At home. Not been here for a while, and it’s always nice to be back. They have iPlayer on the television, you know, I don’t think I can ever mention that enough. So now, seamlessly, I’m going to blog about some interesting television programmes.
- Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe started on my birthday, joyously, and features the man himself still perched on his sofa, venting at his television. However, unlike the parent show, Screenwipe, he’s staying focused on the news for an entire series this time. There was actually a news-only episode of Screenwipe a few years back, and it was one of the better ones of the whole run, providing a good place for Brooker to pair off his two strengths: Comical OTT hatred and righteous indignation. So I’m quite thrilled that it’s back for a whole run. The tone is perhaps a little more depressing than Screenwipe was, but I guess that’s the result of going from covering X-Factor to covering the news. First episode available on iPlayer until next Wednesday if you want it.
- Not actually a programme I’ve seen, now, but one that I am being prevented from seeing, namely good old Doctor House. Channel Five have decided to stall the new season until “summer, maybe autumn” so they can show an exciting new slice of US drama, The Mentalist. I haven’t seen that, it could be excellent, but I was of the impression that House is one of the more popular shows on that channel? They’ve just announced that they are having serious problems as an organisation, and I can’t help but feel that if they just showed the new series of House, things would get a little better.
- I watched Genius on iPlayer the other day, and am in two minds about it. Some of the banter is very funny, the prop re-enactments of the ridiculous inventions are great (especially the 100m high running shoes), but the treatment of the guests rankled with me a little. I haven’t listened to the original radio show, so this could well be part of its normal style, but the back-and-forth between guests and hosts seemed to tip from light ribbing into outright mocking rather a lot. Certainly, even if I had a suitable idea, it’d be a cold day in hell before I go on Genius with it.
- The new “Volume Four” of Heroes, which is actually the second half of season three (why?), has started on BBC2 and I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. I found Volume Three largely incoherent, but I’m glad I gave this new one a chance, as they’ve made a real effort to get more to a straight-forward action plot with some humanity behind it, rather than a bizarre combination of over-egged scifi and soap operatic plot twists. Even the plight of the Petrelli brothers, who were really annoying me before, has somehow become interesting again. I’m not ready to use phrases like “a blistering return to form” yet, but this is a fun little series again and I can afford it 40 minutes a week.
- Finally, I’ve been slowly picking my way through the first series of E4’s Skins on the unexpectedly excellent 4OD service. I’ve actually still got one episode to go, but this seemed a decent place to write about it. Basically, I was expecting trash, and it’s… not. Swings dangerously close sometimes, but that’s almost part of its trick. It has the characters act like hedonistic arseholes, we let it slide because we think we’re watching a show which wants us to think being young and on drugs is way cool, and then a few episodes later their actions actually do have consequences. It helps that the young actors involved range from good to great for the most part, with no weak links. I look forward to picking through the next couple of series, also available for free.
Wow, I watch a lot of television.
Advertisement
