They reward a “drama” that trashes British soldiers in Iraq “Mark of Cain” and one glorifying/making excuses for Muslim suicide bombers in the form of Britz.

At least Sky News got a nod for its good news service.

I watched the last Dr Who episode. Is it me or was Catherine Tate bloody awful? She didnt act she just did her characters in different places. They seem to be good at picking doctors, but rubbish at picking female side-kicks. Bring back Teela!

The Ood seem to me to be direct rip-offs of D&Ds Mindflayers (check out the Monster Manual).

NB: I admit that I thought Billy Piper was awful as a sidekick and assumed it was she was a rubbish actress. The various dramas I have seen her in since have convinced me I was wrong about her acting skills. She is actually rather good.

NB: For the benefit of my non-UK readers. Catherine Tate is a “comediene” who has an ole’ lady character who uses that phrase often.

And its free as well. The game is based on ITV’s gritty and mostly good City of Vice drama. CoV depicts the trials and tribulations of the Bow Street Runners. The game is “historically acccurate” and thus as gritty as the show from which it was spawned. I shall report here on the game once I give it a go. As its a web-game non-broadband users probably might want to steer clear.

After a fairly lame season last time around; with their infamous redneck-taunting exploits, it was great to see they came up with something this fun. The sheer comedy of seeing the trio do a bunch of challenges with 70s era British Leyland cars is priceless. You can catch it on YouTube for now until its pulled.

I found it most amusing as my parents owned a Maxi while we lived in Wales in the early 70s. As if that wasn’t a hint enough; for a time in the 90s I owned a 1980 Triumph Spitfire. A car, despite its nuisances, which I still miss. It was bloody easy to fix that is for sure.

If you like Top Gear or like amusing challenges; head over to YouTube and watch the BL Challenge. Its quality television for the auto aware.

Via: Theo.

It seems Richard & Judy are “quitting” their show. If you want to see the caliber of the people who like the dross check out the comments below the piece. They so loved their audience they ripped them off to the tune of millions with their call-ins. Could this be the first step in the reversal of the dumbing-down of TV? I doubt it but its nice to see some crap ending rather than something good.

Richard is really good with his clangers; check out his comments on the Pope and on WWII.

Oh yeah and who believes those two actually read the books on their book club? Hearing them attempt to chat intelligently about any of them convinces anyone sensible that their researchers read them and brief them.

I was distressed to see a bunch Israel-hating retards being broadcast at taxpayers expense here in coastal Maine. I was just in time to see Democracy Now’s latest bit of anti-Israeli ranting. What is most amusing is that in trying to be anti-corporate they have a host who has an eye twitch and mumbles. Then again with crap coming out of her gob she might as well look crap too. The site features such things as “Guerilla of the Week” and a story on wait for it “the power of the Israeli lobby.”

Like the American media isn’t skewed to the left enough?

Defamer:

Among the hot topics that Rosie [O’Donnell] delves into is her painful childhood secret. She writes that as a child, she used to break her own limbs with “a baseball bat” or a “wooden hanger.”

[...]

On page 186, it reads: “My hands and fingers usually. No one knew. My secret.” Why? “Proof,” she writes, “that I had some value, enough to be fixed.” And later, Rosie cryptically adds, “There were many benefits to having a cast. In the middle of the night, it was a weapon.”

Used mainly on her own skull, I’m thinking.

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National Review’s Rich Lowry must be wondering if TV fame is worth it:

LOWRY: What if he said robo-stripper? Would you be upset?

SHARPTON: I asked you why.

LOWRY: What do you mean why?

SHARPTON:

LOWRY: It looks like a robot and it is very trashy and sleazy. Would you agree it’s trashy and sleazy?

SHARPTON: No.

LOWRY: It’s self evident.

SHARPTON: No.

SHARPTON:The outfit when you – that’s sleazy? You cannot see anything but her face.

LOWRY: It gets sleazier by the minute.

SHARPTON: She takes off the

LOWRY: Would you mind if your daughter. Would you let your daughter wear that outside?

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And they are organising a little get-together in Brussels on 11 Sept. 2007 of all those who find the state of play in Europe deja vu and rather worrying. Here is a video advert for the rally.

It seems that Viking blood long surpressed is rising to the surface. And not a minute too late either.

Readers of this blog will obviously know that I am a bit of fan, if not an obsessive, of Japanese anime. I like the odd animation and manga in motion that shows up on cartoon network and on DVD. I am rather keen on Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy BeBop but never been too impressed with stuff like Pokemon. The basic stuff aimed at small children. Recently I found something rather odd in the form of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo a cartoon about someone who can hear the calls of hair in trouble.

The large black man with a yellow afro has kung fu nostril hair that kicks butt with its whip-like motion. As with much anime its English translation does not always make much sense it has to be said but that does not make it not enjoyable viewing for young and old alike. Unlike some anime is tame enough to be watched by children and adults alike just bizarre enough to satisfy the anime fan and certainly odd enough to confuse most parents. Which is, of course, most of the point that children like watching Japanese cartoons in the first place.

Illumitoon has been criticized for putting the “Dubtitles” (Which means the English Dialogue script) instead of the Japanese Subtitles (The literal translations) on its DVDs. Since some of the fan’s spoke out about this, Illumitoon issued a “Trade-in” program that will allow anyone who bought the Dubtitled versions to send there DVD in and get the Japanese Subtitled version. The trade-in program can be found on the Illimitoon site here.

It is rather amazing how purist some anime fans are when it comes to their DVDs. They like all the Japanese script and get shirty then things get too cleaned up for the Anglo market. If you are interested in the program there is an Official Website with oodles of information on the program.

Anyway have a gander at this new show.

In the end it was much less vs and far more a class of styles. In the end Saxon and Harvey Goldstein got on rather well and respected each other. If you are able you can see Get Your Actor Together on 4 On Demand for the next week. Its makes for some amusing television. The post-game show on E4 was a bit of let-down, with the only bit argy via a lame comment from some Metal Hammer act, I spotted a few metal industry types I know in the audience. It was interesting to contrast Biff & Co with the diva who Harvey tried to help in the first show. Despite all the swearing, the football half-time cock-up, Saxon and Goldstein actually worked well together.

I am not sure how much Harvey had to with the new album but as you can read in Marty’s review its a cracker and by far their best since the 80s. The single tweaked by Harvey’s team ain’t bad either.

Fans of the mad, bad and balmy might like to check out a new video outlet online called Disclose.tv – Mystery & secret videos revealed. There are all sorts of odd catagories ranging from UFOs to conspiracy videos. I am sure it will provide hours of entertainment for those of you who enjoy your nuttiness on video. So head over and take a look. This post is sponsored.

Now I am not the biggest soap fan it has to be said, mostly because much of the writing is so bad. However, thanks to my beloved I have been known to lie on the couch and have a shifty at Eastenders and Desperate Housewives on occasion. If you are a big fan of Soap Operas there is a new site for you to help you find all the poop about you fave show. If the site wants to attract some more visits it might consider some news on Eastenders as I know its show on BBC America. Its ingeniously called Soaps.com and should be your source for soap news. And the site sponsored this post.

It seems someone took exception to Sasha Baron Cohen’s assault comedy and beat him up. Alas there was someone along with Cohen to defend his sorry arse. Too bad Cohen doesn’t deserve defence from anyone.

There is a site reviewing mystery fiction called The Mystery Site. Its has lots of mystery reviews of shows that appear on places like PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre most of which are sourced to either the BBC or ITV in the UK. If you are going to get yourself involved in one the normal long-winded mysteries that are produced by the ITV or the BBC its nice to see if its good or bad. Let’s face it; some of the stuff coming out of the BBC of late ain’t exactly top drawer stuff. I rather have penchant for mysteries me and enjoyed at recent ITV3 weekend of mysteries.

Well as you might know we at this site like a bit of comedy; especially in the form of Mitch Benn or Monty Python. However there are other comedians out there waiting to be discovered a good place to start is One Night Stand of Loius CK or Jim Norton. Or then again you could always go for brain-dead fun in the form of Benny Hill The Early Years. And, of course, those of us who have a soft spot for up-country New Englanders might want to check out Its a Wonderful Red-Green Christmas. Oh yes and if I am talking Comedy shows I would be amiss if I did not encourage you to buy DVDs of 2 Point 4 Children.

And while you are at it don’t forget to visit the home of good new TV comedy: Comedy Central.

oh, i don`t like the look of the look of today
a great grey cloud is coming our way
so I move through the streets on my own
a-huffing and a-puffing and feeling so alone

jane siberry

Everybody’s probably seen it by now, but note that my presentation introduces it with a song. Is that value-for-money or what?

A reporter for NBC was covering the flooding in the northeast US triggered by recent heavy rains and decided to dramatize the coverage.

Michelle Kosinski has been on the scene for Today in New Jersey, working the story. In an apparent effort to draw attention to herself, in yesterday’s segment she turned up in hip waders, standing thigh-deep in the flood waters.

Taking her act one step further, this morning she appeared on a suburban street . . . paddling a canoe. There was one small problem. Just as the segment came on the air, two men waded in front of Kosinki . . . and the water barely covered their shoe tops! That’s right, Kosinski’s canoe was in no more than four to six inches of water!

An embarrassed Kosinski claimed the water was deeper down the street but that her producers didn’t want to let her go there for fear she’d drift away. But Katie and Matt, perhaps peeved by her attempted scene-stealing, couldn’t resist ribbing her.

A good thing I put off on posting this for a couple of days, as Crooks and Liars turned up a longer version of the video, with Couric and Lauer’s reaction.

The direct link doesn’t work, so go here and click on the third link (“Video-WMP-East Coast Feed”) to view it.

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I like to start the week off with a nice story that renews your faith in humanity and puts a chuckle in your throat and a spring in your step.

But I couldn’t find one, so this will have to do:

A REPORTER sent to do a story about a baby squirrel stood on the fluffy creature by mistake and killed it.

Inka Blumensaat wanted to tell how a pet cat had saved the orphaned squirrel by adopting it as her own.

But the friendly rodent jumped on her leg as she filmed her report and she panicked and trampled it underfoot,breaking its neck.

Heike Reher, whose cat adopted the squirrel in Lubeck, Germany, said: ‘The reporter started leaping about like a mad woman. She squashed the squirrel completely.”

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You might recall this from a couple of months ago—the TV weatherman who stumbled and bumbled his way through a truly agonizing segment.

Well, I think I found one of his classmates, this time a sportscaster. He’s not as comprehensively awful as the first guy; but then, the bar has been set so very, very low.

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just two good ol’ boys
wouldn’t change if they could
fightin’ the system like
two modern-day robin hoods

waylon jennings

It appears I didn’t spend enough of my youth watching TV. Country Music Television is advertising for the position of Vice President, CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institure. (For those completely unaware of it, The Dukes of Hazzard was a hit show on CBS from 1979 to 1985.)

The job responsibilities for the Vice President, CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institute are:

watch The Dukes of Hazzard every weeknight on CMT;

know the words to The Dukes of Hazzard theme song, “Good Ol’ Boys,” written and

performed on the series by the legendary Waylon Jennings;

serve as media expert on The Dukes of Hazzard for the CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institute:

must be available for TV, radio and newspaper interviews to share passion for The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT;

write the CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institute online blog for cmt.com;

be passionate about The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT;

make appearances at special events such as Dukesfest 2005 in Bristol, Tenn., (June 4-5, 2005).

They’re perfectly serious about this. Here’s the Institute, in Atlanta, Georgia:

The position is for one year and pays $100,000 US. Where do you go to find out more? You go here.

jowl by jowl translucent white skin
hair on the back
abe vigoda’s dead

parody

No he’s not. Abe Vigoda, whom you might recall as the character of Det. Fish on the 70’s sitcom Barney Miller is still alive and kicking.

And to prove it, a programmer with a bit too much time on his hands developed a plugin for the Firefox browser that will provide minute-by-minute confirmation of Mr. Vigoda’s corporeal integrity:

Part of my daily routine is to check on Abe Vigoda’s current status, helpfully provided by the good people at AbeVigoda.com. To help keep me informed on this subject, I decided to write this Firefox browser extension.

When Firefox starts up, this extension automatically fetches Abe Vigoda’s current status from AbeVigoda.com, and displays it in a small panel on the status bar. It periodically does so again every so often, so that you always have relatively recent information on Abe Vigoda’s status.

I know you’re dying—pun not intended—to check it, so click here.

That isn’t an official Abe Vigoda domain or page, just something put up specifically for this purpose. Poor Mr. Vigoda doesn’t seem to have a website, but I found the Abe Vigoda Shrine here.

(Also, the lyrics quoted above are from a remix of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”.)

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i wanna be a high school football hero
with an s.a.t. score less than zero
i wanna try to drink my weight in beer-o

a.f.i.

I won’t be live-blogging tomorrow’s Super Bowl, as I’ve got a few other things to do.

Also, I am still bitter about last year’s effort. Or maybe I’m still hungover.

I shall, however, venture a brave prediction: New England wins, 24-10.

I would also like to point out that the Patriots’ star linebacker has the second-most-perfect American name:

Tedy Bruschi. Pronounced “Brewski.” As in “Fetch me another brewski while you’re up.”

And yes, the spelling of his first name is as it’s listed on both the Patriots’ and NFL’s official pages. So that’s why it’s only the second-most perfect American name

The first-most-perfect American name? Former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger. These guys should really get together and open up a sports bar. They could call it Larry and Tedy’s or something.

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goin’ places that I’ve never been
seein’ things that I may never see again
and I can’t wait to get on the road again

willie nelson

CBC screwed up royally on Sunday night, airing on Newsworld’s The Passionate Eye the documentary Journeys With George, Alexandra Pelosi’s low-budget videocam diary of being on the 2000 campaign trail with George W. Bush.

If that last name—Pelosi—rings a bell, it’s because she is indeed the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the Minority House Leader. She was at the time (and might still be for all I know) a reporter for NBC news, and as you would expect, a lifelong Democrat.

I suppose the producers of The Passionate Eye thought they were making some devastating point about the press coverage of the campaign; the herd mentality, etc. Truly, though, this is no great surprise to any thoughtful observer of politics and the media. They had a more sinister interpretation, too: (I paraphrase) That George Bush used his Machiavellian gift of charm to win over the press and thus the election.

Bollocks. The press was about 90% in the tank for Gore, and the overall coverage reflected that.

What you do come away from the film with is that George Bush is an immensely likeable, funny guy. As Matt Labash wrote in the Weekly Standard:

Hopelessly lowbrow, Bush is blessed with matchless comic timing. We see him posing as a chirpy male steward, welcoming reporters on the plane, then angrily snapping at them when they ask for peanuts. We see him reprising his male cheerleader days, pretzel-ing his body into letters to spell “Victory” after Super Tuesday. At one photo op, Pelosi accosts Karl Rove with her shaky hand-held camera. “Why are you lying?” she asks. “I’m not a journalist,” Rove calmly replies. “I’m not a liar.” Someone grabs the camera and turns the tables on Pelosi, prompting her to distance herself from other journalists by saying “I don’t like these guys.” “You don’t like me?” Bush asks, incredulous, his head popping into the frame like a groundhog emerging from his hole, late to the party. “You call this objective journalism?”

Not that the moonbats of the Democratic Underground would appreciate (or understand) the point, but no normal person viewing this could doubt Bush’s native canniness and people-skills. I’ve met many people who are intelligent who have the sense of humor of a turnip—however, I’ve never met someone who is humorous who isn’t also very bright.

The film has already aired on HBO in the States; if you haven’t seen it yet and you’re in Canada or on satellite or close enough to the border to pick it up, Newsworld will be rebroadcasting it on Saturday February 5 at 10pm ET.

Or you could buy it on Amazon here.

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with gilligan, the skipper too
the millionaire, and his wife
the movie star, the professor and mary ann
here on gilligan’s isle

wyle & schwartz

Mr. Sun has obviously put a lot of thought into the optimal strategy for boinking the beauteous Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island:

In this time of war and great tragedy, I have naturally been preoccupied with the big questions. Namely, how would I have bedded Mary Ann if I were Gilligan. The answer? Strategy. I would have used my mind to create a rock solid Mary Ann Nailing Strategy that guaranteed I’d be rockin’ the hut on a regular basis.

I mean, he’s even drawn up sort of a Power Point chart:

It’s all a bit complicated to me, but Mr. Sun will explain all here.

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