Friday 23 July 2010

E is for...Ed

One of my favorite t.v. shows of all time is...Ed, seriously it's in my top 10. Ed is about this lawyer Ed Stevens, as played by Tom Cavanagh, who gets fired on the same day he discovers his wife is cheating on him with a mailman, not 'their mailman' as it's repeated throughout the show. So Ed decides to return to his hometown of Stuckeyville, Ohio. Once there he buys the local bowling alley and sets up shop as the 'Bowling Alley Lawyer'. He also discovers that his first crush, Carol Vessey, is a teacher at the same high school they went to back in the day. Ed sets out to win Carol's heart.
Ed is a t.v. show that part of a long line of shows like 'Northern Exposure', 'Gilmore Girls', 'Evening Shade' and 'Picket Fences', where the small town that the lead characters live in is full of quirky locals. But of all those towns Cicely, Alaska (Northern Exposure), Stars Hollow, Connecticut (Gilmore Girls), Evening Shade, Arkansas (Evening Shade) and Rome, Wisconsin (Picket Fences)...I would want to live in Stuckeyville the most.
I wanted to be friends with Ed & Carol and Mike & Nancy and Molly. I wanted to bowl at Stuckeybowl. The relationship between Ed and Carol broke my heart on many occasions, I wanted them to be together so much. And it's not just me...the fans of Ed hold this show in a special place in our hearts. The people that love this show really LOVE it...as you can see from the over 14,000 registered fans on the Ed Fan Website Stuckeyville.com. The affection for the characters and the show is clear.
But it was also a very funny, surreal show. One episode mostly takes place in a lucid dream that Ed is having. And with Phil Stubbs played by Michael Ian Black, from cult t.v. show 'The State' amongst many others, as one of the many odd employs at Stuckeybowl who knows what shenanigans are going to happen.
Sadly, Ed is not available on DVD yet but you can sign up on a reserve list on Amazon on the link below.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

D is for...Degrassi Junior High

Degrassi Junior HighImage via Wikipedia
 Degrassi was a Canadian teen soap opera that ran from 1987 to 1989, but has had a couple of 'sequels' including Degrassi High and Degrassi: The Next Generation. There was nothing like Degrassi made in the U.S., it was edgy and more realistic than 'Saved By The Bell' or 'Beverly Hills 90210'. It dealt with such as drug use, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, racism, and divorce, and these problems were not wrapped up in one episode but continued through out the series. The show wasn't patronizing and didn't talk down to us kids. But it also didn't try to 'down' with the kids and try to be ultra cool. The characters were like people we'd actually be at school with, maybe that's because they weren't professional actors. Basically, Degrassi was like 'Skins' but for the late 80's.



Here's the YouTube link for all the Degrassi episodes:
Degrassi on YouTube
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Thursday 15 July 2010

C - CSI...all of them...

Search Amazon.com for csi Search Amazon.com for csi
The CSI franchise started in 2000, in Las Vegas with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. CSI: Miami followed two years later in 2002 and then CSI: NY in 2004. More than 2 billion people worldwide watch CSI...and I'm one of them.

Now I'm going to write about each city but I'm saying straight off that CSI: Vegas is my favorite. The original and still the best. The Vegas team is lead by forensic entomologist Gil Grissom, who's a little socially inept but a great scientist. And Catherine Willows, the most kick ass ginger on T.V.! I have nothing bad to say about CSI: Vegas, I have never mocked it with friends...unlike...

CSI: Miami, which is one of the most ridiculous shows on T.V....but at some point it was the most watched show on the planet. This is not because it's good, that the story lines are riveting or the acting is Oscar level or the editing is cutting edge. No, it's because it's so bad and because of the hero to the down-trodden and the enemy of all the bad guys...Horatio Cane. (I'm rolling my eyes just thinking of him) Ginger For Justice!

One of the things that make CSI: Vegas so great is the humor and the chemistry between the team members. You can actually believe that these people like each other and are friends. When one of them makes a cheesy one-liner, another one will call them on it or give them a look like 'what did you just say?'. On CSI: Miami there is no humor, at least not intentional, all the humor is from the overly earnest dialogue and acting and the crap editing and ridiculous plots and...you get the picture. I'm surprised that Horatio has any time to solve crimes, since he's always telling the children of crime victims to call him anytime.

When there was the Miami/NYC crossover to launch CSI: NY, David Caruso looked like the horrendous actor he is next to Gary Sinise, who's not only won an Emmy and a Golden Globe but has been nominated for an Oscar and a Palm d'Or. It was embarrassing.

The crossover introduced us to Detective Mac Taylor, who's wife died in the 9/11 tragedy and the rest of his team. CSI: NYC is a bit darker than the other two shows...literally, it's lit really dark. I like CSI: NY but it's getting a little crazy with all the celebrity guests...Pete Wentz & Ashlee Simpson, Nelly, Kid Rock, Nelly Furtado, Joey Lawrence,
Marlee Matlin, Sasha Cohen, Maroon 5, Julia Ormond, Criss Angel, Suicide Girls, Chris Daughtry, John McEnroe (as himself)...really it's getting ridiculous!
All the CSI series have had an unfortunate side effect to being so cool and showing us how crimes are solved...the 'CSI effect', which...
'is a reference to the phenomenon of popular television shows such as the CSI franchise raising crime victims' and jury members', even criminals', real-world expectations of forensic science, especially crime scene investigation and DNA testing.'
I know that most of the things they do on the CSI shows aren't actually correct and they don't have 'magic' computers but I still love them! And I have to admit that I often 'CSI' things myself...oh god...I really do watch too much T.V.!
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Wednesday 14 July 2010

B is for BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (ORGINAL)

I'm writing about both of these because they were on T.V. at the same time and were both developed by Glen A. Larson and even used the same props, costumes and sets.
I loved Buck Rogers as a kid. I guess you could say it was the beginning of my geek journey, along with seeing Stars Wars at the age of 4 years old in 1977. Obviously, being a kid I didn't know that it was cheesy and tacky but even now as an adult looking back at the shows...I still love it, maybe because it it so cheesy.
Buck Rogers was a NASA pilot on a mission in 1987 is 'accidently' frozen for 504 years and wakes up in 2491. There's all sorts of shenanigans and adventures as Buck learns about the future and Earths past. Actually, there were some pretty kick ass, strong women on Buck Rogers...Colonel Wilma Deering and main villain Princess Ardala, who wants to take over Earth and Buck.
It was also chock full of 'guest stars' including; Gary Coleman, Cesar Romero, Jack Palance, Roddy McDowell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jerry Orbach, Julie Newmar...and oh yeah, Mel Blanc as the voice of Twiki!

 Battlestar Galatica was more serious and darker than Buck Rogers. From Wikipedia:
Humanity lived on twelve colony worlds in a distant star system. They fought a thousand-year war with the Cylons, warrior robots created by a reptilian race which expired long ago, presumably destroyed by their own creations. Having never been commanded to cease fire, these warrior robots waged war against the colonials. Mankind was defeated in a sneak attack on their homeworlds conceived by the Cylons, carried out with the help of Count Baltar (John Colicos). Protected by the last surviving warship, a "battlestar" (the word, presumably coined by Glen Larson, is short for the phrase "line-of-battle starship") called Galactica, the survivors fled in available ships. The Commander of the Galactica, Adama (Lorne Greene), led this "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of 220 ships in search of a new home on a legendary planet called Earth. The episodes dealt with the fleet's struggle to survive the Cylon threat and to find Earth.
But for me as a 5-6 year old; this is the show that gave me one of my first crushes, besides Shaun Cassidy, and that was...Starbuck as played by Dirk Benedict. Don't even think I knew why I like him but he was my favorite, maybe because he was charming and funny.
I haven't seen the new Battlestar but have been told by many people I should watch it...so here I go!
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Sunday 4 July 2010

How I was a Big Mouth on Big Brother's Big Mouth...

On Friday July 2nd, I was in the audience of Big Brother's Big Mouth. I don't remember how they got my number but they've been calling me for a couple years to try and get me on the show...but I've never been able to go on it because of work or school or whatever. Well, now that I'm temporarily unemployed I was able to do it!
I'm not gonna go into why I was an hour late getting to Elstree Studios, where Big Brother is filmed, but let's just say I say a lot of North London suburbs and walked quite a bit.
When I finally got to Elstree I was taken to a 'workshop', basically a building where sets and props are stored, and given to drink tickets because the booze will make us more talkative. There was a curtained off 'room' where the other audience members, about thirty of us, were drinking and watching that nights Big Brother. Some of the audience were totally over-dressed and glammed up, I found out later that they had auditioned to be on Big Brother but obviously not got on. Everybody was very nice and for some reason there were quite a few Brummies. Some of the audience had been on before and one guy had been on sixty times!
They took our bags and phones so we couldn't text who was evicted to anyone...there's a couple minute delay to what's broadcast. One of the researcher's Emma came round and talked to people who wanted to be a 'top talker'...and I was one of them! They want to find out who's going to have something good to say and who you like and dislike, who you want out of the house. The 'top talkers' get the best seats so Davina can get to you easier.
So we got to see the eviction...SUNSHINE! YEAH! BOO! I wanted her out. I thought She was annoying, patronizing and selfish and an attention seeker. So we wait around whilst Davina interviews Sunshine but don't get to see the interview. They lead us over to the studio, make us wait outside for a bit and then get taken in to the studio. As a 'top talker' I get the best seat in the house, right on the front row! I sit next to some girl from OK! magazine and we make fun of Jodie Marsh's plastic surgery.
One of the crew tells us not to read along to the telepromoter and to whoop it up when Davina introduces the audience! WHOOOOO! HOOOOO! Some rapper I never heard of performs and we have to dance. Oh by the way, I'm wearing a green dress.
Davina comes out, she looks amazing and is wearing Louboutins. We talk about Shabby and Keyva (spelling it phonetically). Shabby's friends are sitting behind me. They're really nice and cool and I like Shabby more because of them. Suddenly, Davina sticks the mic in my face and asks me if I think Keyva is flattered by Shabby attention...I quickly get over the initial shock and say 'Yes, everyone likes to get attention.'
Ad Break...Davina comes and sits next to me and I give her a little squeeze. She's lovely.
Then we talk about Ben and Marion and Dave, how they're always touching each other. I say 'They are bonding like monkeys or chimps.'
Sunshine comes out and isn't as annoying as I previously thought. She seems alright actually.
The guy who's been on sixty times says something really mean to Sunshine and everyone turns on him and boo's him. Sunshine takes it on the chin and keeps going. She shows us her nasty rug burn and grosses everyone out.
There's only a minute left and I pull a hat trick and say 'If Dave hadn't won the challenge he'd be out right now and not Sunshine.'
End of show...the rapper comes back out again we all dance and Marcus is doing karate! Brilliant.
We were told that if they like how we did we can come back and maybe even for the final! Fingers crossed!
 
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