Sunday, January 3, 2010

Fire Up The Tardis I'm off to Planet Television


So I just finished watching the latest Doctor Who. It was a two part-er. It was brilliant!

Truly Brilliant

I've never been shy to proclaim my nerdom and since geek chic dominated the 09s its become cool to be lame. However Doctor Who is one of those shows that has survived the test of time, thrived after its reintroduction and got better and better as the years have gone by. A bit like the doctor himself (hmm you see it, you see it?)
Russell T Davis is a personal hero of mine, and his ability to inject a very serious, emotionally charged sci fi series with such humor is incredible.

There are very few shows that leave me feeling overwhelmingly jealous, but on those occasions when a show reflects the natural humor we find in reality its like magic. Doctor Who's premise is so far removed from reality. We are asked to believe there is man that can fly through space and time in a 1950s police box, which by the way, is bigger on the inside than on the outside. However, it manages to entertain a secret desire we all hold, that something exciting could happen to us and change our lives forever. That topped with a script full of banter and witisism makes it difficult to watch without wishing you'd writen it.

I think I've made it clear over my last few blog entries that at times I become unimpressed with North American television. This is almost solely to do with the amount of advertising on the box. I don't believe I am the only one in Canada to have watched so many adverts I've forgotten what they are a break from. I literally sit waiting for the adverts to finish to remind me what it was I was watching, and even then the chances are its a re-run of something from years ago. They've got really cheeky actually, just yesterday friends cut to a break  before rolling the credits, before taking another break. That's more commercial than show.

Still, you know a show is a good one when you don't start flipping during the break. Nobody in the flat is allowed to touch the remote Thursday night during the office and I don't remember  ever switching channels when Lost was on. The big bang theory is another show where the writing is always excellent, there is a small amount of farce that makes you think of classics such as fawlty towers that are still funny today.

If you do have some time on your hands I would recommend watching Modern Family, every episode is even funnier than the last. While visiting planet television you should also check out Bored to Death, United States or Tara and Parks and Recreation.

If you want to go British for the day, Gavin and Stacey is breathtakingly good, and Peep Show, The Inbetweeners or Misfits are good for a giggle. If quiz shows are your thing check out Never Mind the Buzzcocks but careful they are all highly addictive.

I should point out, I watch television purely for research, I don't even enjoy it.  I'll only watch a show if I'm sitting in a pitch black room surrounded by terracotta carved gnnome figurines, it keeps me grounded you know. I just hope that one day, someone sits down at their computer and with a small amount of enthusiasm writes about my show, if I'm really lucky maybe I can be the creator of a little bit of magic.

Ok time to come back to planet earth. I'm back at work tomorrow and like the seven dwarfs I'm going to whistle my way through the day. I hope that the big slap of reality that is monday morning doesn't hurt you guys too much

a bientot . 

1 comment:

  1. i LOVE the united states of tara! i am going to check out all of those reco's because they come from a very trusted source ;)

    xo

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