Public Address - Radiation (Home)

Jumping the fence | Aug 20, 2006 22:24

Bad lesbian! Bad! They teased us for so long on Shortie with the Mark and Maia thing and now it's Jay that's gone and jumped the fence (is that like jumping the shark?). And not even with Doug Howlett either. But what I mean to say is, Shortland Street has been reet good lately, what with Jay doing it on a desk with Dylan and with her hottie at home and Yvonne getting her very own lounge singer to play with, although this is the sort of thing that can send a production into a panic, especially one that is producing six half-hours of telly a week.

The trouble with writing TV highlights two weeks ahead is that you lose track of what day it is – so I was wrong about the Grey's finale, which is actually tomorrow night [Monday]. Guess TV2 is liking the ratings; they're replacing Grey's Anatomy with … Grey's Anatomy. Yes. The first season from the beginning, which will save me having to hire the DVD, I guess. Meanwhile, season three starts in the US on September 21.

What a lot of good US dramas there are at the moment, and what a lot of rubbish British ones (sit down Hotel Babylon and could there be a more boring title for a show than Murder in Suburbia?) and what a dearth of New Zealand ones. But no more! Outrageous Fortune starts September 5 guys. I'm so excited and I hope the Orange Roughies scriptwriters will be taking notes. Also Weeds. Please take notes from Weeds. Speaking of Weeds, which is a Showtime production, what's up with those websites in the US that don't let you in because you're not American? Try the website at www.sho.com and see what you get.

Is it my imagination, or is the MTV NZ marketing just a little bit off? They seem to think it's all down on the farm down here in En Zed; the so-called New Zealand show Full Tank featured snippets of Amber Peebles and Phil Bostwick being, y'know, zany and everything in between that well-known New Zealander Missy Elliot; and, I'm told, there was a pole dancer in the VIP lounge at the launch in Aotea Square on Friday. Ew. They should really have signed Camilla to do some interviews as well, because Amber and Phil were rubbish with the Arctic Monkeys.

Critical mass is, ah, massing for Snakes on a Plane. EW gives it a C+; Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 62% fresh. E! online has a cute history here, including the suggestion that releasing the movie will just spoil the fun (too late for that). Samuel L Jackson was motherf*ckin' funny on The Daily Show. Notice how it's okay to say motherf*ckin' now? Damn that Snakes on a Plane.

Giovanni mentions another reason to like Grey's:

Word is that Deborah Cahn, who wrote some cracking episodes of The West Wing post-Sorkin and was chiefly responsible for resurrecting the series after the horrors of season five, has joined the writing staff for the new season.

I've been recording The West Wing, but now I've got two backed up. That's the trouble with the PVR, you end up with all this stuff on it that you never get round to watching, but can't bear to part with. Speaking of writers, David Fury, who was responsible for some cracking episodes of Buffy, is now a producer on 24, which is on turbo-charged this season.

Peter wants to know where the hell is Entourage (I'm sure one of the networks promised this), while Chris points out that Shameless is on UKTV at the moment – that's the first series, with the lovely James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff. Check out what she's been up to lately. Wow.

Meanwhile, Danielle says:

My husband hates Lukas with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I quote: "Look at him! He looks like something Gary Numan shat out!" Lukas is therefore known in our household as the "The Turd of Gary Numan".

Ouch. Although, now you come to mention it … Zayra had to go though, didn't she? That Shania Twain on acid was just not right for the old rockers. Supernova have so got it made – they get to showcase their songs before the record is even out, they get miles of publicity before the tour and everyone already knows about the New Year's gig in Vegas. Win-win baby. There are webisodes here, if you can be bothered.

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It's a bust | Aug 12, 2006 12:09

As you may have noticed (or probably not, that's the beauty of the thing) I've been trying for the worst blogger ever award but, like most things these days, it's a bust. Ah well. I have excuses.

So many things have happened in my absence: what may have been Shortland Street's first blow-job (that's the great thing about the My Sky PVR – you can rewind to check); Orange Roughies went back to the land of the bad cop shows; Sugar Shack went back to the land of the bad … uh, what was that?; Freeview arrived and was mistaken for HDTV; Big Love and The Sopranos started (but shit, TV3, where is Battlestar Galactica?); and the best cop show on television is screening at midnight on Tuesdays. Situation normal then.

So what do we think of Big Love? It's actually giving me the creeps, which is probably what it's supposed to be doing. I just want to shake those nitwit women and run a mile when Harry Dean Stanton hoves into view in his Hummer. He's like Tony Soprano but with psychological abuse. Uk. It all looks so cloying and suburban too, which is what I'm guessing Weeds will look like, albeit in a more Wisteria Lane sort of way. Starts August 16 on Prime and I'm hoping it will make up for the loss of my new favourite programme, which finals on Monday, Grey's Anatomy. I can't quite believe I've been suckered into it, but there I am, tissues ready. Yes, I know Ellen Pompeo is a stick figure with boobs, I know the voiceovers are prone to talking about "damage" and "sacrifice" (oh, please), but I really like the way the characters' actions aren't always spelt out in crayon. They are also very pretty, especially this guy. The scriptwriting bar in the US is so high nowadays, why aren't there any British dramas not involving Tardises (Tardi?) that are this much fun or even insightful? We'll just have to wait for Life on Mars I guess, and Shameless.

My other new favourite show, I'm surprised to say, is the train wreck that is Rock Star: Supernova. It's funny how they're all, y'know, rockers, man, but are so groomed. Especially Dave Navarro. Especially Dave Navarro's eyebrows. And Tommy Lee's teeth. Dilana so rocks, but Lukas and Magni are contenders. The rest should walk right now. But enough of that. Sarah points out this open letter to MTV (launches here 18 August with a gig in Aotea Square featuring Savage and Aaradhna) on the occasion of its 25th birthday. Also, if you're lucky enough to be watching season three of Deadwood on Sky Movies 1 (it will screen on Prime in October), here's Heather Havrilesky's view on Salon. Warning: spoilers (not many), but she is so right about Swearengen. Ian McShane will never have another part like it.

Shortie's been so funny lately. Some hi-laarious exchanges between the Jeffries sisters and I'm really enjoying Fleur Revell as the tactless, head-up-her-butt Libby. James Griffin said in an interview once that Shortland Street always works best with a mix of comedy and drama, which it has perfectly right now. Andy Anderson is soon to appear as a lounge singer with the hots for Yvonne. Nice.

Apparently, Gordon Ramsey is not that effing tough, and some of you with be enthusiastic about this news.

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