This is a real missed opportunity, because in concept its great. Members of the public tell b-list celebs, such as Anneka Rice and Claire Sweeney, what to say and do, using an array of hidden cameras and ear pieces. To earn money they have to get them to do embarrassing things like pinching a blokes arse or get someone to show them how to belly dance. But imagine if this was late late night tv. If the viewer’s could get the desperate for work celebs to swear uncontrollably, strip off in the middle of McDonalds or commit a serious crime? Then it could have been an unmissable tv event. As it is, it’s just yet more family fluff, and a bit naff all in all.
Big Brothers Little Brother (7pm, weekdays, e4)
You might not believe it, but the funniest tv moment of the month was on BBLB. Though the show’s often mixed and far too drawn out, when Joe Cornish (of Adam and Joe fame) was a guest, it was simply fantastic. And the greatest moments was when Joe told an obsessive BB fan, who had built a carboard BB house, and gotten her whole office involved in playing with it, that it was "Rubbish", that she should "Burn it" and "Sit down with a cup of tea and your office friends and assess your life" Even the normally laid back Dermot O’Leary was taken aback by this, and somewhat mysteriously Joe didnt feature in the rest of the show. But by this point we were laughing so much we don’t really care.
Six Feet Under (11:05pm, Mondays, C4)
Okay, so I’ve changed my mind again. It’s not a crime is it? It is? Oh. Sorry. Anyway, this is becoming quite a nice, droll, and fairly breezy comedy drama. It’s lightened up hugely since the first all too sombre early episodes, everyone concerned seems more comfortable with their roles, and in a summer with so little to watch, this is turning out to be a mini-gem.
Will and Grace (9.30pm, Fridays, C4)
Improving, and getting sharper, this is never going to be worth watching often but if you’ve got half an hour to waste you could do so much worse – especially considering the BBC seem to have given up making anything even vaguely worth watching this summer. But it’s really best watched on video with friends when a night out at the pub night, as (much) alcohol makes it far more fun.
Angel (9pm, 13th June, Sky One)
And so too another mixed season finale for Angel and co, a series which has always managed to turn out a fair few quality episodes each year, before falling apart in the final few shows. Not that it was particularly bad or anything, just a little dull. Okay, so Angel ends the series trapped in a metal casket and 30,000 leagues (or so) under the sea, but as we all know, like Buffy's death last year, this was never going to be the final moments for the character. So there seems to be very little point in doing so at all, and it just makes it appear all the more a desperate attempt to bring bored viewers back next year. Which if they are to do so, they really need to create a more involving and exciting story arc.
Takeover Tv (10pm, Fridays, E4)
A mixed bag of clips made by the viewers, a lot of it is all too Jackassy, or sub-Chris Morris. But whilst never laugh out loud material, this is still far more amusing than the majority of 'proper' comedy on at the mo, and worth catching.
Tv To Go (10.35pm, Mondays, BBC1)
Painful pun filled shite from the station that seems to be insistent on ignoring any form of decent alternative comedy. Full of sexual innuendo and tiresomely obvious lines, we can only presume that Mackenzie Crook of The Office fame was blackmailed in to appearing in it. Hugh Dennis continues to prove that he's been consistently the unfunniest member of The Mary Whitehouse Experience since that show ended, and this is just yet another example of the BBC really taking the piss.
Anna in Wonderland (9pm, BBC Choice, Sundays)
A Louis Theroux rip off that sees the former BB contestant explore
various strange people’s lives, it has none of the charm of Mr Theroux’s
series. Anna seems too judgemental too soon, and doesn’t take part much.
She just doesn’t have any of Louis' vulnerability or enthusiasm either,
and looks simply uncomfortable a lot of the time. A shame, as I liked
her during her stay in the BB house. But now? Now I’m not so sure.
Eastenders (8pm, Monday 17th June)
Okay, I admit it, after two months of Eastenders-less life, I accidentally caught 30 seconds of it last night. And even those all too long moments proved that I made the right decision to kick my soap habbit. It's shit people. You know it is. And you'll so not regret giving it up. You could be outside! Drunk! Surfing the net for obscure tv trivia! Asleep! Any and all of these are a better alternative to watching it.
24 (10pm, Sundays, BBC2)
Despite a few wobbily moments during the mid morning, 24 is still on fine form 98% of the time, and dont be put off if you've missed it so far - a brief lull in preceedings this week makes it the perfect time to start watching. If you don't you'll only go and miss the second best show on at the moment. So dont. Okay? (AF)
The main problem is that it stops being funny after about five minutes. The first time you see Ozzy have a huge whining fit, sure, it's laugh out loud material. But after the hundredth time, it starts to grate, and after the thousandth time you end up screaming at the screen "For christsakes man you're a fucking multi-millionaire, please just shut up." Kids Jack and Kelly dont engage your sympathies either, also whiney, self involved and always bitching. Jack seems to adore himself, Kelly seems frustrated that no ones paying her attention all the time, and whilst they deserve some pity for having been born in to such madness, such compassion runs out pretty quickly after
With each episode Ozzy seems to gain a decade age-wise, and too much of the humour is based around him telling his kids/wife/pets to fuck off. Some of the choice words of wisdom that he's supposedly become infamous for are pretty tedious too, and most of it being dull moaning, which makes him even less sympathetic too. Strangely, during footage of Ozzy on stage, he seems quite lucid and self aware. It's just a shame that this doesn’t continue off stage, as too much of the time it appears that he barely comprehends anything which is going on. Constantly complaining about all the thing’s he sick to death of - "Fucking bats…living in a fucking dump" (as he climbs the stairway of his massive and rather gorgeous mansion), the prospect of having to work two days in a row led him to freaking out completely "We’re not doing two shows back to back are we, you’ll end up fucking me up Sharon?…I cant do that anymore Sharon, I’m fifty two years of age…All you think of is the fucking money." Which, as those who work more than two days a week will no doubt understand, led me to begin really disliking the bloke.
What makes it even worse is the obtrusive yet atypical MTV cutting, that jumps from one situation to the other haphazardly, with the narrative being about as weak as it gets, even for so called reality tv. And the cheesey, seventies lounge music they’ve used to back too many scenes really induces cringing too. Ultimately it’s an exceptionally flawed package, and nowhere near to being the 21st Century Simpson’s that everyone claimed it to be. Really all this is is a semi-tragic examination of what it's like to be an ageing metal singer, and how the reality of it all is so much more depressing than the much airbrushed fantasy. And after one episode you’ll have seen all you’ll ever want too.
The prospect of a second series, which will see Sharon undergo chemotherapy, Jack working for a record company, Kelly, shudder, singing for a living and Ozzy still whine and wonder why the world isnt revolving around him twenty four seven is something that feels me with dread. And I wont be watching it by choice, that’s for sure.
E.R. (9pm, Wednesdays, C4)
Thank the lord that at least one US show has managed to survive to it’s eighth year and not become either a parody of itself (Cheers, The X-files), repetitive and far too formulaic (The Simpsons, Frasier) or simply piss poor (Roseanne and too many others to list here). E.R.’s survived losing important and much loved characters (George Clooney, Eric DeSalle, Julianna Marguilles and now Anthony Edwards), and those they’ve brought in have fitted in seamlessly, well most, anyway, and if they haven’t they’ve been jettisoned quickly.
It went through a tad dodgy stage last year of having too many celebrity cameos, including a histrionic and rather annoying Sally Fields, but this year it concentrated on the medical staff more than the patients, and benefited from this. Essentially, it’s played around with it’s established format this year too, as all tv shows must if they’ve any chance of staying fresh. Three episodes, a breakfast club pastiche which saw Carter, Abby, Kovach, and Gallant show their true colours a little more than they usually do so, a crossover with Third Watch, and one which showed Mark Greene’s final days, moved the series out of the ER and yet still maintained if not improved the quality of the series, which couldn’t have been easy.
It’s not been perfect. Carter’s occasionally a little annoying these days, less wide eyed and occasionally too self assured, especially in his somewhat disastrous romantic entanglements this year, though then this was rumoured to be partly due to viewer revolt at the Lewis and Carter relationship, but most of the time he’s still an intriguing, enjoyable and involving central character, and carry’s the programme well. Susan Lewis is somehow not as appealing as she was in the early years, and the Third Watch crossover which saw her go to New York felt a little patchy, and it’s ending, with her niece missing and a huge police hunt underway, was all too briefly resolved in the next episode, which just felt disjointed and unreal.
But in a season of so many episodes, the odd drop in quality from time to time is always inevitable, and I suspect it will cope well despite the loss of Anthony Edwards. Whilst I’m sure no one wants to see it go on forever, I’m more than happy to see it continue for a fair few years yet.
South Park (11.05pm, Fridays, C4)
Kenny’s dead, Butters is in, and surely this just cant be a good move. Okay, so maybe the joke had gone on long enough with the mumbling, but couldn’t they have just bought Kenny a new coat? Butters just doesn’t cut the mustard, too sweet, too optimistic, too naïve – something that Kenny so refreshingly wasn’t.
Kyle and Stan provide the moral centre of the show, and another nice kid is not what this show needs. Now Cartman becoming super villain-esque has just been darkly marvellous, but without his loyal Kenny by his side, it’s lacking something. The first episode post Kenny’s death, which centred around Butters and barely featured the others, was by far the weakest this year. And there’s been a fair few dodgy episodes for it to compete against for that title too.
Framed by a 1950’s-esque sitcom title sequence, parts were fine, but only because of the extreme bizarreness of the plotline. Butters discovers his Dad’s gay and going to steam baths, his Mum goes mad and tries to kill Butters, he ends up in Denver, whilst his Mum and Dad try to cover up the murder. But overall it just didn’t feel, well, right. It had a great ending with Butter’s dad screaming insanely, showing that there’s still some decent writer’s still working on the show, but it’s too patchy and whilst playing with the format is essential to keep a long running show interesting, as we mentioned in the review of E.R. above, I think they’ve made a big mistake, and I’d much rather have seen Kyle or Stan be killed off than the character they have.
Still, it’s just about good enough to stick with it for the time being and see how things turn out. But only just about.
The first episode was drenched in grief, and whilst it became lighter towards the end, it wasn't enough to
Another show which uses the already over exposed 'Ally McBeal-esque' fantasy sequences, it all feels utterly unoriginal, and all the performances feel far too soapy. Maybe that's a little unfair, but few live up to anything seen in The Soprano's, E.R., or even the aforementioned Ally McBeal for that matter. Fortunately there is one exceptions - Muriel's Weddings Rachel Griffith is outstanding, but she's yet to be in it enough to save the day.
Last year's The Sins did something really interesting with the life of the undertaker, and was full of masterful performances, but this feels like a poor inferior pastiche without any of the pathos and pure, fierce emotion that Pete Posthelwaite's series contained. It seems to buy in to all that 'touchy feely love everyone' and 'let your feelings out, Mannnnn' new age therapy speak that simply doesn't convince. And all gets a bit much after a while. Everyone's got a secret or a past to hide, and there's a liberal sprinkling of topical but familiar subjects - drugs, homosexuality, infedility etc, etc that leads to a uncomfortable feeling of unreality.
Interesting in part, but not really worth spending your time on. Unless you have too much on your hands, you lucky people, you.
Alex Finch.
Our Friends in the North (9pm, Mondays, UK Drama)
There is absolutely no point in tuning into any of the terrestrial channels, hoping to find top quality drama. You can forget your Anna Friel's Fields of Gold, which is destined to be standard fare, and catch this epic series of 4 Geordie friends trials and tribulations over the years.
It contais astounding performances from lead actors Mark Strong (Tosker), Gina Mckee (Mary), Daniel Craig (Geordie), and Christopher Eccleston (Nicky). At the time, all were relatively unknown, with the exception of Eccleston, who was in the excellent Jimmy McGovern school drama "Hearts and Minds". And there's also great supporting performances from Malcolm MacDowell, and Peter Vaughan as Nicky's brash father.
No doubt it will have endless repeated runs, once the current cycle finishes in a few weeks, but this is certainly one to savour.
Homicide: Life on the Street (9pm, Mondays To Fridays, Hallmark)
(Warning: Complete and utter biased review about to appear). Yahoo! The most criminally under-rated drama ever gets an airing, with the proposed first 3 seasons (and arguably 3 best - on second thoughts, actually they are!) to be shown weeknights on Hallmark, as part of their Crime Triple Bill, which also features classic Law and Order and the slightly average Law and Order:SVU. Make no mistake though, Homicide is the jewel in the Crown.
Originally a book written by Police "Cop Shop" Newspaper reporter David Simon, who spent a year with members of Baltimore's Homicide Unit; this was adapted by Paul Attanasio, who went on to do "Donnie Brasco", and is produced by Simon, Tom Fontana (OZ, St. Elsewhere), and Barry Levinson, who made the brilliant "Diner", "Tin Men" etc. An interplanetary cast, with lead performances from Yaphet Kotto (as the powerfully intimidating Lieutennant Al Giardello), Andre Braugher (as the uncompromising God-fearing catholic loner Frank Pembleton), Kyle Secor (as the green behind the gills rookie Tim Bayliss), Richard Belzer (the incredibly knowledgable but wonderfully dry John Munch), Daniel Baldwin (the unsuccessful but equally witty Beau Felton, Melissa Leo (as the consistently successful Kay Howard), Jon Polito ('Salami-brained' conspiracy theorist Steve Crosetti), Clark Johnson (the sensitive, gentle, but grounded Meldrick Lewis), and Ned Beatty (as the wonderfully curmudgeonly Stanley Bolander). I apologise for the fact that I have left the review to late; for the discernible viewer has already missed the pilot episode "Gone for Goode", the hilariously enclosed "Night Shift" (where the cast undergo a night shift on Homcide in absolutely sweltering weather conditions in the office) and the absolutely golden classic "Three Men and Adena" which was aired on 10/06/2002, and is just the most emotional episode about the raping and killing of a schoolgirl.
Expect in future episodes Robin Williams in a straight role that he (hopefully) doesnt try and act up in and pull it off brilliantly, and incendiary performances from all cast members.
Craig Aston.
Big Brother (All the time, E4/C4)
I was intoxicated. Forced at gun point to say it. My whole family threatened to commit suicide if I didn't. What? Oh, well for those who havent got a clue what I'm rambling about, check out the review of the first episode of Big Brother (cf Tv comment April - May 2002) and then come back here.
Yes. So I know. Sandy, PJ and Katie for the final three. But then this judgement was based on just the first episode, and about thirty minutes of e4 viewage. And I knew I'd come to regret it. And now? Three weeks on? Well I just don't know. I don't know at all. As predicted, all the housemates are too aware of the camera's and of giving away any personal details, and most never really seem to be themselves. And no one's that funny either. Which makes live viewing on e4 particularly strenuous.
New housemate Tim seems to be the type who will annoy the others quite quickly, as his immediate bonding with Alex suggests, and at least his boarding school experiences hopefully mean that he wont be the third member of the BB house to voluntarily leave. But I'd be amazed if I ever really warm to him. Though as this is based on less than 15 minutes viewing of him, this is probably a little unfair. It's just a shame they couldn't find another Brian, Jack or Anna to put in to the house.
It's all enjoyable enough tosh, but not essential viewing like the other two years were, and if I miss a fair few programmes than it's no way near anything approaching a disaster. Or even a disappointment. The lack of tasks, and, lets face it, humour, have made things all too boring, and I've yet to meet anyone (bar those who obsessively fancy Spencer) who really cares who wins it this year.
And so to my current final three. Well, it falls in to two categories this time - I'd like to see Alex, Jade and Spencer in the house on the final night. But as it's just been announced that Alex and Spencer are up for nomination this week, this sadly won't happen. And the likely final three? Well, I've a horrible feeling that Jade, Johnny and Adele will make it through to the end of the show. It's not that I have anything against them, they're just so bland and predictable, that's all. Like too much of the show has been this year.
Alex Finch.
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