The verdicts from The British Empire

What can i say. Strangely, but not entirely surprising the british mass audience apparantly choose the new Dr. Who show as Best drama of 2006! The awfull new Robin Hood series came second while the fantastic Emile Bronte adaption; Jane Eyre came third. The incredible intens six part mini The State Within made it to a solid eight place. And the seldom treat Bodies ended on a joint twentyfourth place for some odd reason. But then again this was a typical small audience show. In these days the competitors have found out that niche before mass audience is the way to go anyway.

The spring season of the BBC seems less thrilling than before. Though we will see some great moments i'm sure of it. Many strange buys from america this year. Hmm, the serial superhero saga of Heroes i can understand since it was last years dark horse. 3Lbs? God this is a really bad show. But then again medical dramas never go out of style. What are the networks thinking of. More shows than ever where cancelled last year. Also in mid-season (Smith, Vanished, Kidnapped). Which for me anyway is new and unheard of. Why establish an audience and then turning them away again. Can we say the networks have seriouse trust issues?? Besides that, several promised shows didnt turn up (The Black Donnellys, Traveler no moved and announced for march 2007 and january 2007). Lets hope we can see some of these this year if the networks trusts us!?

I'm not gonna stab you this time, i'm going to burn you!

This post will take some time before its finished.....a lot of other things are pressing me against the wall.....some good, some bad......

As usual to much to watch. As usual, once everything seems to be calm and smooth (meaning enough time to get around the current favorite shows and writing about them) 24 hours just dont seem to cut it. And everytime i seem to be on top (meaning seen all current shows) there seems to pop up several new promising series. Which make me warm inside........so i watch more and sleep less.............The title this time is taken from season three of House M.D. Which more than ever looks to disregard any possible chance of being compationate and nice to both the people you like as well as the people you hate...........I was thinking that i was bored by the whole series at the end of last season. But once again i find my self more than mildly amused. Its absolutely still worth it. Bringing in a new irritating character to disturb the status quo seemed to make things good again.

Caught me the screener of The Black Donnellys NBS's comming battleship. A irish gangster drama set in the states. At least a very intriguing start. Really something to keep once eye on this on.

Where the heart is

The Nine bored me allready in mid season.

The Class

The Chase

Saved is another medical drama. This time from the world view of ambulance drivers. Seemingly. Paramedic is offcourse the right term. Very nice sound track and not at all bad acting (or seldom anyway).

Stargate Atlantis s.03

Kidnapped; fantastic drama thriller. No need to cancell it mid season.

Sorted

Runaway cancelled after to episodes. Not much else to say than i concur. This was a crappy try for a new show.

Angelas yes: fashion police. The law seems to be younger and thinner than ever. Thinner than the thinnest supermodel apparently. But nevertheless smarter than most. If you by that the main character is a young girl acting as an experienced investigator then this isnt entirely bad. But be warned.

Eureka: sci-fi

Wire in the blood

Silent witness: Steady BBC crime drama.

Nightmares and dreamscapes: Stphen King

Raines: crap

Runaway

Weeds: My god what a season. One of last years biggest hits, for sure.

Sinchronicity: Very nice brit-mini.

Traveler: Phew, this one will become the talk of the town i think. Announced for january 2007. Really looking forward to this one.

Blade the series: Vampire action drama adapted from the movies. Kitchy and very amusing. Vampires fighting the human race and........other vampires.

Amazing screw-on head: Mike Mignola, comic series:

Vanished: Nice start but cancelled at the end.

Shark: God this brings nothing new to the scene.

Prison break s.02: Fantastic continuation of season ones success.

Brotherhood:

News travels fast. Unless there's traffic

Following good COMEDY CENTRAL spirit Dog bites man seems to open each episode with the words: In february 2006 a documentary crew began following a local news team from KHBX Spokane. Both of the two first episodes are nice highclass-comedy folllowing the footsteps of BBC's The Office. At the same time as the release of Dog bites man HBO managed to surface the comedy of Lucky Louie. A mildly amusing but nevertheless lightweight comedy, to a certain degree resting on using nearly more than all of the conservative networks spooky the seven dirty words. Offcourse meaning more of the we-say-what-we-want formula. And looking at the shows details on the net gives us: Rated TVMA: ADULT CONTENT, NUDITY, GRAPHIC LANGUAGE, STRONG SEXUAL CONTENT. But this is only enough to keep the head above water. It's still a bit early to give a final verdict since i've only seen the pilot (S01E01). Offcourse this can become really good despite it's a Everybody loves Raymond with dirty words.

Bbesides that, like i posted last time, there seems to be lesser visual physical violence and more visual portrayed skin. Meaning more sex and sexual encounters than ever. So speaking of and having sex on the screen seems to be more in the wind than ever. And while waiting for series like The L word to continue i found the three part BBC-drama of The Line of beauty. Presented as:

This outsider's journey into the heart of the beautiful and seductive world of the social elite bristles with emotion, drama and social commentary. Full of style and wit, it is a richly textured coming-of-age story set in London during a ruthless decade.

A somewhat seriouse gay drama (in BBC's modern drama section) revolving the hypocrite conservative upper class of the english soceity in the eighties. A mix of Tipping the velvet and Queer as folk one might say. With good casting and a very nice and accurate mise-en-scene staged by the mastodont BBC.

well, gotta run again.....i'll be back to edit the ending here...........which no seems a bit in the air....

Violence is boring?

So, looks like the very different Weeds is due for yet another season in 2006. This can be very good. Even though the first season showed us a somewhat rocky road we definently saw things that said this is a keeper. Several of the episodes were packed with nice stunts. A seemingly quite stable script with good carachters and very nice casting. The only critic i can give right now is that the episodes are within the half-hour format. Meaning less than thirty minutes. This is inconsistant with trying to push the televisual aesthetics forward (and yes a somewhat cowardly way to test the televisual boundaries). Yes the show is somewhere in the frontlines right now i would say (because of its narrative). Credits to Showtime for trying to do something new and maybe groundbreaking in some ways. Looks like this is one of those shows that have traded the populare violence for sex and drugs. And theire alibi is drama mixed with humour. Though we have seen drugs in similar forms from other series like Six Feet Under. Drugs in popularemedia represent nothing new offcourse. But its the way it is presented thats new. For one, smoking pot on national american television and enjoying it is somewhat spectacular and suprising. But at the same time we see more than ever that the independent networks like Showtime Networks Inc. and HBO are changing the televison drama as we know it. And what a blast it is. So i embrace Weeds and welcome it. Every novelty is welcome no mather in which way.............or so i think now.........

Been a while since we saw something really groundbreaking like the big primetime battleships of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Curb your enthusiasm, Traders, Northern Exposure, Sex and the city and many, many, more. But the norm of the day seems to be drug and sex before violence. Even though the crime formula lives and thrives more than ever. also see series like The Book of Daniel and The Bedford diaries when it comes to getting away with earlier no-gos. The last one described as;

The Bedford Diaries explores the excitement and intensity of New York City college life through the eyes of six students with different backgrounds, experiences and ages, who are brought together in a provocative Human Behavior and Sexuality seminar.

The seminar, which examines the human condition through sexuality, is taught by controversial Professor Jake Macklin (Matthew Modine, Any Given Sunday, Married to the Mob), who will challenge and inspire his students as they question their assumptions about their own sexuality, life and identity. The themes include sexual responsibility, manipulation, the differences between love and sex, passion and abstinence.

The students' innermost thoughts are told through video diaries they make to fulfill their weekly class assignments.

Well, noone of those last two are somewhere near The L word and the original and british version of Queer as folk. when it comes to depicting privat, awkward and nice sexual situations earlier avoided by every sane television channel and network. But as the hunt for viewers more than ever is consentrating on reaching the few (a demographic niche) instead of everyone (a mass audience), strange things happen. We get change of discourse and narrative. Instead of deciding what people like and sending it (this offcourse still occurs), the different channels are giving people things which surprise them, granting the writer and producers greater creative freedom. Series which are sometimes bold and right up there along with other series which have changed telvisions aesthetic history. Sometimes this consists of bad shows and or bad elements (like The Book of Daniel, etc), other times we get the other side, groundbreaking quality. Sometimes its laughable how low quality some shows have. Other times it takes your breath away by giving you some. The format are far from static so we're in for more. But what next? What will the aestetics transform itself to, or via, next time?

Hmmm........more on this next time....looks like times up.....

We're not fags, we're dykes you fuckers....

Jenny's got a taser (as she once again is confronted with the conservative conformistic prejudiced world view of idiots), Shane wears a dress and hairextension....... and telling you more would be a real spoiler. The L word S03E02 (Lost weekend) seems to bring us back to the good scripts of last half of the first season and first half of the second season. Still more fragmented tention than earlier episodes, but it develops in the right direction i must say. A few things we could be without, but these little things often seems to disappear within the first episodes of a new season. The L word still manifests the power of aesthetic televised fictive worlds. And speaking of slow lift offs, ITVs Eleventh hour is an interesting attempt at bringing science and classical thriller elements together (Though not as interesting as Regenesis). It's also nice to see Patrick Stewart back into a seriouse thriller-drama. As usual we have good characters and awesome casting. Typical good old fashioned english quality entertainment. This i think will develop into something really good. I will come back to this show. And as long as we're into drama I'll have to mention the sci-fi-thriller-drama Threshold (which i forgott to mention in my previouse post). As earlier this low budgett serie steeres steady and is still somewhat recommendable. At the borderline of drama and comedy we find a new glossy serie from the mastodont BBC One. Hotel Babylon with one of my current favorite english drama actors Max Beesley (foremost Bodies also packed with fantastic casting). Well, anyway, for now Hotel Babylon wasn't to promising. Lightweight craftsmanship. Almost english gone american thrash gloss. But i'll maybe follow up this somewhat hard critic since the actors strive to please. And I also forgott to mention that Grey's anatomy is back. Can't explain why i like these stupid american shows, always twisting and turning. Never deciding on what they'll transforming into today. Love story, comedy-drama, pure drama, sentimental classical conservative drama, politically correct drama, educational morality soup etc. This is not quality. But i must tell you i'm weak for medical jargon and white coats. In fact i've always liked medical dramas (not ER). In this show the main character is the weakest link. You are once again warned.

Well, enough about serious drama. In the shadow of the loss of Curb your enthusiasm i found the hysterical BBC Three sketchshow Tittybangbang (in the tradition of the swedish Reuter & Skoog). This is typical good old fashioned humor. Nothing fancy, not reinventing the comedic wheel. Just plain old good laughable humour. Funland on the other side (still in BBC Three land) seems to go new darker routes to lure laughter from us. The series homepage presents itself as; Funland is a disturbingly funny new thriller . In other words a recommendable serie since it seems to offer something new. Not being the latest on the scene, i apologise, but as you can see the shows keep piling up. Anyway Funland is a very strange and bizarre kind of comedy. In the more traditional american cosy comedy tradition i found the new serie Love Monkey. Described on Tv.com as; The series is about four male friends at different stages of life and love as told through the eyes of a single, thirtysomething record executive. Well, appart from the last part of that sentence it just dont cut it. But the music refrences are for sure my kind of music. So, thou in doubt, i will try a few more episodes. But be warned, this is cosy american bubblegum comedy.

Sea of souls. Northern lights. The Book of Daniel. To be continued monday night........

Thinking back on good and evil

In Falcon Crest evil conspired with evil when Melissa and Lance got togheter. Typical black (evil) leather clothes on Melissa. Lance is the typical modern playboy of the time. Leaving the shirt unbuttoned at the top to show his manhood. Evil transformed into good for a shorter periode of time when Melissa supposedly fell in love with Cole, who never knew what hit him (later being framed for the murder of Melissas father).












In Dynasty evil is tamed for a short periode when Dex Dexter and Alexis finds one another. The heritage of the prime-time soap cannot be underestimated.........The aesthetics of televisuallity stems by far from these characters and their peers' narratives and discourses......They manifested and developed what Jane Feuer called to peak hysteria.

R.I.P

Dynasty [TV-Series 1981-1989]
Falcon Crest [TV-Series 1981-1990]

The Dark horse, continuation and returns

Just after Christmas i finally got through the 18 episodes of the fantastic retro comedy drama Freaks & geeks. Really one of those rare feelgood occurrences I recommend for everyone. The serie is for sure a real scrutiny of growing up (Tv.com). Besides that some other quality series have picked where they left off before Christmas. Last years dark horse surprise Invasion picks up in the same mysteries way they left us (S01E11). Still managing to keep feeding us seriously eerie feelings and forcing us to try to stay ahead of the story. Even though we know we can’t solve the riddle we’re constantly pushed to try. That’s the aesthetics of good writing kicking in. A perfectly played classical formula (the human race vs. aliens (ETBE) repeating it self all over again. Why isn’t this running on Norwegian television?

In addition, talking about formula, Lost surprised me we their continuation of season two with The 23rd Psalm (S.02.E10). Lost have come to be a somewhat tiresome phenomenon. In the beginning it was not bad at all, but the latest episode have been close to boring. For each step forward in the story we’re sent at least three steps backwards. But the latest episode dealing with the mysterious and intriguing character of Eko really put me right back on the edge of the coach. He, that’s televisual magic for you.

Showtimes lesbian drama The L word is back with a third season. Episode 01 (S03) didn’t offer anything new. No real peaks of hysteria, but never the less, after the first few episodes we usually get a more compact constellation of conflicts and entangled plot-conglomerates which seems to be the norm these days. So for us who can’t live without the televised (melo)dramas of everyday life The L word still may be worth checking out.

Battlestar Galctica and Stargate Atlantis is still in its respective second seasons. And still by far something for sci-fi fantasts. I have just finished E.

08 (S.02) of Battlestar Galactica (with four to go so far). And I must say I at least for now hope they never end the serie. Besides that BBC Drama are loaded with interesting series at the time being (check out the link in the sidebar). Took a quick look at the first episode of Life on mars (S01E01) yesterday. The serie spins over a classic british detective saga, cops vs. bad guys, but with a twist:

A detective chief inspector from 2006 is investigating a serial killer when he is knocked over by a speeding car. Waking up, he finds himself mysteriously transported back in time to 1973. Initially struggling to come to terms with his situation, he has to come to terms with the old-fashioned technology and attitude of the day, while figuring out how he came to be trapped in the past. Tv.com says further:

The actor John Simm described the show as

"a cross between Back to the Future and The Sweeney", and it makes effective use of the disorientation of the unwitting time traveller while taking a post-modern romp through 1970s fashions and technologies, with due tribute paid to the classic police dramas of the day to fashion a truly unique programme.

Looks to be a mystery within a mystery. Somewhat enjoyable and promising. But for now a typical light weight detective drama. But with impressive mise-en-scene and music. And last but not least, the cops from the seventies are a bit more cruel and evil than what we are used to. Like the character DCI Gene Hunt says: we’re only second to the law.

…….gotta run…..got my hands on Bodies season 01..... and other series are queing up……….stay away from the water….