TV & Radio Category
Television and radio programme reviews, trailers, highlights, twilights and cinema news. Also the neglected gems from years past.
Mic Wright’s Remotely Furious: A Harsh Handbrake Turn – From How I Met You Mother To How Tim Hetherington Lost His Life
Photojournalist Tim Hetherington, center, stands with other photographers outside the entrance to the hospital in Ajdabiya, Libya Sunday, April 10, 2011. Hetherington was killed in Misrata, Libya Wednesday, April 20, 2011 while covering battles between Libyan rebels and government forces. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
I’VE been thinking about bad endings this week; one in fiction and one, dreadfully, tragically real. Pulling together the finale of How I Met Your Mother, which used a by-no-means unexpected passing to tie up loose ends, and the real death of Tim Hetherington, the astounding documentary photographer whose life is the subject of Which Way Is The Front Line From Here?, in one TV column may seem crass. It probably is. But that’s how TV works, mashing together different stories, shifting tone more awkwardly than a local radio DJ.
If you were engaged in idle channel surfing, Sebastian Junger’s film on the life and death of Hetherington, his friend and collaborator on the Academy Award-nominated Restrepo, would have pulled you up short. Named after a casual remark made by documentary photographer as he and a group of other journalists made their way into the Libyan town of Misrata, the film paints a picture of a man who had to document the world and its most dangerous stories even when he knew he should stop.
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Posted: 4th, April 2014 | In: Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment
5 Sci-Fi TV Series Scuttled by Second Season Changes
WE might accept as axiomatic the belief that patience is a virtue. However, over the decades, several notable and even celebrated science fiction TV series have failed to live up to this ideal.
Instead of demonstrating patience and prudence, their makers have instead demonstrated radical impatience, and — after promising first season sorties — instituted sweeping changes that, in some cases, threw away the baby with the bath water.
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Posted: 3rd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (7)
Gypsies On Benefits And Proud: The Daily Star Flogs Channel 5’s Benefits Street For ‘Sponging’ Foreigners
THE Daily Star once told its readers to vote for the EDL. Todays its anti-foreigner message is cloaked in a front page about gloating, freeloading Romanians:
The Star’s (prop. Richard Desmond) headline is linked to a Channel 5 (prop. Richard Desmond) documentary. The paper tells us:
TV documentary exposes how gypsies are happy to exploit British benefit system
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Posted: 3rd, April 2014 | In: Reviews, TV & Radio | Comments (3)
5 Sci-Fi Movies That Didn’t Deserve the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Treatment
TO the delight of virtually everyone, the late, great Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988 – 1999) seems to be experiencing something of a pop culture resurgence these days.
April 1st of this year saw former Mystery Science Theater 3000 stars Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy return to top form in National Geographic’s Total Riff-Off, and the cable network Retro TV recently announced that it will begin airing MST-3K reruns starting July 5, 2014.
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Posted: 2nd, April 2014 | In: Film, Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (13)
Mic Wright’s Remotely Furious: Line Of Duty And W1A
IT’S over a week since Line of Duty came to its sometimes thrilling, sometimes galling conclusion and even now the face of Lindsey Denton as the cell door closed keeps drifting onto the screen of the busted CRT in my mind’s eye. The second series of Jed Mercurio’s show about bent cops and the marginally less bent cops who set out to catch them was a thing of beauty. Ungrateful moaning whiners – I speak as I find – have taken to comment sections to wail that the finale was unsatisfying and that using the classic “what happened next” captions to bring it to a close was cheap. They’re spoiled. Episode 5 was, in some ways, the cataclysmic moment of the series, with Episode 6 acting as a teeth chattering comedown.
If Line Of Duty had featured sullen Swedes and a more refined selection of knitwear, The Guardian would have commissioned a ream of pieces on its brilliance rather than an excellent but neglected series blog and Paul Mason harrumphing about the ending. And if, the home of Scandi Crime obsession and Wire zealotry didn’t give the series or Mercurio enough plaudits, the BBC is also conspiring to bugger up its success by failing to quickly commission Season 3 and get more Mecurio projects on the slate. Instead, he’s in the warm embrace of Sky – a new medical drama is on the horizon – and Line of Duty 3 is in the to-do list of whoever the BBC decides will be the next BBC2 controller.
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Posted: 31st, March 2014 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
Watch The Blight: A Wonderful Documentary On Glasgow’s Barrowfield Gang Lands In 1982
GLASGOW has a tough reputation. In 1982, the BBC documentary department went on safari in Glasgow, reporting on the city’s gangs.
The show focused on the Barrowfield is an area of east Glasgow in Camlachie, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic Football Club.
The study on urban decay and life was split in four parts:
BLIGHT, WORK, THE SCHEME and THE BOND.
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Posted: 30th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment (1)
Darren Gough’s Greatest Moment on TalkSPORT: ‘We H’all Live In A Yeller Sumbarine’
DARREN Gough was once a cricketer with Yorkshire and England.
Gough was both talented and likeable. The top English bowler of his generation retired from professional cricket. And Barnsley’s favourite Tory hit even greater heights.
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Posted: 28th, March 2014 | In: Key Posts, Sports, TV & Radio | Comment
Radio Put Downs: Did Kate Adie Call A Banker A ‘Fat ***t’? (Audio)
IN her Times column, Caitlin Moran highlights BBC Radio 4 Today host John Humphry’s interrogation of Sam Laidlaw, the chief executive of Centrica, the biggest of the six leading British energy companies. Humphreys turned to discuss raising fuel bills.
Laidlaw seemed to suggest that the major companies found it difficult to effect change in the market, causing Humphrys to exclaim: “You have 97 per cent of the market, you … big six.”
Moran notes that “You . . . big six,” is now a diss, up there with “Your mum”.
I’d like to draw your attention to former BBC news reporter Kate Kate Adie discussing Co-op Bank’s ex-CEO Euan Sutherland on New Zealand national radio.
Listen closely at around the 4mins 25s marks. What’s that she says of Sutherland? He’s a what..?
Posted: 28th, March 2014 | In: Money, Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment
The Darrin Factor: 6 Upsetting TV Character Replacements
IT shouldn’t be a big deal when a familiar actor or actress is abruptly replaced on a TV show. Yet audiences are often unable to cope. I suppose it’s due to the fact that a subconscious connection is often developed between audience and actors. When, suddenly, an interloper appears in his or her place, all hell breaks loose.
The textbook example is Darrin from Bewitched: when Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent audiences were left confused and disoriented. What happened to Samantha’s husband? Did she remarry, or did she magically transform his physical appearance? What in the name of all that is holy is going on?!?
The problem is compounded when the original character was particularly beloved. Audiences got used to the “New Darrin”, but sometimes the shoes are just too hard to fill. Here are a few examples of when replacements had a particularly tough time filling in. Television audiences are an unforgiving lot.
THREE’S COMPANY
Jenilee Harrison (as Cyndi Snow) replaces Suzanne Somers (as Chrissy Snow)
Somers, in a mad grab for cash, demanded more money and the network execs dropped her like a bad habit. The very nature of the show demanded that there be a third roommate. Enter Jenilee Harrison, a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader with no acting experience. Not surprisingly, it was nothing short of an abject failure. The following season, Jenilee was let go, and Priscilla Barnes (as Terri Alden) took over for the final seasons (1981-1984). Priscilla succeeded where Jenilee could not primarily because she didn’t play a similarly imbecilic character, but had a good head on her shoulders. However, nothing ever captured the magic of Suzanne Somers – “jiggle TV” at its finest.
THE AVENGERS
Linda Thorson (as Tara King) replaces Diana Rigg (as Emma Peel)
In season six of The Avengers, Linda Thorson replaced Diana Rigg (a replacement herself). It would prove to be the show’s last season. American audiences didn’t seem to care, and French audiences actually preferred the replacement; however, British viewers would have no part of the change. Linda was roundly thrashed by the press as being a poor substitute – all looks and no brains, a damsel in distress rather than a strong heroine.
Some of the criticism was well-founded – Linda was very inexperienced as an actress and she got the part because she was the girlfriend of then-producer John Bryce. However, I think it’s clear the criticism was pretty unfair. Linda did a respectable job, and the show was already slipping before her arrival. I’m not sure who could’ve replaced Rigg and saved it. The show failed because it became dependent on US audiences, and it was lined up against Laugh-In (a show which also killed Star Trek).
Finally, it should be noted that Season 6 was actually an IMPROVEMENT over the previous season. Few will argue that Rigg’s last season was lame – it was becoming a spoof like Batman. In the final season, things started to get back to being serious.
CHARLIE’S ANGLES
Cheryl Ladd (as Kris Munroe) replaces Farrah Fawcett (as Jill Munroe)
It’s hard to comprehend what a phenomenon Farrah had become after her single season on Charlie’s Angles. Her shoes were impossible to fill, and it’s a testament to the likeability of Cheryl Ladd that the show survived. Far from being mortally wounded, the show strolled along for four more seasons…. but it just wasn’t the same. Even though Farrah was only there for the first season, when you think of Charlie’s Angels, you think of the Farrah year.
Certainly, there were other shows which lost a star but kept on truckin’: Welcome Back, Kotter lost Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta), Alice lost Flo (Polly Holliday), M*A*S*H lost Trapper John (Wayne Rogers) and Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stephenson), etc. However, those were shows that lost actors and actresses. Charlie’s Angels was a show that lost an icon.
CHICO AND THE MAN
Gabriel Melgar (as Raul) replaces Freddie Prinze (as Chico Rodriguez)
I will go on record and say that Freddie Prinze is among the top five stand-up comedians of all time. You’re certainly free to disagree, but there was just something truly special about his presence on stage. None of the jaded, cynical, self-deprecating stuff we come to expect from today’s comics. His was pure optimism and energy… which makes his 1977 suicide all the more unfathomable.
One thing I think we can all agree on is that Chico & the Man should have ended with Prinze’s death. The very notion that they would try and keep the sitcom rolling blows the mind. Poor Gabriel Melgar, recruited to fill the void, simply never had a chance. It was an awful idea that ended with predictable results – abysmal ratings and cancellation.
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD
Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer (as Coy and Vance) temporarily replace Tom Wopat and John Schneider (as Bo and Luke Duke)
Dukes of Hazzard audiences tuned in to the new 1982 season only to find their beloved Bo and Luke Duke replaced by obvious clones. Schneider and Wopat had refused to come to the set, demanding more money. In response, the network replaced them with two guys that looked suspiciously similar. Audiences didn’t fall for the ploy, and so Schneider and Wopat got the contracts they wanted and returned.
In the end, the series wasn’t significantly impacted by this bizarre interlude. However, when it was all over, viewers were left scratching their head, wondering what the hell just happened.
Posted: 27th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (5)
Gervais Is Bringing David Brent Back To TV?
REMEMBER we told you that Ricky Gervais would be taking David Brent out on tour? Well, all is not as it seems.
It seems Ricky is bringing back Brent in a behind the scenes tour special, which could be lousy, but Gervais has an idea which might just work out wonderfully. And only a fool would write off Ricky Gervais.
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Posted: 25th, March 2014 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
Watch This 1979 Kate Bush Documentary On Her Liverpool Empire Show
KATE Bush is touring again.
Why did she ever stop?
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Posted: 24th, March 2014 | In: Celebrities, Flashback, TV & Radio | Comment
Fox News WTF Question Of The Decade: ‘It took 2000 years to find Noah’s ark, will we ever find flight MH370?’
FOX News’ anchors are are required by the terms of their contract to ask the most asinine questions imaginable.
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Posted: 22nd, March 2014 | In: Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment
Watch John Peel Get Almost Decapitated On Noel Edmonds’ The Late Late Breakfast Show
BBC Radio DJs Noel Edmonds and John Peel feature in this 10 September 1983 clip from The Late, Late Breakfast Show. Edmonds is vying for control of the Beeb, so we can expect lots more of this kind of telly is he gets his hands on it.
Key moments to look out for:
0 mins 32 s: John Peel almost has his head taken off.
0 mins 48 seconds: Noel’s “reassuring assurance”
Audience laughter.
1 min – 52 seconds – the Star Wars music keeps playing
2 mins 20s – next week: racing airplanes
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Posted: 20th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, TV & Radio | Comment
Michael McIntyre Is Faker Than A £5 Rolex
MICHAEL McIntyre has millions of fans. I’m just not friends with or related to any of them. I don’t think I’ve ever met one. Michael McIntyre is the Tony Blair of standup – charismatic enough to get millions of people to back him but embarrassing enough that they’ll all deny it. I don’t dislike McIntyre because he’s mainstream. There are loads of comics who walked the middle of the road who were wonderful. There’s nothing wrong with acts that can play to massive BBC One audiences. Look at Billy Connolly or Jasper Carrot in their prime, Dave Allen at his most palatable or even Bob Monkhouse, for all his joke lifting tendencies.
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Posted: 20th, March 2014 | In: Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment (1)
From BBC Children’s Favourites To Captain Kangaroo, Edward White’s Puffin Billy Kept The Kids Delighted
ITEM of the day is this 60 piece puzzle in box of Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan). There are no missing pieces.
The show was ideally suited to being packaged as a jigsaw:
That music was composed by Edward White and played by the Melodi Light Orchestra.
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Posted: 19th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, The Consumer, TV & Radio | Comment
X Factor Winners Watch: Sam Bailey Plays Asda Toilets In Leicester
SO. What did X Factor winner Sam ‘ScrewBo’ Bailey do next? A Hollywood biopic? A number one album? A chair on Loose Women?
Spotter: @Popjustice
Posted: 14th, March 2014 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment
“It’s A Cook Book!” Television’s Five Most Horrifying Alien Invasions
ARTHUR C. Clarke once wrote that “two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
In terms of television programming, however, the idea of alien life existing in the universe has far and away proven the more dramatic and oft-depicted “terror.”
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Posted: 13th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (2)
Gogglebox, Channel 4’s Basement Gimp And Why BBC3 Is Dead
Gogglebox, Channel 4’s basement Gimp and why BBC3 is dead
SOMEWHERE in the basement of Channel 4 there lives an executive known only as The Gimp. Constantly masked and frequently gibbering, His job – apart from not drawing on the walls – is to come up with new formats for the channel to exploit. It was he who devised the legendary Orphan Slingshot proposal which, though it got to pilot stage, was cruelly hampered by those swines from the Healthy & Safety Executive who deemed firing orphans at desperate childless couples to be unsafe. Still, he did well with Embarrassing Bodies, My Big Fat Gypsy and the forthcoming crossover My Big Fat Embarrassing Gypsy Body…
…alright, that’s all lies but it just makes me feel better to think of The Gimp shouting out formats in the basement than it does to face up to the reality: there’s a group of people out there absolutely delighted that they devised Gogglebox. If you’ve not seen the show yet, it’s 45 minutes of watching other people watching telly with Caroline Aherne providing a voiceover pitched somewhere between a kindergarden teacher with a major head injury and someone explaining Twitter to a half-deaf elderly relative.
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Posted: 11th, March 2014 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
Video: In Broughty Ferry Dundee An Impatient Dog Waits In The Car
MEANWHILE in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, a dog is waiting in a car:
Posted: 11th, March 2014 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
The Greatest Rock Biopics: From Hendrix to Guthrie
BIOPICS are problematic at the best of times, but get it right and you can cement a person’s place in history forever. Especially tricky are rock biopics because, half the time, the person or people they celebrate, are still alive. Or at least, they were around not that long and you can remember if they were horrible or not.
However, some rock films are better than the actual careers of the artist they pay tribute to.
Have you seen The Doors film? That’s a daft romp through 60s fluff and nonsense with some hilarious mystical sequences and leather trousers. 10,000% better than actually having to sit down and listen to anything The Doors ever committed to record. We can whip the horses eyes? C’mon! You’d much rather see one of Meg Ryan’s boobs and laugh at Billy Idol in a hippie wig!
With a biopic of Jimi Hendrix due to drop any minute now, played by Andre 3000 from Outkast, it seems like a perfect time to look at some of the finer performances in the oeuvre.
Jimi Hendrix
Let us start with the newest and most exciting biopic in a while. ‘All is By My Side’ features Andre Benjamin as the late Hendrix. We knew he was a man who could pull off Hendrix’s wild attire, but the footage doing the rounds shows that Benjamin is more than adept at doing an impression of Jimi. Have a look.
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Posted: 6th, March 2014 | In: Film, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment
Listen As The BBC Broadcasts Cries Of A Screaming Woman’ Over Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial Report
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire blames a “technical” error for adding screams to a report on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.
A BBC spokesperson said: “There was a technical mistake where sound effects being prepared in another studio for an unrelated item were accidentally broadcast over the news bulletin. We apologised for the error immediately afterwards.”
Posted: 6th, March 2014 | In: Reviews, TV & Radio | Comment
In Praise Of Cartoon Music!
THERE are a lot of people who will go on and on and on about the amazing theme songs of ’80s and ’90s cartoons. While they have a point (who can resist the Willie Fogg theme or indeed, M.A.S.K. and Thundercats?), they pale in comparison to those cartoons brave enough to get a full orchestra on the go.
From the birth of music and animations, right up to the ’60s, studios – notably those brilliant people at Warner Brothers and Disney – created some of the most brain-popping and often side-splitting moments of music ever committed to a TV or cinema screen.
While Disney were the kings of the big, soaraway song or killer ditty, Looney Tunes were the undisputed champs of chaotic, inventive and playful classical and jazz.
Between them, both camps created so much iconic music that it defies belief. However, much of it is sorely, sorely undervalued. So here, let us praise the dazzling and daft songs that will forever light up your life.
Looney Tune
Let us begin with the beginning. From the opening bottlenecked guitar to the galloping brass, the opening credits of any Merry Melody or Looney Tunes cartoon, this piece of music is immediate sunshine. Vitamins for your soul. Let’s not forget Mel Blanc’s contribution with his machine gun, rat-a-tat Porky Pig stutter of “that’s all folks!” for the outro music too.
The Wonderful Fotoplayer
As chaotic as the music itself is the instruments invented to keep up with old animations. Watch one of these brilliantly bizarre contraptions being played and imagine the scene it dictates.
For the nerds among you, here’s a breakdown of the Fotoplayer. Yes. We all want one now.
Proms
It is easy to ignore the complexity and deftness of the music behind a cartoon, because you’re too busy laughing at someone’s teeth shattering in the mouth after they’ve been hit full in the face with a frying pan, or you’re rolling around laughing an anvil turning someone’s body into a concertina. However, at the 2013 Proms, everyone got to see how furiously busy the musicians had to be to keep up with the score. Better yet, as this video shows, the much forgotten percussion section really gets to shine. Observe as they throw plated into a bin and chase each other off-stage. Absolutely incredible.
Bugs conducting
We all know that classic music is an absolute drag for the most part. However, Looney Tunes can make anything funny. Often, they would take a tedious opera and turn it inside out. Here, Bugs Bunny conducts and, wonderfully, all hell breaks loose.
Powerhouse
Raymond Scott was a composer and experimental electronic music pioneer and his work ‘Powerhouse’ was a favourite of the animated short. You can read up on Scott’s genius here. Or, if you prefer, you can watch the video below, which shows off the use of the iconic ‘Powerhouse’, which you inevitably didn’t know the name of until now. You can here the music on its own, here.
Cat Concerto
No-one can write about music in cartoons without including the outstanding Cat Concerto featuring Tom & Jerry. Watch Tom play the right notes below.
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers aren’t household names, but their tunes are. They wrote a fantastic amount of songs that we could all sing. Working for Disney, they wrote ‘A Spoonful Of Sugar’, the music from Bedknobs and Broomsticks’, ‘Lets Go Fly A Kite’, the Winnie The Pooh song and, the incredibly memorable ‘I Wanna Be Like You’. And more.
The Simpsons
More recently, Danny Elfman’s theme for The Simpsons recalls those glorious golden days of animation. He got a full orchestra and created something grand, silly and complex and filled it with witty asides (the car horn and such), giving us perhaps the most memorable theme tune of a generation. Just perfect.
Think Pink
There are few shows that are as entwined with music, more than the Pink Panther. One look at the title character and your entire brain is flooded with Henry Mancini’s hip jazz. As the Pink Panther didn’t talk (well, he did, but the less said about that the better), the music became his language. The way he put a skip in his walk. The way he tried to style out calamitous accidents. The way he came out of that spin dryer looking like candyfloss. Everything is ticked with the beat of some of the most perfect music any TV show could hope for.
Feel free to add your own favourites in the comments. Everyone loves cartoon music!
Posted: 5th, March 2014 | In: Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comment
RIP BBC 3: We Will Never Forget Your Finest Moment – One Direction: The Doctor Who After Party Live
RIP BBC 3. We will never forget your finest moment. One Direction: The Doctor Who After Party Live…
Spotter: Tom
Posted: 5th, March 2014 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
The Stars That Come Out To Support BBC Three Are The Reason It Should Close
THE BBC is a wonderful thing and this writer will defend it forever. That said, not everything it does is perfect. Take a look at BBC Three for example, which is currently being scrutinised now that Auntie has said it might be closing it down forever and ever amen. Or, at lease, turning it into an online channel.
A BBC spokesman said “nothing is off the table”, adding “no decisions have been made”, but really, it must be nigh on impossible to justify the existence of BBC Three (and Four for that matter), when they only broadcast for half the day (seriously – what is with that) and for the main part, are furiously unpopular.
In the case of BBC Four, the handful of decent shows they make could easily be shown on BBC Two. And BBC Three? Well, there’s little to save from the cull. And the stars that are calling for the channel to remain underline why it needs to go.
Jack Whitehall, Matt Lucas and Russell Kane are amongst those showing support for BBC Three.
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Posted: 5th, March 2014 | In: Celebrities, TV & Radio | Comment (1)
The Top 15 Scariest Dolls of Cinema and Television
THERE is just something inherently creepy about a doll coming to life. I think it falls into the same category as clowns, kids and the elderly. Because they are supposed to be so benign or innocent, it becomes all the more warped and vulgar when they take a bloodthirsty bent.
The devil doll trope didn’t start with Chucky. In fact, you could go back centuries via fairy tales and the golem mythology. In terms of cinema, you could start with The Devil Doll (1936) or Dead of Night (1946). However, we’ll concentrate on films from the 1970s and adjacent decades.
So, here are the top demonic doll movie moments from the 1960s through the 80s. If there’s any egregious omissions, please fill me in, and let’s make this list grow!
15. CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
Woefully cheesy, this film just doesn’t do anything for me. However, I recognize it’s earned its place on the list of evil dolls, so here’s Chucky. Moving right along….
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Posted: 5th, March 2014 | In: Film, Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (7)
