Doesn't he say something like "I basically fused flashdance with some MC Hammer shit." Can't remember exactly.
What are you watching on TV? Page 1,085
Quote: Godot Taxis @ January 22 2010, 10:48 AM GMTDoesn't he say something like "I basically fused flashdance with some MC Hammer shit." Can't remember exactly.
That's right, he does (I'd forgotten he says that). And when he's doing the dance he actually points at people as he does it, which is what the girl does in the climatic Flashdance scene.
I don't think I've seen Flashdance. I prefer Footloose!
Somehow managed to end up watching Material Girl last night. My God, is this the best the Beeb has to offer? A show that makes Hotel Babylon seem a like a highbrow piece of well-written cinema verité. It even contained the 'tough, no-nonsense businesswoman' character saying the line, "I'm expecting you to give 100 per cent!". By comparison, the plot made an episode of Chucklevision seem as complex as Syriana.
This, after I had sat through the script nightmare which is Eastenders. One of the characters, referring to a china tea set, commented early on in the episode, "You know, I've never broken one of these". I then just sat listlessly in my seat waiting for her to accidentally break one of the cups, which of course happened right at the end. Half an hour of life, sitting on a f**king sofa, waiting for a cup to be dropped.
I wish somebody would just shoot me. 
Quote: zooo @ January 22 2010, 10:59 AM GMTI don't think I've seen Flashdance. I prefer Footloose!
With evil Kevin Bacon?
Quote: Tim Walker @ January 22 2010, 11:04 AM GMTI wish somebody would just shoot me.
*Starts queue.* 
Quote: Tim Walker @ January 22 2010, 11:04 AM GMT
I wish somebody would just shoot me.
Morning Tim
Morning Gav, morning Chip.
My insomnia is getting worse. Not even watching repeats of The Upper Hand on ITV3 at 3am can cure it.
Quote: Tim Walker @ January 22 2010, 11:10 AM GMTMorning Gav, morning Chip.
My insomnia is getting worse. Not even watching repeats of The Upper Hand on ITV3 at 3am can cure it.
Seriously, though, Tim, what dramas do you rate? I've seen you dismiss a lot of stuff, but aside from The Sopranos, haven't heard you praise much. Do you genuinely have a downer on all modern drama? I mean sure, there's a lot of crap, but there is good stuff out there.
Quote: Gavin @ January 22 2010, 11:04 AM GMTWith evil Kevin Bacon?
Ha, yep!
Quote: Tim Walker @ January 22 2010, 11:10 AM GMTMorning Gav, morning Chip.
My insomnia is getting worse. Not even watching repeats of The Upper Hand on ITV3 at 3am can cure it.
I don't know why I'm bothering say this as you're a doctor and know this already, but exercise really helped me when I was suffering.
Quote: Tim Walker @ January 22 2010, 11:10 AM GMTMorning Gav, morning Chip.
My insomnia is getting worse. Not even watching repeats of The Upper Hand on ITV3 at 3am can cure it.
Then do some work. I'm most productive 2-3am ish. Hurts like a bitch getting up at 8 after.
Quote: EllieJP @ January 22 2010, 11:21 AM GMTI don't know why I'm bothering say this as you're a doctor and know this already, but exercise really helped me when I was suffering.
Yeah it does help. I've been okay for a while, but expecting another bout of insomnia any time soon.
Quote: chipolata @ January 22 2010, 11:11 AM GMTSeriously, though, Tim, what dramas do you rate? I've seen you dismiss a lot of stuff, but aside from The Sopranos, haven't heard you praise much. Do you genuinely have a downer on all modern drama? I mean sure, there's a lot of crap, but there is good stuff out there.
There aren't many Dramas/Comedies around I like at the moment. Perhaps standards are to high.
Quote: chipolata @ January 22 2010, 11:11 AM GMTSeriously, though, Tim, what dramas do you rate? I've seen you dismiss a lot of stuff, but aside from The Sopranos, haven't heard you praise much. Do you genuinely have a downer on all modern drama? I mean sure, there's a lot of crap, but there is good stuff out there.
I love House as a well-written, original take on the medical drama. I've nothing against Mad Men and can definitely see its qualities, it just doesn't grab me, is all. The Street was very good, as (though a guilty pleasure) was the BBC's latest adaptation of Emma. Dexter is a good, fun, silly one, which I'll try to catch if it's on. Six Feet Under was one of the best drama series of the last twenty years.
Part of my problem, I suppose, is that I just hate the vast majority of medical or police dramas, almost without exception. (I didn't like Life On Mars because it was little more than a Sweeney parody.) And there's far too many of them on British TV. All other original drama seems to be so superficial and lightweight that it's as though kitsch and camp value are the only qualifications for commissioning thesedays. Don't see where the next GBH or Traffik is going to come from. And intelligent sci-fi drama, which I would like to see, is pretty much extinct.
I do like a lot of the single dramas that British TV produces (for example, the Beeb's adaptation of the play Copenhagen a few years ago was superb - and the recent Micro Men was great), but otherwise actually a lot of the best drama is this country often now comes by way of serious documentary.
The bottom line it seems to me is that no network in this country is willing to put the trust or time into writers with big, more involved saga-like stories to tell. So what is thrown up is formulaic and episodic eye candy. And the writing is all too often 'done by committee' and is more often than not, mediocre at best.
I'm confident that there will always be some good TV comedy somewhere on British telly, but I can't say the same of the drama series.