Archive for May, 2010
Sexism And The City – Part 2
May 30th
The Male Backlash Continues…
Earlier in the week I posted a piece about the Sex and the City sequel, now in cinemas, entitled Sexism and the City. The piece was about the male backlash to the movie that I felt was clearly evident in reviews, magazine articles and the general media coverage of the movie.
Well the posting proved to be one of our most widely read pieces here on Remote Patrolled and received a lot of comments – a few for, but most against the position I took. Well one of the things I said in the article was that I still had yet to see the Sex sequel – my piece was about the coverage of the movie – not the movie itself. Unfortunately quite a few people didn’t take that point on board!
Anyway having now seen the movie I feel even more fired up about the coverage Sex and the City 2 is receiving… and can’t believe anyone would actually doubt that there’s a sexist agenda at work. I mean are we really seeing the same article, reviews and comments people?
First up, let me start with the movie itself. I’m a Sex and The City fan (the series and the More >
Five Film Stars Who Should Turn To TV!
May 29th
It’s the start of the summer movie season and I’m all set for three months of CGI, spectacle and silliness. I make it my mission to try and see all the big summer blockbusters, and though most are invariably disappointing there’s just something about the movie going experience that never lets me down…
But in this era of $200 million movies, dominated by effects and high concepts (a Battleship movie – come again?) – it seems the role of the ‘movie star’ just isn’t what it used to be. Sure the likes of Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt can all still carry movies – but for a multitude of lesser stars, their names just no longer have the pulling power they used to.
Which is why it’s time for some of today’s big screen talents to cross over to the TV world. Glenn Close did it with the triumphant Damages. 24 was the best thing that ever happened to Kiefer Sutherland’s career. And Laura Linney, Diane Keaton and Kate Winslet are all about to follow suit, in new HBO series. We all know that nowadays the material on offer on TV is hands down better than that of the movies More >
Big In Britain: Million Pound Drop
May 28th
Here’s a look at a hot new game-show that’s been making a lot of headlines in the UK this week – Million Pound Drop.
The idea is pretty simple – a cool million is up for grabs – but unlike other game shows you get to physically handle the cash. Contestants must then stake portions of the money – in 25K increments – on the answers to questions – with the gimmick being that if they lose – the cash is instantly ‘dropped’ before their very eyes.
The show’s hosted by Big Brother queen Davina McCall (the loudest woman on Brit TV!) and has been getting good ratings across the week (it’s been specially stunted, as a live show, from Monday to Saturday).
Unfortunately no one has won a penny so far – oops!
Flash Forward: The Finale
May 28th
So last night was the final episode EVER of Flash Forward.
Chances are you weren’t watching – since let’s face it the viewing figures for the show quickly went from terrific to terrible in even less time than it took Heroes to self destruct.
As I posted before in my Flash In The Pan piece – Flash Forward was a show with so much potential – but meandering plotting, jaw dropping contrivances and a dull cast of characters quickly killed off any potential. A real shame – as I’d have loved to have seen the show run and run.
Anyway in case you missed it and wanted to find out how the whole thing ended – here’s the last minute of the show – another flash forward!
For those of you still following the series – were you pleased with how Flash Forward wrapped up? Could the show have sustained another season? And what would you have done to keep Flash on track…?
Sexism And The City: Why Men Love To Kick Carrie And Co…
May 27th
This weekend sees the release of Sex and the City 2, the second feature film based on the smash HBO TV series.
Just a couple of years ago, Sex and the City opened to record numbers for a female fronted comedy, powered by hordes of mostly female fans for whom the TV show was a veritable lifestyle guide. The big box office numbers took many male journalists by surprise – prompting countless astonished headlines – as if the idea of women going out to see a movie on their own was somehow a new phenomenon.
American Idol 9: 15 Lessons We Learned This Season
May 26th
So Idol is over for another year, and for once I’m breathing a sigh of relief!
Unlike last years triumphant series which gave us Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Alison Iraheta this year’s competition has been a rather pitiful affair – a year in which third rate singers like Tim Urban, Katie Stevens and Andrew Garcia made the Top 10, show themes bordered on the geriatric and America’s favorite comedienne replaced Paula Abdul – and added nothing to the judging panel…
I’ve already spoken extensively about my misgivings on this season – see my Fallen Idol piece (and here’s my take on the 10 Best Idol Singles ever) – but before Season 9 becomes a distant memory, and all is forgotten (if not forgiven), here are 15 of the key lessons we learned this season!
Why The Biggest Loser Needs To Shape Up
May 24th
And so another season of The Biggest Loser comes to a close. Hundreds of pounds have been lost. Personal trainer Jillian has screamed at contestants a few thousand times. There’s been tears, sob stories and millions of excuses. And now the drastically diminished contestants will return to their ordinary lives – and resume their weight loss battle for real.
When I first heard about The Biggest Loser, I honestly thought it was going to be a horrible exercise in exploitation and humiliation. But I actually think the show has a positive message at its heart and is generally a really effective force for good on TV. And from a producing point of view it’s a very well put together show – full of inventive challenges, endless twists and turns and some really clever surprises each season.
For NBC the show is probably their most valuable property currently on air – generating strong ratings (it averages around the 8-9 million mark), good demo numbers, endless product placement opportunities and numerous branded spin off products (the books, the DVD’s, the weight loss products). Plus the show is much cheaper than a scripted drama or comedy series, and takes up a whopping 2 hours of More >
The Big Brother Funeral
May 23rd
Latest Advert Lays The Series To Rest In Style…
Earlier today I talked about the upcoming 11th and final series of Big Brother UK – for my money one of the best reality series in the world! (check out my How Big Brother Changed Britain piece for some classic best moments!)
Hot on the heels of my entry comes this rather cool little trailer, featuring many of the most memorable former housemates as they gather to bury the famous Big Brother chair…
Presiding over the funeral is Marcus Bentley (the series narrator since day 1), and the tone starts somber and mournful before the trademark Big Brother theme kicks in and the former contestants start to party!
Great stuff!
How Big Brother Changed Britain
May 23rd
How The UK’s Biggest Reality Show Changed A Country…
In just a couple of week’s time Big Brother will be returning to UK TV screens for it’s 11th and final series (exempting 7 seasons of Celebrity Big Brother and three other spin off shows!) For Brits this really is the end of an era – Big Brother has been a summer staple since the year 2000, and unlike the US version which has never become more than a cult hit at best, Big Brother UK is a TV phenomenon. At its peak the show averaged over 5 million viewers EVERY DAY, which for a country with just 60 million inhabitants, is darn impressive. And most of those viewers were in the coveted youth demo. Simply put – for a generation of Brits, Big Brother was essential TV.
I am of course biased, as I worked on the very first Big Brother back in 2000, taking care of the contestants and their families. It was a very memorable summer, as absolute unknowns became front-page news overnight, and though few could turn their sudden fame into long term success, for one brief shining moment, our contestants were the most famous people in Britain. It’s More >
The ’24′ Effect
May 22nd
What 24 Taught Us… And Hollywood Needs To Learn!
Sometimes I think I’m living in a different TV world…
That’s how I felt this week while going through the Fall’s TV Upfronts, and watching clip after clip of identikit shows that could have come from any TV season.
Once again we were inundated with endless gritty cop shows (the model now seems to be The Wire – even though NBC tried that with Southland and failed), as well as more legal series (Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi trying to capture some Boston Legal kookiness) and ‘relationship’ comedies (hmmm that makes sense – because of course quirky series like The Big Bang Theory do terrible in the ratings – while everyone is watching Romantically Challenged).
But I do seem to be in a party of one. Most of the critics out there seem to be in love with next season’s Fall line-up, while I’m struggling to find even three shows I’m excited for (Dinotopia, maybe Undercovers and um that’s about it!)
Meanwhile a show I generally consider one of the Top TV shows EVER is coming to a close with this week’s sure-to-be-explosive series finale. Eight years after its launch, 24, is still as strong as More >
