Comedy, Gentlemen and Gleekage

I'm struggling to find appointment tv at the moment and by that I'm talking about unplug the telephone, turn off the laptop must completely absorb every ounce of what's going on via the screen type show.  Apart from the the things which are coming soon and already alluded to there isn't a whole lot that has me absorbed at that level.

It’s a weird feeling floating out there without something current that I can just squee about for the sheer indulgent brilliance of it.  I'm in a TV watching doldrum. Having said that I'm watching a lot of worthy tv shows like Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods and have them series linked to try and keep up with them but they aren't giving me the warm fuzzies like I want them to….

Glee last years big thing which I loved with all my heart but the autotune really really puts my teeth on edge. Also none of the characters are likeable they are all self serving and vile to some extent. The characters seem to be reset to factory settings every few episodes and there isn't a compelling story arc. But mainly its about my hate of the autotune.  

That said I've enjoyed the last few episodes, I'm just not sure it does enough for me.

The only thing that regularly makes me squee whole heartedly is the big bang theory although the last episode, the one with Josh Malina, unusually for the show really did put a foot wrong and it made me uncomfortable as a viewer. I found the concept of the episode absolutely abhorrent and I felt more than a little sick at the end of it. Having said that one bad episode out of the seventy odd I've seen won't put me off.

But there is something new, something that makes me squee and that is http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583638/>Mr Sunshine.  It was co-created by and stars Matthew Perry and oh-em-gee it is utterly wonderful.  It co-stars Allison Janney and Nate Torrence and it is just a really really funny show. I confess I'vee been half in love with Matthew Perry since Friends and I thought he was brilliant in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as Matt Albie.  

As well the very new, my blokey and I have been making full use of a membership to love film and going back in time and watchinig old series of OUtnumbered, The Thick of It, The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen. I love the League of Gentlemen from the bottom of by blackened heart. Oh Papa Lazerou, you really are ace.

Hello Dave.

In which I bemoan life a little

I've been neglectful of late, rehearsals for a show are eating up so much time and whilst I've been watching TV I'm not really feeling moved to write about it.  I'm sure that's because none of my tv loves are on at the moment. Unless you count True Blood but as I've already seen it, I'm not really feeling the need to watch it again.

Right, so where does that leave me? I'm counting down the days to Easter and a return of my favourite Time Lord. I need the Doctor in my life more than ever at the moment. I cannot wait to see where Steven Moffat takes us this year and with an episode by Neil Gaiman, I might spontaneously combust with the potential for squeeage.  I'm spoiler avoidant too, I want to experience the magic of this series without any preknowledge, I've seen the trailer and that's all I want to know.

Because what a hell of a trailer it is.

What I've been reading...

Kerri Arthur's Riley Jenson series.

Oh how do I love this series? Let me count the ways…

Firstly she's a werewolf/vampire half breed and she kicks ass. Secondly the series is set in Melbourne which makes a nice change from the US. Thirdly they are full on with naughty bits and Kerri Arthur gives good naughty bits. Fourthly there is a cast of likeable characters. A love interest that has me vacillating between hating and approving of. Fifthly the universe has an interesting premise with clones as well as a host of other shifters, Vamps and other supernatural beasties.

The books are quick paced and importantly not too long. They are fun and whist some elements get a tad repetitive, I can't seem to stop reading them.  I seem to be in somewhat of a completist mind set of late and am really enjoying reading series after series. It's partially because once I'm in a particular universe I like to stay there for a while and enjoy. The downside is that some turns of phrasing become a little bit over used.  This wouldn't be the case if I was mixing things up a little.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the first seven! 

Next up is a slight break from the urban fantasy, I'm reading Joanne Harris' Runemarks

books and stuff

Update on books I've been reading.

Finished the books I had on the weather warden series. Windfall and Firestorm both cracking.  I zipped through them because they begged to be read and quickly.  The pace which was already break-neck speed went up another notch and its completely flat out with very little respite from the dangers that are besetting our heroine Joanne on all sides.

As I've previously stated the novels are a lot of fun and have been very enjoyable. There is a further book in the series that I don't have that I will have to seek out at some point because I need to know how the sequence ends.  It is a very inventive series of books and highly addictive.

Following on from that I realised that I had been given the 4th book in the Succubus series: Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead.  I intently disliked the third book in the sequence but the fourth one was rather good.  I think it is like the star trek films and the even number ones are better than the odd numbered ones.

I'm caught up on those which left me with a quandary, what to read next.  I've been eyeing the Kerri Arthur Books for a while so I'm sinking my fangs into Full Moon Rising.

Also in order not to be boring I might mix up the series a little.  I find it hard to write about the same author in spurts the way I've had to.  Especially if I'm reading a series I feel like I'm being repetitive when talking about them. If this series is too addictive then I might not be able to help what I read but I'll see how it goes.

Noel Fielding does "Wuthering Heights" - Let's Dance for Comic Relief 20...

I saw this on Saturday night's telly. I made some cery squeeful noises and I think it deserves to be be shared far and wide.

Feel the Noel Fielding Love.

Oh and if you enjoyed this please consider donating some money to comic relief here

TV update

I'm behind in TV far far behind.

I've got episodes of Boardwalk empire, Treme, Blue Bloods, Six Feet under, Single Father, The Accused, Outcasts piling up around me. Its not that I'm not watching things, we're really yomping through things that we get from love film but I'm finding it hard to balance the time in order to keep up with things that are being broadcast.

Deep breath.

I need a to-do list and a list of what's on the Sky plus box I need to watch…

And because it's been a while since I wrote anything about a show I'm watching let me give my reaction to Outcasts.  I'm more or less caught up with this one.  I've seen the first four episodes and I'm yet to connect with it. 

My completely biased opinions are thus:

I really enjoyed the first episode, plenty of Jamie, who was a bit nuts and a little bit scary but utterly compelling and despite everything I liked his character, rather a lot. And what do they do with him?

Well that would be a spoiler but it isn't good and I'm sure the people on Carpathia heard my wail of NOOOOOOOOOOO.  I understand that from an actor's point of view Jamie Bamber didn't want to end up getting typecast as just a sci fi guy and turning up in another post apocalyptical drama.  Because let's be honest Outcasts is never going to live up to the awesomeness that is BSG.

The characters who are left are not likeable. Hermione Norris' character makes me want to maim rigid skinny blond women, the president is dubious beyond belief. There are the internal cops - Cass who is kind of dumb and the feisty woman who maybe a woman, but she's not all that.  Ivanova from Bab 5 and Starbuck and Admiral Caine, hell even Kat would kick her skinny behind. Then there's Eric Mabius from Ugly Betty whose like Gaius Baltar in negative, where Baltar is English sounding and corrupt. Julius Berger is American and corrupt. He's even cultivating his own quasi religious cult following. Plus to rub salt into the wounds he looks like Jamie Bamber enough for me to get excited and then get depressed again because it isn't him.

I can't see that the characters are rounded enough, and its not that they aren't all shades of grey they are all dubious, they seem fixed in their little boxes and I can't see any development happening.  The drama just isn't good enough, the plot isn't strong enough.

Conversely, I re-watched the first episode of Six Feet Under recently and it still feels as amazing as it did when I saw it for the first time. Ok I can't compare directly, it being a straighter drama. But the character plotting in that show was just dizzyingly good. It sucked me right back in completely.

The other thing I want to talk about is Being Human which does Vampires Werewolves and Ghosts with a decidedly British feel. Now onto it's third series and just over halfway through it’s a wonderful show which raises questions  about what it means to be human especially when you are other. It's at times stark with blackness and other times hilarious often seconds apart.

I need more time.

Books: Heat Stroke - Rachel Caine

Second in the weather warden series sees Joanne embark on a new adventure in a slightly different incarnation.  Don't want to say exactly what as I feel it constitutes a spoiler for the first book and I don't want to do that.

Something strange I've noticed are that the chapters are huge. Seriously over 100 pages which makes it difficult for this reader to end a chapter in one sitting and it makes me uneasy I like to finish a chapter.

I'm liking the character of David, he's fairly awesome in a fantasy guy kind of way.

My iks with the novel are few and far between because the plot is kind of relentless and I feel once I get into a book I have to finish it once I reach a certain point in reading momentum.

This book could be considered triggering for some people but it is mostly alluded to rather than made explicit.