I didn't watch TV... did I?

Sat down to write blog and panicked. I didn’t watch anything on TV yesterday! What can I possibly write about? But then I reconsidered. I watched a lot more TV yesterday than immediately sprung to mind.

Yesterday was out of the ordinary for a Thursday. I woke up, got dressed, brushed my teeth and went down stairs. My dad was sat in the living room. This is out of the ordinary because my dad has usually left for work before I get up. Since my dad was home BBC morning news was on the TV, as opposed to my mum’s usual choice of Daybreak (the new name for GMTV. Grr. I hate change). I sat and caught up with the morning’s headlines and ridiculous magazine features whilst I ate my breakfast and had the day’s first cup of coffee. I never really count this as time watching TV. It’s not programming I plan for and look forward to, or even take note of. It’s just there, blabbering away in the background, occasionally with some item of interest I actually pay attention to. After a somewhat average morning at work, I hopped in the car and headed off to Ormskirk for my lovely friend James’ birthday (second mention in two days for him. He’ll be getting a big head). There we put FRIENDs on as we chatted and caught up (have I mentioned I watch FRIENDs? No? What do you mean “obsessed”?) Again, FRIENDs is one of those inconsequential shows. I’ve seen them all and know the plot of every episode, so it can be dipped in and out of in lulls of conversation or between tasks. So I don’t really qualify it as watching TV. The last thing I sort of watched yesterday was an episode of Eastenders. I am not an Eastenders fan; I want to make that very clear. However, I was staying in a house with two Eastenders fans and... When in Rome? Again, I don’t qualify this as TV watching because I hadn’t planned to watch it, wasn’t invested in it and wasn’t really paying attention. It is interesting though that a day in which I thought I hadn’t watched TV involved about an hour and a half of me having my eyes focused on a TV screen. Consider your TV watching habits. How much TV do you soak up over the day without even noticing it?

Joss Whedon & Feminism

"Oh" says my flat mate, looking at me as if he'd just realized I had two heads. "I had no idea you were a feminist."
"I'm not," I counter immediately, "I just...” I just what? My mind wandered back to a conversation I'd had with a friend some months before. He couldn’t understand how any woman could say she wasn't a feminist. Isn't feminism about having equal rights for women? Are there women out there saying, "Equal rights? No thanks, I'll sit here comfortably repressed" I don't think so. If a man cries out for equal rights, would he be judged as unusual? There is in fact a male version of feminism, known as masculism (amazingly the paper clip disagrees. Masculism is not a word. Equality in action *headdesk*). Here is not the place to get in depth with either feminist or masculist arguments (though I am going somewhere with this), but take a look at the wikipedia article and see what you think. Amazingly masculism and feminism arguments complement each other quite nicely. I find myself agreeing with a lot of their points. Can I consider myself both a feminist and a masculist? Can a woman even be a masculist? Can a man be a feminist?

The reason I bring any of this up is because I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the afternoon (highly recommended, sci-fi channel 2pm, then on sci-fi + 1 at 3pm), a show filled with these amazingly strong female characters, both physically and mentally. Absolutely inspirational, and a complete match for any of their male counterparts. Because of shows like this, Joss Whedon gets asked all the time why he writes characters like this, and it seems he gives a different answer every time. One day it's because of his mum, because of his dad, because they're hot... but really I think it comes down to these three answers.
"But, these strong women characters…

Why are you even asking me this?! This is like interview number 50 in a row. How is it possible that this is even a question? Honestly, seriously, why are you -- why did you write that down? Why do you -- Why aren’t you asking a hundred other guys why they don’t write strong women characters? I believe that what I am doing should not be remarked upon, let alone honored and there are other people doing it. But, seriously, this question is ridiculous and you just gotta stop.

So, why do you write these strong women characters?

Because equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity, we need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and women who’s confronted with it. We need equality, kinda now.

So, why do you write these strong female characters?

Because you’re still asking me that question."

I think the question we should be asking is not, "why do you write these strong female characters?" but why don't more people write them? Why don't you consider yourself a feminist?

Episodes

Do I watch TV everyday? Well maybe not, but I probably have some sort of media viewing everyday, even if it’s just a quick YouTube video. Can I write a blog about it every day? Yeah Sure! Well, probably not. When I get back to uni things are going to kick off big time, and while I will technically have the 20 minutes necessary to tell the world what I thought about the latest episode of Glee, I doubt I will have the motivation. But for now, I'm gonna try. I am going to attempt every day, apart from Wednesday, when I have other commitments.

I'm starting today with a brand new show that made its British TV debut last night. The show is called Episodes, and it follows the story of two English comedy writers, who are tempted to move to LA, to remake their show for the American audience. This is a rather fascinating process to me, as this is currently what's happening to a few of my favorite shows, namely Torchwood and Being Human. I just hope it goes better than it does for Lyeman's Boys. I appreciate that Episodes is just comedy, not a documentary, but if Steven Moffat's twitter is anything to go by, it may be all too close to home.



As first episodes go, it wasn't the best. When the show finished I turned the TV off and went to bed with no burning desire to find out what happened next (in contrast to watching an episode of True Blood, then figuring out how much sleep I'll get if I watch just one more. If sleep time is greater than 4 hours, I can often be tempted into "just one more). I think one of the biggest problems this show is going to face is that Lyeman's Boys... well it doesn't seem that funny. The whole premise is that these writers have created an epically hilarious show that has excelled in Britain, but the taste we got fell flat on its face. The characters were laughing their heads off like deranged hyenas, but my brother and I sat befuzzled.
That said, I think I will be watching it next week, but more for its major selling point. This will be Matt LeBlanc’s first show since the tragic failure that was Joey, and the world wants to know whether he'll fly high or fall like a stone. A stone that used to be a big star... like a meteorite... I'm going off track. Though Matt made a brief appearance in the first episode, it seems his role will really begin next week. At least shoddy acting won't let him down this time. He'll be playing himself. An actor completely unsuited for the role of the headmaster in Lyeman's Boys. Well, good luck to him.

On a side note: Why oh why oh why to English accents go really posh when they are put in American shows. Episodes has made the excellent choice of hiring real English people to play English people, but, whilst these actors sound just fine in English programming, they suddenly have upper class London accents we've never heard from them before. It's a phenomenon I've experienced myself in my younger days. A friend had an American girl staying with him and bought her to the pub to meet our group. Whilst taking to her I felt myself slipping into a familiar American accent (a product of watching far too much FRIENDS), and went over English to compensate. However, I was young and after experience of being around different accents at uni, I can hold my own accent much better now, so I ask these actors to hold onto their own wonderful voices and stop conforming to the stereotype! Also, Britain is a big place. WE ARE NOT ALL FROM LONDON!!! /rant.

Good News For Torchwood Fans

Speculation on the new Torchwood cast has been rife over the last few weeks, but overall pretty dull. However, this week’s news has quelled a lot of my fears about the future of Torchwood. Regular readers will have read of my concern about the merger with American Starz Entertainment and my worries that Torchwood is about to come a bit of caricature of itself. We've got some thrilling news about much of the behind the scenes production crew, featuring a fair few Sci-Fi veterans and some of Joss Whedon's personal favourites. Any fan of Sci-Fi has heard of Joss Whedon, the legend behind greats such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and the new torchwood production team features people who have worked on some of his biggest shows.

The production designer has been announced to be Greg Melton. Most recently he did some stunning work on The Walking Dead, a program I've been enjoying recently with my flat mates. It's taken all the joys of a great zombie movie, and broken them up into TV form to make some absolutely unmissable drama. He's also worked on My Name Is Earl, suggesting he'll be able to bring some comedic flair to Torchwood, and the classic horror show Tales from the Crypt, so expect some stunning new scary aliens. Making sure that not too much gets changed; he'll be joined by the original Torchwood designer Ed Thomas.

Costumes are being taken care of by a woman who Joss Whedon must really love. She's worked on a lot of his best work, with Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible, Angel and Firefly under her belt. She'll be joined by Todd McIntosh on makeup, who has done stunning work on shows such as Pushing Daisies, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Memoirs of a Geisha.

The series is being produced by Kelly Manners who has worked on several of Joss's biggest hits like Dollhouse, Angel and Buffy. She'll be joined by UK producer Brian Minchin, a regular script editor on Doctor Who and Torchwood, who moves up from producing The Sarah Jane Adventures. He has also been assistant director on Torchwood before, along with several doctor who documentaries.

The first episode is set to be directed by Bharat Nalluri, who will hopefully be keeping Torchwood British after his work on big UK shows like Life on Mars, Hustle and Spooks.

Of course, all these will be overseen by executive producer Russell T Davies. Let's hope this fab new team will be able to successfully merge all the best of UK and American Sci-Fi to give us one great show. Good Luck to them.

What makes good tv?

I'm putting the next part of "In the Absence of Television" on hold, since for the moment I am in the presence of television! Hurrah! I'm home, where my parents TV licence covers the beautiful HD masterpiece in my bedroom (one of my grandparents rejects, they say there's a shadow on the screen).

Instead, today I want to review a wonderful episode of How I Met Your Mother. There'll be spoilers about so if you haven't watched the episode, go see it now. No, I mean it; being spoiled will ruin this one for you. Go. Now.

This episode is called Bad News, and the main story line follows Lilly and Marshall as they visit a fertility clinic to try and find out why they are having difficulty conceiving. At first I was a little worried we were having a clear repeat of the Monica and Chandler storyline from FRIENDS. It wouldn't be the first time these two shows were compared. Remember the E4 ads? HIMYM has just about shed its "the new FRIENDS" moniker and I wasn't keen for it to throw away the individuality it had worked so hard to carve out. Fortunately the show went completely the other way. Both Lilly and Marshall are completely fertile. Now, you might have noticed through the episode numbers counting down. I started picking up on it at number 36. Some people picked up on it, some didn't. For those who didn't (or those who missed a few), there's a complete guide at the end of this entry. If you've seen the episode, and seen the numbers you'll know that the numbers count down to the moment Marshall finds out that his Dad, who we know he is very close to, has died suddenly of a heart attack. I knew something wasn't right when his Dad didn't answer the phone, though I had hoped I was wrong. I'm a bit emotional when it comes to TV (as my flatmates will certainly confirm), and I really felt Marshalls Dad's death. It was an outstanding piece of television and I feel the countdown really contributed.

Other reviewers have said that the fun of counting down changed the tone of the episode, and having a sad ending after such a fun episode ruins the poignancy of the tragedy. I completely disagree. I feel the suddenness of the death is highlighted by counting down. I thought the counting down was moving towards something good, probably Lilly announcing she was pregnant, and I think I wasn't alone in that. We were looking forward to the end of the numbers, much in the same way that Marshall was looking forward to telling his Dad the good news, and that's what made news of the death strike even harder. Recall that Marshalls father is not a main character. By all means we shouldn't really be all that affected by his death, but tactics like these make us feel the pain more. I'm reminded of deaths of other minor characters like Hilda's fiancé Santos in Ugly Betty and Doctor Cox's brother in law Ben in Scrubs. In both these episodes we are led to believe through the delusions of other characters that they are alive and healthy. This adds to the shock factor of the death and causes a deeper emotional reaction than if we had just been told they were dead or even if we had seen them die. It's this emotional reaction which, I believe, makes good television.

OK, here’s all the numbers. 50, 49: pamphlets in gyno’s office. 48: ketchup bottle. 47: laser-tag tourney flier. Stengel is a member of the 46 society. 45 cent hot wings. 44 beers on tap (and a 44 jersey on a MacLaren’s patron). 43-42 on Stengel’s pamphlet. 41 racecar poster. Ted’s 40 buildings book. Sandy River’s office is room 39. 38 degrees on newspaper weather forecast. 37 on Lily’s “Decadence” magazine. Marshall’s dad drinks Old Number 36 beer. Market up 35.34 points. 33 miners rescued. Lottery numbers are 32 31 30 29 28 27. Marshall’s dad reading “26 Home Shortcuts.” Ted’s 25 bridges book. Metro news 23 and Japanese channel 22 in Robin’s montage. 21 on calendar in Stengel’s office. Sperm collection room 20. 19 on “Nekkid” magazine. Marshall and Lily live in apartment 18. Sperm sample bottle marked 1716. 15 vitamins in Bran Stix. Sandy’s apartment 1413. 12 behind Marshall on couch. 11 on Ted’s book. 10 on Robin Sparkles' jean jacket. 9 on medical chart folder. Exam room 8. Oh, I must have missed 7. 6 on medical chart folder (Barney was holding it upside down). “Motility 5!” The 4 layers of the uterus. MacLaren’s is open till 3. Marshall’s dad’s watch hand is pointing to 2. Lily gets out of taxi 0001.

In The Absense of TV - Part 1

In The Absence of Television - Part 1

TV licences are expensive! They currently cost £145.50 a year, and there's no student discount. Understandably, not many students have TV in their room, including me. This is difficult for a self confessed TV addict like me. Of course, there are many places to catch up on your favourite TV programmes, and I'll be covering those in part 2, but today I want to talk about StarKid!

I first got introduced to StarKid about a year ago, when I stumbled across A Very Potter Musical. If I had to sum A Very Potter Musical up in two words, they would be Totally Awesome. I've since been on to get the soundtrack, and it currently wakes me up in the morning. It follows the story of young wizard Harry Potter as he returns to Hogwarts, takes part in the Triwizard tournament and defeats the evil lord Voldemort... yes this does sound a little familiar. The plot is based on the latter half of the Harry Potter series, albeit with a little artistic licence. The story has been set to a wonderful soundtrack by Darren Criss, who plays Harry (he's been in Glee don'tcha know?), and the script is both hilarious and moving, often at the same time. It's some going to get through the whole lot, but it breaks up quite well into 10 minute segments. I watched it over the course of a few days, whenever I had a spare few minutes, and it works well in that way. The whole thing is available on YouTube, although the sound quality is quite sketchy, and the best thing is, it's completely free and legal! Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwM_AKeMCk

At the end of watching A Very Potter Musical, I missed it. I watched it again of course, but it's just not quite the same. Fortunately for you, there's a sequel! A Very Potter Sequel is in fact a Prequel (Timey Wimey), and follows some of the events of Harry's first years at Hogwarts... with a few changes. In the beginning the remaining death eaters, lost without Voldemort, use a time turner to go back in time with the plan to kill Harry before he destroys Voldemort. The potter kids are all a bit younger and more naive, none more so than the fabulous Loren Lopez as Draco Malfoy, but nonetheless hilarious as ever. If you've seen A Very Potter Musical, this is the obvious next step, with more emotion, laughter and music... and better sound quality. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OepW-AG-Ris

The next StarKid musical takes a massive leap away from the family friendly realms of Harry Potter parody. The awkwardly named Me and my Dick follows main character Joey and his Dick through their various romantic misadventures. It's definitely one for an older audience, but maintains high quality humour and songs. Only trouble is when it comes to asking other people if they've seen it... Again, it's all on YouTube, free and legal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmpnUf_TiG4

After this, desperate for more StarKid content, I came across Little White Lie. To be honest, I wish I hadn't. It's a change from the usual StarKid format. It's shot in several locations, rather than on stage. It's not so much of a musical, as a soap with some music in it, and it doesn't look like it'll ever be finished. Though Darren, Brian and Loren do brilliant jobs on their character, the rest of the cast is lacking, particularly the lead, who’s constant moodiness could almost outshine Twilights notorious Bella. If you must try it, you can catch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWhi__zmDSY

Doesn't look like you'll have to wait too long for a bit more StarKid, their new musical Starship shows in Chicago from February 11th to the 23rd, and I'm sure we'll see it on YouTube not long after. For more info, check the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFn_fpYn68k&feature=sub

Single X Deserate Sci-Fi?

Okay. Yes. I am a very bad blogger. In my defence I have been extremely busy. I've barely had time to watch any TV, never mind blog about it. I'm back at uni now, working on my dissertation. I've got a presentation coming up and I detest presentations. Doesn't help that it needs to be 10 minutes long, and it's currently 7 minutes long. Stretching out a presentation by three minutes doesn't seem like much of a task, but it seems that no matter how much extra I say, it's still only taking 7 minutes. Perhaps I should try to talk slower?

Being back at uni has of course put a fairly big restriction on my TV watching. I'm on campus, and don't have my own TV, and the uni has banned 4OD for reasons beyond my comprehension, so I've fallen way behind on Ugly Betty. Fortunately two of my flatmates have TVs and both watch Desperate Housewives! So I'll be watching that tonight. Huzzah! Looking forward to seeing Vanessa Williams (Wilhelmina from Ugly Betty). I'm hoping to see something new from her. It would be very easy for her to play the bitch again.

I've also been able to watch X-Factor, with the lovely Steph (who doesn't read this, but deserves much credit). There are some real characters this year. I'm particularly enjoying Storm, who always puts on a show... even if his singing is a little off :P. Wagner really bugs me though. I hope he gets voted of tonight.

Single Father is also on tonight, but I'm gonna miss it and I-Player it tomorrow. Now, the BBC promised me a dramatic comedy, I'm sure and it has NOT delivered. Drama, yes, but it's a total tragedy! Really had my eyes tearing up last week and I don't think it'll get any more cheery. Lovely to the gorgeous David Tennant again though. And he's all Scottish *shiver*. Not keen on the new hair though... bring back the doctor's 'do :P

On a completely different note, I've also been watching Battlestar Galactica. Something that struck me in the first episode is how heavily Sci-Fi leans on stereotypical characters. It's a fledgling theory at the moment, but I'm fitting new shows into it all the time. There's always the Captain Man's Man who wants to kick some arse and shoot up some aliens (Jack O'Neill, Stargate, Mal & Jayne, Firefly, Whatshisface, Battlestar Galactica), there's always the pretty tomboy (Kaylee, Firefly, Sam Carter, Stargate, Lila, Futurama), I'm also considering adding Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, but I've been told in the original her character was a guy. No sod it, STEREOTYPE! Then there's the geeky one (Daniel Jackson, Stargate, Simon, Firefly, dunno his name yet, Battlestar Galactica, half the cast of Star Trek :P) I'm going to stop there, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back to this rant.