Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Looks like we've made it to the end

We're going to do that selection box style of update today, but not because we can't find anything we want to write about at length (well, maybe slightly because of that), but more because we noticed a trend in tonight's telly. That's right, folks - lots of things are ending. Because all good things must come to an end, whereas bad things go on forever, which explains why Charmed ran for eight seasons. (Just kidding. We love that show, honestly. Just don't talk to us about season eight, we're still in repression therapy trying to forget it ever happened.)

And so tonight it's time to sing so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen etc. to three US treats, two of them forever. Bowing out first (chronologically speaking) is Brothers and Sisters on Channel 4 at 10pm as it reaches the end of season one. It hasn't exactly been a ratings grabber for C4, hovering around and occasionally below the one million mark, despite its popularity in the US. Our theory for this is that perhaps the themes of the programme, in terms of its focus on a family at war over US politics and their own boozy, privileged nature, doesn't necessarily travel brilliantly and is perhaps more resonant on its own turf. That said, we actually really enjoyed this show (when we remembered to watch it), and the cast is ridiculously pretty, so we'll be sad if the second season doesn't get picked up by anyone over here.

Behind that is What About Brian on E4 at 11.05pm, which we've only ever caught odd glimpses of, but have also enjoyed in a dripping-with-cheese sort of way. It's bowing out after two seasons, leaving us wondering if the question of Brian will ever be truly resolved. Again, it was kind of hard to sympathise with the problems of a bunch of beautiful rich people, but we'll miss the show, and more surprisingly, we'll miss the trailers, which somehow went from annoying to endearing without us noticing.

And finally it's the swansong of Will & Grace on Channel 4 at 12.05am. In all honesty the show went off the boil years ago so we're not exactly in floods of tears, and if having not one but two live episodes in your final season doesn't scream "look at us, jumping this shark, look!", we don't know what does. But we'll miss the bitchy put downs all the same, and we'll miss trying to be more like Karen in our everyday lives.

So there we go. We're not going to cry, we're just going to focus on the good times and the fond memories. Okay, and maybe cry a little.

Labels: Brothers and Sisters, Channel 4, e4, TV, What About Brian?, Will and Grace

By Steve :: Post link :: ::  
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

So it's come to this: a lowculture clipshow

Don't you just hate it when you sit down to watch one of your beloved (usually American) TV shows, only to discover that you've been cheated out of a new episode and given a bunch of rehashed and re-edited clips passing themselves off as fresh or occasionally "unseen" footage instead? Well, you're probably not going to like this then, because due to circumstances beyond our control (we got unexpectedly dragged down the pub last night when we were meant to be writing this), we're going to briefly flit across a handful of programmes that are on tonight, rather than look at any particular one in depth, and steal as much of this writeup from the messageboard as we possibly can. Sorry. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Of note tonight, then: the final episode of Sensitive Skin at 10.00pm on BBC Two, which despite featuring the lovely Joanna Lumley and therefore pretty much automatically qualifying as highculture, has been widely appreciated on the boards, leading groopie to declare "I think I'm going to live on a boat" (there was probably some context for this within the show that makes more sense of it), while Cherubic commented: "I love this programme. I'm not very good at being positive, so that is all." High praise indeed.

Elsewhere, the excessively-trailed What About Brian? continues at 9.00pm on E4, but at least the trailers aren't as soul-crushingly annoying as the ones for Skins were, so we'll let it off. Most of the focus on the boards is on the fact that the show features Sarah Lancaster from Saved by the Bell: The New Class, but we gather she's not actually in this week's episode. Boo. At 8.00pm ITV2 will be exploring the 101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies, but only down as far as number 81. Swizz! And Cape Wrath continues on Channel 4 at 10.00pm in the face of widespread public befuddlement, with comments such as "it's not really living up to its promise" from Nurse Dunkley and "I was really looking forward to this too, but it's lazy and boring" from cathybradford. Interesting how that's in the same timeslot as Sensitive Skin, the show everyone seems to love. Not that we're trying to make your viewing decisions for you. At least, no more so than usual.

Labels: 101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies, BBC2, Cape Wrath, Channel 4, e4, ITV2, Sensitive Skin, TV, What About Brian?

By Steve :: Post link :: ::  
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