Everyone watch Heroes on Monday? Okay, I thought, with some nice touches, but not as good as previous eps. What did you think?

One thing did catch my attention though: it was directed by John Badham. Why should that have drawn my attention? Well, do you remember any of these films:

• Saturday Night Fever
• Blue Thunder
• WarGames
• Short Circuit?

Yes, he directed all of them. Not bad, hey? But now he's directing Heroes. It's a bit of a comedown, isn't it? I'm not saying anything bad about the show itself here, but you don't see Martin Scorsese directing episodes of Lost, and if you did, ABC would be making a bit of a song and dance about it, you can bet. But no mention of Badham's presence anywhere in the NBC publicity for the episode. Bad NBC.

I had a brief look at Badham's recent resumé on IMDB. It's a bit upsetting. Episodes of:

• Crossing Jordan
• Standoff
• Just Legal and
• Blind Justice

Standoff? What went wrong?

There's nothing on the trivia list that might explain his fall from grace. Is he just spending his time teaching film at Chapman University in Orange, California, as his trivia section suggests, picking up the extra bit of cash and keeping his hand in from time to time? Is it merely his age that's caused him to stick to smaller projects (he's 67, but then so's my Dad and he doesn't seem to be slowing down)? Is it because he's from Luton, and bad things happen to people from Luton?

Can anyone enlighten me?

Katy says:

“Hello,
I read your piece about the forthcoming screening of THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER on 25th May at the NFT.
I am currently in the process of re-releasing this on DVD which can be purchased from our website:
www.themoonandthesledgehammer.com
Do you think you could add our website to your piece? There has been considerable interest in it, particularly as it hasn't been available legally for quite some time now.

Many thanks and best regards,

Katy”

There you go, Katy!

I could take turkeys. I could just about take pigs, although even Gordon cried when the moment came.

But can I take a whole series of The F-Word, knowing that every week those lovely wooly little lambs Gordon Ramsay is rearing are going to get slaughtered in the final episode on-camera? I'm not sure my heart can take it.

Of course, if he'd chosen merely to slaughter a bunch of old Etonians like he did last night, I'd have no problem whatsoever watching.

Read other posts about: Gordon Ramsay

Bit luvvie, that.

Film

• Two made-for-TV Star Wars movies to come?
• May the biggest wuss win: Tim Roth will face off against Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk
• Looks like there are more Terminator things on the way
• The Rock as Captain Marvel?

Music

• New Order have broken up

British TV

• ITV wants Moira Stuart

US TV

• At least one character will survive the finale of Heroes [spoilers]
• Assuming it lasts that long, given its ratings are falling
• ABC Family has commissioned 10 more episodes of Kyle XY
• Supernatural's chances of renewal are improving
• Tom Selleck has signed up for Las Vegas

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Read other posts about: Heroes, Kyle XY, Supernatural

I'll tell you about it later

Film

• Eddie Murphy's going to star in a remake of Fantasy Island
• Bruce Willis likes to stay up late and leave messages on movie discussion forums
• Hammer movies get sold again
• Johnny Depp talks merchandising

UK TV

• Five Life is going to start showing old episodes of Home and Away

US TV

• The next season of Battlestar Galactica will be its last
• NBC's launching a behind-the-scenes series about Heroes on the web
• Not too many comedies picked up for next season
• Friday Night Lights gets a second season

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Read other posts about: Battlestar Galactica, Heroes

This one's been bugging me for a while and I thought I'd vent. You've probably noticed it too, so feel free to join in.

So up pops the crim in CSI: Miami. Not the main crim, but some minor crim who's done something that momentarily leads the Carusobot and his glamour nerds down a blind alley.

Exposed by some implausible piece of forensics, what is their first reaction?

"Can I have a lawyer, please?"
No

"I'm not saying anything"?
No

"That's pretty flimsy, isn't it?"
No

When finally faced with proof of their crimes, they confess. But what I never understand is why they always seem so surprised when they're hauled off by the police once they've done it.

"It's true. I did try to kill my husband. I shot him five times then buried him under a compost heap. But it was actually Farmer Barleymow and his combine harvester who killed him. Can I go now? No? But why not, Officer Carusobot? It wasn't my fault he died..."

It's mystifying. Do they not appreciate that attempted murder, hacking limbs off other people, theft, etc are all crimes? Do they think that because someone else did the actual murder, that somehow gives them a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card?

Personally, I thought that was all pretty common knowledge, but hey ho.

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