15 posts tagged “tv”

View other items tagged “tv:” Photos, Audio, Videos, Books or Links. View “tv” on Vox.

Born to be...

Jul 24, 2009
Post a comment

Mugs in Mousehole targeted at fans of Doctor Who, Spooks or Robin Hood. (Are there any fans of Robin Hood?)

UnTrendy TV: Last of the Summer Wine

Jul 4, 2009
2 comments

It's not cutting-edge, it's not fashionable and it's certainly not innovative, but I'm not afraid to admit that I love Last of the Summer Wine. In a bizarre mix of modern and old, I recently used our BTVision PVR to record the whole of the most recent series of the gentle comedy - its 30th.

Yes, for over 30 years, the misadventures of a bunch of elderly folks who seem to have reverted to childhood in the Yorkshire dales have been entertaining people. And I've been enjoying it ever since, as a child, I watched it with my father. He dreamed of a retirement in the Last of the Summer Wine mould. He never got that chance - cancer took him in his mid-60s - but the programme endures, and I still enjoy it.

Most of the original cast are gone now - an inevitable consequence of a show featuring the elderly. Clegg and Ivy are still around, but there's a new trio of Entwhistle, Alvin and Hobbo, roughly taking the roles of Compo, Clegg and Foggy from the classic trio of old. But, on the whole, the show hasn't changed that much. It's still an ensemble piece around a central trio, and the humour is just an exaggerated version of the mishaps of ordinary life. There was a period about 20 years ago when the stunts got more and more extravagant, but then the original cast got older and older, and the jokes slowly returned to the more conversational, situational humour in which it excels.

Yes, it's slow, childish and fundamentally unimportant. But that's the point. It's tried and tested humour, performed by actors with more comedy experience each than many TV comedies have amongst the whole cast. It's cosy, predictable and familiar. And that's why I love it. There's a place in live for both trendy urban design and an old blanket.

Tacky Tissues

Jun 30, 2009
Post a comment

Spotted, to my mingled disbelief and amazement in my local supermarket: Hannah Montana tissues.

For the fannish teenage girl... or the teenage boy in need of, uh, inspiration?

Review: The Tudors

Mar 3, 2008
3 comments

The Tudors: Complete BBC Series 1 [2007]

So, I went up to Mum's last night, to surprise her for Mother's Day and cook her a roast. Afterwards we cracked open a bottle of red wine and indulged in several hours of watching The Tudors, which she recorded on her PVR months ago.

And my, it's fun.

OK, they've taken some fairly serious liberties with history. Time periods are compressed, and characters are conflated. People's ages are mixed around and, frankly, they're all a lot prettier than they were in real life.

And yet, the heart of the conflicts are spot on. The heady mix of politics and genuine faith that charged the discussions of the era are explored in a surprising amount of detail. And with gratuitous semi-nudity. What more can you ask for?

The Tudors Opening Credits

TV Shows on iTunes UK

Aug 29, 2007
Post a comment

I wake this morning to the exciting news that iTunes has added TV shows to the UK store. Hurrah! So far, it's just a bunch of US shows, from South Park to Lost, Ugly Betty to Desperate Housewives. But really, who hasn't had the suspicion lately that the US shows are better than our own? (Doctor Who excepted, of course)

We can rebuild her

Jun 7, 2007
Post a comment

Because Lindsay and Karl were asking:

Bionic Woman -- Coming to NBC

Today's Office Nostalgia

Jun 7, 2007
Post a comment

Terry And June Opening Titles

Today's bit of 1970s TV nostalgia: Terry & June.

I used to love this when I was a kid, before I became a teenager and realised just how painfully uncool it was.

Looking at it now, I can see why I liked it so much.

Terry & June look disturbingly like my Mum & Dad did back then...

The Secret of Fox

May 29, 2007
1 comment

The Simpsons - Fox News and the Liberal Media

Fashion's in the Details

Feb 1, 2007
Post a comment

Project Catwalk: Ladies Day

Sometimes telly is rubbish. Not rubbish in a big, over-arching way, but in a small, missing detail sort of way.

Lorna and I were watching Project Catwalk, our guilty Sky Three pleasure, waiting eagerly to see which of the three dress designs would win.

And they didn't tell us.

We suspected it was the one you can see to the right, because someone from that team was this week's winner, but we didn't know for sure. It was never explicitly said in the show. And that left us feeling curiously unsatisfied.

Niggling details.

(It was that dress. We found the result on the website.)