It's been a bit difficult to catch many trashy shows this week, partially because I have had guests around for pretty much all of Saturday and partially because I sort of failed to find too many. It's really hard to force myself to watch some of the tripe on the TV right now, I have to reward myself with spoon fed TV treats (Big Love and Everybody Hates Chris at the moment).

I did catch the end of Big Brother's Little Brother on E4 on Friday, just enough to see the incredibly poor choice of camera angle for the final shot. The segment I saw had three people (presenter and guests I think) in front of a crowd of onlookers who were stood behind a railed fence. Nice to see some people turning out!

Then the camera switches to a wider shot and we see that there is a total of one railing, in the middle of the yard and a total of just six people behind it. Seems like BB is beginning to outstay it's welcome, maybe reality TV shows will start to drop in number over the next few years. We can hope.

I also watched Big Brother's eviction night and while doing so I pretty much reversed by opinion on the Cairon/Sree thing. Sree's a horrible little passive aggressive whinge and Cairon was well within his rights, no he was obligated to give Sree what for and should have done more. Unfortunately it's clear that the public hasn't had the same realisation that Cairon's actually just really, genuinely funny and as such he's out. Kind of a shame that just as I warm up to him he's gone, but then again I did ask for him to get thrown out last week...

Speaking of which, with any justice Sree will be up and out next. I suspect the housemates are fed up with his obsessive stalking, bitching and if he hits the public vote I can't think of anyone who would get thrown out over him. Frankly, good riddance - Cairon was an entertaining clown, Sree is just creepy - I'm sure he doesn't mean to be, but he is. He seems half formed emotionally.

While I'm on the subject of Big Brother, has anyone else noticed Marcus Bentley seems to have lost the will to live? At times his narration of events seems almost suicidally depressed. Someone needs to keep an eye on him in the studio where he's giving these narrations and confiscate his belt and shoelaces!

Oh dear, I'm starting to sound like I'm watching BB10 avidly, I'm not! It's just on in the background for less than an hour a week. Honest!

I'm not sure it entirely counts as occasionally it's funny, but I also caught Russel Brand's Ponderland - Russel's stand up can be a little hit and miss. He has a real energy to him and a sometimes unique take on things. Unfortunately this week's piece on science and technology was pretty bland (Bland Brand - heh) with only a couple of funny moments, I suspect he (and his writers) are stretched a little thin having to come up with a whole series of these shows.

I attempted to watch Total Wipeout for a second time, but as there seems to be no variation in the obstacle courses from week to week I immediately became bored with it and switched over to watch The Fat Bribe: Revisited. A show which goes back to see how two groups of people manage to lose weight - the only difference between them is that the "red" group were bribed ten pounds per 1% of weight lost. This is a scheme which apparently the government is thinking about implementing.

The results are not the least bit surprising (to me anyway - but my academia is in human behaviour). Basically the group who were bribed did better until the money dried up and then piled the pounds back on. The other group lost less weight, got angry about not being bribed, but then kept more weight off. Money is no substitute for good old fashioned human determination.

I suggest the following if the government does implement this system of rewarding weight loss. Eat lots of cakes, crisps, doughnuts and sticky buns and become morbidly obese. You'll have a slight advantage in losing the weight again (as long as you're determined) and you'll get paid to do it. Net result, at the very least you break even - which is effectively being paid for a having government sponsored pig out session.

And that's just one reason why bribing people just to lose weight is a dumb idea - why can't people who are already thin just have reduced rates for everything where their smaller size saves money. Like clothes, public transport and so on. We could call it a thin living rebate, because the words fat tax are just mean...
Direct Link

Inspired by yesterdays somewhat debatable list of the top 100 episodes from TV Guide, I spent yesterday figuring out what were the top twenty episodes I've watched. The criteria for the episodes is fairly simple, each episode has to be memorable enough to have left a mark one way or another, additionally there can only be one entry per show - to stop personal favourites with many amazing episodes dominating the list.

The first ten will just be shows, episode titles and a single sentence comment, but the top ten have a little more in depth discussion into the "Why".

20. That 70s show - "It's a Wonderful Life"
A fun little episode which tributes Scrooge and will always hold a warm place in my DVD collection, I'm sure others will disagree with this one being here.

19. The West Wing - "Two Catherdrals"
Have to agree with TV Guide here, it's stupendous.

18. Damages - "Because I Know Patty"
The first season comes to a head with an amazing set of revelations.

17. Seinfeld - "The Chicken Roaster"
Yes "The Contest" is the absolute classic Seinfeld, but Jerry and Kramer switching personalities in "The Chicken Roaster" does it for me.

16. Boston Legal - "Guantanamo by the Bay"
A wonderful return introduction for my favourite character and just one of the greatest fourth wall breaking moments of the show.

15. The Office - "Weight Loss"
Just when it looks like the show is going to be predictable and split Jim and Pam part, Jim proposes and she accepts.

14. Battlestar Galactica - "Crossroads - Part 1 and 2."
Makes up for the terrible episodes which occured in season three with an epic game changing two parter.

13. Doctor Who - "Blink"
Just about the best Doctor Who episode of all time, and it hardly features him at all.

12. Futurama - "The Devils Hands are Idle Playthings"
A moving and poignent close to the show's run (at the time), all the stops are pulled out and the last moments are emotionally charged.

11. Arrested Development - Mr. F
One of my favourite musical stings appears in this episode, an episode which mixes it's own comedy with a spy spoof perfectly

Now for the top ten.

10. The 4400 - "The Marked"

Many of the entries on this list are either season finales, first episodes of the season or pilot episodes. This is because many shows save their big moments or their game changing elements for the start or end of a season. But The 4400 provided it's biggest moment partway through the fourth season, revealing huge game changing facts which rocked the show and cast a new light on where things were going.

The terrible future which The 4400 were abducted and then returned to stop apparently has it's own champions, a group of people known only as 'The Marked' who are identified by a single mark behind their left ear. As Tom and Diana investigate into this supposed conspiracy things begin to unfold. Huge things which stand to change everything.

The only unfortunate thing about this episode is the cancellation of The 4400, which meant that things couldn't be brought to full closure, but it's still an amazing episode and holds up well.

9. Lost - "Pilot"

I may have lost (ha ha!) interest in the show until it ends and it's out on DVD, but Lost's first episode remains one of the most enticing and interesting moments on television. Filled with jaw dropping moments, mystery, interesting characters (Jack is not one of those by the way) and a genuine "did that just happen?" moment where a survivor is sucked through the engine of the crashed plane; the two part Pilot delivered many intense questions and mysteries - I just don't agree with the way the show carried on after the first season.

8. How I Met Your Mother - "Game Night"

When the arrival of a tape from one of Barney's ex-girlfriends peaks interest and curiosity Barney refuses to share the story with them until each of the gang shares their most embarrassing moment first. Their stories are all hilarious and entertaining, but the truth behind Barney's tape is one of the definitive "Barney Moments" and is delivered with great aplomb by the ever wonderful Neil Patrick Harris.

7. Supernatural - "Mystery Spot"

There were quite a few episodes fighting it out where Supernatural was concerned; the black and white "Monster Movie" is just awesome quality and a stylistic tribute to the b-movie genre of old, "Ghostfacers" puts a great spin on the whole show and returns the quite brilliant ghostfacers to the screen with a documentary filmed from their point of view, "A Very Supernatural Christmas" gives us the 'anti-Santa' and "Hollywood Babylon" gives a great light-hearted tribute to Hollywood and the Evil Dead in a wonderfully self aware episode.

But it's "Mystery Spot" with it's spin on 'Groundhog Day' which takes the prize. Sam ends up living the same day over and over; a day where no matter what he tries to do, Dean gets killed. Jared and Jensen clearly had a great deal of fun filming this episode and the tribute to and affection for the Bill Murray classic is palpable here. But Supernatural often delivers amazing stand alone episodes.

6. Firefly - "Objects in Space"

"Objects in Space" was very nearly the closing moments for Firefly and would have remained so if Serenity had not been released. Even on the re-watch it's a poignant and heartfelt investigation into the relationship the crew have with young River Tam. It's also got one of the most memorable villains of the show present in it - the disturbed bounty hunter Early; who's mix of wit, danger and sheer insanity make for a great show.

"Out of Gas" is another episode which very nearly took the prize; it's a potent and emotional look at how the ship and crew came together, while Mal and Serenity are slowly dying. But "Objects in Space" takes the prize for the mystery, joy and poignancy of the episode.

5. Homicide - "Three Men and Adena"

TV Guide had the admirable and excellent "Subway" as their Homicide episode of choice, but for me it's the first season episode "Three Men and Adena" which just pips it for that prize. Even though it's only the fifth episode of the show, Three Men and Adena paints a dark, complicated and at times difficult to watch picture. The desperation and determination of Pembleton and Bayliss as they push hard to find out who killed Adena Watkins and get a confession is a powerful mix. Many of the best episodes in Homicide are the more bleak ones and honorable mentions here go to "Subway", "Fallen Heroes", "Sniper" and "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"; but in Three Men takes the prize here for me.

4. The Dead Zone - "Precipitate"

I'm not usually a huge fan of stand alone episodes, and The Dead Zone's format of "Apocalypse episodes at the beginning and end of each season, stand alone in between" at times did make me want to skip over some of the episodes. But the second season episode Precipitate completely bucked this trend, providing one of the most memorable and amazing episodes of the show.

Johnny is given a life saving transfusion of blood, blood from six different donors. As Johnny's psychic gift is triggered by touch he's continuously given glimpses from the lives of these people, but (much like Quantum Leap) he's seeing their lives with he (Johnny) in the position they are in. Eventually he realises that one of the six is going to die and he travels to try and save whomever it is from their fate.

It's an episode which brings out the essence of The Dead Zone; Johnny is a man who seems to come into people's lives, save them from a fate only he can see, and then leave them always better off for his presence. Precipitate nails that concept completely and delivers an amazing final moment. If The Dead Zone had managed to deliver more episodes at this level it would have probably had a chance to close out its storyline with a seventh and final season.

3. The Wire - "Final Grades"

An episode also picked by TV Guide, Final Grades closes out the best season of The Wire with some powerful moments. The Wire's fourth season performs an exceptionally clever and difficult achievement, as it manages to introduce and base a large section of the season around four brand new characters and also keep it interesting. Final Grades brings all the stories and events of the season, along with many stories from earlier seasons, and brings them to a head.

It's definitely a better episode than the series finale -30-: which is an admirable creation , but suffers because of a few weaker points and inaccessible settings introduced in the final season. Final Grades has none of this baggage and remains the stronger entity as a consequence. Season three's finale "Mission Accomplished" was also a contender for this spot.

2. The Shield - "Pilot", "Of Mice and Lem", "Possible Kill Screen" & "Family Meeting"

I know I'm cheating here, but I just couldn't figure out which one of these episodes should be the one making it onto the list. Pilot is an amazing episode which trots out a show which appears to be one thing before taking a dramatic turn in the closing moments and revealing a whole new show. In hindsight this impact would have been greater if the events of the pilot episode had happened about six episodes in, but it's still a real jaw dropper. Of Mice and Lem is the single most devastating episode of the show, bringing to a head the events of the entire fifth season with just heartbreaking frankness. While Possible Kill Screen (the ante penultimate episode) and Family Meeting (The final episode) are filled with Earth shattering moments which bring seven seasons to a head and reveal who pays the price and for what.

1. Six Feet Under - "Everyone's Waiting"

Another episode I agree with TV Guide about, but I rate it much higher than they did. At times I found the final season of Six Feet Under a little hard to watch, I realised once the show lost the character I most identified with that I was drifting a little when watching. But the final episode brought everything back together with a crash and then the most bittersweet ending any show has ever managed to achieve. It's a finale that remains entirely true to the concept and visuals of the show, and has so much emotional impact you'd have to be made out of cheese to not be at least a little moved by it.


Agree? Disagree? Got a list of your own? I'd love to hear it.
Direct Link

TV Guide completed their list of the Top 100 Episodes (According to them at least) and here it is:

I've marked in bold all the ones I've seen. There's a little discussion afterwards as well.

• 1. Seinfeld: "The Contest"
• 2. The Sopranos: "College"
• 3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: "Chuckles Bites the Dust"
• 4. I Love Lucy: "Lucy Does a TV Commercial"
• 5. Lost: "Pilot"
• 6. ER: "Love's Labor Lost"
• 7. The Honeymooners: "Better Living Through TV"
• 8. Mad Men: "Nixon vs. Kennedy"
• 9. All in the Family: "Cousin Maude's Visit"
• 10. 24: "Season 1: 11PM-12AM"
• 11. The Twilight Zone: "Time Enough at Last"
• 12. SNL from 4/22/78
• 13. The Dick Van Dyke Show: "It May Look Like a Walnut"
• 14. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Once More With Feeling"
• 15. The Cosby Show: "Goodbye Mr. Fish"
• 16. The Fugitive: "Judgment"
• 17. South Park: "Trapped in the Closet"
• 18. The Andy Griffith Show: "Opie the Birdman"
• 19. The Office: "Diversity Day"
• 20. MASH: "Abyssinia, Henry"
• 21. Friends: "The One with the Embryos"
• 22. Six Feet Under: "Everyone's Waiting"
• 23. St. Elsewhere: "Time Heals"
• 24. The Simpsons: "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
• 25. Homicide:Life on the Street: "Subway"
• 26. The Wire: "Final Grades"
• 27. Curb Your Enthusiasm: "The Special Section"
• 28. 30 Rock: "Black Tie"
• 29. Cheers: "Show Down"
• 30. NYPD Blue: "Hearts and Souls"
• 31. Frasier: "The Ski Lodge"
• 32. Arrested Development: "Development Arrested"
• 33. Roseanne: "A Stash From the Past"
• 34. Thirtysomething: "A Second Look"
• 35. The X-Files: "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"
• 36. Star Trek:TNG: "Best of Both Worlds Part 1"
• 37. The Bob Newhart Show: "Over the River and Through the Woods"
• 38. The Shield: "Possible Kill Screen"
• 39. The Wonder Years: "Pilot"
• 40. The West Wing: "Two Cathedrals"
• 41. Freaks and Geeks: "Carded and Discarded"
• 42. Everybody Loves Raymond: "Marie's Sculpture"
• 43. Battlestar Gallactica: "Blood on the Scales"
• 44. My So-Called Life: "Self-Esteem"
• 45. General Hospital: "Luke and Laura's Wedding"
• 46. Ellen: "The Puppy Episode"
• 47. CSI: "Grave Danger"
• 48. Moonlighting: "Atomic Shakespeare"
• 49. Dexter: "The British Invasion"
• 50. The Larry Sanders Show: "Flip"
• 51. Taxi: "Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey"
• 52. Damages: "Because I Know Patty"
• 53. The Carol Burnett Show: "Went With the Wind"
• 54. Twin Peaks: "Pilot"
• 55. Desperate Housewives: "One Wonderful Day"
• 56. How I Met Your Mother: "Slap Bet"
• 57. Hill Street Blues: "Freedom's Last Stand"
• 58. The Odd Couple: "Password"
• 59. Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Lamb to the Slaughter"
• 60. The Big Bang Theory: "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis"
• 61. L.A. Law: "Good to the Last Drop"
• 62. Law and Order: "Life Choice"
• 63. Grey's Anatomy: "Losing My Religion"
• 64. Murphy Brown: "You Say Potatoe, I Say Potato"
• 65. WKRP in Cincinnati: "Turkeys Away"
• 66. House: "Three Stories"
• 67. Dynasty: "The Threat"
• 68. Heroes: "Company Man"
• 69. Dallas: "A House Divided"
• 70. Sex and the City: "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little"
• 71. Little House on the Prairie: "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away"
• 72. Batman: "Better Luck Next Time"
• 73. The Outer Limits: "Demon With a Glass Hand"
• 74. Will & Grace: "Home for the Holidays"
• 75. Gilmore Girls: "Raincoats and Recipes"
• 76. Family Ties: "The Real Thing (Part 2)"
• 77. The Waltons: "The Easter Story"
• 78. Angel: "I Will Remember You"
• 79. Charlie's Angels: "Angels in Chains"
• 80. Star Trek: "City on the Edge of Forever"
• 81. Smallville: "Rosetta"
• 82. Farscape: "Revenging Angel"
• 83. Good Times: "Black Jesus"
• 84. Alias: "The Telling"
• 85. Melrose Place: "The Bitch is Back"
• 86. Scrubs: "My Musical"
• 87. Happy Days: "Fonzie Loves Pinky"
• 88. Magnum, P.I.: "Did You See the Sunrise"
• 89. Beauty and the Beast: "Orphans"
• 90. Malcolm in the Middle: "Bowling"
• 91. Beverly Hills 90210: "Spring Dance"
• 92. Party of Five: "Intervention"
• 93. Big Love: "Come, Ye Saints"
• 94. Ally McBeal: "Cro-Magnon"
• 95. Supernatural: "No Rest for the Wicked"
• 96. Rescue Me: "Baptism"
• 97. Mary Hartman: "Chicken Soup"
• 98. Breaking Bad: "Peek a Boo"
• 99. Family Guy: "Blue Harvest"
• 100. The Brady Bunch: "The Subject Was Noses"

Big Love is in italics because I'll be watching it later this week.

101 Was the Pilot Episode for Friday Night Lights (which I've seen and loved).

First of all I absolutely agree with Six Feet Under's entry; the finale "Everyone's Waiting" is one of two episodes which battles it out whenever I try to decide which was the best finale I've ever seen. (The second one doesn't make an appearance on this list). Likewise the entries for The Shield, Supernatural, Arrested Development, Rescue Me, Family Guy, The West Wing, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Buffy, Freaks and Geeks, My So Called Life, How I Met Your Mother and Twin Peaks are all greatly deserving. I'd even give a nod to House's "Three Stories" (but only after I went away and reminded myself what it was about).

The Homicide episode "Subway" was a real pleasure to see on the list, Homicide: Life on the Streets is a show which just needs more exposure in my opinion and Subway is a seriously powerful episode amongst a whole battalion of amazing stories.

Call me a cynic, but I'm not surprised TV Guide went with Seinfeld as a winner; The Contest is a great episode, possibly the best Seinfeld episode (not my favourite mind you) but there are better episodes on this list.

Dexter, Heroes, Lost and Damages all have their entries marred somewhat by what followed after them, both episodes are superb when you look at them in the context of what came before, but let down by what followed afterwards. In every case it's the season after the one which the episode appeared in which sucked somewhat.

I'm rather surprised to see My Musical in there for Scrubs, that was an episode which really didn't impress me and felt like a bit of an attempt to cash in on "Once More With Feeling". Scrubs has provided a lot of more moving and funnier episodes.

"Bowling" from Malcolm in the Middle was a surprise entry, I'm not sure it really deserves to be in there, but it's split story showing the difference between each parent supervising the boys bowling (like Sliding Doors) was certainly memorable. I don't think Malcolm in the Middle would have made it onto

There are a few noticable abscences; there seems to be no non-American shows at all, and there's a glaring abscense where Firefly should be present (which episode, is a different matter for debate) and there are a few other shows with episodes I can't help but feel should have made it on there; The Dead Zone "Precipitate", Futurama's "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", Doctor Who's "Blink" or "Family of Blood" and I'm sure shows like Boston Legal, Justice League Unlimited, Nip/Tuck (Season One or Two) and Deadwood have at least one episode strong enough to make an appearance.

Still, agree or no. This has inspired me enough to consider sitting down and writing up the ten or twenty best episodes I've ever seen. That will turn up later this week. With possibly a top five finales list as well because I've been mulling that one over for some time.

Edit: Probably a little late to add this in, but a warm hello to those of you visiting my little site from Brazil and South America!
Direct Link

I'm feeling rather whimsical and yearning for a simpler time today, a time where a trip to the British sea side meant staying in a quaint little hotel owned by a lovely couple and spending time relaxing on the beach and soaking up what little sun there is available. Of course, Fawlty Towers resembles a relaxing vacation spot as much as a desert resembles a bathroom. But there is absolutely no doubt it is one of the finest examples of a Brit-com (British Sit-com) since well, ever.

Spanning just two series for a total of twelve episodes John Cleese stars in and writes this wonderful treasure of a show about one Basil Fawlty. A man so with entirely the wrong disposition required for running a pleasant sea side hotel and as such proving repeatedly and grossly incapable of performing the job. He is assisted, corrected and berated by his long suffering wife Sybil (Prunella Scales ), the live in maid Polly (Connie Booth - who also co-wrote the series) and Manuel (Andrew Sachs), a Spaniard with a loose grasp of English who usually ends up receiving the brunt of Basil's anger when things go wrong.

Fawlty Towers belongs to that most precious of situation comedies, the painful yet funny inevitable situation genre. Other such alumni of this include both versions of The Office, Mr. Bean and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. But there is really no debate when one states that Fawlty Towers is the best of them. Every single one of the twelve episodes is filled with classic moments of slapstick, verbal comedy, energetic performances and this complete collection has all of them right here. All ready for your repeated viewing pleasure.

It's rather incredible to think that this show came out in 1975, around twenty nine years ago - because the writing seems as fresh as ever. Inspired by a stay at a hotel owned by one Donald Sinclair, a man who John Cleese described as 'the most marvellously rude man I've ever met', John and the other Pythons were treated to an incredible display of a eccentric behaviour (something which is of course disputed by Mr Sinclair's family), and this became the inspiration for Basil and the show.

Of course, you should already know all of this and I'm most likely preaching to the choir, but this show is one of the greatest telly vision shows of all time, and this complete boxed set is (currently) the definitive version of a much beloved British comedy. A show which has inspired so much which followed after it and should be enshrined in entrance to the comedy section the Museum of Modern Telly Vision, alongside Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Extras:
Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs
Commentary on Series One by John Howard Davies (Director)
Commentary on Series Two by Bob Spiers (Director)
Artist Profiles
Outtakes
Torquay Tourist Guide (documentary film)

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Region: 2 + 4
Runtime: 6 Hours 14 mins approx
Soundtrack: English Dual Mono
Subtitles: English, French, German and Dutch
Direct Link

In 2007 King of Queens was the last of the 1990s live action sitcoms to finish airing, it first aired back in 1998 and stars Kevin James (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and Leah Remini star as UPS deliveryman Doug and legal secutary Carrie Heffernan, a married couple living in Queens. At the start of the series Doug has just put the finishing touches to his basement den by fitting in his new big screen TV and he's a very content chap. He has a lovely home, a beautiful wife, a job he loves, friends and a room specifically for them to hang out in.

Unfortunately for Doug this doesn't last, Carrie's father Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller) moves into the basement after his wife dies and he proves incapable of looking after himself. So Doug has to move his couch and TV out into the garage and put up with the rather eccentric Arthur pootling about the house. Fortunately he's got his friends Deacon (Victor Williams), Spence (Patton Oswalt) and Richie (Larry Romano) to fall back on when he's feeling stressed.

King of Queens is a pretty stereotypical sitcom for the era with only a few variations, it remains light hearted and has quite enjoyable characters. Kevin is exceptionaly likable as the warm but slightly emotionaly stunted Doug, and Leah is fantastic as Carrie - providing a mix of beauty, comedy and sheer courseness which makes for an endeering mix. Jerry Stiller, who was the prime reason I decided to watch this is every bit as good as he was on Seinfeld as Frank Costanza. At first his character shares more than a few traits with Frank, but as time passes he settles into a different and distinct personality who is perhaps even more bizzare and emotional than Frank was.

Now, there is a bit of an odd blip in this season as originally Lisa Rieffel was cast as Sarah Spooner, Carrie's attractive wanna-be actress sister. But when the writers struggled to think of stories for her they just dropped the character and never mentioned her again, she's around for just five of the first six episodes. It's a bit jarring and frankly a shame as Lisa is both funny and attractive, but the show doesn't really suffer too much without her presence.

Still, if you're looking for a light hearted comedy show which provides entertainment and laughs all the way you can't go wrong with King of Queens. It's not quite at the level of the heavy hitting 'big' comedies like Seinfeld or Arrested Development, but it has a charm of it's own thanks to an exceptional cast and some fun crossover episodes.

Extras:
None

Details:
Aspect Ratio: Full Frame
Rating: PG
Region: 2
Runtime: 8 hours 58 mins
Soundtrack: English, French
Subtitles: English, English HOH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish
Direct Link

Direct Link

At the tail end of this week I really got into watching shows I would normally avoid. I didn't really take notes while watching them, so it's mostly going to be vague impressions and I might even forget some of the shows I watched, but here we go.

First of all a thank you to Dan Owen over at Dan's Media Digest for pointing me in the direction of some trashy TV yesterday. I didn't watch all of your suggestions because other things interrupted (e.g. Have I Got News For You). But I did indeed watch Total Wipeout, which I must admit I didn't hate. In fact I had a bit of a grudging admiration for the contestants and a bit of a dislike for the editors who felt some need to make people having to perform difficult and humiliating tasks look even more foolish with replays. Mostly I was impressed with the sheer nuttiness and grit shown by the contestants and I enjoyed rooting for whomever looked least likely to win.

Of course I was drawn back to watching Robin Hood again, mostly because I wanted to see if the quality shown in the previous episode would continue. Sadly I don't feel it did, the show was back to it's usual nonsense and I think my main assessment is this. Robin Hood is bad, Jonas Armstrong is a complete fish out of water (and bad) and Richard Armitage is just brilliant. Seriously he needs his own starring role in a fantasy/medieval series where he can play a character with dubious morals, maybe a British Firefly type show with a band of rogues chugging about the universe. I could see him as a Captain Malcolm Reynolds sort easily. Anyway, I shall probably watch until the end of the series, at least then I'll have some context for Dan (DMD) and Aaron's (Snark and Fury) reviews of the show (which is how I've been following it without watching up until now). Apparently there are some deaths promised in the series finale, I'm holding out for Robin Hood popping his clogs.

I also attempted to watch some Big Brother 10, but I did find it exceptionally difficult to follow anything which is going on. When there's fifteen (I think) people around it's rather hard to follow anything, especially when quite a few of them look and sound similar. I can barely tell the difference between the two blondes at all, apparently one of them is now called Dogface after changing her name on the show (I can only assume it was for a task). That's pretty amusing, especially whenever Marcus Bentley narrates about her in his always amusing accent.

It was really difficult going watching any of the "highlights of the past 24 hours" and I could barely keep my attention for more than five minutes before wandering off to sandpaper my face away in an attempt to clean off the stain caused by watching. But the absolute worst moment occurred during the live eviction show on Friday, which I was watching while waiting for 8 out of 10 Cats to start. Housemate Cairon, who's London born but raised mostly in America had some major problems with Sree, a sweet overly sensitive soul who'd asked him to treat women with respect. How dare he suggest such a thing, as the age of the gentleman is dead and gone, dem is all bee-hatches and garden ho's now innit?

As such the scene unfolded with this bizarre hat wearing pseudo-wannabe gangster/rapper type just rapid fire attacking poor Sree. It was an exceptionally vile and horrible moment of bullying, made all the worse by the total apathy from many of the other housemates around. It was like watching one of the less intelligent street lads from The Wire verbally abusing a Disney character in the Playboy mansion - it was almost funny just how one sided and unpleasant the whole thing is, thankfully Big Brother stepped in where everyone else failed. All I can hope is the very moment Cairon is up for eviction he's turfed out of the house faster than you can say "gimp".

The highlight of the awfulness for me though was Embarrassing Illnesses, a show which takes members of the public with... well... embarrassing illnesses and brings them on the show to try and see if the medical profession can help out. Sort of like a TV GP. This in itself is quite an altruistic idea, it's a reality TV show which is genuinely looking out to help people and I initially found myself nodding in approval.

But gradually I began to notice the insidious and disturbing undertone to the show. These poor members of the public are paraded out and put on display for the public to ogle at like the old freak shows of yesteryear. One poor chap had his infected (and obviously very painful) scalp infection described as "manky" by the technician examining his skin cells and just about every single moment is punctuated by terrible puns and one liners just highlighting the humiliation these people are going through. All that was missing is a few amusing "You've Been Framed" style sound effects, canned laughter (and other such audience noises), a little "WAA, Waa, waaa, waaaaaaaaa" music and you'd realise just how perverse this show actually is.

I'm pretty used to human suffering being exploited in the name of "reality television" by now, but I think Embarrassing Illnesses managed to push the envelope all the way out with it's underhanded and sneaky handling of the whole thing. I wasn't exactly offended, I think it's impossible for TV to offend me short of showing something absolutely illegal or so debasing I can't even bring myself to suggest the acts here (I guess I'm just too desensitised by all the violence on the telly vision these days), but Embarrassing Illnesses did manage to make me feel dirtier than Big Brother did. And that's an achievement to be proud of.
Direct Link

I was half tempted when I sat down to write this to post the following:

"It's amazing. Quite literally the best thing I've ever seen on television, and most likely the best thing I'll ever watch in my life."

And then just sign off the review at that. It would be completely true in every aspect and there doesn't seem to be much point writing anything more. I'm still left somewhat speechless when I try to express just how unbelievable and perfect the final season was. The last few moments of the show just blew me away, left me emotionally drained and pretty much unable to comprehend normal speech.

I have trumpeted my love for The Shield pretty much since I started writing here, it's the one show I'd almost profess to being a fan of, and that's saying a lot because I have the following definition of the word fan:

fan - A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.

Yeah, over here in my book fan = fanatic. Mind you, my book is written in crayon and has bold easy to understand pictures about a boy named Bill and his ball, his big, red ball. But still, as much as I adore The Shield and consider it the single greatest piece of television I've ever had the pleasure to watch, I still hesitate to call myself a fan, because there's solid reasoning behind my claim.

Ever since The Shield burst onto the screen all the way back in 2002 it's been a show which has pushed the boundaries of both television and quality all the way. I was gripped from the end of the very first episode and amazed more television just wasn't this visceral. If you were to liken The Shield to an animal it would be a shark, swimming in your bathtub, with your privates already in its mouth and a tendency to shake while biting down - it's that darn intense and gripping.

Still, many shows can't manage to keep up such a level of intensity and devotion to their chosen path. 24 devolved over time from a truly unique concept into a laughable and at times disturbing parody of itself, Lost had a truly atrocious second season and even The Wire slipped a little when it reached it's fifth and final season. Considering the pedigree of shows like The Wire (and Lost), what chance does The Shield have at keeping up a consistent level of quality?

The short version is; every damn chance in the book. Because not only does The Shield keep up in it's consistency, delivering eighty eight episodes without a single one slipping in quality; not only that, but it manages the simply staggering feat of getting better with each passing season. And the seventh season, this final season contained within this boxed set, it is THE best season of The Shield by not just a bit, but by a huge margin. It's a season which brings a seven year story thread to a final and utterly devastating close. It's a show which remains utterly dedicated to it's own unique style and vision right until the final moment the credits hit, leaving you feeling drained and emotionally wrung out.

That's not to say the season is perfect, it isn't - initially the season takes a little time to get going, you can be left feeling a little "where's this going?" at times, but looking back on each episode now that I understand the entire picture I can see why things happened the way they did. It all builds up to a staggering set of pay-offs. The only other show I've seen which has managed to pull such a meaningful multi-season story is The Wire, where the character Bubbles, a minor character for much of the show (respectively speaking) closes out his five season "life story" with such an amazing earned moment. The Shield manages the same thing, it earns those final scenes and savours them with such poise and grace.

Yes, The Shield is not for everyone. It is a controversial show for good reason, it's a very macho and even misogynistic show at times. The leads are thoroughly unpleasant pieces of work and the crimes they commit in the name of law enforcement are absolutely revolting at times. But the show manages to highlight the duality of the characters, you begin to understand why they're doing what they're doing. The actions of Vic and the Strike Team paved the way for many morally grey (or outright black) characters to arrive, Dexter in part has a lot to thank Vic for.

I could go on for a long time, and I'm sure that this isn't the last time I talk about The Shield. So all that's left to say is this; if I still bothered with star ratings this one would go all the way to eleven.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go watch it all from the beginning again.

Extras:
Episode commentaries from the cast and crew
A Special behind-the0scenes Featurette (which is must see)
Deleted Scenes
Commentaries on the Deleted Scenes

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Languages: English, French
Rating: 15
Region: 2 (though the Region 1 release is identical)
Runtime 11 Hours 20 mins
Subtitles: English, Arabic, French, Hindi
Direct Link