For Farhaana.
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
Thursday, 1 August 2013
The 2013-2014 New Season of TV shows!
It's that time of year once again, when us proud couch potatoes settle back in our chairs, ready for the onslaught of new TV shows. The TV execs have had 12 months to come up with some really ground breaking ideas to wow us into watching their shows, and (because let's face it, this is what TV is all about) make us sit there through the adverts.
Intelligence
So, I've had a look at the new, forthcoming shows from the major broadcasters. ABC, CBS, CW, NBC and Fox. Now I'll admit right away this isn't a complete and definite list of EVERY new show coming out - and in fact some might still get dropped - but it's an almost complete list.
I've only dealt with scripted shows, so no reality or game shows.
So, without further ado, here is the list.
Comedy:
About a Boy
Based on the Nick Hornby book.
Back In The Game
A mom starts a softball team for all the kids who were dumped out of the local softball team for being too rubbish. James Caan also stars.
Brooklyn 99
A laid back cop gets a new boss. My sides have split just thinking about it.
The Crazy Ones
Robin Williams returns to TV as an ad executive and his daughter - Sarah Michelle Gellar - who everyone think are crazy.
Dads
Two software designers have their dads move in with them. From Seth McFarlane and starring Seth Green and Martin Mull
Enlisted
Three brothers who are all n the army, are posted to the same base. With the usual hilarious consequences.
Friend Me
A hangover from last years list. Still a show about people working at Groupon...
The Goldbergs 1980's set sitcom dealing a family called The Goldbergs. Because this type of show has never been done before!
Growing Up Fisher
A modern Day Wonder Years. Jason Bateman narrates.
The Michael J Fox Show
MJF stars as man who has Parkinsons disease and decides to put it aside and get back to work.
The Millers
When Nathan tells his parents he's divorcing his wife, his father decides to do the same and go live with his carefree son. Hilarity ensues. We hope.
Mom
Created by Chuck Lorre, this comedy deal with the hilarious situation of Mom living in California.
Rake
American remake of the Australian show of the same name, about a laywer who does things in court and his private life.
Sean Saves The World
Sean's 14 year old daughter moves in with him and he has to learn how to be a father. Hopefully with hilarious consequences.
Surviving Jack
Set in the 1990's, Jack's wife decides to start a career so he becomes a home husband.
Trophy Wife
Malin "Watchmen" Ackerman is the trophy wife in this comedy about trophy wives.
The Undateables
Danny lets his friend Justin move in with him, and finds Justins friends are a bunch of misfits (the Undateables). He teaches them how to pull girls.
Us and Them
American remake of Gavin and Stacey, in which Gavin and Stacey decide to meet following a 6 month onine relationship, but their friends and family keep interfering.
We Are Men
When Carter is stood up at the altar he moves into a new apartment and gets love advice from 3 older guys. Mr Monk is one of them.
Welcome To The Family
Two young lovers - but with very different family backgrounds - fall in love and marry, leaving their familes to have to get along. With hilarious consequences.
Action, Mystery, Thriller
Crisis.
Gillian "Scully" Anderson stars in some plot involving kidnapping the presidents son on a school trip.
Comedy:
About a Boy
Based on the Nick Hornby book.
Back In The Game
A mom starts a softball team for all the kids who were dumped out of the local softball team for being too rubbish. James Caan also stars.
Brooklyn 99
A laid back cop gets a new boss. My sides have split just thinking about it.
The Crazy Ones
Robin Williams returns to TV as an ad executive and his daughter - Sarah Michelle Gellar - who everyone think are crazy.
Dads
Two software designers have their dads move in with them. From Seth McFarlane and starring Seth Green and Martin Mull
Enlisted
Three brothers who are all n the army, are posted to the same base. With the usual hilarious consequences.
Friend Me
A hangover from last years list. Still a show about people working at Groupon...
The Goldbergs 1980's set sitcom dealing a family called The Goldbergs. Because this type of show has never been done before!
Growing Up Fisher
A modern Day Wonder Years. Jason Bateman narrates.
The Michael J Fox Show
MJF stars as man who has Parkinsons disease and decides to put it aside and get back to work.
The Millers
When Nathan tells his parents he's divorcing his wife, his father decides to do the same and go live with his carefree son. Hilarity ensues. We hope.
Mom
Created by Chuck Lorre, this comedy deal with the hilarious situation of Mom living in California.
Rake
American remake of the Australian show of the same name, about a laywer who does things in court and his private life.
Sean Saves The World
Sean's 14 year old daughter moves in with him and he has to learn how to be a father. Hopefully with hilarious consequences.
Surviving Jack
Set in the 1990's, Jack's wife decides to start a career so he becomes a home husband.
Trophy Wife
Malin "Watchmen" Ackerman is the trophy wife in this comedy about trophy wives.
The Undateables
Danny lets his friend Justin move in with him, and finds Justins friends are a bunch of misfits (the Undateables). He teaches them how to pull girls.
Us and Them
American remake of Gavin and Stacey, in which Gavin and Stacey decide to meet following a 6 month onine relationship, but their friends and family keep interfering.
We Are Men
When Carter is stood up at the altar he moves into a new apartment and gets love advice from 3 older guys. Mr Monk is one of them.
Welcome To The Family
Two young lovers - but with very different family backgrounds - fall in love and marry, leaving their familes to have to get along. With hilarious consequences.
Action, Mystery, Thriller
Crisis.
Gillian "Scully" Anderson stars in some plot involving kidnapping the presidents son on a school trip.
Lost's Sawyer and Once Upon a Time's Ruby/Red Riding Hood star as intelligence officers who go off and do intelligence stuff on a weekly basis.
Drama
Betrayal
Two people in unhappy marriages start an affair, then both get involved in a murder trial, but on opposite sides.
The Blacklist
James Spader stars as the FBI's most wanted fugitive who - in a Se7enish twist - gives himself up and helps the FBI track down other more wanted fugitives - fugitives they didn't even know exist. Or something like that...
Chicago PD
A spin off from Chicago Fire, with more of the same, only without the fire aspect. Yeah, it's basically Chicago Code remade with the former bad guy from CF as a good guy now..
Crossbones
John Malkovich stars as Blackbeard the pirate.
Ironside
Blair Underwood is the wheelchair-bound detective in this new remake.
Gang Related
Lost's Locke stars this show that charts the LAPD's elite gang Task Force as they take on Gangs. Each more deadly than the last I imagine.
Hostages
A doctor due to perform surgery on the President of the US is taken hostage and forced to kill the Pres during surgery. Not sure how they can spin this idea into 20+ episodes - or even a second season - but there you go.
Killer Women
Cylon Number 6 is a woman who is killer, and a Texas Ranger. She tracks down bad people (and hopefully wears big hats)
Lucky 7
7 gas station workers play the lottery as a syndiacte, but when their numbers come up they find it leads to more problems than it solves.
Reign
Period drama about Mary Queen of Scots. With Keifer Sutherlands brother as Nostrodamus. (No, seriously)
Horror
Dracula
Henry the 8th (from The Tudors) is Dracula in this new adaptation of the classic novel.
Fantasy
The 100
Post Apocalyptic series starring Paige Turco and Desmond from Lost!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Spin off from the movie The Avengers. Lets face it, if you're a comic book fan, you'll lap this up!
Almost Human
This years J.J. Abrams entry. It's 35 years in the future, and the LAPD now uses robots to work alongside human partners. A robot-Hating cop is paired up with a robot with the usual cliqued results (I guess. Who cares, it's JJ!)
Believe
Created by Harry Potter director Alfonso Cuaron, this looks to be this years Touch. A young girl has special powers. And things. Stars everyone's favourite ictional FBI agent (after Mulder and Scully), Kyle McLachlin.
Mind Games
Christian Slater is a con man who also runs a problem solving firm. (Just go with it, yeah?)
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
Pretty much does what it says in the title. Spin off from Once Upon a Time, only set in... Wonderland. With a new mad hatter (sadly)
The Originals
Spin off from Vampire Diaries,so expect more of the same. Just in New Orleans.
Resurrection
American remake of The Returned (Les Revenant) about dead people returning to life. Produced by Brad Pitt.
Sleep Hollow
TV adaption of the classic story about Ichabod Crane. It's a Kurtzman/Orci production!
Star-Crossed
A girl falls in love with an alien. The Tomorrow People American remake of this classic. With Jacob from Lost
Friday, 24 May 2013
Brand advertising on Twitter
I'd like to talk about Twitter and advertising/brand promotion.
This may sound very random, but it's something I've been thinking about recently. I obviously don't have anything to sell or promote - I'm just me. Other people however do. Companies and brands have twitter accounts and a lot has been made in the press recently about bad PR from certain brands.
Now before I really get into it, a quick Twitter lesson for you. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here, but it's important (IMO), and some people don't seem to get this. To me it's one of the most important aspects of Twitter.
When you tweet something, anyone can see your tweet by looking at your Twitter Feed. As can anyone who follows you - they get it straight on their main feed.
If you start the tweet off addressing it to another user, it will only appear on your followers feed if they also follow the other person.
Lets say you follow me, and I tweet Burts Crisps (@BurtsChips) or Pataks Curry Club (@PataksCurryClub). You will only see that if you also follow them.
So I could say "@BurtsChips Your crisps are amazing, I love them" which is great PR for them, except only someone who already knows about them (because they're following too) will see it. And they will know I'm right.
However, if I tweet "Hey @BurtsChips, you're crisps are amazing", then all my followers will see it.
Why would I do this? Because it helps Burts. I've just opened them up to an audience of 200+ people.
Maybe one of my followers is in a shop one day, spots a packet on the shelf and thinks "Ah ha! That's what John was on about! I'll try me some of them!"
Naturally I don't get any financial reward for this. However to reward us, brands often ReTweet our tweet.
So now I get advertised to 5000 people. maybe a few of those may look at my feed and like what they see and maybe follow me.
Of course, I don't gain anything for gaining new followers, apart from a mini ego boost.
But that, in a nutshell is how to help brands you like. My advice is don't go overboard on spamming your followers with everything you like, but a couple a day can help :)
This may sound very random, but it's something I've been thinking about recently. I obviously don't have anything to sell or promote - I'm just me. Other people however do. Companies and brands have twitter accounts and a lot has been made in the press recently about bad PR from certain brands.
Now before I really get into it, a quick Twitter lesson for you. Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here, but it's important (IMO), and some people don't seem to get this. To me it's one of the most important aspects of Twitter.
When you tweet something, anyone can see your tweet by looking at your Twitter Feed. As can anyone who follows you - they get it straight on their main feed.
If you start the tweet off addressing it to another user, it will only appear on your followers feed if they also follow the other person.
Lets say you follow me, and I tweet Burts Crisps (@BurtsChips) or Pataks Curry Club (@PataksCurryClub). You will only see that if you also follow them.
So I could say "@BurtsChips Your crisps are amazing, I love them" which is great PR for them, except only someone who already knows about them (because they're following too) will see it. And they will know I'm right.
However, if I tweet "Hey @BurtsChips, you're crisps are amazing", then all my followers will see it.
Why would I do this? Because it helps Burts. I've just opened them up to an audience of 200+ people.
Maybe one of my followers is in a shop one day, spots a packet on the shelf and thinks "Ah ha! That's what John was on about! I'll try me some of them!"
Naturally I don't get any financial reward for this. However to reward us, brands often ReTweet our tweet.
So now I get advertised to 5000 people. maybe a few of those may look at my feed and like what they see and maybe follow me.
Of course, I don't gain anything for gaining new followers, apart from a mini ego boost.
But that, in a nutshell is how to help brands you like. My advice is don't go overboard on spamming your followers with everything you like, but a couple a day can help :)
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Doctor Who - In The Name of the Doctor. Some thoughts about that ending!
I'm going to try and get my thoughts in order regarding the amazing ending to In The Name Of The Doctor.
So, the Doctor goes by the name “The Doctor” because he helps people. In an ironic twist, an earlier episode showed us that medical doctors are called Doctors in honour of The Doctor. Anyway, I digress.
As we know, the Doctor regenerates. Somewhere down the line one of his regenerations did something bad. So evil that it wasn't “in the name of the Doctor”. This regeneration has been shunned by the others, and doesn't use the name "Doctor". So Matt Smith is still the 11th version to go by the name Doctor, but the 12th Regeneration.
Now, as we've seen all the regenerations bar one, there is only 2 explanations left:
1: John Hurt's Character was the original version, who then regenerated into William Hartnell, or
2: John Hurt is between McGann and Ecclestone (the only regeneration we haven't seen on screen)
If it's 1 then we can assume that whatever he did caused Hartnell to steal the TARDIS and run away from Gallifrey in the first place
If it's 2 then we can guess that maybe Hurt was responsible for ending the Time War.
In the episode "The Beast Below" (the second episode of the Smith Era), the Doctor runs through his options.
"Three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name 'cause I won't be The Doctor anymore."
So we at least have form for him knowing sometimes you have to make the hard choices... I guess we'll have to wait till November 23rd to find out!
(And for those new viewers who didn't realise, 23rd November 1963 was the air date of the first episode - An UnEarthly Child)
So, the Doctor goes by the name “The Doctor” because he helps people. In an ironic twist, an earlier episode showed us that medical doctors are called Doctors in honour of The Doctor. Anyway, I digress.
As we know, the Doctor regenerates. Somewhere down the line one of his regenerations did something bad. So evil that it wasn't “in the name of the Doctor”. This regeneration has been shunned by the others, and doesn't use the name "Doctor". So Matt Smith is still the 11th version to go by the name Doctor, but the 12th Regeneration.
Now, as we've seen all the regenerations bar one, there is only 2 explanations left:
1: John Hurt's Character was the original version, who then regenerated into William Hartnell, or
2: John Hurt is between McGann and Ecclestone (the only regeneration we haven't seen on screen)
If it's 1 then we can assume that whatever he did caused Hartnell to steal the TARDIS and run away from Gallifrey in the first place
If it's 2 then we can guess that maybe Hurt was responsible for ending the Time War.
In the episode "The Beast Below" (the second episode of the Smith Era), the Doctor runs through his options.
"Three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name 'cause I won't be The Doctor anymore."
So we at least have form for him knowing sometimes you have to make the hard choices... I guess we'll have to wait till November 23rd to find out!
(And for those new viewers who didn't realise, 23rd November 1963 was the air date of the first episode - An UnEarthly Child)
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Orphan Black - New Series coming to BBC3
Imagine seeing yourself
one day. Not just someone who looks like you, but You. Except it's
not.
That's exactly what happens to Sarah, our streetwise Orphan hero in Orphan Black. Sarah finds another “her” and slowly a mystery unfolds.
Who is Beth? Why are
they the same? Are there any more?
Part thriller, part
comedy, part sci-fi (in the sense that it's fiction based on Science
– not flying spaceships or things). Orphan Black is coming to BBC 3
in the UK.
Despite having a great
cast it's not an ensemble production. The show belongs to the main
star – Tatiana Maslany. You've probably never heard of her before,
but by the end of the first episod alone I guarantee you won't forget
her! Each character is unique and distinctive from the others, and
what really shows is when one character is impersonating another.
They look the same (of course), but you can tell from the mannerisms
that it's x being y.
The mystery unfolds for
us viewers at the same pace as it does for Sarah, learning piece by
piece what's going on. Sometimes it can be frustrating; wanting to
know slightly more than we're told, but the nuggets of information
are placed before us to find.
Characters are
mentioned and introduced quickly, the return later on like old
friends stopping by on their way past. The supporting cast are great
with not a bad actor or actress among them.
The only one niggle I
have with the whole premise is how someone can impersonate someone
else so well that even work colleagues can't tell the difference.
That aside, the show has got me totally hooked, and I'm glad it's
already gained a second season!
You can follow Orphan Black on Twitter, at @OrphanBlack
You can follow Orphan Black on Twitter, at @OrphanBlack
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Flashpoint: A personal view of Shockwave.
There is a plot line running through season 4 of the TV show "Flashpoint", concerning the character of Spike (Sergio Di Zio), and his fathers illness.
Spike is a bomb disposal expert, and his father never liked his career choice. The father is now dying, and his dying wish is for his son to give up the dangerous job. Spike is continually torn between upholding the wish and his honor to himself. He worked hard to get where he is, and doesn't want to throw it all away.
Now, this story line brings up all manner of emotions for me. My father recently went through a similar life-threatening illness.
I'm fortunate that my father never asked me to stop doing what I'm doing, or had anything bad to say about my career choice.
However, the moments when Spike is with him, brings home to me what it was like to see my Father like that.
Real emotion. Raw emotion. That's what I get from watching this. It is (In my opinion anyway) perfectly written, perfectly directed - and most importantly, perfectly acted by Mr. Di Zio.
Spikes inability to do anything to help his father mirrors exactly what I myself felt.
The scenes are never the focus of the show, never important to the overall plot. But they are important to me.
The most recent episode (Shockwave) had a certain resonance with me. Sorry to get all personal all of a sudden, but my Father was hundreds of miles away, so I only spent a short time with him, and the feeling when I wasn't with him, I would have given anything to be back there. So when Spike was trapped, I was so caught up in the moment of the episode, I think i went through every emotion right there with Spike.
So, to the writers, directors, producers, showrunners - and most importantly of all, Sergio. I thank you. This is what proper story telling is all about.
Spike is a bomb disposal expert, and his father never liked his career choice. The father is now dying, and his dying wish is for his son to give up the dangerous job. Spike is continually torn between upholding the wish and his honor to himself. He worked hard to get where he is, and doesn't want to throw it all away.
Now, this story line brings up all manner of emotions for me. My father recently went through a similar life-threatening illness.
I'm fortunate that my father never asked me to stop doing what I'm doing, or had anything bad to say about my career choice.
However, the moments when Spike is with him, brings home to me what it was like to see my Father like that.
Real emotion. Raw emotion. That's what I get from watching this. It is (In my opinion anyway) perfectly written, perfectly directed - and most importantly, perfectly acted by Mr. Di Zio.
Spikes inability to do anything to help his father mirrors exactly what I myself felt.
The scenes are never the focus of the show, never important to the overall plot. But they are important to me.
The most recent episode (Shockwave) had a certain resonance with me. Sorry to get all personal all of a sudden, but my Father was hundreds of miles away, so I only spent a short time with him, and the feeling when I wasn't with him, I would have given anything to be back there. So when Spike was trapped, I was so caught up in the moment of the episode, I think i went through every emotion right there with Spike.
So, to the writers, directors, producers, showrunners - and most importantly of all, Sergio. I thank you. This is what proper story telling is all about.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Flashpoint DVD Episode Arrangement
Due to the way Flashpoint was aired in the US, the season box sets are different to the Canadian versions. While they will eventually release all the episodes, there is still some confusion over which episodes appear on which set.
| Episode name | Canadian | US | UK |
| Season 1 | Season 1 | Season 1 | |
| Scorpio | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| First in Line | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | Episode 2 |
| Element of Surprise | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | Episode 3 |
| Asking for Flowers | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 |
| Who's George | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
| Attention Shoppers | Episode 6 | Episode 6 | Episode 6 |
| He Knows His Brother | Episode 7 | Episode 7 | Episode 7 |
| Never Kissed A Girl | Episode 8 | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| Planets Aligned | Episode 9 | Episode 9 | Episode 9 |
| Eagle Two | Episode 10 | Episode 10 | Episode 10 |
| Backwards Day | Episode 11 | Episode 11 | Episode 11 |
| Haunting the Barn | Episode 12 | Episode 12 | Episode 12 |
| Between Heartbeats | Episode 13 | Episode 13 | Episode 13 |
| Season 2 | Season 2 | ||
| Business as usual | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | |
| The Fortress | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | |
| Clean Hands | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | |
| Aisle 13 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | |
| The Perfect Family | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | |
| Remote Control | Episode 6 | Episode 6 | |
| Perfect Storm | Episode 7 | Episode 7 | |
| Last Dance | Episode 8 | Episode 8 | |
| Exit Wounds | Episode 9 | Episode 9 | |
| Season 3 | |||
| One Wrong Move | Episode 10 | Episode 1 | |
| Never Let You Down | Episode 11 | Episode 2 | |
| Just A Man | Episode 12 | Episode 7 | |
| Custody | Episode 13 | Episode 4 | |
| Coming To You Live | Episode 14 | Episode 5 | |
| The Farm | Episode 15 | Episode 3 | |
| You Think You Know Someone | Episode 16 | Episode 10 | |
| The Good Citizen | Episode 17 | Episode 9 | |
| Behind the Blue Line | Episode 18 | Episode 6 | |
| Season 3 | |||
| Unconditional Love | Episode 1 | Episode 8 | |
| Severed Ties | Episode 2 | Episode 11 | |
| Follow the Leader | Episode 3 | Episode 12 | |
| Whatever It Takes | Episode 4 | Episode 13 | |
| The Other Lane | Episode 5 | Episode 14 | |
| Jumping At Shadows | Episode 6 | Episode 15 | |
| Acceptable Risk | Episode 7 | Episode 16 | |
| Season 4 | |||
| Collateral Damage | Episode 8 | Episode 1 | |
| Thicker Than Blood | Episode 9 | Episode 2 | |
| Terror | Episode 10 | Episode 3 | |
| No Promises | Episode 11 | Episode 4 | |
| I'd Do Anything | Episode 12 | Episode 5 | |
| Fault Lines | Episode 13 | Episode 6 | |
| Season 4 | |||
| Personal Effects | Episode 1 | Episode 7 | |
| Good Cop | Episode 2 | Episode 8 | |
| Run Jamie Run | Episode 3 | Episode 9 | |
| Through a Glass Darkly | Episode 4 | Episode 10 | |
| The Better Man | Episode 5 | Episode 11 | |
| A Day in the Life | Episode 6 | Episode 12 | |
| Shockwave | Episode 7 | Episode 13 | |
| Season 5 | |||
| The War Within | Episode 8 | Episode 8 | |
| Cost of Doing Business | Episode 9 | Episode 2 | |
| Wild Card | Episode 10 | Episode 3 | |
| New Life | Episode 11 | Episode 4 | |
| Grounded | Episode 12 | Episode 1 | |
| Call to Arms | Episode 13 | Episode 5 | |
| Team Player | Episode 14 | Episode 9 | |
| Day Game | Episode 15 | Episode 6 | |
| Blue on Blue | Episode 16 | Episode 7 | |
| Priority of Life | Episode 17 | Episode 10 | |
| Slow Burn | Episode 18 | Episode 11 | |
| Season 5 | |||
| Broken Peace | Episode 1 | ||
| No Kind Of Life | Episode 2 | ||
| Run To Me | Episode 3 | ||
| Eyes In | Episode 4 | ||
| Sons Of The Father | Episode 5 | ||
| A World Of Their Own | Episode 6 | ||
| Below The Surface | Episode 7 | ||
| Forget Oblivion | Episode 8 | ||
| We Take Care Of Our Own | Episode 9 | ||
| Lawmen | Episode 10 | ||
| Fit For Duty | Episode 11 | ||
| Keep The Peace (Part 1) | Episode 12 | ||
| Keep The Peace (Part 2) | Episode 13 |
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Christmas Movies...
Following on from my Christmas Song musings, I started thinking about what makes the perfect Christmas movie.
Is it the need to take our main character to the very depths of despair, then have him rise up at the end, having possibly seen the error of his previous ways?
Is it the heart-melting scene near the end when the family is reunited, and love blossoms once more?
Is it the final shot of the snow falling while someone sings a Christmas Song?
If you're nodding along to all of these, and thinking of your own favourite Christmas film, I offer you a few words to break your spirit.
I've just described Die Hard!
Is it the need to take our main character to the very depths of despair, then have him rise up at the end, having possibly seen the error of his previous ways?
Is it the heart-melting scene near the end when the family is reunited, and love blossoms once more?
Is it the final shot of the snow falling while someone sings a Christmas Song?
If you're nodding along to all of these, and thinking of your own favourite Christmas film, I offer you a few words to break your spirit.
I've just described Die Hard!
Christmas Songs....
It's December, which means one thing.
Well alright, it means many things. But one of those many and too
numerous things to mention here is: Christmas Songs!
You know them, and either love them or
hate them. Everywhere you go in December, they follow you.
Supermarkets and shops have them
blasting out. The radio plays one every 20 minutes. People whistle
and hum them...
But, and here comes my rant of the
week, some of these songs aren't – to my way of thinking anyway –
real Christmas songs!
I've thought this way for a number of
years, but never really voiced it until now. This morning, my
favourite radio station played “Stay” by East-17 as a Christmas
song.
I had to put pen to paper (or at least,
finger to keyboard) and write a letter to the DJ (or at least, send a
tweet).
Adding some sleigh bells to a song (and
some thick coats and fake snow in the video) does not a Christmas
Song make.
This lead to a slightly heated debate
between me and the DJ about the validity of Christmas Songs.
Basically, she argued, it was Number 1 at Christmas time, therefore
is a Christmas song...
Using these rules we also have
applications for Mr. Blobby and Bob the Builder.
And Mad World must be the most
depressing Christmas Song!
Oh and let us not forget Rage Against
the Machine and the Theme to Grange Hil (No seriously, listen to the
bass line of Killing in the Name and tell me that's not a rip off of
the Grange Hill theme tune! I can actually SEE the sausage on a fork
whenever I hear the song!)
To me, Christmas doesn't start until
the Coca-cola lorry has been sighted, and the following songs have
had at least 2 plays on the radio: Slade, Wizzard and Shakin'
Stevens.
I shall end this by saying despite
being a HUGE fan of S-Club, Never Had a Dream Come True isn't a
Christmas Song either!
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
The 2012-2013 New Season of TV shows - Part 2
So, following on from my recent list of forthcoming pilots for the new TV season, (See here for more details) I thought I might run through a few of the ones I've seen and offer my verdict.
Now, to begin with I'l just emphasise that any I haven't watched/reviewed, doesn't mean I think they're rubbish. Simply that I haven't watched them. Life's too short to watch things I don't enjoy, then blog about how rubbish it is.
Sitcom:
I'll admit right away, we haven't watched any of the new shows in this category...
Now, to begin with I'l just emphasise that any I haven't watched/reviewed, doesn't mean I think they're rubbish. Simply that I haven't watched them. Life's too short to watch things I don't enjoy, then blog about how rubbish it is.
Sitcom:
I'll admit right away, we haven't watched any of the new shows in this category...
Drama:
Chicago Fire: The first episode was good, but not overly inspiring. To be perfectly honest, I'm not caring for any of the characters. And as far as i can tell the basic storyline of each episode will be "building is set on fire. Team rush to put it out." There is only so many things that they can set on fire in Chicago. We'll give it a couple more episodes to see if I'm wrong.
Elementary: I wanted to hate this. I wanted to come on here and rant in FULL CAPS (because that shows passion, and emphasis, you know) about how the "damn Americans" have screwed over a classic British character. But I can't, because - for reasons I can't figure out - it works! The show actually works! Jonny Lee Miller is good (he's no Benedict Cucumberpatch, but he's good). A female Watson is good. Just as long as the Powers That Be can keep ANY love interest away from the pairing then I can see this show running.
Last Resort: I think possibly my favourite new show so far. I'm really enjoying it (even if (and I'll admit this now) some of the politics are a little deep.) Great cast, and characters that I am starting to care about. Not sure how long the premise will actually hold up for though; there is only so many times the Captain can bluff Washington before they realise he's bluffing and he's forced to kill Americans (Which I'm thinking is a road the show creators don't want to go down).
Made in Jersey: I love Janet Montgomery, and I'll admit she was the only reason I wanted to watch this, but I had to turn it off after the first episode. It just wasn't working for me as a show (And it seems, nor for a lot of other people...)
Horror, Supernatural and Sci-Fi:
666 Park Avenue: Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams are great. The main couple, not so great, but the show has a lot of promise. It's on the keep list for now, and we're hoping it'll turn into this years American Horror Story.
Arrow: This far exceeded my expectations of it, which is great! I was worried it would be Smallvillish, which while I've only seen 1 episode (and it still may turn that way), it doesn't appear to be headed in that direction. The plot arc was neatly laid out; the main characters motivations explained, and the hero given form.
Revolution: It's very stilted at the moment. Very "Let's market this to the Hunger games/Twilight audience"ish, but I'm still enjoying it. Aaron is clearly this years Hurley character - the everyman who can ask the stupid questions that the audience themselves are asking.
Well that's it for now. The ones missing from the list (as I said) I've either not watched, or they haven't aired yet.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Spoilers and me
People often wonder why I am so anti-spoiler. I never used to be, I used to lap spoilers up for everything. For me, part of the fun of watching a TV show, or a film, was reading spoilers and imagining the results, then seeing it on the screen.
But that all changed one day.
Now I'll admit that while I'm anti-spoiler, I am NOT against other people having spoilers. No way. I'm more than happy for people to have spoilers for shows or films. All i ask is that you keep me out of it.
So, the tale of this fateful day that changed me. It was February 1995. The past few months I'd been getting excited for the new Star Trek film to be released: Generations. I was reading magazines and newsgroups about it, lapping up information.
Sure we all knew Kirk and Picard were in it. We knew Kirk was going to die. I think that was the worst kept secret in Hollywood that year.
Then a friend of mine got his hands on a draft copy of the script. He printed it out for me. I was dubious at first. It was one thing to read snippets, but to know the whole thing?
Then it was revealed that it was a fake script. So i read it. The story was pretty good. I gave it to a friend of mine who also read it.
We had made plans to see it on opening night, along with another friend. That night, standing in line, we see the poster for it. The 3rd friend said "Picard?? Is he in it?" We looked at each other. He didn't know ANYTHING, other than the fact it was a Star Trek film.
The film started and within 10 minutes we realised it WAS based on the script we read.
However, the moment Kirk died - the proper death - our unspoiled friend gave out a huge gasp. It was then that i regretted reading, in fact in any of the spoilers.
I wanted that rush he was getting, that emotion.
So it was that I stopped reading up on the big stuff.
A few years later it was announced a new Star Wars film was going into production. At that point I declared I wanted to know NOTHING about it.
I went to watch with zero expectations. ALL I knew about it was it was a prequel story featuring Anakin Skywalker as a young boy.
I think I must have been one of the few who enjoyed the film! It was well worth the hassle.
There were a couple of times when some news had been leaked and my friends wanted to discuss it, but being mature they said "We wanna talk Star Wars!" so I'd leave them to it for a few minutes. I think the main one was when the soundtrack album was released (a week before the movie opened) and it featured perhaps one of the biggest spoilers EVER. One of the tracks is called "Qwi-Gon's funeral".
My philosophy is: I'm going to watch it anyway, why ruin any surprises the writers/director have in store for me?
Friday, 7 September 2012
An open letter to Universal UK
Let me start by saying, I think you are
brilliant. Since the announcement was made back in February
that you were getting the rights to Flashpoint (All episodes,
including the ones which, at that time, hadn't been made yet), I supported you.
I was happy you were treating this show
with respect. That you were airing it at a decent time. Even happier
once we (we being the fans) realised you were giving us plenty of
opportunity to see each episode (3 airings of each episode within 24
hours can't be bad!), and to repeat the run a total of, what is it
now, 3 times?
I've had the pleasure and – dare I
say it without sounding egotistical – privilege of watching the fan
numbers rise on the Producers own Facebook group. Sure not all of
those are UK based, but believe me when I say there are a LOT more
now than there were before you started showing it.
Alright, I may have been slightly vocal
about your episode numbering system and the airing order, but we
managed to work around that.
Ultimately though, I was happy. I can
appreciate that you didn't want to rush onwards and overdose us with
new episodes. You left us on a great cliffhanger with Ed Lane being
shot.
But come on now, it's been several
months since the last new episode aired and people are getting tetchy
over the missing episodes.
Given that some of the episodes we've
yet to see have been aired in Canada and the US for over a year now,
there are plenty of spoilers out there. You can't blame those who
have seen the episodes. They've kept quiet this long, how much longer
can they go on being quiet?
I was still loyal though, encouraging
people to stay cool. “They'll show them soon..” I would say.
Hell, I started a blog entry and updated it twice a week with your
schedule. I noticed a gap in the schedules coming up. Could this be
it?
Sadly, no. No offence to the Sea Patrol
fans, but it seems you're dropping Flashpoint altogether at the end
of September.
Which brings me to the point of this.
We've been patient, but patience always has to run thin.
On the 16th of October, the
missing episodes will be released on DVD in Canada. Now I'm not
suggesting that everyone rushes out to buy this, but what I'm warning
is that people will. I know of at least 5 UK viewers who have already
pro-ordered. Alright that's just 5 people out of the thousands who
watch it. But it could be more.
What I'm worried about is your
advertisers. The more people who have to buy it on DVD, the less
people who will be targets for your advertisers. And let's face it,
you may not care about the viewers – we're not your customers. The
advertisers WILL know.
Is it too late for you to show the
missing 18 episodes? I don't know. But please bear this in mind when
you come to think about what to do with Season 5 (which starts in 2
weeks time in Canada...)
Friday, 17 August 2012
Flashpoint Airing and DVD Order
Following on from some discussion with friends, there is confusion over episode airing orders on Flashpoint.
What I'm presenting here is the original CTV Canadian Airing order, along with the CBS and ION running order for the US, and Universal UK (for the UK).
In the US, Season 1 contained 9 episodes with the final 4 moved over to Season 2. However the DVD release contains these 4 episodes as part of Season 1.
I'll admit to not knowing how ION labelled the episodes they had. Until a DVD release comes out, we'll go on the assumption that they are "Season 4b".
The DVD releases line up as the episodes do.
Canadian: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 18 episodes. S3 has 13 episodes and S4 has 18. S5 (when released) will have 13 episodes.
US: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 9. S3 has 16 episodes and S4 has 13 episodes.
UK; Only S1 has been released, with 13 episodes.
The DVD releases line up as the episodes do.
Canadian: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 18 episodes. S3 has 13 episodes and S4 has 18. S5 (when released) will have 13 episodes.
US: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 9. S3 has 16 episodes and S4 has 13 episodes.
UK; Only S1 has been released, with 13 episodes.
| Episode name | Canadian | US | UK |
| Season 1 | Season 1 | Season 1 | |
| Scorpio | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| First in Line | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | Episode 2 |
| Element of Surprise | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | Episode 3 |
| Asking for Flowers | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 |
| Who's George | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
| Attention Shoppers | Episode 6 | Episode 6 | Episode 6 |
| He Knows His Brother | Episode 7 | Episode 7 | Episode 7 |
| Never Kissed A Girl | Episode 8 | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| Planets Aligned | Episode 9 | Episode 9 | Episode 9 |
| Eagle Two | Episode 10 | Episode 10 (Aired as Episode 1 of S2) | Episode 10 |
| Backwards Day | Episode 11 | Episode 11 (Aired as Episode 2 of S2) | Episode 12 (Labelled Episode 11 but aired after Haunting the Barn) |
| Haunting the Barn | Episode 12 | Episode 12 (Aired as Episode 3 of S2) | Episode 11 (Labelled Episode 12 but aired before Backwards Day) |
| Between Heartbeats | Episode 13 | Episode 13 (Aired as Episode 4 of S2) | Episode 13 |
| Season 2 | Season 2 | ||
| Business as usual | Episode 1 | Episode 1 (Aired as Episode 5) | Episode 14 |
| The Fortress | Episode 2 | Episode 2 (Aired as Episode 6) | Episode 15 |
| Clean Hands | Episode 3 | Episode 3 (Aired as Episode 7) | Episode 16 |
| Aisle 13 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 (Aired as Episode 8) | Episode 17 |
| The Perfect Family | Episode 5 | Episode 5 (Aired as Episode 9) | Episode 18 |
| Remote Control | Episode 6 | Episode 6 (Aired as Episode 10) | Episode 19 |
| Perfect Storm | Episode 7 | Episode 7 (Aired as Episode 11) | Episode 20 (Rarely shown) |
| Last Dance | Episode 8 | Episode 8 (Aired as Episode 12) | Episode 21 |
| Exit Wounds | Episode 9 | Episode 9 (Aired as Episode 13) | Episode 22 |
| Season 3 | |||
| One Wrong Move | Episode 10 | Episode 1 | Episode 24 |
| Never Let You Down | Episode 11 | Episode 2 | Episode 25 |
| Just A Man | Episode 12 | Episode 7 | Episode 26 |
| Custody | Episode 13 | Episode 4 | Episode 27 |
| Coming To You Live | Episode 14 | Episode 5 | Episode 23 |
| The Farm | Episode 15 | Episode 3 | Episode 28 |
| You Think You Know Someone | Episode 16 | Episode 10 | Episode 29 |
| The Good Citizen | Episode 17 | Episode 9 | Episode 30 (Not aired on first run) |
| Behind the Blue Line | Episode 18 | Episode 6 | Episode 31 |
| Season 3 | Season 2 | ||
| Unconditional Love | Episode 1 | Episode 8 | Episode 1 |
| Severed Ties | Episode 2 | Episode 11 | Episode 2 |
| Follow the Leader | Episode 3 | Episode 12 | Episode 3 |
| Whatever It Takes | Episode 4 | Episode 13 | Episode 4 |
| The Other Lane | Episode 5 | Episode 14 | Episode 6 |
| Jumping At Shadows | Episode 6 | Episode 15 | Episode 8 |
| Acceptable Risk | Episode 7 | Episode 16 | Episode 9 |
| Season 4 | |||
| Collateral Damage | Episode 8 | Episode 1 (Aired as Episode 17) | Episode 5 |
| Thicker Than Blood | Episode 9 | Episode 2 (Aired as Episode 18) | Episode 7 |
| Terror | Episode 10 | Episode 4 (Aired as Episode 20) | Episode 11 |
| No Promises | Episode 11 | Episode 3 (Aired as Episode 19) | Episode 10 |
| I'd Do Anything | Episode 12 | Episode 5 (Aired as Episode 21) | Episode 12 |
| Fault Lines | Episode 13 | Episode 6 (Aired as Episode 22) | Episode 13 |
| Season 4 | Season 3 | ||
| Personal Effects | Episode 1 | Episode 7 | Episode 1 |
| Good Cop | Episode 2 | Episode 8 | Episode 2 |
| Run Jamie Run | Episode 3 | Episode 9 | Episode 3 |
| Through a Glass Darkly | Episode 4 | Episode 10 | Episode 5 (Only shown at midnight) |
| The Better Man | Episode 5 | Episode 11 | Episode 4 |
| A Day in the Life | Episode 6 | Episode 12 | Episode 6 |
| Shockwave | Episode 7 | Episode 13 | Episode 7 |
| Season 4b Ion took over Broadcasting rights. | |||
| Grounded | Episode 8 (Episode 12 on the DVD) | Episode 1 | Episode 12 |
| The War Within | Episode 9 (Episode 8 on the DVD) | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| Cost of Doing Business | Episode 10 (Episode 9 on the DVD) | Episode 2 | Episode 9 |
| Wild Card | Episode 11 (Episode 10 on the DVD) | Episode 3 | Episode 10 |
| New Life | Episode 12 (Episode 11 on the DVD) | Episode 4 | Episode 11 |
| Call to Arms | Episode 13 | Episode 5 | Episode 13 |
| Day Game | Episode 14 (episode 15 on the DVD) | Episode 6 | Episode 15 |
| Blue on Blue | Episode 15 (Episode 16 on the DVD) | Episode 7 | Episode 16 |
| Team Player | Episode 16 (Episode 14 on the DVD) | Episode 9 | Episode 14 |
| Priority of Life | Episode 17 | Episode 10 | Episode 17 |
| Slow Burn | Episode 18 | Episode 11 | Episode 18 |
| Season 5 | Season 5 | Season 5 | |
| Broken peace | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| No Kind of Life | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | Episode 2 |
| Run to Me | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | Episode 3 |
| Eyes In | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 |
| Sons of the Father | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
| Below the Surface | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 7 |
| Forget Oblivion | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| We Take Care of our Own | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 9 |
| Lawmen | Episode 9 | - | Episode 10 |
| A World of their Own | Episode 10 | Episode 6 | Episode 6 |
| Fit For Duty | Episode 11 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 |
| Keep the Peace (Part 1) | Episode 12 | - | Episode 12 |
| Keep the Peace (Part 2) | Episode 13 | - | Episode 13 |
Monday, 6 August 2012
The 2012-2013 New Season of TV shows!
It's that time of year once again, when us proud couch potatoes settle back in our chairs, ready for the onslaught of new TV shows. The TV execs have had 12 months to come up with some really ground breaking ideas to wow us into watching their shows, and (because let's face it, this is what TV is all about) make us sit there through the adverts.
So, I've had a look at the new, forthcoming shows from the major broadcasters. ABC, CBS, CW, NBC and Fox. Now I'll admit right away this isn't a complete and definite list of EVERY new show coming out - and in fact some might still get dropped - but it's an almost complete list.
I've only dealt with scripted shows, so no reality or game shows.
So, without further ado, here is the list.
Sitcoms:
1600 Penn: Bill Pullman stars as the head of a
dysfunctional family living in the White House.
Animal Practise: Set in a vets, with a
monkey nurse.
Ben and Kate: Hilarious fun with a
brother and sister who are opposites of each other.
Family Tools: A useless bloke takes
over the family hardware business. With hilarious consequences.
Friend Me: (Shoot me now, please..)
Sitcom based around 2 friends working at the Groupon website. No,
seriously...
The Goodwin Games: 3 siblings reunite
when their father dies, but in order to get their share of the will,
they have to play Trivial Pursuit. Or something. I read the story
outline 5 times and i still don't get it...
Go On: Matthew “Chandler” Perry
stars as a sport reporter coming to terms with the loss of his wife.
Yes, apparently it is meant to be a comedy...
Guys With Kids: A sitcom about three
guys who try to raise their children.
How to Live With Your Parents: Sarah
“Scrubs” Chalke moves back in with her parents. Sometimes these
sitcom title designers are paid WAY too much money!
Malibu County: A woman moves her family
from Nashville to Malibu.
The Mindy Project: Comedy about someone
called Mindy and her everyday life. Created, produced and starring
Mindy Kaling.
The Neighbours: A new family move into
a neighbourhood to find all their neighbours are aliens.
The New Normal: A woman becomes a
surrogate for a gay couple.
Next Caller: Two DJ's become radio
phone-in hosts. With hilarious consequences.
Partners: From the makers of Will and
Grace comes a sitcom about a bromance.
Save Me: A sitcom about an Angel. With
hilarious consequences.
Drama:
Beauty and the Beast: No need to tell
you what this is about. Stars Smallville's Lana Lang. Sorry about
that.
The Carrie Diaries: Sex in the City,
for teenagers. No, seriously...
Chicago Fire: The day to day lives of a
bunch of – go on, guess – fire fighters working in – go on,
guess again – Chicago.
Do No Harm: Modern day Jekyll and Hide
story about a surgeon who changes every night into something – or
someone – else.
Elementary: US version of Sherlock
Holmes. With Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes, Lucy Liu as Watson and
Aiden Quinn as Lestrad (who isn't called Lestrad.)
Emily Owens, MD: A new student nurse
turns up at hew new hospital to find some old classmates there. Or
something. It's a teen-angst medical drama.
The Following: Kevin Bacon stars as an
FBI agent tracking down a serial killer. Sounds brilliant. It's on
Fox. It'll last 2 seasons.
Last Resort: Military Drama about the
crew of a submarine. Brilliant Cast (IMO): Scott Speedman, Robert
Patrick, Dichen Lachman, Daisy Betts, Autumn Reeser...
Made in Jersey: Legal drama starring
Ames from Human target, and Agent Cooper from Twin peaks.
Mistresses: US Remake of the British
mystery Drama about adults going around having affairs. Or something.
The Mob Doctor: A surgeon gets involved
with the mob. Title says it all really :)
Nashville: Musical Drama starring
everyone's favourite regenerating cheerleader, Hayden Panettiere.
It's about Country singers. In Nashville.
Red Widow: A widow continues her
husbands business. Which was to say, he was organising crime.
Vegas: Michael Chiklis is a mobster,
Dennis Quaid is the sheriff trying to put him down. Set in Vegas in
the 60's.
Zero Hour: Created by Paul “Prison
Break” Scheuring.
Horror, Supernatural and Sci-Fi:
666 Park Avenue: The new couple in an
apartment think their entire block may be haunter. Locke from Lost is
the villian. Sounds good enough reason to watch to me.
Arrow: Based on Dc Comics Green Arrow.
Basically, a modern day American Robin Hood-type figure.
Revolution: JJ Abrams produced show
about... Look, It's JJ Abrams. It'll be worth watching, ok. Not that
I'm biased or anything :)
Others:
Cult: Mystery show about an
investigation into a series of crimes based on the stories of a TV
show. Starring Robert “T-Bag” Knepper! Say no more!
Hannibal: Psychological Thriller based
on the work of Thomas Harris, featuring everyones favourite cannibal,
Dr Hannibal Lecter. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Hannibal.
Infamous: A Mystery Soap Opera Drama
about some woman who dies and the investigation into her death. Might
turn into a Twin peaks type thin. Who knows...
And last by most certainly least...
I know I said I was avoiding mentioning gameshows, but this one just had
to be mentioned.
Oh Sit!: On the CW network. An hour long
game of Musical Chairs.. No, seriously...
Happy Viewing!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Flashpoint Uk schedule. A Universal Guide.
So, for the past few months Universal Channel UK (113 Sky (150 for +1), 162 VirginTV (163 +1), 8 TalkTalkTV) has been airing the critically acclaimed Canadian show "Flashpoint".
The season numbering by Universal is off, due to them putting seasons 2 and 3 together, so to avoid any further confusion, i shall mention episode numbers [with notes in these square bracket things (which have probably got some official name, but I think Square Bracket thing sums them up quite nicely.)]
Universal UK have the rights now to all 5 seasons, which consist of 75 episodes in total. Scorpio [#01] to Keep the Peace [#75].
The aim of this entry is to keep updating it with the forthcoming schedule from Universal Channel UK.
All episodes air at 6pm, with a repeat at midnight and then a second repeat the next day at midday. All 3 airings are of course duplicated on the +1 channel (7pm, 1am and 1pm respectively.)
26th-30th November:
Monday: Grounded [#52]
Tuesday: Call to Arms[#57]
Wednesday: Team Player[#60]
Thursday: Day Game[#58]
Friday: Blue on Blue [#59]
3rd-7th December:
Monday: Priority of Life[#61]
Tuesday: Slow Burn [#62]
Wednesday: Broken Peace [#63] (Labelled as Season 5)
Thursday: No Kind of Life [#64]
Friday: Run to Me [#65]
10th-14th December:
Monday: Eyes In [#66]
Tuesday: Sons of the Father [#67]
Wednesday: A World of Their Own [#72]
Thursday: Below The Surface [#68]
Friday: Forget Oblivion [#69]
17th-21st December:Monday: We Take care of our Own [#70]
Tuesday: Lawmen [#71]
Wednesday: Fit for Duty [#73]
Thursday: Keep the Peace - Part 1 [#74]
Friday: Keep the Peace - Part 2 [#75]
You can follow Universal Channel UK on twitter @UniversalChUK or on facebook
The season numbering by Universal is off, due to them putting seasons 2 and 3 together, so to avoid any further confusion, i shall mention episode numbers [with notes in these square bracket things (which have probably got some official name, but I think Square Bracket thing sums them up quite nicely.)]
Universal UK have the rights now to all 5 seasons, which consist of 75 episodes in total. Scorpio [#01] to Keep the Peace [#75].
The aim of this entry is to keep updating it with the forthcoming schedule from Universal Channel UK.
All episodes air at 6pm, with a repeat at midnight and then a second repeat the next day at midday. All 3 airings are of course duplicated on the +1 channel (7pm, 1am and 1pm respectively.)
26th-30th November:
Monday: Grounded [#52]
Tuesday: Call to Arms[#57]
Wednesday: Team Player[#60]
Thursday: Day Game[#58]
Friday: Blue on Blue [#59]
Monday: Priority of Life[#61]
Tuesday: Slow Burn [#62]
Wednesday: Broken Peace [#63] (Labelled as Season 5)
Thursday: No Kind of Life [#64]
10th-14th December:
Monday: Eyes In [#66]
Tuesday: Sons of the Father [#67]
Wednesday: A World of Their Own [#72]
Thursday: Below The Surface [#68]
Friday: Forget Oblivion [#69]
17th-21st December:Monday: We Take care of our Own [#70]
Tuesday: Lawmen [#71]
Wednesday: Fit for Duty [#73]
Thursday: Keep the Peace - Part 1 [#74]
Friday: Keep the Peace - Part 2 [#75]
You can follow Universal Channel UK on twitter @UniversalChUK or on facebook
Monday, 5 March 2012
How they laughed.
When I was young I got teased a lot. Made fun of. Mocked. Why? Because I was different. I had strange hobbies. I enjoyed odd things. I spent a lot of time sitting in front of my computer, doing (or so it seemed to everyone else) nothing much at all.
I was laughed at because I would happily spend all day tapping away at the keys.
And then the Internet came along, and suddenly everyone wanted a computer. Computers were cool.
I played computer games, and they laughed at me. But then Playstation, Wii and Xbox came along, and now it’s cool to play computer games.
I was laughed at because I liked Sci-fi.Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who.
In 2005, Doctor Who came back, and suddenly it was cool to watch Doctor Who.
In 2009 Star Trek returned to Cinemas, and suddenly it was cool to watch Star Trek.
They mocked me because I read comic books. I enjoyed the stories of Spider-man, Hulk and the X-Men.
Then graphic novels started to influence the world of movies and TV, and now it’s cool to read comics.
I read HUGE books with maps in the cover, about far away lands populated by strange people and mythical creatures. And they laughed at me . Then Lord of the Rings was made and it was cool to like this. Game of Thrones continued the tradition.
I can’t forgive anyone who laughed at me, because I know now what I always knew. I’m the pioneer of cool. Want to know what I’m into now; what will be cool in a few years? I’m not going to tell you. You’ll laugh at me!
I was laughed at because I would happily spend all day tapping away at the keys.
And then the Internet came along, and suddenly everyone wanted a computer. Computers were cool.
I played computer games, and they laughed at me. But then Playstation, Wii and Xbox came along, and now it’s cool to play computer games.
I was laughed at because I liked Sci-fi.Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who.
In 2005, Doctor Who came back, and suddenly it was cool to watch Doctor Who.
In 2009 Star Trek returned to Cinemas, and suddenly it was cool to watch Star Trek.
They mocked me because I read comic books. I enjoyed the stories of Spider-man, Hulk and the X-Men.
Then graphic novels started to influence the world of movies and TV, and now it’s cool to read comics.
I read HUGE books with maps in the cover, about far away lands populated by strange people and mythical creatures. And they laughed at me . Then Lord of the Rings was made and it was cool to like this. Game of Thrones continued the tradition.
I can’t forgive anyone who laughed at me, because I know now what I always knew. I’m the pioneer of cool. Want to know what I’m into now; what will be cool in a few years? I’m not going to tell you. You’ll laugh at me!
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Flashpoint comes back to the UK!
An armed man takes a hospital ward hostage, endangering the lives of the patients.
A bank robber runs into the street, using the manageress of the branch as a shield, daring the police to shoot him.
A convicted murderer takes an off-duty policeman hostage and demands to speak to a prosecutor.
Three instances of bad people who deserve what they get from the authorities. The authorities in this case being the SRU – Strategic Response Unit – of the TV show Flashpoint. When the SRU are called in you know bad things are going on. They try and deal with situations in their own unique way, which is different to most other TV shows. While most would have the team burst in, guns blazing, taking down the bad guys, the SRU turn up and talk to them as people.
Sure they have the back-up plan of going in and shooting, but they talk first. Why are they doing what they're doing?
And that is the beautiful thing about this show. The suspects – or Subjects as Sergeant Greg Parker prefers to call them – are treated as people. As each episode unfolds we learn WHY they are doing what they're doing. What drove them to pick up a gun and point it at someone?
And by the end of the episode, if you let the story carry you along, you'll find yourself feeling the exact same emotions as the characters.
And now the United Kingdom has the chance to experience this. Finally we're getting this show in a proper time slot.
For the past few years, ITV network have had it, and have shown an episode here and there, different times, different days. Show it when they've got time. No advertising or promotion so the only viewers were those who happened to channel hop at half 1 in the morning and stumble on it.
But all that changes on March 19th. Universal channel UK (113 Sky (150 for +1), 162 VirginTV (163 +1), 8 TalkTalkTV) is showing it from the first episode. As with all shows, if you haven't seen it before I would recommend giving it a couple of episodes to get used to it. If you're not enjoying it by the end of the bank robber episode then I'll never bother you again :)
A bank robber runs into the street, using the manageress of the branch as a shield, daring the police to shoot him.
A convicted murderer takes an off-duty policeman hostage and demands to speak to a prosecutor.
Three instances of bad people who deserve what they get from the authorities. The authorities in this case being the SRU – Strategic Response Unit – of the TV show Flashpoint. When the SRU are called in you know bad things are going on. They try and deal with situations in their own unique way, which is different to most other TV shows. While most would have the team burst in, guns blazing, taking down the bad guys, the SRU turn up and talk to them as people.
Sure they have the back-up plan of going in and shooting, but they talk first. Why are they doing what they're doing?
And that is the beautiful thing about this show. The suspects – or Subjects as Sergeant Greg Parker prefers to call them – are treated as people. As each episode unfolds we learn WHY they are doing what they're doing. What drove them to pick up a gun and point it at someone?
And by the end of the episode, if you let the story carry you along, you'll find yourself feeling the exact same emotions as the characters.
And now the United Kingdom has the chance to experience this. Finally we're getting this show in a proper time slot.
For the past few years, ITV network have had it, and have shown an episode here and there, different times, different days. Show it when they've got time. No advertising or promotion so the only viewers were those who happened to channel hop at half 1 in the morning and stumble on it.
But all that changes on March 19th. Universal channel UK (113 Sky (150 for +1), 162 VirginTV (163 +1), 8 TalkTalkTV) is showing it from the first episode. As with all shows, if you haven't seen it before I would recommend giving it a couple of episodes to get used to it. If you're not enjoying it by the end of the bank robber episode then I'll never bother you again :)
Monday, 23 January 2012
A Lonely Place to Die
We sat down yesterday to watch “A Lonely Place to Die”, a film staring Angel off of Home and Away (as well as many other fine roles, including “The woman in '30 Days of Night'” and “The chick who is married to Sid's Bloke in 'Alias'”) A film which seemed to be of the “127 Hours” variety; an adventure holiday/extreme sport goes wrong. On the face of it it's about 5 mountaineers trying to climb a large mountain in the remotest part of Scotland they can find. However it takes a strange twist with the discovery of a young girl locked in a box, buried underground. What follows is almost a “Deadly Pursuit” on a budget. The plot doesn't seem to know where to go, although the effects are pretty good throughout. And the camera work/photography of the whole area is brilliantly breathtaking. I was however stunned by one very large scene, which caused me to spend the next 20 minutes shouting loudly and arguing with the film. It is this pivotal moment that I wish to discuss, however it is of course very spoilery. If you haven't seen the film but want to, then please, stop reading. Go watch the film then come back. If you have seen the film, or don't really care then please do read on. |     |
Still here? Good. So, on finding the girl, Rob gets out his map and shows they are on a plateau. The nearest town is fairly close as the bird flies, about 5 miles due south. However there is a rather large gorge (the Devils Drop) between them and the town. He decides to take Alison with him, because she's the main star of the film. The other three are to head East around the ridge, before going south then south west. This is about 50 miles. All is looking good until Rob's rope is cut. Rob is on what we shall call the “North side” of the ridge/gorge. Alison is at this point, clinging to the same side. The bad guys then throw rocks at her, they are clearly on the top of the north ridge. Alison gets down and then, after watching the other 3 for a while, we return to her and she's now running through woods. We can therefore assume she climbed up the south side ridge. In fact we know she did because she finds the other three! There are just the other side of a river. Now, I'm no outdoors type, but.. what direction were they all heading in? How did they meet like this? And – and again I remind you I know very little of the outdoors life – surely this river crossing – dangerous as it appears to be, is still a hell of a lot safer then a 10 million gazillion foot drop to certain death, that is Devils Drop. Alison gets there the same time as the others – in fact, they get there before she does. Why didn't they chose to make that river the crossing point between the North and the South? They had enough rope with them at the start to allow one person to get across the river with one end of the rope, fasten it somewhere on the other side and create a simple bridge to cross. Hell, we made one many years ago in the scouts. Yes I know it's a fast flowing river, but.. Still surely a more sensible option than a drop that you DON'T have enough rope for... So, while I was still reeling from this stupidity of the plot, there comes a moment of terror when the bad guys start shooting our heroes. But.. the shots come from the south side... We see this when Alison crosses back through the water and the bad guys have to try and follow her. When did they cross the ravine? They hardly look the type to take on the Devils Drop. Is there yet another crossing; one capable of being navigated by two blokes – one who clearly doesn't get outside much either! And if so, why didn't Rob try that one? | |
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Twitter, and bringing the world closer.
A slightly different vein for my ramblings today. The topic at hand is Twitter (and some ways, facebook, although Twitter is slightly more in line with the article at hand).
Some celebrities have embraced Twitter as a way to "advertise" their new products. Singers tweet about their latest compositions, actors about their new film or TV show. Many of these celebrities reply to the "normal people" (you and me), making us feel like valued "customers".
As great as it to have the news that Steve Martin is getting ready to do a one-man show, or Snoop Dogg is finishing the last bit of mixing on his new album, to me, the main joy of reading famous tweets is the mundane things.
What I really enjoy, more than knowing that Lady Gaga is about to start a new tour, is that Justin Bieber just burnt his toast. Or Katy Perry stubbed her toe.
Or that Barack Obhama has just farted.
It's the little things that makes Twitter more fun.
As a total aside, sometimes it can ruin the magic. I saw a photo the other day, of Richard Dean Anderson (best known for StarGate: SG1 and of course, MacGuyver) standing in front of his car, scratching his head. MacGuyver can't fix his own car?
It sort of ruins the magic of everything.
This one, however, really made me laugh.
https://twitter.com/#!/rajskub/status/160762663205470209
Chloe from 24 - Jack Bauer's right hand woman; the woman responsible for opening more locked doors, cracking more security, hi-jacking more camera footage than anyone else... And she's can't work her DVD player...
Like I said, it's the simple things in life.
(Ps: Celebrities, tweet more about the boring things :-D )
(PPs: I don't follow Steve martin, Lady gaga, Snoop Dogg, Bieber, Katy Perry... The things I made up are fictional. Apart from the Chloe and MacGuyver one.)
Some celebrities have embraced Twitter as a way to "advertise" their new products. Singers tweet about their latest compositions, actors about their new film or TV show. Many of these celebrities reply to the "normal people" (you and me), making us feel like valued "customers".
As great as it to have the news that Steve Martin is getting ready to do a one-man show, or Snoop Dogg is finishing the last bit of mixing on his new album, to me, the main joy of reading famous tweets is the mundane things.
What I really enjoy, more than knowing that Lady Gaga is about to start a new tour, is that Justin Bieber just burnt his toast. Or Katy Perry stubbed her toe.
Or that Barack Obhama has just farted.
It's the little things that makes Twitter more fun.
As a total aside, sometimes it can ruin the magic. I saw a photo the other day, of Richard Dean Anderson (best known for StarGate: SG1 and of course, MacGuyver) standing in front of his car, scratching his head. MacGuyver can't fix his own car?
It sort of ruins the magic of everything.
This one, however, really made me laugh.
https://twitter.com/#!/rajskub/status/160762663205470209
Chloe from 24 - Jack Bauer's right hand woman; the woman responsible for opening more locked doors, cracking more security, hi-jacking more camera footage than anyone else... And she's can't work her DVD player...
Like I said, it's the simple things in life.
(Ps: Celebrities, tweet more about the boring things :-D )
(PPs: I don't follow Steve martin, Lady gaga, Snoop Dogg, Bieber, Katy Perry... The things I made up are fictional. Apart from the Chloe and MacGuyver one.)
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Good looking people in Cult TV...
I made a discovery several months ago, regarding good looking men and women in Cult TV shows. Now I don't profess to have paid any real attention to good looking men. The women on the other hand... It all started back in September, when I had the following conversation with my wife, about a new TV show starting the next week.
"Ringer starts next week" I said casually.
"What's that then?" asks the missus.
"Something about a woman and her twin sister and.. stuff..."
She sighs. "Who is in it?"
"Umm.. Sarah Michelle Gellar."
"Right. So that has no bearing on why we're watching it then?"
All of which lead us into a more in depth conversation about the fact nearly ever TV show we watch has someone I fancy in it.
"But Person of Interest starts the week after that! That's got the bloke who is in the remake of The Prisoner, and Ben from Lost!" I said, trying to defend my position.
"You get Buffy. I get Ben from Lost. Where are all the good looking blokes on TV? All I've got is Supernatural!"
Which then lead her to spend the rest of that afternoon looking for blokes she fancies who might be making TV shows...
Maybe she's just too picky, but of all the shows we watch, there seems to be no one she really fancies, with the exception of Dean from Supernatural.
Even Flashpoint, a show which consists of 6 main characters, 5 of which are male. The odds are good there would be someone for her. But no. None of them do it for her. I meanwhile get to dribble over Jules for 45 minutes.
Just for kicks I listed some of the shows we watch and compared the men vs Women.
Hawaii 5-0: She admits Danno is pretty good. I however get Boomer (from BSG) and New Girl Lori.
Big Bang Theory: Perhaps the perfect example. I get Penny to lust over for 30 minutes a week. She gets Sheldon and Leonard. (I did point out she gets Howard as a bonus...)
Burn Notice: She says Michael makes his face into too many silly expression for her to like. However I get psycho Fi.
Secret Circle: Ignoring the fact the main cast are kids, the lead girl and the evil girl are quite good, while she just gets John Connor. (As an aside I will quickly mention The Sarah Connor Chronicles, featuring the divine Summer Glau...) In terms of the previous generation cast, i get Natasha Henstridge!
Fringe: Hello Alternative Liv...
Merlin: While she admits Arthur is alright, if he was a little older, I of course get Morganna...
So, I asked the question to my friends via facebook: "Where are the good looking blokes in Cult TV", and the response was overwhelming. "True Blood". We have since watched all 4 seasons of that, and yes she has to admit that that's where they are all hiding. (Maybe now would be a good time to mention I was undecided about it, until I discovered Rogue from the X-Men films was the main lead... So, another for me...) So she gets True Blood and Supernatural. It still seems slightly unbalanced.
"Ringer starts next week" I said casually.
"What's that then?" asks the missus.
"Something about a woman and her twin sister and.. stuff..."
She sighs. "Who is in it?"
"Umm.. Sarah Michelle Gellar."
"Right. So that has no bearing on why we're watching it then?"
All of which lead us into a more in depth conversation about the fact nearly ever TV show we watch has someone I fancy in it.
"But Person of Interest starts the week after that! That's got the bloke who is in the remake of The Prisoner, and Ben from Lost!" I said, trying to defend my position.
"You get Buffy. I get Ben from Lost. Where are all the good looking blokes on TV? All I've got is Supernatural!"
Which then lead her to spend the rest of that afternoon looking for blokes she fancies who might be making TV shows...
Maybe she's just too picky, but of all the shows we watch, there seems to be no one she really fancies, with the exception of Dean from Supernatural.
Even Flashpoint, a show which consists of 6 main characters, 5 of which are male. The odds are good there would be someone for her. But no. None of them do it for her. I meanwhile get to dribble over Jules for 45 minutes.
Just for kicks I listed some of the shows we watch and compared the men vs Women.
Hawaii 5-0: She admits Danno is pretty good. I however get Boomer (from BSG) and New Girl Lori.
Big Bang Theory: Perhaps the perfect example. I get Penny to lust over for 30 minutes a week. She gets Sheldon and Leonard. (I did point out she gets Howard as a bonus...)
Burn Notice: She says Michael makes his face into too many silly expression for her to like. However I get psycho Fi.
Secret Circle: Ignoring the fact the main cast are kids, the lead girl and the evil girl are quite good, while she just gets John Connor. (As an aside I will quickly mention The Sarah Connor Chronicles, featuring the divine Summer Glau...) In terms of the previous generation cast, i get Natasha Henstridge!
Fringe: Hello Alternative Liv...
Merlin: While she admits Arthur is alright, if he was a little older, I of course get Morganna...
So, I asked the question to my friends via facebook: "Where are the good looking blokes in Cult TV", and the response was overwhelming. "True Blood". We have since watched all 4 seasons of that, and yes she has to admit that that's where they are all hiding. (Maybe now would be a good time to mention I was undecided about it, until I discovered Rogue from the X-Men films was the main lead... So, another for me...) So she gets True Blood and Supernatural. It still seems slightly unbalanced.
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