attorney; Supreme Courtships, which is about the personal and professional lives of six Supreme Court clerks; and an untitled comedy drama about the lives and loves of nurses.
  • NBC has greenlit two pilots as well: one is a “light-hearted drama about a female police office”; the other is based on Candace Bushnell’s Lipstick Jungle, so there’s the hint of Sex and the City about it, apparently.
  • There’s an interesting interview with Thomas Schlamme, exec producer of Studio 60, in a magazine. It’s a Christian magazine, incidentally.
  • Erik Estrada got annoyed when someone called him Emilio Estevez.
  • There’s a long interview on EW.com with Kiefer Sutherland about season six of 24
  • From E!’s Kristin:
    • Six Degrees should be back in the next two months.
    • One of The Class‘s cast is leaving.
    • Some juicy Prison Break spoilers.