Opinion: Dancing vs. MasterChef: A Weary Battle

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Yes, it's early days; MasterChef is just commencing its fourth week and Dancing has only just had its fourth instalment.

MasterChef is now in its third series, and Dancing with the Stars is in its eleventh, however for the sake of comparison, let's call it its fourth series in its newest iteration under new host Daniel McPherson.

On Sunday nights of late, viewers are seemingly spoilt for choice when it comes to reality competitions. Dancing kicks off at 6:30PM and MasterChef at 7:30PM, and this is accurately represented in the ratings figures.

Week 1: Dancing (1,505,000) beat MasterChef (1,503,000)

Week 2: Dancing (1,613,000) beat MasterChef (1,409,000)

Week 3: MasterChef (1,511,000) beat Dancing (1,429,000)

Source: TV Tonight

Due to this close ratings tussle, it would seem as if both shows are churning out more quality addictive content; more drama, more competitiveness, new twists, etc.

And to some extent this is true.

We have seen criticism of personal jibes at contestants (Dancing), controversy over cheating claims (Masterchef), professionals and judges spats (Dancing), spectacular triumphs and cringeworthy train-wrecks (both).

However, haven't we seen it all before?

Dexter Season 6 Gossip (Spoilers)

Just some interesting tidbits floating around regarding Season 6 of Dexter.

This great Dexter news blog has reported that Dexter Season 6 is filming in front of a local preschool. This is in keeping with Michael Ausiello's theory of a time-jump which would see Dexter's son Harrison a bit older and in pre-school.

Screen Junkies also has picked up on the fact that Brea Grant has joined the cast of Season 6... she has also hinted that she will be in a white lab coat.

This will be added to the DEXTER SHOW FILE of course.

Community Show File

News, reviews, features, analysis, photos and more!

Here's my wrap-up/review of Community Season 2. What did you think?

May 26, 2011

• The Community-Cougar Town Love continues with Abed popping up on the Cougar Town season finale.

May 23, 2011

• Ken Jeong (Chang) hosted the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. See a clip here.

March 18, 2011

• Community was renewed for a THIRD season by NBC, to premiere around September 2011.

March 11, 2011

Community on Twitter

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30 Rock Show File (Season 6)

The latest news, interviews and Season 6 gossip.

• Will the sixth season be its last? I analysed the speculation first here and then followed it up here after Alec Baldwin repeated his claim that he would leave at the end of the sixth season.

• Here is an interview with Alec Baldwin about his future on the show (Vulture).

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Parks and Recreation Show File

Here is where you will find reviews, news and photos relating to Parks and Recreation.



Here's an interview with Nick Offerman from TV Fanatic.

He talks about Season 4 of Parks and Recreation, including the other Tammy.

Latest News

May 21

• The finale rated well (3.8 rating in 18-49, beating Grey’s Anatomy).


• Who will play the Ron Swanson’s first ex-wife Tammy in Parks and Recreation? TV Fanatic throws up an interesting, logical choice.

March 18

• Parks and Recreation RENEWED for a Fourth Season

Parks and Recreation on Twitter

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Michael Schur (Co-creator)

Nine Draws a Line after Three Weeks: Between the Lines Cancelled

So, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but Eddie McGuire's latest show Between the Lines has been cancelled after only three weeks.

Ratings weren't terrible with 696,000 in its first week, 610,000 in its second, then 510,000 viewers in its third. For a Thursday night, it would need at least 700,000 to justify its presence.

It featured Mick Molloy and Ryan Fitzgerald, both Channel Ten personalities (lucky they didn't sever that tie) who tried their best but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

The show drew criticism for its blokey vibe (only one woman was allowed to be a guest per-week) which only perpetuated the "boys club" myth that many find repulsive. It also had an over-emphasis on AFL (McGuire, Molloy and Fitzgerald are all AFL media identities), which obviously didn't have a great appeal to Sydney audiences.

However, it is a bit of a shame, as it is when any Aussie program bites the dust, and there were some decent laughs to be had on the show. Unfortunately, viewers have clearly tired of shows which try to replicate formulae of other shows (BTL was obviously a copy of Spicks and Specks, The Trophy Room, or any other show along those lines).

Even if it didn't make an identical copy, the fact is that it wasn't original enough, or at least it wasn't entertaining enough to overcome that initial hurdle.

Just look at the example of My Kitchen Rules: it was obviously an attempt to replicate the winning formula of MasterChef- the drama of preparing dishes, the plating up, friendly yet critical judges, etc- yet it appeared to be a completely different show. For starters, it was set in people's homes. The contestants also were able to critique each other's dishes, which was somewhat of a novelty. Hence, it became a success in its own right, an remarks comparing it to MasterChef became minimal.

So hopefully the lesson learned from this should be that networks should focus on giving a new show a strong element of originality to avoid people judging it in comparison to their more successful counterparts.

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TV News Wrap: Friday May 27

Not much in the way of news today... just some notable guest-casting coups;

• James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") is heading to Law and Order: SVU. He will also be appearing on the new TNT show Franklin and Bash.

• Martin Short and Alan Quinn will also pop up on Season 7 of the Showtime series Weeds.

• Star of Mad Men, Jon Hamm, will direct the first episode of the fifth season of the hit AMC show. Of course, you'll have to wait until March 2012 to see it though.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• You can watch Hamish and Andy's going away drinks party on the Herald Sun website from 6PM today. They will fly to the US to produce their show, Hamish and Andy's Gap Year for Channel Nine.

• I can't believe that there's even speculation that someone will replace Adam Hills on Spicks and Specks for a number of reasons. 1) Because the combination of Adam, Myf and Alan is the show, when one element is taken out, it ceases to be Spicks and Specks; 2) Even if they tried, there would almost certainly be backlash, whoever they chose to replace him and 3) ABC would not even consider it because of these reasons, at least not for a couple of years.

TV News Wrap: Thursday May 26

• Is Cheryl Cole (of the X Factor UK) really going to be dropped from the US version (which is yet to air), just because of her accent? Apparently that's not the only reason, with disputes with fellow judge Paula Abdul being cited. TMZ has the full developing story. She will also apparently be replaced with Nicole Scherzinger.

• There are rumours swirling regarding the addition of a new cast member to Modern Family; read this if you want to find out more (possible spoilers).

• The mutual love and respect between Cougar Town and Community continues, despite them being on opposing networks (ABC and NBC respectively), with the character of Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi) turning up on the finale of Cougar Town, TVLine reveals. This follows various cross-referencing by each of the shows, as well as Dan Byrd and Busy Phillips appearing on the Community Season 2 finale. Abed of course mentions this infamous guest-role in an episode entitled "Critical Film Studies", but noone- it had to be said- expected the cameo to actually come to fruition. But the most amusing thing is this:

"(Bill) Lawrence tells TVLine that neither series’ network (ABC and NBC) or studio (Disney and Sony) had any idea that the two shows were working in cahoots."

See the clip HERE

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4recvP3lNw]

#AngryBoys on Twitter: What does everybody else think?

I started to worry that I was among the minority that were criticising Angry Boys for not being funny... at all.

I mean, not worried in the sense that "Oh, no-one's going to like me because I don't like the same thing they do..." I mean "worried" in the sense that I was missing some crucial element in the show that made it screamingly hilarious. However, after turning to Twitter, it turns out I'm not. Tonight's reaction has been, well, overwhelmingly negative... or perhaps even worse: indifferent. As in, normally with Lilley, if people don't like his show, it is usually because of the swearing/general offensiveness, which generates more publicity and drives people to watch the show. However, if people simply don't care about the show, well, that's where problems can start.

And I'm sad in a way, because most people were really looking forward to having great belly laughs at Angry Boys (and it seems that it can't raise more than a chuckle out of most; in another way, I'm also glad that people are willing to be honest if they didn't like they show, rather that forcing themselves to laugh just because it's Chris Lilley.

Take a look at a cross-section of tweets:

















And for fairness' sake, I have tried my best to find some positive tweets, and in particular those that mention something in particular that they like about the show. This was the type of thing that I found:



So at least some people are liking it, which is a good thing. There weren't, however, people saying how much they laughed at one of "Gran's Gotchas", for example. If you can't pinpoint at least one thing that is funny, then maybe the show isn't really that funny at all.

However, if I was to sum up the attitude towards the show of everyone else, it would be "disappointed". Many people have also been bemoaning the lack of Gran in this week's episode; she has been somewhat of a highlight the past two weeks.

Spicks and Specks ending: It was Great while it lasted

Here's the biggest TV story of the day, the week and even the month; Spicks and Specks will end at the end of this year. But don't put a foot through your computer screen in anger yet, it seems as if its a fairly amicable end to its seven year run of 277 episodes.

There has been a completely positive outpouring of affection for the show, which is simply great to see, as most shows end because the stars are tired, or out of ideas. But the show managed to refresh itself constantly while maintaining the core element of the dynamic of Adam, Myf and Alan, as well as the loose format centered around games with accessible to difficult music questions.

And speaking of the trio, it is a wonder that they have remained intact after so many years, with no reported fights, or detections to commercial networks (it's almost assumed that Adam has received numerous tempting offers).

They have also all been raised up from relative obscurity, with Adam being known for his friendly brand of stand-up only, Alan for his acting work and Myf for her work on Triple J radio.

Now, Adam has his own primetime talk-show, Myf had her own (but unfortunately ill-fated) breakfast radio show on Triple M Melboune with Peter Helliar, and Alan is an ABC radio host, who also had regular guest spots on Triple M.

The effect it will have not only onthe ABC's schedule but the whole Australian television landscape. It is located smack-bang in the middle of the week, and for years the ABC has structured its Wednesday primetime schedule around it- helping it to establish a powerhouse night of solid gold hits including The Gruen Transfer and Summer Heights High. To a lesser extent, it has helped to provide a solid launching pad for shows such as Hungry Beast and At the Movies, which surely would be forgotten without its popular neighbour.

And let's not forget the strong influence it was on other shows. Yes, it was similar to Never Mind the Buzzocks, but the ABC brought a unique local flavour to it, and almost pioneering a format of laid-back anecdote spouting combined with silly yet fun games as well as tough questions for real music buffs.

Many other networks have tried to copy this formula; to name a few, Between the Lines, The White Room and You May Be Right. Even the ABC has had a crack at it with the Trophy Room. Yet all have failed to take off, only showing how unique and inimitable the chemistry and atmosphere of the show and its regulars.

It has also brought newfound popularity, or a new audience to people such as Hamish Blake, Frank , Denise Scott, Dave O'Neill who all now have regular TV gigs that they didn't have before Spicks and Specks started (Hamish and Andy's Gap Year, Woodley, Winners and Losers and In Gordon Street Tonight respectively). It has also brought new fame to various musicians such as Ella Hooper, Brian Mannix, Brian Cadd, Richard Gill, the list goes on...

My tip would be that after Spicks an Specks wraps up, the gap in Wednesday nights will be filled by a longer run of In Gordon Street Tonight. As for Myf and Alan... I know they're talking to the ABC about other projects, but here's a free suggestion; why not have an At The Movies style show, but instead they review new albums, songs and recap the week's music news. They could even put their eclectic taste and knowledge of music to good use by putting viewers on to great new/old music.

So here's to Spicks and Specks; Alan's dogged yet playful determination to win (including his eyes-to-the-ceiling game-face), Myf's infectious laugh, Adam's seamless improvised quips, to the tip-of-your-tongue moments in Substitute and the weird and wonderful musicians as guests. We will miss you when you're gone, but in the meantime, enjoy it while you still can!

Angry Boys Review Episode 3: More of the Same... Unfortunately

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Another week, another episode of Angry Boys. And following the trend, there's an exposition of another major character.

We're up to Episode 3 now and so far, the show has received praise for Lilley's acting ability, as well as for his new character Gran, who has proved to be a perfect mix of funny ("Gran's Gotchas") and tough love.

Apart from that however, it has been expressions of disappointment for Lilley's caricaturist and plain unfunny portrayal of s.Mouse, a down in the dumps rapper, in which Lilley has donned a blackface get-up - not that that was why it wasn't funny.

The existing characters of Daniel and Nathan Sims fit somewhere in the middle. The main shtick there is their rude behaviour and language, which admittedly was funny at first, but after a while, it seemed like the same old stuff we had seen in We Can Be Heroes, and to an extent, Summer Heights High in the form of Jonah.

But I just want to make clear the fact that it is not a bad show, by any means. There is a clear attempt at humour, and let's face it, there isn't much of that (well, none of it) on Australian TV at the moment and it is clear the direction Lilley is trying to take the show.

However, the problem is, is that the "funny" came in dicky, sweary bursts by dumb or self-obsessed characters, and Lilley seems intent on shoe-horning in moments of pathos, which does not always gel with the tone of the episode, and obviously comes at the expense of laughs.

However, I was still open to have my mind changed by Episode 3 and the introduction of surfer Blake Oakfield. In fact I was quite excited.

The conceit of a surfer who lost a testicle in a shooting incident didn't exactly excite me, as it seemed in the vein of the same "dick balls poo f*ck" comedy he had been running with the past couple of episodes, so... Was it?

The opening scene was all about setting up the overarching plot of Nathan's deaf-school party, drawing together all the various celebrities (as well as Gran Sims).

Then we got introduced to Blake Oakfield and we find out what type of character he is. He is "in love with himself" as well as being a "bit of a dickhead".

He is a member of the "Mucca Mad Boys". And we also learn that it is one of two rival gangs in the town, which has been a source of violence (we are treated to a re-enactment of a scuffle).

Blake is under the impression that he is protecting the town.

So, Blake is an idiot with a hero complex. Which I guess is kind of funny, in that it plays on the destructive nature of gang mentality, as well as the male tendency to protect your territory.

Unfortunately, there weren't many jokes at all in that plotline.

Instead, we were treated to re-enactment on top of re-enactment as an establishing tool. Unfortunately, it was in graphic, unfunny detail; we got to see a gory picture of presumably, some bloody male genitals. Why? Blake has lost his testicles.

And it would be easy to critique the joke of people kicking Blake in the balls- or lack of- repeatedly, as it could be seen as immature, etc. But I'm not going to, for the moment. I will just remind you of a certain show called the Ronnie Johns Half Hour, which featured a recurring sketch of two people kicking each other in the balls. And that was a heavily criticised show, for those who bothered to watch it at least.

SMouse is under house-arrest, and so we get a mini-tour of his mansion. He shows us his plasma, etc. We also get to meet his girlfriend, so of course, we get to hear a different range of vocab: yup, there are some "sluts" some "bitches" and some "suck a dicks" in there.

She tells us: "After a fight, we get it on". And that's all we hear from her, because she apparently dumps him.

So there we go, that's the plot. And overall it was OK; but not at all funny, I'm sorry. If I'm missing something, let me know. But if I keep being expected to laugh at "balls balls BALLS bitch bitch f*ck!!!"... well, I can't really be expected to watch anymore. Can you?

Show File: Dexter Season 6 (Spoilers)

LATEST NEWS

May 28

• This great Dexter news blog has reported that Dexter Season 6 is filming in front of a local preschool. This is in keeping with Michael Ausiello's theory of a time-jump which would see Dexter's son Harrison a bit older and in pre-school.


• Screen Junkies also has picked up on the fact that Brea Grant has joined the cast of Season 6... she has also hinted that she will be in a white lab coat.

What do we know?

The core cast will remain intact, and here it is;

Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan

Dexter's Family

Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan 

James Remar as Harry Morgan

Preston Bailey as Cody Bennett 

Christina Robinson as Astor Bennett 

Dexter's Colleagues - Miami PD

Lauren Vélez as Lt. Maria LaGuerta 

David Zayas as Sgt. Angel Batista 

C.S. Lee as Vince Masuka 

Desmond Harrington as Joey Quinn

What's New?

As has come to be the norm, there are some tantalising additions to the cast;

• Edward James Olmos ("Battlestar Galactica") - A brilliant and charismatic professor of religious studies (Source: TVLine)


• Mos Def ("Be Kind Rewind") - Unnamed antagonist


• Colin Hanks - A "highly intelligent young expert on ancient artifacts" (Digital Spy). Will be playing a "villain" in the series, however, given that producers have stated that there will not be a "big bad" such as Miguel or Trinity. it is likely that he won't be the central focus, nor the only major antagonist.


• Aimee Garcia - The new nanny (replacing Maria Doyle Kennedy)


• Billy Brown - ("Lights Out") has joined the cast as Chicago Mike (Hollywood Reporter)


• Brea Grant - ("Heroes") Unknown role, will be appearing in a white lab coat.

There are also some new characters, TVLine reports:

Jamie: Described as an outgoing and fun Latina in her mid-20s, this Florida native relocates to Miami for grad school.

(Possibly Aimee Garcia's role?)

Chicago Mike: (HAS NOW BEEN CAST) New thirtysomething African-American homicide detective who possesses a finely turned BS detector. The Windy City native does not play well with others.

Louis: A buddy of Masuka’s (C.S. Lee) who joins MMP as a new lab intern. Role calls for a Caucasian actor in his 30s who is “attractive in his own way."

Also, "... An elementary school teacher."

Number Crunch

Production on the sixth series started May 25 in Los Angeles.

The show will premiere September 25. 2011.

There will be 12 episodes in Season 6, bringing the total up to 72 episodes.

Rumour Mill (Unconfirmed)

• Screenrant reports on speculation that Vince Masuka will die in the premiere episode.

• Many have stated that Debra could finally find out about Dexter's secret life, especially when you look at the tagline:

"This fall... all hell breaks loose"

And the quote on TVLine:

“There will be a microscope on the Deb/Dexter relationship this season,” Nevins revealed. “Over time you’re going to see that relationship evolve and change, no questions about it.”

• TVLine also floats the possibility of there being a time-jump of a considerable period of time (ie. more than a couple of years).

• Television Blend believes the season could be centred around the theme of "religion".

And here's the teaser trailer:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVApgr1Mqto]

Dexter on Twitter

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Renewal and Cancellation Wrap: Jackie in, Tara out!

Today there's two big stories when it comes to cult hit Showtime shows. It seems that overnight, they have flipped a coin; on one side Nurse Jackie, on the other, The United States of Tara. Both are in their Third season, both have strong female leads, and both have been well reviewed across their short lives as shows... But only one has been reviewed.

That show is Nurse Jackie, which will receive a fourth season.

This means that The United States of Tara has got the chop. You have to feel for Toni Collette, who has won praise (and awards) for her portrayal of Tara and her multiple personalities, however, hopefully it will open more doors for her in terms of movies.

I have watched both shows since season 1, yet gave up on Tara a couple of episodes into the second season- maybe it was just me, but I felt like the first season had already explored all the facets of the novelty of having multiple personalities, so I'd be happy to hear if you thought differently.

The overall arc of Nurse Jackie interested me more, though it has received slightly worse reviews than Tara for refusing to follow on from the shocking season 2 finale (Ie. Jackie covered over her drug-taking tracks and everything went back to normal).

TV News Wrap: Tuesday May 24

• Larry David's back for Season Eight of Curb Your Enthusiasm and this time it's set it New York. It will guest star Ricky Gervais, Michael J Fox and Rosie O'Donnell, among others. This recently released trailer looks fantastic.

• The TV Addict has assembled the fall schedule for 2011-2012, and it looks to be a tough a battle as ever- though I'm sure people say that every year. More in-depth look at the new programs to come.

• For Supernatural fans, Misha Collins, who plays Castiel will not be a series regular anymore.

• Dominic Fumusa, who plays the husband of Nurse Jackie, Kevin in the popular Showtime show, has divulged some details to TV Fanatic as to the rest of Season 3 (8 of 12 episodes have aired thus far, leaving only four to go- in Australia, episode 8 is to air today on Eleven). Most notably, he signals that there is some "big stuff" that happens... have a read:

"I think Linda and Liz want to make sure there are consequences to Jackie’s behavior and I will say that by the end of Season 3, some big stuff happens. It’s not exactly what you would predict, but that’s what’s great. They’re always staying one step ahead of the audience. As time goes on, my character will become very dark. Kevin started out as someone who seemed almost too good to be true. Obviously, he was not aware of his wife’s infidelity or drug use, and he becomes more suspicious and his behavior changes. He becomes more aggressive and takes things into his own hands. From the family side, it’s going to get very painful. The OCD is a wonderful way of showing that kids are affected by their parents' behavior. All of that gets richer. It’s already painful, and it will only get more so."

Breaking Bad Season 4 News

- The first episode of the fourth season will be called "El Topo" which translates to "The Mole".

(More updates to come)

TV News Wrap: Monday May 23

• In Australian news, after the Brynne Edelsten controversy, now Manu Feildel is being accused of being sexist on Dancing With the Stars due to his comments in regard to his partner "bossing him around" in his kitchen. It doesn't really warrant much talking about, as even though on the surface they might seem slightly sexist, there is obviously no malice attached to them, especially given Manu's look of mystification after the comments were made. What made it wore, apparently, was the fact that the audience "booed"- which, But here are the comments anyway:

"The problem was that the staff around me, I usually tell them what to do. Suddenly a woman was telling me what to do in front of everyone.”

But one thing is for sure, Channel Seven will be delighted, bordering on ecstatic, that another headline or three has been generated.

• Don't you hate it when two of your TV shows that you have filmed pilots for get picked up by different networks and you're forced to pull out from one of them? That's what happened to Nancy Travis, maybe best known for her work as the mother in Three Men and a Baby, but has since gone on to star in a multitude of other projects in TV and film (most recently, a brief stint on Desperate Housewives). Travis has had to pull out of her recurring guest role in the CW's upcoming show, Hart of Dixie (Rachel Bilson's TV comeback) to keep her role in ABC's Last Man Standing (Tim Allen's TV comeback).

• The Hollywood Reporter says that Ashton Kutcher's new $700,000-an-episode Two and a Half Men deal will only be a one year contract, due to CBS only licensing it for a year. The significance of this? Well, he won't have a long time to prove himself, so if the replacement isn't working after one season, it'll be bye bye Kutcher, and most likely, bye bye show.

• So, Ken Jeong hosted the 2011 Billboard Music Awards ("Chang" from Community, Mr Chow from The Hangover). It seemed slightly manic and occasionally funny, but he definitely deserves respect for his piano-playing abilities... less so for his singing, but either way, it marks another step in his meteoric rise. Take a look at the opening number:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8OrtTkKAJc&w=560&h=349]

• And for lack of anything else exciting, here's a promo for the Modern Family Season 2 finale entitled "The One That Got Away", the 24th episode of the season. We're likely to see various reviews and critiques of the entire season, given the universal praise it received for its first season. It's almost agreed upon that the second season didn't really match the wit and originality of the first, and while there were some very good episodes, some others relied too heavily on tired sitcom tropes. But here's the promo for the finale and the synopsis;

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBIXMaIOiyQ&w=560&h=349]

"Jay wants nothing more than to have a quiet birthday out fishing on the lake, but the family take that as him wanting a big celebration, and in their frantic scramble to put everything together, Claire and Mitchell wind up trapped in the yard of their childhood home; Phil runs into his old college nemesis while at the mall with Gloria and Lily; Cameron gets himself into some hot water at the bakery, and the kids frantically do some creative editing on grandpa's birthday video, all of which leaves Jay with a headache."

TV News Wrap: Sunday May 22

• Fans of the recvently cancelled Fox TV show "Breaking In", starring Christian Slater, might be able to hold on to some form of hope, after The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the show "...Might Get Renewed" if you watch the finale on Tuesday night in the US, which stars Mike Tyson and Voltron. This is because Fox has floated the possibilty of renewal if it gets good ratings on Friday.


• They have also thrown up a very likely reason as to why it was cancelled in the first place (even though it attracted ratings of around 7 million): "... (Fox) may find Breaking In too niche (read: too geeky) and not strong enough with female audiences."


• TVLine reports that another British actor has scored a major role on big-budget Fox show Terra Nova, it's Rod Hallett from The Tudors (he played Sir Richard Rich in the show).


• In other casting news, Ana Ortiz, best known from her role as Ugly Betty's sister in the ABC show, is heading to Detroit to star alongside Thomas Jane in the HBO show Hung. In keeping with the show's theme, she will be playing a woman who needs anger management and a prostitute... so no guesses as to what sort of things she will be getting up to in the show's third season. Ah well, you gotta what you gotta do to get by in the acting biz, don't you? Here she is/was in Ugly Betty as Hilda (on the left).

Those people eagerly anticipating Season 4 of Breaking Bad will be waiting for any scrap of information/footage relating to the new season (as to which there has been very little information released). I think this classifies as a "scrap", but it's something nonetheless.Here's  a video of star Bryan Cranston emploring fans to send in a video of how much they love Breaking Bad. But if you look at 0:33 onwards, there is a snippet of Season 4 footage, showing Cranston's character Walter White, still sporting his beard/moustache combo and throwing a burning pack of empty matches (possibly?) to the ground with Saul Goodman's face and slogan on it. Make of it what you will.

http://www.movieweb.com/v/VIaQvMDo14Iwdi

• In Australian news, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that hit NBC show The Voice has been picked up by Channel Nine (both the US version and the rights to an Australian one). You have to wonder if Australia is ready for another reality/talent competition, let alone another singing contest, but with this show's emphasis on well, the "voices" rather than their look, etc. it isn't exactly the worst pick-up news. But once again, it will come down to the choice of host, and in particular, the judges/mentors/coaches.


• TV Guide reports on the fact that Oprah's favourite guest of all time is Dr. Tererai Trent, a woman from Zimbabwe who endeavours to give the gift of education to children. I'd imagine John Travolta would be fuming.

TV News Wrap: Saturday May 21

• There's a bit of "Office" talk floating about after its finale aired on Thursday night in the US. (Minor spoilers for Australian viewers). The response to the barrage of guest stars lining up to be the new boss has received a middling to negative response from most critics. Despite appearances from comedy heavyweights Ray Romano, Jim Carrey, James Spader, Ricky Gervais and Catherine Tate, some critics were scathing in their appraisal. Take Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix

"...I worried that a parade of big name guest stars would not only not fit comfortably into the world of the show but turn the finale into a disjointed mess.

I feel my fears were unfortunately correct with Ferrell's episode, and they sure seemed correct as I sat through last night's bumpy, awkward, great big mess of a finale. "

• In other "Office" news, TVLine's Michael Ausiello has signalled the possibility that Jenna Fischer's real-life pregnancy mights be written into the show... which I guess was kind of necessary? I mean the other choice was to write her out of the show for a block of episodes Tracy Jordan/Morgan-style, which wouldn't be a bad thing for The Office given the increasing staleness of the Jim-Pam dynamic. But nothing is set in stone yet.


• Which stars won't have a job (well in terms of the TV industry) next season? You've got to feel for Lost's Terry O'Quinn, what a great actor he was in Lost.


• Did Ricky Gervais really say that The Office jumped the shark in its finale? The internet has gone nuts over what Gervais said in his blog:

"If you're going to jump a shark, jump a big one."

The only thing is, he's referring to the Chris Martin episode of Extras, in which he makes a guest-appearance on: "I think it's a bit weird, celebrities just popping up in a sitcom", Gervais' character says. And now Warren Buffet has popped up on The Office. I think it's called irony... and "tongue-in-cheek". And anyway, even if Gervais does think the show has gone to sh-t, he wouldn't care all that much. And these days, jumping the shark isn't really used in the same pejorative sense as it first was, and this is just a light-hearted dig anyway...

• Regardless, the finale still rated well (3.8 rating in 18-49, beating Grey's Anatomy).


• Who will play the Ron Swanson's first ex-wife Tammy in Parks and Recreation. TV Fanatic throws up an interesting, logical choice.


• In other non-Office related news, for fans of the British TV show Luther, the trailer for its second season has been released. And even if you're not a fan of the show, or the brilliant Idris Elba, you've got to admit that this is a fantastic trailer. You've also got to love shows that go out and make great non-plot specific trailers like this which show you something about the character/s in the show, especially with a great song in the background. Soak this up:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWcCAQmxrQc]

• In Australian TV News, TV Tonight hints at a raunchy episode of Offspring coming up this Monday. For mine, the latest season has seemed to take this sort of turn- which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The premiere kicked off the season well, but let's just hope this raunchier turn doesn't turn more conservative viewers off the show. And I think this tweet by comedian Josh Earl nicely summed up the vibe the promos put out for the show:

TV News Wrap: Friday May 20

The stars are lining up to farewell Oprah (from one network to another). Today, it's been Jennifer Aniston and Hugh Jackman. Very emotional stuff... sort of. Oh, and THIS, which I was alerted to by Crikey.

As some would know, one of the games in Letters and Numbers involves drawing random letters from two stacks (vowels and consonants), with the contestant dictating which pile to draw from. On this occasion, maths guru Lily Serna pulled out letters spelling "PENISDUMP", so to speak. I have to admit, I started watching Letters and Numbers when it first started, but it became a bit monotonous and repetitive after a while. Fair to say that the chance of this happening again has reinvigorated my interest in the show.
(Alerted to this by crikey.com.au)

UPDATE: I suppose I better just say that I have recently found out that it is fake, which is disappointing. But you can still marvel at how well it has been put together. It just goes to show that not everything you see on the Internet is real, which is surprising; I may have have to reconsider the authenticity of some other things, like the above picture...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmQyyiAiATA&w=560&h=349]

Thanks to EW, British actor Chris Vance will play The Transporter in the upcoming TV series of the same name. He has previously appeared in Prison Break and more recently, Dexter. He told EW:

“Fast-paced. Action-packed. Car chases. Stunts. Fights, Beautiful girls. Villains. Heroes. Guns. It should be a lot of fun

Sounds pretty good to me, Vance certainly has a steely, uncompromising style and given it will be executively produced by Luc Besson (writer of the 3 Transporter flicks), expectations will be high.

Catherine Tate has Chris Harnick, of TV Squad's vote to be the new The Office boss. For the record, she has mine too.

EW has a nice wrap-up of all the new shows that will grace TV screens in the US fall season, as well a discussion on some cancelled shows.

TV Guide, along with many others, haven't been too fond of Modern Family of late. Though, they have to remember, that like The Office, a "bad" episode of Modern Family is still about as good, if not marginally better than most other comedies on TV.

Let's hope Modern Family rallies for next week's season finale, because these last two episodes felt like they were written by Nolan Gould's dimbulb Luke Dunphy.

The ninth season of One Tree Hill will be its last, EW reports.

A Quick Word on Community Season 2

[caption id="attachment_601" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Source: daemonstv.com"][/caption]

There's a slightly amusing interview from Zap2it with Gillian Jacobs who plays Britta on Community which got me thinking about Season 2 as a whole, and the (only slight) problems I had with it.

She takes slight offence (albeit somewhat mockingly) to the Britta being referred to as "strident"... she prefers "opinionated". I would have thought it was a fairly accurate description though. Not that that's a bad thing though, her character certainly adds a great deal to the show, unlike Chevy Chase's Pierce.

For anyone who's seen Season 2, they'd know that it was almost single-handedly ruined by the presence of Pierce. Now, I'm not coming at this from a show fanboy perspective, as in, "I hate Roy being on the show because he's keeping Jim and Pam from getting together", to use an old, The Office example. I'm talking about the way that he has become more of an antagonist than ever, creating unnecessary, annoying subplots to episodes which would have been fine as they were. Take the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" episode, in which a perfectly fine idea of an imaginary game of D&D was played out to boost the self-esteem of fellow student Neil (it makes more sense if you watch it), was ruined by way of Pierce's sniping. Again, in the "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking" episode, he was manipulative and conniving. Now again, I don't mind so much the idea of him playing an antagonist of sorts, like he was in the first season (where he was pretty much just a bumbling, politically incorrect old man, who didn't know any better), but for mine, he has shifted the focus of the show and he seems to constantly derail plot-lines. It has created a problem for both the characters on the show (should the keep in the study group or not?) and the writers (should they make him more docile and forget all this character "development" or play up his role as villain?) which hopefully is resolved in Season 3.

I found it interesting that at the beginning of the season, Chang was pegged at being a potential problem for the show (he no longer was a teacher, so he lost all of his power, and consequentially, any kind of gravitas or importance on-screen). It seemed he would become an annoying, insane presence on the show, who constantly wanted to join the study group. And it was quite admirable how the writers handled it, they introduced the Shirley baby-plot to make him appear more human, and his other appearances were inserted sparingly.

 

She also states; "I don't know what's left", in terms of weird plot-lines for the show (they've done zombies, space, etc.), and that might indeed be a good thing. While the big, flashy episodes may garner a small amount of publicity, it relies too heavily on them and would appear gimmicky to newcomers. A return to Season 1's more understated "big" episodes would be welcome ("Contemporary American Poultry", for example).

And a word on the finale; yes it was good, but it could never top "Modern Warfare", no matter how many big-name guest stars (Josh Holloway, Busy Phillips, Dan Byrd) were shoved into it, no matter how long and overblown it was (a two-parter stretched across two weeks, no less), no matter how many shows it tried to reference (Star Wars, spaghetti Westerns, etc.), no matter how many "surprise" kisses were thrown in (I won't spoil it), no matter how high the stakes were... It just couldn't. But I reiterate, it was good, it was great even, but it couldn't top the first, and it seemed endemic of the writer's desire to top Season 1 by recreating the "best" parts of Season 1 and multiplying it by a billion. The best part about Season 1 was that it seemed different to everything else on the box at the time (and as it turned out, it was), Season 2 should have seemed different to Season 1, is all.

[And just a word on the Josh Holloway, Busy Phillips and Dan Byrd appearances.  I know the show is supposed to be meta, or meta on top of meta on top of meta, or whatever, but the fact that Abed referenced Lost in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas", then one of the central stars happens to show up on campus the next year... seems kind of strange. At least, if everyone assumes that he is a Holloway lookalike, there could at least be a sly mention of it. I'm happy to let the Cougar Town stars' appearances slide, as even though Abed spoke incessantly about it in "Critical Film Studies", he may not have seen these two celebs who have made their way into the crowd. Nit-picky? Narrh...]

TV News Wrap: Thursday May 19

Here's what's making news today.

The Age's Craig Mathieson gives a nice little explanation as to why Australia's Got Talent bested MasterChef on Tuesday night;

"Right now, Channel Ten's culinary extravaganza looks like an overly long journey, a forced march of a show that's become a massive brand that vigorously spruiks multiple brands and is hosted by various brands who judge contestants who are very keen to launch their own brands. Apparently, there is some is food involved, too."

I don't exactly agree with his glowing appraisal of Australia's Got Talent, as it can seem overly contrived at times, but the continual flogging of products, as well as the machine-like way it is going about its business every year will eventually contribute to its demise.

Did Lisa Edelstein (who recently exited Fox show House) jump or was she pushed? The TV Guru asks the question. Either way, it's gotta have a detrimental effect on the show, doesn't it?

Angry Boys Episode 2 Review: Not-so-Mighty S.mouse

Source: abc.net.au

This isn't to say that the first episode was terrible, it just didn't live up to the hype generated by his previous track record. It also didn't feature a great deal of laughs.

However, I was holding out for the second, and maybe the third to make any more sweeping judgements. And let me get this clear- I really want to like this series, as I'm sure everyone else does, however, you have to continually judge it as a standalone show, not in the manner of "How good is Lilley's latest masterpiece?"

For starters, the character s.Mouse is possibly one of the worst creations in the history of Australian comedy. And not "worst" as in, "Oh, isn't J'amie terrible!" kind of way. I don't like saying it, believe me, but the idea of an African American rapper  who needs to get his career back on track isn't remotely appealing to me, nor do I think it would be to any other Australian. If it is, feel free to prove me wrong.

Once again, I feel it helps to reiterate what was so great about the previous two series; he managed to capture a unique style of humour, a distinctly Australian one with Australian characters. Even J'amie, who many might say was a Mean Girls-type clone, had a uniquely Australian flavour.

The reason for s.Mouse's inclusion in the series seems to be primarily to appeal to American audiences (by sheer virtue of the fact that he is an African American)... and of course, it is yet another excuse for Lilley to go nuts and fill up the swear-jar ten times over. But it's not just swearing, we get some "poos", some "bitches" and whatever else you can think of.

And I better just qualify something again; I don't take issue with the sheer volume of swearing a scatological references- "Puck you, miss", while not necessarily a swear-word, is one of the genuinely funny parts of Summer Heights High. I take issue with the fact that Lilley seems to just be hammering these words from week to week (first with the Sims brothers, now with s.Mouse).

So, am I missing something here? Is there another layer to the character that would make him seem all that more hilarious?

The ultimate test would be, to imagine the s.Mouse character as a sketch performed on Ben Elton's Live From Planet Earth, a short-lived show that endured an absolute bollocking in every medium known to man. Once everyone had made their minds up; that this was an old has-been trotting out clichéd stereotypes, people delighted in savaging every part of the show (for the record, I disliked it, barring a few OK elements).

Now, imagine Ben Elton running out on stage (this is a Channel Nine show, mind you), in a Chris Lilley blackface-type set-up. He reads from exactly the same script as Lilley has written, etc.

Now, what would everyone think? What would you think? Funny now?

Oh, but it's Chris Lilley who makes the character is it? Well not even he could salvage this one.

In fairness, it seems that many people on Twitter expressed sentiments to the tune of the character not doing anything for them, with some even being daring enough to admit it didn't make them laugh.

But once again, tell me what made you laugh- if anything- about the character. Was it the "Slap My Elbow" song? Oh, 'cause it emphasises how ridiculous rapper and rap-music is... And?

But please, let me know.

But once again, the saving grace was once again Gran, a character that many have expressed favour for. She/he really is a unique character, tough love is the only way she knows, yet her (strangely) blokey demeanour allows her to rib the inmates, to often hilarious results (ie. "Gran's Gotchas" in Episode 1).

However, I once again express my distaste for the fact that Lilley feels the need to shoe-horn a heartfelt moment in at the end. In this case, it was Gran sharing a motherly moment with a dog-wanker inmate (yes, HA!). I guess it would have been a satisfying resolution to the episode's vague plot, yet given the lack of laughs in the first half of the episode, it would have been nice to balance it with a few more in the second.

Between the Lines Review: A Nice Surprise, but can it Join the Ranks of "Specks", GNW, TAYG?

I was pleasantly surprised by Nine's latest foray into the panel/quiz show formula. Ten has its pop culture quiz show in Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, its news quiz show in Good News Week. ABC has its music quiz show in Spicks and Specks and its sports quiz show in The Trophy Room. So how does this stack up?

Well, first off Eddie McGuire as host : he did the job just fine, there was never any question of that. As always, it always comes down to whether you are a fan of his or not, or rather, if you can tolerate him or not. But whether you like him or not, he knows when to let the guests crack their jokes or tell their stories, and when to keep the show moving (though it was not live).
But at the end of the day, even if you don't like Eddie, he doesn't dominate the show, so it would be tolerable at worst.

The two team captains were Mick Molloy and Ryan Fitzgerald, who were both quite funny. Molloy came with a few succinct one-liners that he's used to delivering on Before the Game while Fitzgerald was quite good at responding to situations and making jokes up on the spot.

The comedians were Peter Berner and Ed Kavalee, and they were predictably brilliant, however, I couldn't help feeling a pang of nostalgia and excitement for the two shows these two were/are involved in (The Einstein Factor and The Joy of Sets).

The stars Lauren Burns and James Tomkins didn't really have a lot to offer except for a couple of amusing anecdotes, but I guess you need them on there given it is a sports show. And having 6 comedians on a show can sometimes be too chaotic.

So it's really no different to most panel-type shows- it will live and die by the quality of its guests. For example, I would watch if people like Ed Kavalee were on, but not if someone like Ruby Rose were on.



Also, speaking of female guests, many have remarked that there is not a strong female presence, which opens it up to a barrage of criticism. Here's a suggestion for another female guest- Mieke Buchan. She is also on Eddie's Triple M breakfast show, and has good chemistry with him. Also, and most importantly, she knows her sport- she is also associated with Channel Nine as she does voiceovers for the AFL Footy Show.

And speaking of chaos, if you stack it up against GNW, Eddie keeps his show under control. Which isn't to say that the chaos doesn't work for GNW.

It is also a bit more structured than Talkin Bout Your Generation, as that show requires a looser format to allow Shaun Micallef room to weave his magic, the elaborate games to play out and allow the guests to have some good ol' fashioned fun.

However, it is not as structured as Spicks and Specks. It does borrow heavily from its games such as the "pick a subject" questions, and the "true or false" anecdotes. However, I for one couldn't care less. If a show is good, I don't care if it borrows elements from other shows. After all, we're all friends here....

There was, however, one part I disliked was the segment in which the contestants had to pick the "real" Gary Cosier. It isn't really the fault of the comedians, as they are there to make jokes, but they proceeded to take potshots at the five "Garys" based on their physical appearance. It only served to demonstrate the sort of blokey ribbing with more than a hint of nastiness that would cause many to switch off. For example, Molloy kicked it off by saying one of the "Garys" "is clearly on day release". Ed Kavalee's were less malicious, saying one looked like he wants to "go (him)", while another looked like "Con the Fruiterer". Molloy, though, finished by saying one looked like he was born in "1896". On the other side, Berner said "Get two Kerry Bousteads and tape them together" to get one of the "Kerry Bousteads" in the line-up.

I just hope five women aren't put up next week or else it could get very ugly...

So in the end, it turned out to be a decent show. Not exactly a rip-snorter, but it has the capacity to turn out some decent laughs every week. However, it all comes down to the ratings tomorrow...

Angry Boys Review: Good, but not Hilarious - A Dangerous New Direction for Lilley?

At first, I didn't care if Angry Boys was going to be the funniest thing I had ever seen.

The fact is, we know that Chris Lilley can do funny. In fact, he can do it very well, HBO-standard well. He's shown us this by contributing two of the funniest Australian series to ever grace our screens.

Lilley could have easily served up Summer Heights High 2. Almost too easily, as it would be another certain hit, given the success of the first.

He even could have brought back Jonah, as by definition, he is an "Angry Boy".

However, he hasn't. He has assembled a cast of "new" characters, barring the the two Sims brothers, who were first seen on We Can Be Heroes.

However what I was looking for was not whether the show was funny, but if it stood by itself as a unique and original show. This is because despite how funny the first two series were, there were strong similarities.

And as much as these aforementioned things were all ticks in my book, the question remained whether he would trot out the same Lilley formula.

That is: "controversial" jokes, cringe-worthy situations and often juvenile-style humour.

The other questions hovered over the new characters: would the Japanese mother resemble Ricky Wong's parents too closely (or just an "Asian" stereotype in general)? Did the "black rapper" represent Lilley's stooping to broader comedy?

Unfortunately, in the first episode, we only received answers to some of these questions as we were only presented with the two Sims brothers and their grandmother, prison warden Gran.

First of all, I will start out by saying that my casual assumption that Lilley could churn out another funny series was incorrect as so far, Angry Boys is not as funny as its two predecessors, nor do I think it will be.

Suddenly it became about not whether Lilley had created something new and fresh, but just whether he had at least made a funny show. And I don't know if he delivered in that respect.

The two Dunt boys showed that they don't have that much more to offer in terms of comedy- especially since it feels like we've seen it before in We Can Be Heroes. We also saw boys behaving badly done to perfection in Summer Heights High in the form of Jonah.

And if you were to place the two (or three) characters of Jonah and the Dunt boys next to each other, it would be hard to differentiate between the two. Both are foul-mouthed teenagers... And that's about as far as it goes. However, Jonah's character was inherently more hilarious as we could see he was a student who was struggling academically, yet used swearing, bullying and breakdancing to paper over the cracks.

Viewers enjoy laughing at this situation as we are laughing "at" his bullyboy antics which he uses to escape his hell that is schoolwork. Hence Lilley's combination of funny antics with an underlying hint of pathos proved a winner.

But when it is transposed to the Dunt boys, we are asked to laugh "with" them as they perform burnouts, flip the bird and... Swear. They aren't performing these actions because they have an underlying insecurity, they are simply boys behaving badly. And while some (well, probably more than some) will find them funny, it isn't substantial enough in the first episode.

This was why Lilley decided to supply a boost of pathos... However, to me, explaining that the ear drum transplant didn't work was a cop out, after their story was seemingly resolved in We Can Be Heroes. I don't mind so much the idea, but when their story is resurrected in order for Lilley to swear nonstop again, it doesn't really cut it. It's also a classic bet-hedging: if critics don't end up laughing at the jokes, at least they will fall into the trap of complimenting the heartfelt elements of the story. Well, not I certainly haven't.

Gran, however is a strong character, who would go down as a famous strong female character if she wasn't played by a bloke. Her racist remarks seemed plausible for an old-school character such as her, however if the media decides, they could easily stir up a huge s-storm over.

However, even though it isn't as funny, it is clear that there is a stronger narrative arc, and stronger ties between the characters- something that was pretty much nonexistent in the previous series.

Time will tell whether viewers will respond to this as well- they probably will but if Lilley still wants to label his shows comedies, I would say the first episode strayed very heavily into dramedy down. If you watched it again, you could pretty much draw a line down the middle of the episode and observe these two conflicting sides to Lilley's apparent new style.

To be fair to Lilley, it would be worth waiting for the exposition of the rest of the characters to make a true judgement.

At the end of the day, Lilley needs to remember the reason why his shows are so popular: they are funny. Though he won praise for his portrayal of Jonah, in the way that he made the audience feel sympathy for him in the end, this should not become the centerpiece of the show.

Overall, it was good, but not great, with the highlight being the new character Gran (cue another Lilley creation: Gran's Gotchas), so hopefully the rest of the new characters inject similar new life into the show.