today, tv 3 are holding the first telethon in 16 years
i remember the community spirit
i remember seeing people on tv who only came out for telethons
i remember the hype
i'd forgotten how cheesy the whole thing is
still, it could be worse. i missed the beginning as i was at dialysis and the people prefered the tv2 alternative-a double feature of high school musical and high school miracle 2.
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
the wire season one
just finished watching this and can i say-brilliant
i meant to ration it out-one episode a week-nut as the show reached its climax i couldn't help myself and watched the final two in one session
i've even been ear-wormed by the theme song (tom wait's song "way down in the hole" performed by the blind boys of alabama)
admittedly i had to watch it with the sub titles on because of the slang used and the the fact that some of the actors mumbled
i was a big fan of homicide: life on the street, which was sourced from the same writer (david simon) and same situation (crime in baltimore) but the wire takes it to a whole new level. because it was made by hbo, rather than nbc as homicide was, it seems a lot more...ahem...authentic. (i.e more swearing). in one scene where homicide detectives mcnulty and bunk are working a crime scene, the dialogue consists entirely of the word "fuck" or its variations.
its not a show you can dip in and out of, as i've said before its like watching a book, but the benefit of this is that the effect of the story is cumulative.
if you like crime dramas, or enjoy quality televisison, i cannot recommend this highly enough
my depression at having finished the series is leavened with the joy that there are still two series to watch.
i meant to ration it out-one episode a week-nut as the show reached its climax i couldn't help myself and watched the final two in one session
i've even been ear-wormed by the theme song (tom wait's song "way down in the hole" performed by the blind boys of alabama)
admittedly i had to watch it with the sub titles on because of the slang used and the the fact that some of the actors mumbled
i was a big fan of homicide: life on the street, which was sourced from the same writer (david simon) and same situation (crime in baltimore) but the wire takes it to a whole new level. because it was made by hbo, rather than nbc as homicide was, it seems a lot more...ahem...authentic. (i.e more swearing). in one scene where homicide detectives mcnulty and bunk are working a crime scene, the dialogue consists entirely of the word "fuck" or its variations.
its not a show you can dip in and out of, as i've said before its like watching a book, but the benefit of this is that the effect of the story is cumulative.
if you like crime dramas, or enjoy quality televisison, i cannot recommend this highly enough
my depression at having finished the series is leavened with the joy that there are still two series to watch.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
hmmm
i was reading an interesting article in idealog the other day (i was at the GPs, and the doctor was running 45 minutes late)
it was an arguement that tv is not being dumbed down, but that the quality is actually improving. as an example, he compared the old seventies show "starsky and hutch" with "the sopranos". using that comparison, i can see his point, but i think that he only used the sopranos as it is an example of "quality" programming reaching a major audience.
I am currently working my way through "the wire' which as it works in the same genre of "starsky and hutch" would be a better comparison.
S&H is about two policeman, who always manage to solve their crimes within the commercial hour and is effectivly shown in bright primal colours-cops are good, criminals are bad, goos always triumphs over evil, usually involving an exciting car chase, the odd gun battle and some well-timed quips
"The Wire" is about a series long investigation into a drug crew. I've seen eight episodes so far, and it looks like getting the crims arrested is still a long way away (and even if they do, it won't solve the problem of drugs in the community
it shows both the cops side and the crims. the cops are not angels-there are brutal cops, and a lot of political game playing. the crims are not total villians either. one of the main characters, d'angelo, who has already killed two people and is in charge of sales in the pit (as they call it) is musing on why they need to kill people.
another crim, wallace, who is in his early twenties, is having a crisis of consience about having told his bosses over the wherabouts of a rival, only to find the rival haveing been obviously tortured and killed and dumped in his neighberhood.
overall, i'd say the wire is a deeper, more satisfying watch. it is like reading a book; its certainly not a show you can dip into from time to time, you actually have to watch it.
but the differecne is that S and H was one of the most popular shows of its era. the wire is at best a cult show. some of this is the time it screens (in nz, the fifth and final series is screening at 1.40am on a tuesday morning), but ai think a lot of it is that it is a show that you have to concentrate on. i would suggest that more people have watched the show on dvd than have actually seen it live (extra bonus, you don't get the ads interuppting the narrative flow. because this was made by hbo, they didn't feel the need to put an artifical cliff hanger in every seven minutes or so)
prime time is full of "reality shows" and more generic cop, doc and lawyer shows. some of the best shows of the last few years; deadwood, firefly, veronica mars and so on tend to get shoved into unflattering time solts and quickly get cancelled to the dismay of the few fans who find the shows.
they say that the future of television is the internet. i'm not so sure. the increasing sale of dvds of shows indicates that in many cases people will start to collate and programme their own home channels from their dvd collections.
i already do that already to a large extent
if the audience wants quality programming, they will have to find it themselves
it was an arguement that tv is not being dumbed down, but that the quality is actually improving. as an example, he compared the old seventies show "starsky and hutch" with "the sopranos". using that comparison, i can see his point, but i think that he only used the sopranos as it is an example of "quality" programming reaching a major audience.
I am currently working my way through "the wire' which as it works in the same genre of "starsky and hutch" would be a better comparison.
S&H is about two policeman, who always manage to solve their crimes within the commercial hour and is effectivly shown in bright primal colours-cops are good, criminals are bad, goos always triumphs over evil, usually involving an exciting car chase, the odd gun battle and some well-timed quips
"The Wire" is about a series long investigation into a drug crew. I've seen eight episodes so far, and it looks like getting the crims arrested is still a long way away (and even if they do, it won't solve the problem of drugs in the community
it shows both the cops side and the crims. the cops are not angels-there are brutal cops, and a lot of political game playing. the crims are not total villians either. one of the main characters, d'angelo, who has already killed two people and is in charge of sales in the pit (as they call it) is musing on why they need to kill people.
another crim, wallace, who is in his early twenties, is having a crisis of consience about having told his bosses over the wherabouts of a rival, only to find the rival haveing been obviously tortured and killed and dumped in his neighberhood.
overall, i'd say the wire is a deeper, more satisfying watch. it is like reading a book; its certainly not a show you can dip into from time to time, you actually have to watch it.
but the differecne is that S and H was one of the most popular shows of its era. the wire is at best a cult show. some of this is the time it screens (in nz, the fifth and final series is screening at 1.40am on a tuesday morning), but ai think a lot of it is that it is a show that you have to concentrate on. i would suggest that more people have watched the show on dvd than have actually seen it live (extra bonus, you don't get the ads interuppting the narrative flow. because this was made by hbo, they didn't feel the need to put an artifical cliff hanger in every seven minutes or so)
prime time is full of "reality shows" and more generic cop, doc and lawyer shows. some of the best shows of the last few years; deadwood, firefly, veronica mars and so on tend to get shoved into unflattering time solts and quickly get cancelled to the dismay of the few fans who find the shows.
they say that the future of television is the internet. i'm not so sure. the increasing sale of dvds of shows indicates that in many cases people will start to collate and programme their own home channels from their dvd collections.
i already do that already to a large extent
if the audience wants quality programming, they will have to find it themselves
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The writer's tale
Just finished reading "The writer's tale"
It is basically a years worth of e-mails and texts between journalist Benjamin Cook and writer Russell T Davies over the writing of Season 4 of Doctor Who.
Cook queries Davies on the hows and whys of writing while Davies tries to answer in between completing scripts for the show. There are draft scripts for the "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime" and the two episode finale and a lot of self pity from Davies about how he doesn't have time to write.
Its a fascinating book on the creative process and I thouroughlly recommend it
It is basically a years worth of e-mails and texts between journalist Benjamin Cook and writer Russell T Davies over the writing of Season 4 of Doctor Who.
Cook queries Davies on the hows and whys of writing while Davies tries to answer in between completing scripts for the show. There are draft scripts for the "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime" and the two episode finale and a lot of self pity from Davies about how he doesn't have time to write.
Its a fascinating book on the creative process and I thouroughlly recommend it
Sunday, February 8, 2009
no more guilt
speaking of maori, a new series on the treaty of waitangi started on maori tv.
written and hosted by mike king, it is a ten part series on how then treaty was created and signed
(yes, that's mike king the comedian. if i was cynical, i;d say that they meant to hire michael king, the historian, but he was unable to commit to a ten part history on account of being dead, so they hired mike king and hoped that no one would notice the difference. but i'm not, so i won't)
last nights episode was quite good. it is king's contention that the villans of the piece were the nz governement of the time, together with edward wakefield.
they sold it to the governement for a few hundred dollars. wakefield added a couple of zeros to teh price and onsold it. he also sold land that he didn't technically own fuguring that by the time that the settlers arrived he would have gotten the land one way or another. the settlers were blameless having bought the land in good faith. so, the breaches of the treaty are not our fault. its the bloody government and a dodgy property developer.
plus ca change, ces plus la meme chose
written and hosted by mike king, it is a ten part series on how then treaty was created and signed
(yes, that's mike king the comedian. if i was cynical, i;d say that they meant to hire michael king, the historian, but he was unable to commit to a ten part history on account of being dead, so they hired mike king and hoped that no one would notice the difference. but i'm not, so i won't)
last nights episode was quite good. it is king's contention that the villans of the piece were the nz governement of the time, together with edward wakefield.
they sold it to the governement for a few hundred dollars. wakefield added a couple of zeros to teh price and onsold it. he also sold land that he didn't technically own fuguring that by the time that the settlers arrived he would have gotten the land one way or another. the settlers were blameless having bought the land in good faith. so, the breaches of the treaty are not our fault. its the bloody government and a dodgy property developer.
plus ca change, ces plus la meme chose
Thursday, January 22, 2009
thank god for the daily show
after all the gushing over obama's inauguration, it was good to see that the daily show back to its old tricks
there was a fear that with obama in the white house, satire would die
not in this case, however. stewart and co have the will to look at the things they believe in with the same scrutiny that they used on the old administration
it may be a cliche, but i get a lot of my american news from the daily show
and if i miss an episode?
check it out on www.thedailyshow.com
there was a fear that with obama in the white house, satire would die
not in this case, however. stewart and co have the will to look at the things they believe in with the same scrutiny that they used on the old administration
it may be a cliche, but i get a lot of my american news from the daily show
and if i miss an episode?
check it out on www.thedailyshow.com
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Number One
What with Patrick McGoohan's death this week, here is my view of the meaning of The Prisoner.
One of the most common questions McGoohan was asked was whether number six was John Drake, the hero if his previous show Danger Man (aka Secret Agent). He always denied this, but it was assumed that he had to as if Number Six was Drake, McGoohan would have to pay royalties to the earlier show's creators. However, I think that McGoohan was telling the truth.
The Prisoner was Patrick McGoohan himself.
In 1967, Patrick McGoohan was one of the most well known people on television in Britan. Danger man was one of the most popular shows at the time, even competing well with other shows in the same genre-the Avenegers, the saint, Man from Uncle and so.
Goohan was also getting film roles, but most of them were along the same lines as John Drake. He famously turned down an offer to be James Bond in Dr No and had also turned down being the Saint.
Sir Lew Grade, who owned the network that made danger man was happy with his show. It had started off as a half hour black and white show. Grade had arranged for it to be filmed in colour and to extend the running time to an hour. McGoohan, however, having already done 54 episodes was less enthused and offered Sir Lew an alternative.
He wanted a show that would provoke debates, discussions, arguments and, afetr a promise to make it audience friendly as well he got it.
And so, The Prisoner was made. Under the guise of another secret agent show, McGoohan as star, writer, director and executive producer was able to depict his views on individuality, freedom, democracy and anything else that struck him.
And on a meta level, McGoohan was also looking at television and fame.
The opening titles show number six resigning-just as McGoohan had effectively resigned from Danger Man. (Note that the person he resigns to in the credits is George Markstein-script editor pisof danger man and the prisoner (for the first seven episodes, anyway)).
The question the Villages authority keep asking him is "Why did you resign?" Or, why would anyone leave a successful show. McGoohan/number six wanted to do something differently, but he's put in a concept that is similar to one that he is was in before.
Number six tries to escape, but also tries to fool the authorities as to what he is really up to.
McGohhan is trying to escape his previous role, but also tries to fool the audience by presenting something different from the same old stuff.
This is way in "Fall Out" hen he finally confronts Number One, he sees himself. I beleive that Number one is actually "John Drake", the role that he was most identified as and the one that was effectively keeping him prisoner.
At the end of the show, number six escapes-or does he. He drops the butler off at his London flat, but the door opens automatically as it does in the village. The final shot of the show mirrors the opening shot implying that everything is going to start again. McGooham has freed himself from John Drake, but is now a prisoner of The Prisoner. Number six is the new number one. And given that its now 42 years since the show was made, and we're still talking about it, you'd have to say that this was awfully prescient.
Other hints that McGoohan himself was the prisoner?
One of the most common questions McGoohan was asked was whether number six was John Drake, the hero if his previous show Danger Man (aka Secret Agent). He always denied this, but it was assumed that he had to as if Number Six was Drake, McGoohan would have to pay royalties to the earlier show's creators. However, I think that McGoohan was telling the truth.
The Prisoner was Patrick McGoohan himself.
In 1967, Patrick McGoohan was one of the most well known people on television in Britan. Danger man was one of the most popular shows at the time, even competing well with other shows in the same genre-the Avenegers, the saint, Man from Uncle and so.
Goohan was also getting film roles, but most of them were along the same lines as John Drake. He famously turned down an offer to be James Bond in Dr No and had also turned down being the Saint.
Sir Lew Grade, who owned the network that made danger man was happy with his show. It had started off as a half hour black and white show. Grade had arranged for it to be filmed in colour and to extend the running time to an hour. McGoohan, however, having already done 54 episodes was less enthused and offered Sir Lew an alternative.
He wanted a show that would provoke debates, discussions, arguments and, afetr a promise to make it audience friendly as well he got it.
And so, The Prisoner was made. Under the guise of another secret agent show, McGoohan as star, writer, director and executive producer was able to depict his views on individuality, freedom, democracy and anything else that struck him.
And on a meta level, McGoohan was also looking at television and fame.
The opening titles show number six resigning-just as McGoohan had effectively resigned from Danger Man. (Note that the person he resigns to in the credits is George Markstein-script editor pisof danger man and the prisoner (for the first seven episodes, anyway)).
The question the Villages authority keep asking him is "Why did you resign?" Or, why would anyone leave a successful show. McGoohan/number six wanted to do something differently, but he's put in a concept that is similar to one that he is was in before.
Number six tries to escape, but also tries to fool the authorities as to what he is really up to.
McGohhan is trying to escape his previous role, but also tries to fool the audience by presenting something different from the same old stuff.
This is way in "Fall Out" hen he finally confronts Number One, he sees himself. I beleive that Number one is actually "John Drake", the role that he was most identified as and the one that was effectively keeping him prisoner.
At the end of the show, number six escapes-or does he. He drops the butler off at his London flat, but the door opens automatically as it does in the village. The final shot of the show mirrors the opening shot implying that everything is going to start again. McGooham has freed himself from John Drake, but is now a prisoner of The Prisoner. Number six is the new number one. And given that its now 42 years since the show was made, and we're still talking about it, you'd have to say that this was awfully prescient.
Other hints that McGoohan himself was the prisoner?
- number six has McGoohan's birthday ("Arrival")
- photos used of number six are MCGoohan's offical publicity shots from Danger man ("Arrival", "Free for all")
- "The Girl who was death" was a rewritten Danger man script. It included a semi-regular character from the earlier show-Potter-played by the same actor Christopher Benjamin)
Most notably, I dug out my DVDs of the show to rewatch (since its unlikley that any TV station is going to) and noted, on the preview to each episode is the legend "PATRICK McGOOHAN IS THE PRISONER"
Well quite
Be seeing you
Also dead this week was Patrick McGoohan
Obviously, he will be best remebered for The Prisoner. I got the DVDs a couple of years ago-it is still a really good series.
This wasn't all he did, though. Most of the coverage of the death has mentioned Braveheart, which he was good in.
One that is missed however, was a film he made for Disney. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh aka Dr Syn. I don't remeber much about it except that it was set in England and had McGoohan as a priest(?) by day and a highwayman with a sack over his head at night.
I'll have to try and find it.
Obviously, he will be best remebered for The Prisoner. I got the DVDs a couple of years ago-it is still a really good series.
This wasn't all he did, though. Most of the coverage of the death has mentioned Braveheart, which he was good in.
One that is missed however, was a film he made for Disney. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh aka Dr Syn. I don't remeber much about it except that it was set in England and had McGoohan as a priest(?) by day and a highwayman with a sack over his head at night.
I'll have to try and find it.
Dead List
it's a tragedy when people die and there have been a lot of them this week
here is an opportunity to pay tribute to the famous who have gone.
The first one this week was Ricarado Motalban.
I don't remember ever watching Fantasy Island, although the small guy in the white suit yelling "the plane, the plane" is a cultural symbol of my time
i do remeber him from star trek-the wrath of khan (and from the original star trek episode "space seed"
here is an opportunity to pay tribute to the famous who have gone.
The first one this week was Ricarado Motalban.
I don't remember ever watching Fantasy Island, although the small guy in the white suit yelling "the plane, the plane" is a cultural symbol of my time
i do remeber him from star trek-the wrath of khan (and from the original star trek episode "space seed"
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