March 2007
The Venture Bros. season three news... / 30.03.07
It had previously been a pretty long dry spell on Jackson Publick's livejournal, which meant I wasn't checking it frequently. And jeez oh man did I miss a great update on March 8...
There's all sorts of good news in there, not the least of which is this:
[...] Season 3 has been greenlit, we are currently trying to write it, and production will begin (in World Leaders Entertainment's new Chelsea headquarters, which promise to be comparatively plush) on April 9th. [...] Season 4 has technically been greenlit as well [...] the network basically committed to it, but we won't be treating seasons 3 & 4 as one big, 26 episode order because we just don't swing that way.
Which means at least two more seasons of The Venture Bros. Which is, especially after the obvious character-development bravery of season two, fantastic news, because there is absolutely every indication that, by the end of its run, The Venture Bros. will have reached true masterpiecehood. I'll get into it more in my inevitable season two DVD review, but it's enough to say that The Venture Bros. is going League of Gentlemen, and not Little Brittain.
There's a bit more, too...indulge me please...I know you aren't all fans, but fucking hell...you should be...
WATCH THIS, WATCH IT NOW / 29.03.07
Daleks zipping through the air, terrifying-looking scarecrows, wedding, "I am not the Doctor", Captain Jack salutes, Sir Derek Jacobi, and JOHN FUCKING SIMM...
It's nearly here! / 26.03.07
With the unarguably disappointing Torchwood out of the way, it's nearly time for Doctor Who Series 3, which starts this Saturday (March 31st, 7pm, BBC1). The first episode, "Smith & Jones", sees The Doctor investigating a London hospital which has been transported to the moon, and meeting his new companion Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman. Who I already really, really fancy.
Russian Cinema Makes Me Feel All Warm and Fuzzy Inside / 20.03.07
Straight out of Russia comes part two of the hit fantasy trilogy by Sergei Lukyanenko and directed by talented visionary Timur Bekmambetov, "Day Watch." If you didn't see "Night Watch" which was released early last year, I recommend you go out and rent it straight away. That is if you like fantasy epics set in modern day Moscow and involving vampire-like creatures that can morph, teleport, and do all sorts of cool tricks.
Wait a minute, Mr. Postman... / 17.03.07
R2-D2 to become a mailbox in the US. Temporarily, anyway. You have to wonder just how long these things are going to last before some fanboys take the law into their own hands and start stealing them...
First Futurama film info. / 16.03.07
From here.
First of the Futurama films.
Bender's Big Score.
December 2007!
That is all.
(No, wait, that's not all. iF Magazine gets to interview Matt Groening but they can't even proofread the result for basic spelling and grammar? Come on, now...if you're going to post an interview like that that'll cause an influx of visitors, at least make an effort to look professional for them. That is all.)
TV Thames Valley Today Cock-up / 16.03.07
A complete technical disaster on every level.
But: it's such a joy to see regional news veteran Wesley Smith deal with things so wonderfully. The bit near the end where he has to fill time reminds me of old IVC. I half expected him to get his TV Times out. A pure joy.
When things go wrong is when you really earn your money as a presenter.
Untransmitted Celebrity Squares Pilot / 15.03.07
A shame this didn't go into production, as it could have been pretty good. I love the set especially.
Moron of the Week / 13.03.07
Reuters News publish a compliation of the feedback from their online readers every couple of weeks or so called 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. Check out the first complaint in this issue.
Doctor Who Clip Search / 10.03.07
Attention Virgin Media! / 10.03.07
ITV Play went off air on Tuesday.
For the EPG on ITV1 to be telling me that it's still on is nothing short of embarassing in its ineptness.
The pilot of TV Burp, there / 10.03.07
Broadcast on December 22nd 2001. The full series came the year after, and started on November 14th 2002. I'd completely forgotten it had started so long ago...
How Not To Report On A Massive Comics Event / 08.03.07
Well for starters, if you're a major UK newspaper read for free by numerous commuters and left lying around trains and buses everywhere, not putting it as the big story on page three before all the UK-based comic shops have actually had a chance to open their doors and sell the blasted thing might be a help.
Spoilers in the above link and in the rest of this post...
Maggs does Gently / 07.03.07
Well, well, well. The more excellent among you will remember a few years ago, talented writer and producer Dirk Maggs, as part of Above the Title Productions, adapted the final three Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books into shiny new radio series, complete with the original cast and some excellent guest starts. I was a big fan of these adaptations as, where they might not have been as funny as the original two, the cast where such a joy to listen to, I didn’t really care much.
Fawlty. Towers. Counter-Strike. Map. / 06.03.07
Down The Line with Gary Bellamy / 01.03.07
I'm a bit of latecomer to this series, but bloody hell, this an amazing piece of radio. Just make sure you listen to the whole thing, as it really kicks off in the last ten minutes. I can't say any more without spoiling it...
Is ITV buggered? / 01.03.07
Until recently, I used to play spot the voiceover in the ad breaks during ITV programmes. Now, more and more, I find myself playing spot the ad. You expect ad breaks that consist of nothing but trailers during regional opt-out documentaries, even if they're rather good ones about canals presented by Timothy West. However, even a high-rating Saturday night show like Al Murray's Happy Hour can struggle to pull in the advertisers.
Make Google Laugh! / 01.03.07
Go ahead, see if you can make Google laugh.
There's really no value to this device so far as I can tell, but it was fun to plug in different jokes and see what Google finds "funny." For example:
Q: What did the pirate say to Captain Crunch?
A: Arrrrrrr you going to finish that cereal?
Which is, apparently, 89.3617% funny. You can thank my cereal box for that little lump of comic gold.
Applause! Applause! / 01.03.07
Watching the Flight Into Terror episode of Father Ted I was struck by the staggeringly high number of jokes that are met with not only laughter but enthusiastic applause from the studio audience. Applauding at a particularly clever joke isn't anything out of the ordinary, but watch the episode again and take note of just how often it happens. I counted four bursts of applause in the short end section alone.
