minor TV observations

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I think I'd accept that men are more likely to show off generally, so are more likely to be wisecracking than women, but if we're talking about funny characters rather than funny comedians, I don't think women are less flawed, or those flaws are less liable to be funny, than men. Friends seems evidence of this, more or less. I don't think the current or past situation is necessarily pandering to women at all, any more than it is to men (obviously advertisers hold most people in low respect). I think not letting women be flawed and therefore funny in a comedy is patronising and retrograde, just as not letting women be strong and capable in action dramas would be. Men still dominate both areas. The fact that more men have been revered as top comics proves no more than that the world has been sexist for a long time, no more than that most revered painter have been male.

French & Saunders used to get loads of complaints from women, you know, complaining that their comedy characters were negative images of women, and they should be providing strong, intelligent, capable role models. I don't think this is likely to lead to huge hilarity, and I don't think that, to take as good parallel examples as I can, Rik & Adrian or Fry & Laurie got the same kind of complaint.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 5 July 2003 14:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

Just to totally change the subject, the new series of Mastermind started on BBC2 this evening with someone choosing "The Music of the Smiths since 1982" as his specialist subject (he won).

Seeing John Humphreys conduct a bit of "informed" banter (typical question "but aren't they a bit miserable?") with the least-likely-looking Smiths fan in the world, and hearing questions about How Soon Is Now? on Mastermind was one of the weirdest things I have seen on TV this (or any other) year.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 7 July 2003 20:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

typical question "but aren't they a bit miserable?")

am smiling thinking this was one of the actual quiz questions asked

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 7 July 2003 20:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

in one of the sunday papers there was a "oh no!! TV is dumbing down!! oh no!" article based on the fact that knowing abt the smiths is being counted as knowledge

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 7 July 2003 20:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

Hah! Wait until later in the series when someone is doing "The Simpsons" as their specialist subject (cartoons presumably being way dumber than music in the eyes of the Mail-reading Middle-Englanders).

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 7 July 2003 20:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

Has there ever been a sitcom to rival The Good Life?
-- Matt (Mat...), May 9th, 2003.

Is this the shortlived sitcom that Drew Carrey had a role in?

― Leee (Leee), Monday, 7 July 2003 21:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

No, he undoubtedly means an old and hugely popular UK one of that name, starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington. It was okay, but rather cosy.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 11:27 (9 years ago) Permalink

It is the greatest UK comedy ever made.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 11:35 (9 years ago) Permalink

the smiths questions included 'what label were they on?', 'what label were they on in america' and 'who was their drummer?'

this = dumbing down.

on a different note, paxman's chiding of the contestants when they couldn't do the binary arithmatic on university challenge last week was funny. after about 5 seconds he'd start hurrying them up whilst they were busy adding 2^7, 2^6 and 2^1 and dividing it by 2^3 plus 2^1.

andy

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 19:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

'what label were they on?', 'what label were they on in america' and 'who was their drummer?'
this = dumbing down.

its so dumbed down, rickshaws are running over it

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 19:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

Tell me there were some hard ones too - that's just ridiculous. Would we be saying the same thing about questions on 'The Cotton Trade 1750-1900' if that was what we'd misspent our youth on, I wonder. Maybe they've always been easy.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 21:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

I didn't think the Smiths questions were dumbed down at all - but then, I only got one of them.

In the final Magnus Magnusson series, one of the specialist subject was the Discworld novels; I knew more of the answers than the contestant did. But I wouldn't try to argue that they were asking easy questions, just because I knew what the answers were.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 10:32 (9 years ago) Permalink

all questions are easy if you know the answers

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 10:43 (9 years ago) Permalink

Well, exactly. If you asked the Average Telly Viewer, they'd probably have as little clue what record label the Smiths were on as, say, any of the questions on Roman history or the British car industry that were on the same show.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 10:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

That's what I was saying.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 10:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

And more eloquently, too.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 10:56 (9 years ago) Permalink

epistemology in a nutshell

― Snowy Mann (rdmanston), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 12:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

B-but surely if someone is specialising in knowing stuff about the Smiths, then "who is their drummer?" is a piss-easy question.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 16:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

me:
adding 2^7, 2^6 and 2^1 and dividing it by 2^3 plus 2^1

this was wrong. obviously. the first 2^1 should be 2^3 (200 / 10 = 20)

sorry.

/me hangs head

andy

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 10 July 2003 18:01 (9 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

David Cross and Bob Odenkirk need to be beaten with sticks.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:01 (9 years ago) Permalink

Your first episode of Bo Selecta is always the best.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

very true!

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 12:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

I was recently watching that episode of the Simpsons where the school is cutting expenses, and they have Groundskeeper Willie teaching French.

"Bonjurrrr, yeh Cheese-eatin' Surrender Monkeys"

I occasionally forget that all good things come from the Simpsons. I'm sorry.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 23:33 (9 years ago) Permalink

That girl drinking a diet coke on a train. She starts seeing suggestive lyrics in the signs around her, she's suddenly "on the pull"... Then when the fella reading a newspaper opposite her puts his paper down he's a spotty teen with a loud shirt. Calamity! She turns to one side and raises her eyebrows in a "what was I thinking" sort of way.

Here's news: YOU'RE NO OIL PAINTING YOURSELF, LOVE.

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 07:40 (9 years ago) Permalink

Yes she looks like Cherie Blair.

― j0e (j0e), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 08:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

christmas adverts? already? pah

usually they wait until last week of october but both some air freshener thing and boots have already started.

andy

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 16 October 2003 16:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

I have yet to see a Christmas TV ad, thankfully. Or maybe I just watch programs that wouldn't highlight Christmas ads. I have seen Halloween ads, which is more sensible and logical.

Magical New TV Show I Think As Many People As Possible Should Be Watching: ABC's "Threat Matrix". It's highly engaging and not one of those serial-type series that one would be totally lost over if one were to suddenly start watching it. Each hour-long episode highlights one complete story, and not every episode ends neatly or nicely. I'm really hoping the ratings for this show improve so it won't get cancelled.

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 17 October 2003 01:25 (9 years ago) Permalink

They've started showing a condom ad on TV here. I could be wrong but I thought they avoided doing this (in prime time, certainly). Anyway it's one of those fnarr fnarr overtly suggestive ads - woman sees statue of David's wang and goes "hmmm", man sees woman in shop window undoing mannequin's fly and goes "hmmm", geez they might as well have gone all Percy's Progress and had trains going into tunnels, it was that silly.

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 17 October 2003 02:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

reviving martin's thread to alert him to the 'Roni Size's Bristol' thing that's currently showing on bbc3 (follow up to 'bloke from viz talks about newcastle').

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 13 July 2005 10:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

is big brother officially an hour long now, on c4? it used to be 30min.

― N_RQ, Wednesday, 13 July 2005 10:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

has been 45 or 50 this series, occasionally 65 on weeknights.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 13 July 2005 11:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

"The Who" was one of the specialist questions on Mastermind, 2 days ago.

I managed 2 get more than mr expert..

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 13 July 2005 11:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone else seen the ad on BBC for CBeebies interactive telly stuff? Is it just me, or does the mother on that ad look like the girl from the Chemical Brothers' "Setting Sun" video?

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 13 July 2005 15:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

Thanks, Andy - I didn't see it, though. There was something like a 'Tricky's Bristol' on some years back, I remember.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 13 July 2005 17:06 (7 years ago) Permalink

it's on again, i think, based on the 4 repeats of the newcastel one (not before friday though) and i still have it on the tivo.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 14 July 2005 06:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

Amusingly, on a Mastermind-like show here called the Einstein Factor someones specialist topic was Futurama =) I missed it though, came in just as they were done. Damn.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 14 July 2005 08:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

There was something like a 'Tricky's Bristol' on some years back, I remember.

'Naked & Famous' may be what you're thinking of. It's included as an extra in the Tricky: A Ruff Guide DVD (available from all good Fopps for about £7).

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 14 July 2005 08:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

Nono, there were "stars guides to their towns", I remember it as well. It must be five years or so ago, though.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 14 July 2005 09:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

6 years pass...

8 years ago:
> Magical New TV Show I Think As Many People As Possible Should Be Watching: ABC's "Threat Matrix"

??? don't think this ever made it to england. no dvds on amazon either (.co.uk or .com)

― koogs, Thursday, 3 May 2012 11:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

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