Lost Season 6 "New Promo"
No entiendo a la gente diciendo que la imagen que sale en esta nueva promo es un spoiler. El año pasado a estas alturas teníamos 1000 promos de la 5ª. Es una promo de la 6ª mostrada por la ABC como cada año, spoiler, en mi opinión, para nada.
E aquí la imagen.
Dollhouse S02E13 Epitaph Two: Return (Series Finale) "Promo"
Puesto al día de Dollhouse, vaya pedazo de temporada, no creía que la serie retomaría el vuelo después de un comienzo con un 1er capítulo aburrido. Pero hay que señalar que quitando este capítulo, el nivel ha sido muy alto, creo que el personaje de Bennet ha dado un aire fresco seguido de una historia más que interesante. Pero todo esto creo que se debe a la cancelación, porque si no se hubiera cancelado, la pregunta es: ¿estaríamos hablando de capitulazos uno tras otro?
Soundtracks - Recomendaciones 7
Séptimo post de recomendaciones de BSO. Primero con dos películas aún no estrenadas pero que sus BSO ya me han cautivado y eso ya es un punto a favor para ir a verlas. Y segundo Friday Night Lights, soundtrack de la película pero que muchas canciones salen en la gran serie de TV.
The RoadCompositor: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Recomendadas:
01 - Home
02 - The Road
12 - The Journey
14 - The Bath
15 - The Family
16 - The Beach
17 - The Boy
The Book of EliCompositor: Atticus Ross
Recomendadas:
01 - Panoramic
02 - Outland
03 - The Journey
10 - The Passenger
14 - Convoy Destruct
15 - Movement
Friday Night Lights (Movie)Compositor: Explosions In The Sky
Recomendadas:
01 - From West Texas
02 - Your Hand In Mine (wstrings)
05 - Home
07 - To West Texas
08 - Your Hand In Mine (Goodbye)
09 - Inside It All Feels The Same
10 - Do You Ever Feel Cursed
14 - A Slow Dance
Adverts Reaction
When it comes to TV adverts I think it’s safe to say that they fall into three distinct categories: the good, the bad and the ugly, and when I say I ugly I mean so irritatingly awful that it makes you want to self harm.For some reason since the new year I’ve been getting more and more riled up by TV adverts, maybe its due to the fact that as the schedules are somewhat light with good shows at the moment that my Sky+ isn’t taking the abuse it normally does and I’m actually watching shows as they air, horrifying I know.
If that is the case, then there is every chance that this epidemic of mind-numbingly stupid ads has been going on for quite some time and I’ve just been in a blissfully oblivious fast-forwarding world.
The biggest offender at the moment for making me want to put my head through the TV is the Halifax radio ad – didn’t think the Halifax could get any more annoying than the Howard Brown all-singing, all-dancing ads of the last few years, well think again.
At least the Howard ads were kind of catchy and got in your head and even had you singing along, not in public though obviously. This new ad though, I’m assuming is supposed to be funny, but it isn’t funny in any way at all, unless making the viewer want to rub poison ivy on their genitals just to distract them from the aberration on their screen is considered funny.
The Halifax could make a fortune if they put out a disclaimer that if 10 million new accounts are opened with them in the next month they would pull the ad – I’d be the first in the queue.
Also currently polluting your ad breaks are Jamie and Louise Redknapp, I know what you’re thinking – the Wii, right? Wrong.
They’re now flogging you holidays – is there anything these two won’t try and sell!? I used to quite like Redknapp in his footballing days but since his retirement he’s become a media whore and as for the ad itself, dumb doesn’t
begin to describe it.How Thomas Cook haven’t been done for false advertising is amazing – shirtless golf on a deserted beach, horseback riding (again deserted beach), kick-ups in a suit, again, you guessed it: on a deserted beach – that might be what the Redknapps’ holidays are like with all the advertising money they’re pulling in for attaching their names to whatever product throws the most cash at them but I doubt the average Thomas Cook package holiday is quite as glamorous.
They should have had the Redknapps having to get up at 5am to go and reserve a sun-bed, or had them sat on the beach with a load of screaming kids running round them or they could have had Jamie Redknapp sat on the toilet having explosive diarrhoea after sampling the local cuisine – now that sounds more like the Thomas Cook holidays we all know and love.
Oh and then there’s Martine McCutcheon and her heinous Activia advert which actually manages to make me dread hearing the opening bars of Gimme Some Lovin’.
Why is Martine McCutcheon the face of healthy living? I don’t know what it is about that advert but I fucking hate it!
Is it McCutcheon smugly telling you how to be healthy, maybe it’s her ridiculous Hamster like cheeks or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m an unhealthy pig and I don’t like being reminded I’m probably eating myself into an early grave by somebody who hasn’t been relevant in ten years!
Those three are not the only offenders (don’t even get me started on those Iggy Pop Swift Cover ads), they are merely the tip of the iceberg of the never-ending parade of veritable shit that I bear witness to every time one of my favourite shows goes to an ad break.
Don’t misunderstand me though, I’m not an advert-hater, there are some great ads at the moment, the recent Paddy Power ads as I documented last year have been absolutely genius; the Evian babies,
no matter how creepy, still make me laugh and who can forget the ad that actually makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like he’s made out of Austrian Oak – the California ad, when Beckham’s acting you off the screen Arnie it’s probably a good job you retired.And of course there are those ads that are so good, they become part of popular culture and thus become infuriatingly annoying – and for some reason the current crop that fall into that category all seem to be for car insurance.
Do you think the boffins over at Go Compare decided that in order to compete with Compare the Market they needed to come up with an advert that achieved the impossible and was actually more irritating than Aleksandr the Meerkat? Because if they did, congratulations guys, because the Go Compare opera singer is more annoying than a talking Meerkat with a Russian accent and a smoking jacket. Kudos.
As I stated previously, not all adverts make you want to kill yourself and over the years there have been some stone cold classics; and as we are on the subject, and I don’t want to end this dissection of TV ads on a sour note, as a parting gift I thought I’d share two of my all-time favourite ads with you:
Other Musings:
- Gok Wan had a show this week that was a spin-off of his How to Look Good Naked show in which he was criticising people with disabilities – is there anything this guy won’t do!?
Talk about low, what’s next? How to look good naked and dead? Or how about: how to look good naked and under age? This has to be Channel 4 pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel, why should attention be drawn to the fact that these people are differently able? The people featured in this show should have been featured as part of the regular show not paraded in some sort of ‘special’ edition.
The last thing these people need is that idiot Gok Wan trying to pimp their wheelchair.
- The unexpected TV highlight of this week has to have been Josh Groban’s cameo on Glee. After his appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks a while back I knew the guy was funny and could be very self-deprecating but his brief cameo on Glee was comedy of the highest order.
Essentially playing an asshole-version of himself, Groban stole the show on Monday night’s episode of a show that is really surprising me with how funny it actually is.
- Ever since E4 ended its purging of How I Met Your Mother weeknights at 7, my lovely girlfriend and I had been struggling to find something to watch while we ate our tea (or dinner to all you Southerners) because let’s face it, we weren’t going to watch The One Show were we?
(A typical One Show link: and that was Gyles Brandreth with a report on why your Washing Machine might be killing you, next up Dominic Littlewood meets a group of Holocaust survivors and then a little later Rav Wilding dresses like a penguin and has eggs thrown at him by primary school children).
So imagine my relief when I discovered double episodes of Two and a Half Men on Comedy Central around tea time. I’d had a few aborted attempts at getting into Two and a Half Men but ultimately never could (mainly due to the erratic scheduling by Paramount [now Comedy Central] of new episodes) however I have now come to realise just why this show is as popular as it is in the States.
The belly laughs come as fast as on any of the best sitcoms out there and the charm and chemistry of the three leads is something to behold (in particular young Angus T. Jones). Two and a Half Men really is a great show and deserves just as much praise as some of its more well-respected peers.
There’s no TV or not TV next week because I’m in Dublin, but we’ll be back in February.
Heroes S04E17 - The Art of Deception "Promo"
Ayer me desmayé y tuve un flashforward, vi que Heroes era cancelada. 3.930.000 espectadores el pasado Lunes 18. Esto no lo levanta nadie. 16 capítulos donde no hay incoherencias pero 16 capítulos donde no ha pasado nada. Para qué el final del 15, si se lo cargan en 2 min del siguiente. Aunque a 3 capítulos para el final, no creo que la cancelen y le dejen sin final.
Caprica Season 1 "New Trailer"
Supongo que tendremos que esperar hasta el 30 Enero para ver lo nuevo de Caprica ya que la semana que viene supongo que darán el piloto ya visto el año pasado.
The Big Bang Theory y el robatorio
El momento de la semana televisivo lo ha protagonizado, como no, Sheldon Cooper y el robatorio en su piso.
Lost Temporada 6 en España
¿Cuándo se estrena Lost en España? Bueno, ya sabemos que el estreno será en FOX el día 9 de Febrero 21:30h y esa misma semana en Cuatro, aunque aún no se sabe el día concreto. Pero a todo esto hay una interesantísima noticia. Se pretende que el capítulo final de Lost en Cuatro sea transmitido simultáneo con ABC. Esto quiere decir que sobre las 5:00 AM hora española, se podría ver Lost aquí en España en V.O. Cuatro y todas las cadenas con derechos de emisión están luchando en ello.
Para escucharlo de las palabras del director de antena de Cuatro, dejo un podcast aquí.
Fuente: RAC1
24 - S08E05 "Promo"
Tengo que decir que esta temporada promete y mucho y creo que tiene todas las papeletas para superar a la 7ª.
24 - S08E01-02 "Comentario"
The following takes place between 4 PM and 5 PM... así da comienzo la temporada 8 de 24, después de una 7ª espectacular, a mi modo de vista la mejor después de la genial 5ª temporada, observamos que Jack es por fin feliz, no por mucho tiempo, pero esas imágenes con su nieta no tienen desperdicio, monísima la nieta que aporta esa parte que no veíamos de Jack desde hace muchísimo tiempo, y por eso, la gente encargada del casting de 24 es de lo mejor que he visto, y aquí se lanza la pregunta de, ¿por qué cada personaje nuevo que entra a formar parte del cast de 24, SIEMPRE entra como anillo al dedo en la serie? les dan clases o algo parecido? Primeramente tenemos nueva CTU, impresionantes decorados que dejan las anteriores CTU como algo cutre. Esa sala de interrogación con puerta elevadora mola más que toda la nave junta de la nueva V.
Respecto a las nuevas incorporaciones, me han parecido perfectas. Brian Hastings me parece más que correcto como director de la CTU, ¿aguantará más que los anteriores? o no acabará la temporada como director. Dana Walsh, se echaba en falta un personaje así, con intriga y con propia historia dentro de la unidad antiterrorista. El pique que tiene con Chloe es de lo más interesante, donde una no se entera mucho con las nuevas tecnologías y la otra que parece ser la mujer perfecta, interpretada ,como no, por una gran Katee Sackoff , que por un momento ni me ha venido a la cabeza Kara Thrace. Arlo Glass, el típico segundon de la CTU que le mandan hacer de todo, pero esta vez parece ser un poco gracioso y bromista, también bien. El jefe de operaciones, Cole Ortiz, bien interpretado de momento y con ganas de que entre en acción. Lo que me ha gustado es que mira a Jack con respeto y que no tiene pinta de hacer un versus contra él.
En cuanto a las altas esferas, el Presidente Omar Hassan perfecto en su papel. Y nada que decir de Taylor, Ethan, Chloe, Kim, porque siempre lo hacen bien. El único que me parece un poco puñetero es el nuevo jefe de seguridad de la presidenta, Rob Weiss, que creo que tocará un poco las pelotas esta temporada. Y todo esto y sin la presencia aún de Renee Walker, cuanto personje interesante esta temporada, frak!Y sobre los malos, me parecia conocida la cara del primer malo y no conseguía darle ubicación, y pienso, pero si es Horace sin pelo.
Pues esto ha sido la premiere de 24, en su estilo, enganchándote desde el segundo 5 y poniéndote en tensión en todo momento. 24 ha vuelto con un cierto aire de la 7ª temporada, creo que se llama calidad.
Golden Awards 2010
Sí Señor, premio al Mejor Actor Televisión Drama para Michael C. Hall por Dexter. Más que merecido despúes de una 4ª temporada sobresaliente. Y esperemos que se recupere de su cáncer y nos vuelva a demostrar al mejor Dexter.
Pero no fue el único para la serie Dexter, John Lithgow como Mejor Actor de Reparto por el personaje de Trinity.
Mejor Serie de Televisión (Drama) para Mad Men, y ya van 3 años consecutivos. Alguien me podría comentar porque parece ser tan buena esta serie?
Mejor Actor Televisión Comedia para Alec Baldwin, no le deben caber tanto premio en casa. ¿Cuántos lleva por 30 Rock?
En cuanto a cine destacar, Avatar se lo ha llevado como mejor película y mejor Director. ¿Estará preparando el camino para los Oscars?. Mejor actor de reparto a Christoph Waltz por Malditos Bastardos, más que merecido despúes de una interpretación inmensa.
Y finalmente el no premio para Penélope Cruz, no entiendo que esté nominada por cada película que hace, igual que Almodóvar que se cree que cada película que dirige tiene que tener premio.
Lista completa aquí.
Top Ten TV Theme Songs (by Established Artists)
It was kind of difficult to come up with a title that accurately described the content of this week’s blog, as the last thing I wanted to do was imply that these where my favourite TV themes of all time – they are not.
Rather, this is my list of the top ten TV theme tunes that are recorded by established musical artists and have been released as stand alone singles/album tracks.
The subject of TV theme tunes is one that people look back on with an unparalleled fondness, and there have been some truly iconic ones since the invention of what is probably the greatest piece of equipment known to man (that would be the TV in case you were unsure…)
Some of my personal favourites include The Muppet Show, Happy Days, The Flintstones and more recently Two and a Half Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock.
Few modern shows now tend to have a bonafide theme tune though and that is a crying shame – many are now reduced to nothing more than a title card and maybe 30 seconds of instrumental accompanying music as the titles roll over the opening scene(s).
That is not true of all modern TV though as the other trend that has developed in recent years is to use an established song as your show’s theme; perhaps the most memorable of these would be Friends’ use of The Rembrandts’ I’ll Be There For You.
While Friends might be the best known of this type of theme, the intention of this list is to pick out ten shows with ten awesome songs for theme tunes, because let’s be honest I’ll Be There For You is an absolutely horrendous song…
So without further delay here is my list of the Top Ten TV Theme Songs (by Established Artists)…
10. Teardrop by Massive Attack from House – brilliantly captures the often melancholy tone of the show but offers light and inspiration, as does the show - mainly through House’s use of humour.
9. California (Here We Come) by Phantom Planet from The OC – derided by many, The OC was actually a very well written show and boasted one of the great sing out loud theme tunes of all time.
8. We Used To Be Friends by The Dandy Warhols from Veronica Mars – this cult show was incredibly popular in the States but never really found an audience in the UK, regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that Veronica Mars had The Dandy Warhols’ best song as its theme – the electric We Used to Be Friends.
7. Next Year by Foo Fighters from Ed – the little known Ed had a great cast and an even greater theme tune. For some reason the Foos are massive in the UK but just seen as another band in the States. The thing that annoys me most about their popularity over here though is that people only seem to chatter on about their material from the last decade, when at the end of the 20th century they put out There Is Nothing Left to Lose that not only featured the anthemic Learn to Fly but also this beautiful song that perfectly captures the in flux nature of the title character’s life.
6. Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from Peep Show – when one of the UK’s best comedies Peep Show changed its theme song from the original, rather dull, instrumental to Harvey Danger’s raucous Flagpole Sitta I don’t think anyone would’ve complained. This song is anarchism at its finest and is the ideal accompaniment to the questionable morals and actions of leading men Mark and Jeremy.
5. Bad Things by Jace Everett from True Blood – If ever a song summed up a show more aptly than Jace Everett’s Bad Things does with True Blood then I’m yet to hear it. This bluesy country effort encapsulates to a tee the dirty, sweaty, sexy tone of the vampire smash. Coupled with the suggestive imagery of the title sequence, if you’d never heard about the show before, after the titles had rolled you’d know you were in for some Southern weirdness of the highest order.
4. Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3 from The Sopranos – the thumping bass of The Sopranos iconic theme is instantly recognizable but few people probably know that A3 are actually a UK based band. Woke Up This Morning’s lyrics are a perfect fit for The Sopranos and the iconic title sequence from the show is almost unimaginable without Woke Up This Morning over the top. For a band that remain relatively unknown the World over there influence is incredible – in addition to being used as the theme for The Sopranos, Woke Up This Morning is also the sample Nas used for his hip-hop classic Got Yourself a Gun.
3. C’mon, C’mon by The Von Bondies from Rescue Me – a friend of mine once described this song as “two and a half minutes of pure, power, pop perfection” and to be honest I can’t think of a better way of describing The Von Bondies’ C’mon C’mon. The song captures the frenetic nature of the show and being an FDNY fireman in general and as the titles roll and New York’s unrivalled skyline whizzes by you know you’re in for an emotional rollercoaster that packs one hell of a punch.
2. Superhero by Jane’s Addiction from Entourage – unlike most of the other shows on the list, I wouldn’t say that Superhero captures the tone of Entourage per se but what it does do is let you know that you are about to watch one of the coolest shows on TV. Entourage’s title sequence is one of the only ones I not only sit through but actually turn up the volume for, it might not send a message about the show but I can’t imagine seeing those glitzy LA landmarks now without hearing Perry Farrell’s soaring vocals and Dave Navarro shredding for all its worth in the background.
1. Baba O’Riley by The Who from CSI: New York – what else could it have been!? The CSI franchise will forever have the best TV theme songs because they
have the rights to The Who’s back catalogue. After hearing Who Are You on the original (and best) CSI and then Won’t Get Fooled Again on CSI: Miami I was convinced the producers had shot their load with The Who link but then for New York spin-off CSI: NY they picked not only the greatest Who song but one of the greatest songs by any artist of all time: Baba O’Riley. It doesn’t say much about the show itself but this is one of the most anthemic songs of all time and to put it in cold hard facts: there’s not a TV theme tune in history that can hold a candle to the magnificent Baba O’Riley.
Other Musings:
- Heroes returned to our screens this week and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how well it kept my attention. I had seen some of a future episode during my trip to America towards the end of last year and what I saw looked dreadful; so needless to say my hopes for the new season were somewhat low.
But the double bill we got on Saturday night (which for the record is a ridiculous scheduling decision by the geniuses over at the BBC) was actually a pretty decent start to the new season. As expected, Robert Knepper was awesome, and will no doubt become the best thing on the show in a very short space of time.
I’m under no illusions that Heroes is well past its best but what I was expecting to be a dire fourth season could actually surprise us all and be pretty darn good.
- Speaking of the BBC, just before I uploaded last week’s first blog of the year it came out that Jonathan Ross was leaving the BBC. Initially it was reported that he quit and although that seems to technically remain true the general consensus is that he has been being somewhat forced out ever since Manuel-gate over a year ago.
I personally lobbied for him to up and quit immediately after the pathetic witch hunt against him and Russell Brand back in 2008 because the BBC basically hung him out to dry and did nothing more than fan the flames of the hateful fire the Daily Mail had lit.
Ross should have, as Brand did, told the BBC to stick then, so I’m quite glad to see him finally parting company with the most antiquated broadcaster in the World. Ross will no doubt find a home elsewhere where he will be allowed to be himself and hopefully rejuvenate his act, which even he must admit had become quite stale during his last run of the show. Channel 4 would be my personal suggestion for Ross’ new home.
The BBC meanwhile have put another nail in their coffin with the departure of Ross, edgy, controversial programming continues to be squeezed out in favour of bland, boring, family-orientated crap. The reason for this seems to be that the BBC now live in fear of offending anyone as it will no doubt raise questions over the gloriously out of date license fee system they employ should their be another media shit storm over their content.
It’s a shocking indictment of the ultra-PC world we now live in where organizations are frightened to push the envelope in any way for fear of upsetting one of the PC brigade.
My hope is that Ross will succeed greater than he ever did at the BBC in his new home and show the biggest culprits for buckling under media pressure just what a pathetic shell of the great broadcaster it once was the BBC has become.
As if how out of touch they are needed to be proved – their reported decision to offer the spot vacated by Ross to Michael fucking McIntyre just about says it all, there’s only one man who should replace Ross and that is Graham Norton, who, although the Beeb seem to have no idea what to do with, has consistently delivered the funniest and most entertaining talk show on TV for years now.
- In other resignation news this week, Simon Cowell has announced he will be quitting American Idol at the end of the next season.
To be honest it won’t matter too much to Idol’s success – the show is a phenomenon because of the talent and the format not because of Cowell (this isn’t X Factor we’re talking about).
Speaking of Cowell’s Saturday night ratings juggernaut though, the reason for his departure from Idol is reportedly due to the fact that he is taking the X Factor format Stateside. Again, the show will be a huge success in the States, not because it’s a better format than Idol (it’s not) and not because Lord Cowell is involved, no it will succeed because any type of talent show will succeed in any country it airs in – America’s Next Top Holocaust Denier would attract millions of viewers.
This is the state of modern TV, and reality and talent shows are King; if they decide to continue with Idol it might not have the same magic it once did but it will ultimately survive and as for X Factor US it to will be a phenomenon even if Cowell takes the awful Cheryl Cole with him.
- I watched Glee, somewhat under duress, this past Monday and have to say that I quite enjoyed what I can only describe as some weird amalgam of Saved by the Bell, High School Musical and American Pie.
It is already a monster smash in the States and will no doubt be huge over here – if it works in the same way as X Factor did and contributes to the songs it features charting in the Top 40 I’m all for it because unlike X Factor, Glee actually features some pretty decent songs performed in a pretty decent manner, it is also smart, funny, touching and toe-tappingly entertaining.
Jane Lynch is the stand-out in the cast, although she is basically playing the same character she does in the 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models and Arrested Development, but she’s damn good at it so what the hell.
- Back at TV or not TV’s inception I used to run look-alikes that I’d spotted that
week, now I haven’t done one for a while and although it’s not strictly from TV I had to share this most recent one I spotted with you:
No wonder he was tweeting those suicidal messages last year… he’s responsible for wiping out half the human race!
Rather, this is my list of the top ten TV theme tunes that are recorded by established musical artists and have been released as stand alone singles/album tracks.
The subject of TV theme tunes is one that people look back on with an unparalleled fondness, and there have been some truly iconic ones since the invention of what is probably the greatest piece of equipment known to man (that would be the TV in case you were unsure…)
Some of my personal favourites include The Muppet Show, Happy Days, The Flintstones and more recently Two and a Half Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock.
Few modern shows now tend to have a bonafide theme tune though and that is a crying shame – many are now reduced to nothing more than a title card and maybe 30 seconds of instrumental accompanying music as the titles roll over the opening scene(s).
That is not true of all modern TV though as the other trend that has developed in recent years is to use an established song as your show’s theme; perhaps the most memorable of these would be Friends’ use of The Rembrandts’ I’ll Be There For You.
While Friends might be the best known of this type of theme, the intention of this list is to pick out ten shows with ten awesome songs for theme tunes, because let’s be honest I’ll Be There For You is an absolutely horrendous song…
So without further delay here is my list of the Top Ten TV Theme Songs (by Established Artists)…
10. Teardrop by Massive Attack from House – brilliantly captures the often melancholy tone of the show but offers light and inspiration, as does the show - mainly through House’s use of humour.
9. California (Here We Come) by Phantom Planet from The OC – derided by many, The OC was actually a very well written show and boasted one of the great sing out loud theme tunes of all time.
8. We Used To Be Friends by The Dandy Warhols from Veronica Mars – this cult show was incredibly popular in the States but never really found an audience in the UK, regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that Veronica Mars had The Dandy Warhols’ best song as its theme – the electric We Used to Be Friends.
7. Next Year by Foo Fighters from Ed – the little known Ed had a great cast and an even greater theme tune. For some reason the Foos are massive in the UK but just seen as another band in the States. The thing that annoys me most about their popularity over here though is that people only seem to chatter on about their material from the last decade, when at the end of the 20th century they put out There Is Nothing Left to Lose that not only featured the anthemic Learn to Fly but also this beautiful song that perfectly captures the in flux nature of the title character’s life.6. Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from Peep Show – when one of the UK’s best comedies Peep Show changed its theme song from the original, rather dull, instrumental to Harvey Danger’s raucous Flagpole Sitta I don’t think anyone would’ve complained. This song is anarchism at its finest and is the ideal accompaniment to the questionable morals and actions of leading men Mark and Jeremy.
5. Bad Things by Jace Everett from True Blood – If ever a song summed up a show more aptly than Jace Everett’s Bad Things does with True Blood then I’m yet to hear it. This bluesy country effort encapsulates to a tee the dirty, sweaty, sexy tone of the vampire smash. Coupled with the suggestive imagery of the title sequence, if you’d never heard about the show before, after the titles had rolled you’d know you were in for some Southern weirdness of the highest order.
4. Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3 from The Sopranos – the thumping bass of The Sopranos iconic theme is instantly recognizable but few people probably know that A3 are actually a UK based band. Woke Up This Morning’s lyrics are a perfect fit for The Sopranos and the iconic title sequence from the show is almost unimaginable without Woke Up This Morning over the top. For a band that remain relatively unknown the World over there influence is incredible – in addition to being used as the theme for The Sopranos, Woke Up This Morning is also the sample Nas used for his hip-hop classic Got Yourself a Gun.
3. C’mon, C’mon by The Von Bondies from Rescue Me – a friend of mine once described this song as “two and a half minutes of pure, power, pop perfection” and to be honest I can’t think of a better way of describing The Von Bondies’ C’mon C’mon. The song captures the frenetic nature of the show and being an FDNY fireman in general and as the titles roll and New York’s unrivalled skyline whizzes by you know you’re in for an emotional rollercoaster that packs one hell of a punch.
2. Superhero by Jane’s Addiction from Entourage – unlike most of the other shows on the list, I wouldn’t say that Superhero captures the tone of Entourage per se but what it does do is let you know that you are about to watch one of the coolest shows on TV. Entourage’s title sequence is one of the only ones I not only sit through but actually turn up the volume for, it might not send a message about the show but I can’t imagine seeing those glitzy LA landmarks now without hearing Perry Farrell’s soaring vocals and Dave Navarro shredding for all its worth in the background.
1. Baba O’Riley by The Who from CSI: New York – what else could it have been!? The CSI franchise will forever have the best TV theme songs because they
have the rights to The Who’s back catalogue. After hearing Who Are You on the original (and best) CSI and then Won’t Get Fooled Again on CSI: Miami I was convinced the producers had shot their load with The Who link but then for New York spin-off CSI: NY they picked not only the greatest Who song but one of the greatest songs by any artist of all time: Baba O’Riley. It doesn’t say much about the show itself but this is one of the most anthemic songs of all time and to put it in cold hard facts: there’s not a TV theme tune in history that can hold a candle to the magnificent Baba O’Riley.Other Musings:
- Heroes returned to our screens this week and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how well it kept my attention. I had seen some of a future episode during my trip to America towards the end of last year and what I saw looked dreadful; so needless to say my hopes for the new season were somewhat low.
But the double bill we got on Saturday night (which for the record is a ridiculous scheduling decision by the geniuses over at the BBC) was actually a pretty decent start to the new season. As expected, Robert Knepper was awesome, and will no doubt become the best thing on the show in a very short space of time.
I’m under no illusions that Heroes is well past its best but what I was expecting to be a dire fourth season could actually surprise us all and be pretty darn good.
- Speaking of the BBC, just before I uploaded last week’s first blog of the year it came out that Jonathan Ross was leaving the BBC. Initially it was reported that he quit and although that seems to technically remain true the general consensus is that he has been being somewhat forced out ever since Manuel-gate over a year ago.
I personally lobbied for him to up and quit immediately after the pathetic witch hunt against him and Russell Brand back in 2008 because the BBC basically hung him out to dry and did nothing more than fan the flames of the hateful fire the Daily Mail had lit.
Ross should have, as Brand did, told the BBC to stick then, so I’m quite glad to see him finally parting company with the most antiquated broadcaster in the World. Ross will no doubt find a home elsewhere where he will be allowed to be himself and hopefully rejuvenate his act, which even he must admit had become quite stale during his last run of the show. Channel 4 would be my personal suggestion for Ross’ new home.
The BBC meanwhile have put another nail in their coffin with the departure of Ross, edgy, controversial programming continues to be squeezed out in favour of bland, boring, family-orientated crap. The reason for this seems to be that the BBC now live in fear of offending anyone as it will no doubt raise questions over the gloriously out of date license fee system they employ should their be another media shit storm over their content.
It’s a shocking indictment of the ultra-PC world we now live in where organizations are frightened to push the envelope in any way for fear of upsetting one of the PC brigade.
My hope is that Ross will succeed greater than he ever did at the BBC in his new home and show the biggest culprits for buckling under media pressure just what a pathetic shell of the great broadcaster it once was the BBC has become.
As if how out of touch they are needed to be proved – their reported decision to offer the spot vacated by Ross to Michael fucking McIntyre just about says it all, there’s only one man who should replace Ross and that is Graham Norton, who, although the Beeb seem to have no idea what to do with, has consistently delivered the funniest and most entertaining talk show on TV for years now.
- In other resignation news this week, Simon Cowell has announced he will be quitting American Idol at the end of the next season.
To be honest it won’t matter too much to Idol’s success – the show is a phenomenon because of the talent and the format not because of Cowell (this isn’t X Factor we’re talking about).
Speaking of Cowell’s Saturday night ratings juggernaut though, the reason for his departure from Idol is reportedly due to the fact that he is taking the X Factor format Stateside. Again, the show will be a huge success in the States, not because it’s a better format than Idol (it’s not) and not because Lord Cowell is involved, no it will succeed because any type of talent show will succeed in any country it airs in – America’s Next Top Holocaust Denier would attract millions of viewers.
This is the state of modern TV, and reality and talent shows are King; if they decide to continue with Idol it might not have the same magic it once did but it will ultimately survive and as for X Factor US it to will be a phenomenon even if Cowell takes the awful Cheryl Cole with him.
- I watched Glee, somewhat under duress, this past Monday and have to say that I quite enjoyed what I can only describe as some weird amalgam of Saved by the Bell, High School Musical and American Pie.
It is already a monster smash in the States and will no doubt be huge over here – if it works in the same way as X Factor did and contributes to the songs it features charting in the Top 40 I’m all for it because unlike X Factor, Glee actually features some pretty decent songs performed in a pretty decent manner, it is also smart, funny, touching and toe-tappingly entertaining.
Jane Lynch is the stand-out in the cast, although she is basically playing the same character she does in the 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models and Arrested Development, but she’s damn good at it so what the hell.
- Back at TV or not TV’s inception I used to run look-alikes that I’d spotted that
week, now I haven’t done one for a while and although it’s not strictly from TV I had to share this most recent one I spotted with you:No wonder he was tweeting those suicidal messages last year… he’s responsible for wiping out half the human race!
Damages - Season 3 "Argumento"
A 12 días para su estreno, ya sabemos el argumento para esta 3ª temporada. Patty Hewes investiga un fraude de un tal Louis Toubin. Toda la familia Toubin reconoce no sabar nada de este fraude, pero Patty no lo cree así y intetará demostrarlo con su compañero Tom Shayes contra toda la familia, el hijo Joe Tobin, la esposa Tobin Marilyn y el abogado de éstos, Leonard Winstone. Por otra parte tendremos a Ellen Parsons con nuevo trabajo y bien colocada gracias a sus progresos, pero todo cambia cuando su jefe comienza a estudiar el caso Toubin, donde le llevará a un cara a cara con Patty Hewes.Agarrémonos que viene Damages y su gran calidad.
24 - Katee Sachkoff nos enseña la nueva CTU
Vaya pedazo de CTU, comparados estos decorados con los de la 1ª temporada, nada que ver.
Heroes S04E16 - Press/Fail "Promo"
Si me recortas el número final de capítulos de Temporada por lo menos en los que haces cuéntame algo, por lo menos de qué va la historia. Heroes volvió y parece que no hubiera vuelto, vaya 3 capítulos de no pasar nada.
Mis Premios 2009
Mis premios de este 2009 en cuanto a series se refiere, premios concretos donde me aparto en distinguir diferentes categorías:
Mejor Serie: Battlestar Galactica, sin lugar a dudas.
Mejor Actriz: Katee Sackoff por Kara Thrace (Starbuck). Sobran comentarios, por todo el trayecto del personaje, se lo merece.
Mejor Actor: Kiefer Sutherland por Jack Bauer. La 7ª temporada ha vuelto a traernos al mejor Jack.
Peor Actor: Demián Bichir por Esteban Reyes en Weeds.
Peor Actriz: Eliza Dushku por Echo.
Mejor Final de Temporada: Dexter por su final de 4ª Temporada. ¿Se necesita comentar algo?
Mejor Series Finale: Battlestar Galactica por Day Break Part I y II. 2h 35min de placer televisivo.
Mejor Banda Sonora: Battlestar Galactica por su B.S.O Season 4. El tema "Kara Remembers" simboliza el tema del año.
Cancelación injusta: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. El tiempo pone a cada una en su sitio y así lo ha hecho con Dollhouse.
Mejor Promo: Friday Night Lights por su Promo de la 4ª Temporada. Dónde hay calidad hay calidad. Ver aquí.
Mejor Serie Comedia: The Big Bang Theory, su audiencia lo corrobora y Sheldon Cooper también.
Mejor Cliffhanger: Lost por 5x17 - The Incident. Lost lo sabe hacer muy bien en estos temas.
Mejor estreno: Stargate Universe y Modern Family. Syfy sabe escoger sus nuevas series y ABC ha traído sabia nueva.
Peor Estreno: V y Flash Forward. No se aguantan por ningún lado sus guiones.
Mayor decepción:
Katee Sackhoff - entrevista 24 Season 8
Este Domingo Katee Sackhoff se estrena en 24 como la agente Dana Walsh, analista de ordenadores.
Dexter - Season 2, 3 y 4 "Comentario"
¿Por qué una foto del coche de Masuka? pues claramente describe como ha sido esta 4ª temporada de Dexter, se podría describir como grandiosa, espectacular, maravillosa, espeluznante....y más y más.Pero vamos por partes, después de una 1ª temporada genial, nos demostraron que se podía hacer mejor, y e ahí una 2ª temporada aún mejor, llegando a una sensación de desesperación continua, no lo vivía desde 24. Luego una 3ª, en la línea, al parecer para muchos seriéfilos la más floja, pero para nada en mi opinión, debe haber sido verla en plan maratón. La historia de los Prado ha dado mucho juego al código de Dexter llevándonos a escenas de auténtico lujo televisivo. Pero la palma se la ha llevado la 4ª temporada, con un comienzo de 10, luego capítulos bastante calmados y finalmente unos 4 últimos de 10, no de 10, de 20. Si la desesperación de la 2ª era altísima, estos capítulos han sido lo más y cuando todo parecía calmado y el reloj del tiempo marcaba ya los 51 min, nos sorprenden con un final antológico, un final previsible o no, un final que nos ha dejado un poco tocados, donde creo que muchos se sentirán defraudados o no, pero si un poco enfadados porque éste deja la serie en un punto bastante WTF donde marcará y mucho el futuro de nuestro Dexter. Ha pasado por todo pero cambiará su vida a partir de este hecho? estaremos atentos a Septiembre 2010...
Mi puntuación (sobre 10) sería ésta:
Temporada 1: 9.5
Temporada 2: 10
Temporada 3: 9.5
Temporada 4: 11
Channel 5 Are Still Dicks
First of all: Happy New Year everyone.Second: Channel 5 are still dicks.
Last year I wrote a rather angry instalment of TV or not TV lamenting Five or Channel 5 as they will always be known for their criminal treatment of great shows like 30 Rock and Californication, without a doubt two of the best shows on TV at the moment.
Fast forward almost twelve months and the former smut peddlers are at it again.
At first when Five secured the UK rights to the brilliant Breaking Bad I was filled with joy and although I have to commend them for airing this great show, their treatment of the second season over the Festive period has been disgraceful.
It was announced when Five acquired the Bryan Cranston starring comedy-drama that they would air the first season and then the extended second season back to back.
Now although season 1 went out in somewhat of a graveyard slot it still went out once a week and could be digitally recorded weekly and watched at leisure by those of us with jobs and lives.
Yet for some inane reason, they seemingly felt the need to purge their archives of season 2 and put all thirteen episodes out night after night over Christmas at ridiculous times of the night.
Why would you acquire one of the freshest, critically acclaimed shows on TV and then not promote it anyway and bury it in your schedules?
Sure, I haven’t missed an episode and am now slowly working my way through the remainder of season 2 but that’s not the point.
Too often UK channels treat the best American shows with nothing but what can only be described as utter contempt, while complete drivel made in this country populates the prime time schedules.
I know the US schedules aren’t exactly filled with our best output but to be honest that’s because our best output is, for the most part, undiluted shit. Yet our Trans-Atlantic brethren have consistently been creating some of the best TV the world has ever seen.
Five’s treatment of Breaking Bad is by no means an isolated incident yet it was the proverbial straw that broke the Camel’s back for me. It is high time that UK TV networks stopped this disgusting treatment of the best US shows and just admitted that America is superior to us in every which way when it comes to television.
Other Musings:
- The (supposedly) final series of Celebrity Big Brother began this week and I've been watching in patches, partly due to the fact I feel I should cover it here and partly out of bemused curiosity.
The one person I've really taken a shine to is Stephen Baldwin who has proved himself to be funny, intelligent and caring and his odds to win have shortened up drastically from when the book opened. My only worry for the baby Baldwin brother is that the editing is going to paint him as some sort of bible-bashing preacher. Don't get me wrong, religion is quite clearly this guy's life but I feel there is a lot more to him than that... But this being Big Brother everyone needs a label and I guess Stephen's is ‘religious nut’.
If he gets a fair crack of the whip from the producers then I think he could do very well, but as I said this being Big Brother and judging by what I saw of last night's show the chances of that happening are slim to none.Elsewhere it is the usual bunch of has-beens, wannabes and those stinking of utter desperation. Vinnie Jones was the one person I was curious to see on the show but he looks like he really doesn't want to be there. No Pamela Anderson. No MC Hammer, not even a Tim Westwood, the line-up as bizarre as it is, has been somewhat of a let down.
My early picks to win: Sisqo or Basshunter. I know Vinnie Jones is favourite and will probably walk it, if he doesn't walk out first that is, but I'm looking for a bit of value here and we all remember what happened to last year's odds on favourite to win, Verne Troyer don't we?
Survivors Series Two "Promo 2"
Qué ganas de que empiece la 2ª temporada, me dejaron con la intriga en el last capítulo.
Heroes S04E13-E14 "Promo"
Semana que viene doble ración de Heroes. No creo que estemos ante el final de Heroes dado que quedan 5 capítulos y no han dicho nada de cancelación.
Vince Masuka Compilation
Mi nuevo ídolo seriéfilo. Lo poco que sale y lo bien que te lo pasas con él.The Hurt Locker (En tierra hostil) - "Trailer Español"
Estreno en España este 29 Enero, pero para la gente que aún no la haya visto, el DVDRip V.O ronda por Internet, recomendación más que asegurada, de lo mejor de este 2009.
Dexter - Season 1 "Comentario"
Ahí la tenía descargada, esperando a ser vista. Las 4 temporadas listas para ser degolladas, no mejor dicho. Sólo faltaba ponerse. Y por fin lo he hecho después de ojear los comentarios sobre la 4ª temporada, sorprendiendo a todos unos expertos seriéfilos como nosotros. Así que, me puse al lío. El piloto ya lo había visto hace tiempo pero no le seguí la pista. Pero ahora sí, con el 4º capítulo ya quedó bien claro que entraba en mi lista de tops. Lo que más me atrae de una serie son los personajes, y ésta tiene muchos y para mí todos son clave. Desde el mismísimo Dexter protagonizado por un genial Michael C. Hall, pasando por Doakes, Rita, Laguerta, Paul, hasta los niños lo hacen bien, Cody y Astor. Pero me quedo con 3, Batista, me encanta, la expresiva Deb Morgan, y el inconfundible Vince Masuka con sus bromas.
Pude observar que viendo el principio del capítulo 10 que esta serie es todas las cosas buenas que he escuchado. Dexter es la serie perfecta donde se puede demostrar que con 12 capítulos es suficiente para llevar una historia coherente, atrapante y deliciosa. Y si esto no era poco para atraparnos, el comienzo de la 2ª lo vuelve a hacer. Dexter, por mi parte, te doy un 9,5.
I love Dexter Morgan.
Y dicen por ahí que los libros son mejores...ahí lo dejo.
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