Remember BBC1's Bonekickers, which was let loose over the Summer? Here's my review of the first episode to jog your memory.
It was a sub-Dan Brown piece of escapism created by the guys behind Life on Mars, Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, in which a team of archeologists would go hunting for precious relics, such as the cross of Jesus Christ, get chased by other people who wanted it, then at the last possible moment they'd burn/throw into a bucket of acid/smash with a mallet the very precious, unique, vital relic they'd dedicated their entire careers to searching for and treating with respect. Then they'd head down the pub.
Now, ever since it's been on, I've been pondering a couple of issues that Bonekickers has raised
Ashley Pharoah (apparently) gets miffed about criticism and likes to leavemessages on The Guardian's blogs insulting Gareth McLean and co as a result (do a search for TheWordBoy, which is also his Dome of Stars name). How odd
It's much harder to suspend your disbelief for a UK show than for a US show
The second point is the one I want to look at. Why is it that something like the US's Relic Hunter seems almost acceptable as a bit of escapist fun, when Bonekickers isn't?
Is it just we hold our own shows to higher standards? Is there something about the unfamiliarity of US settings that forces us to suspend our disbelief anyway -Â so it's a smaller leap to other more far-out ideas? Does the US simply have a greater tradition of escapist shows, so we've learnt to adapt? Are the US's actors simply more credible in escapist entertainment, while our slightly more down at heel, less gym-friendly actors don't look like they could run for more than a couple of minutes anyway? Or was it simply that Bonekickers wasn't very good?
And US readers: do you have any ideas on this and is there a similar situation for you? Do you hold US shows up to a higher standard than UK shows or vice versa? And do you even agree that there are more escapist shows on US TV?
I got this email yesterday from someone who read my season finale review of Moonlight:
I would just like to say that i think you should make more programs of moonlight because the program was such a big hit and it was such a thrill to watch.I am disappiont that you have ended the program and you should consider making a lot more.
yoursfaithfully
xxx (name removed to protect the innocent)
I'm not exactly sure how this (probably quite young) person got the idea from my review that I'd decided to cancel Moonlight, using my vast, vast powers, or that I made it. Was it my sentence structure?
But for them and anyone else who gets the impression from my TV reviews that I actually make the programmes I'm reviewing, I'd just like to point out that I don't. I don't cancel them either. I certainly didn't cancel Moonlight: that was CBS.
And really, if anyone's going to bring Moonlight or any other cancelled TV showback, I'm probably not the right person to do it. I'm gratified that people might think from my reviews that I'd make really great TV programmes, but I suspect I wouldn't. At least, not with my current budgets.
I've pleaded. I've put my foot down. I've said I won't have it in the house. I've told her it's appalling and one of the worst TV shows in recent memory.
But she won't listen. She misses him.
Is there any way I can stop my wife getting her John Barrowman fix through buying the first series of Torchwood on DVD? I wouldn't have minded if it was the second series…
As I noted a couple of weeks ago, the Welsh didn't get much of a look-in on British TV until quite recently. For the most part, they were often the butt of comedy or segregated into cartoons, where they didn't fare much better. Rarely even did the part of the Welsh character go to a Welsh actor: invariably it went to someone English who couldn't do a proper Welsh accent.
To see what I mean, here are a few classic cartoons featuring the Welsh:
1) The Willo The Wisp episode The Dragon
2) The Ivor the Engine episode The Egg
3) And the Chorlton and the Wheelies episode Happiness is Hatched
You'll notice that:
There are no Welsh people doing the voices, only English actors doing bad Welsh accents
In two of the episodes they're over-excitable and evil. In the other, they have no respect for the natural world
There's a dragon in each one (although one's not Welsh)
Just thought I'd mention it. Honestly, though, it's really only an excuse for some old kids shows, seeing as it's shaping up into nostalgia week, this week.
I happen to quite like Jeremy Clarkson. No matter that he's a bit right-wing or that some of his newspaper articles seem to have been cobbled together in a couple of minutes, probably by a ghost writer*.
In person and on tele, he's entertaining, interesting and his views are slightly tempered by humour.
All that being equal, some people still don't like him. So my question today is: Does knowing that his Mum created the original Paddington Bear toy for him make him more likeable?
"Originally made one Christmas as a present for Shirley's and her husband Eddie's children Jeremy and Joanna, the bear remains a classic of its kind - one which still gives me pleasure whenever I see it - and it served as a kind of yardstick when judging other products. Some things, like Concorde and the Jaguar XK120, look right from the word go. It was created with love and it was born with that indefinable something known as star quality. You either have it or you don't." Michael Bond, author of the Paddington Bear stories
* Although, for the sake of libel writ prevention, let's say not.
Anyone know why Five is bringing back classic 70s sports show Superstars?
Not only has BBC1 tried it and failed – perhaps because they had Johnny Vaughn as the main host and he's best at armchair comedy – they're bringing it back and messing around with the format. This time it's going to be teams (three men and one woman in each).
Anyone going to watch it? Anyone got any ideas about why they're bringing it back?
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