October 2005
I know Chris Morris... / 29.10.05
... and you, sir, are no Chris Morris.
Alright, so the pedigree behind the programme is quite good - it's the Thick Of It/People Like Us creative team - but it's still hard to shake the feeling that this has been done quite comprehensively before, and that it's impossible to do anything in the way of spoof news that The Day Today and Brasseye haven't done already. I mean, there's a reason why Morris stopped doing it himself, after all.
It's just a damned popularity contest... / 26.10.05
... but it really does speak volumes for the programme's success.
Erm, folks. I've got some bad news. It's not "cult" any more.
(and yet still, STILL, a US broadcaster refuses to pick it up. Crazy. Sci-Fi Channel, I'm looking at you.)
Cassette Jam '05 / 26.10.05
http://hanazuc02.ld.infoseek.co.jp/cassettes/cassettes.htm
OFCON HA HA HA HA / 24.10.05
There's something very odd going down at Ofcom.
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code: Section 1 - Protecting the Under-Eighteens quite clearly states:
Best Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin Evur / 23.10.05
More Great Comedy Moments / 22.10.05
Remember this? Released on 19th May 2003.
So... why has it been classified again recently - 20 minutes shorter? Both versions are listed at the bottom of the page.
Odd.
Life imitating comics / 20.10.05
United States Secret Super Soldier Program unavailable for comment.
Children's BBC: The Acorn years / 20.10.05
http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1470.html
Obviously I find this interesting because I still use a direct descendant of the BBC Micro, but I'm sure a lot of you will be too...
Note to all porn sites / 20.10.05
Not every black woman is a "ho".
Neither are they all from the "ghetto".
And they're certainly not "chocolate bitches".
Google Mail / 19.10.05
Well, this is the first I've heard about this:
Sorry Red Dwarf fans... / 17.10.05
... but you may be about to lose the title of "Best DVD menus" :
Fly around the TARDIS? Too right.
Torchwood / 17.10.05
Er, fuck / 15.10.05
That picture contains more potential for debate than it's possible to express. Only... shit. He really isn't just making the same film again, is he? This really could be something good.
(plus, if nothing else, it confirms that the film is actually happening; I will freely admit to wondering for some time if it was going to turn out to be some elaborate hoax)
Teenage dreams, so hard to beat / 13.10.05
Alright, so there's not much of it left, but it's worth marking the fact that today is John Peel Day.
Famous First Words / 13.10.05
Man's first words are "I want to see Joe Pasquale".
And I thought "daddy" was embarrassing.
Bloody bloody bloody! / 13.10.05
I swear, if I read one more reference to The Young Ones being dated, I'll smash someone's face in.
I mean, what does that actually mean? WOW, WHAT A SHOCKER, A TV PROGRAMME MADE IN THE 80S CONTAINS A FEW REFERENCES THAT WOULDN'T BE MADE TODAY. I think you'll find this doesn't ruin the show, in Any Way Whatsoever.
PooHealth / 13.10.05
http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/oct05/good101005.php
An extended advert dressed up as editorial, there. Not that this is rare - the media is filled with similar articles giving the latest "interesting" survey on something or other.
Is there any possible chance that newspapers and websites could actually decide to have some integrity and not collude with it?
Oh dear / 10.10.05
They Might Be Old, But They're Still Hot and Wet!
Fair play to them.
Hurrah for Adult Entertainment! / 10.10.05
Cor.
The Daily Show? Curb Your Enthusiasm? Provocative and challenging debate, comedy and drama from both sides of the Atlantic? Yes please.
Anyone catch any of the launch? Missed it myself, but that Blunkett thing looked interesting. I'm hoping to make The Daily Show as, um, daily an occurrence as possible, though.
Look Around You. Erm, Lou. / 09.10.05
According to Robert Popper on the Yahoo! lookaroundyou group, the Series 2 DVD is due out mid-January. Excellent. No word on extras as yet, but I'm really hoping for some behind-the-scenes stuff, as that was one thing that was sorely missing on the Series 1 DVD.
As for a Series 3:
Completely denouncing an entire artform #28364 / 09.10.05
In the latest issue (#1142) of Private Eye, regarding a play:
What the FUCK? / 08.10.05
I'm just watching Vic Reeves' Best and Worst of God on BBC TWO. Not only has the programme been put through a pointless filmising effect (really, what does it add to a programme like this?), but... all the clips from various comedy shows have been too!
I mean, why? It's a CLIP FROM ANOTHER PROGRAMME. Have some respect for it and use it as originally broadcast, for fucks sake. It completely changes the feeling of the shows - and looks diabolical as well.
Hyperdrive / 08.10.05
So, things are gearing up on Hyperdrive - shooting started last month in Manchester, the original home of Dwarf, amusingly. Here's a couple of concept sketches of the main ship, the HMS Camden Lock, with thanks to Glazy on the Starship Modeler Forums who scanned it in from SFX - click to enlarge.
Goodnight / 04.10.05
A genuine wit, there. And they come along all-too rarely. The "four candles" sketch is overplayed, but he really was a master of linguistic play and trickery. And I'm a sucker for that.
You Couldn't Have It That Much Better... / 04.10.05
It's all too easy to be wary when four- and five-star reviews are given out to albums by bands that are as big a critical and popular darling as Franz Ferdinand are. Particularly when the much-lauded debut album, while having a couple of cracking tracks on it, was by and large a good rather than great record.
Oooh! / 01.10.05
Apparantly, Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash are working together again. This is excellent news - The Royle Family is one of my favourite sit-coms of recent times, as is Cash's criminally under-rated Early Doors. They're a great writing partnership, and, like many others, probably better together than apart. This'll be an interesting one to follow, what with Aherne's well-documented and worrying recent problems. Fingers crossed she's all better now...
All-Star Superman / 01.10.05
Newsarama have posted online a preview of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman #1, due out in November. Most of it has already been seen before in Wizard previews, but even so, it's good to see it in better quality.
Brenda Brown: Silly Cow / 01.10.05
Watch the latest Newswatch on 'Watch Now', from 5mins 40secs onwards.
I was keeping a straight face until she mentioned the textile industry...
Obscure stuff you desperately want to see again / 01.10.05
Nineteen Eighty-Four / 01.10.05
I'm just in the middle of re-reading this now. Now, I freely admit I'm a bit of a philistine. I'm never usually stirred by what people describe as "classic literature". I'd rather watch a good sitcom.
