Live TV

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Lyle links to an article that states:

Most TV viewing in households with personal video recorders such as Sky+ is still live and “traditional scheduled TV will be around for a long time yet”, according to new research.

We’ve had Sky+ for over a year now, and having finally switched my viewing habits to incorporate it’s features I wouldn’t go back if you paid me. The ability to pause a programme is worth it’s weight in gold, and with the recent addition of a “remind me” function for some programmes it’s a matter of two button pushes to record a future programme (the “remind me” function appears during trailers, hit red then “record” and Sky+ will take care of it for you). The series link is also invaluable as it figures out when the next episode of a series is on, and automatically sets it to record (even if it shift times).

So what you end up with, fairly quickly, is a set of pre-recorded programmes that YOU chose from the available channels. Your own little TV station.

That’s not to say we don’t watch ‘live’ TV anymore, but I think that depends on your viewing habits in general. I hardly watch any ‘live’ TV other than sports and news whereas my better half will watch TV of an evening and channel surf to find something to watch. The only stuff we record, typically, is stuff we’d both watch. So I don’t think watching ‘live’ TV is going to go away but I would expect to see a long-term shift. Whether or not the TV companies are looking that far ahead is disputable, especially as they still seem concerned about whether adverts will still be viable in the future.

After all, would you CHOOSE to watch adverts?

Our usage of Sky+ is governed, for the meantime, by the capacity of our current box. If it was larger I’d be much more prone to recording things “just in case” and wouldn’t mind them lying around on the machine until I had time to watch them. With that in mind, it would mean recording, say, Frasier every night, and skipping the adverts every time. The bigger the capacity, the less the chance I’d watch ‘live’ TV (including sports), and the fewer adverts I’d see.

What the TV companies need to do is come up with a viable alternative that suits ME. Add in the complication of downloads (particularly of US shows) and the whole picture becomes much more usage focussed. Power to the people (consumer)?

The Office

Monday, April 17, 2006 ~ Comments Off

Caught a glimpse of Martin Freeman on Parky on Saturday night. This was after watching “The Siege” the Denzel Washington, Annette Benning, Bruce Willis terrorist thriller that never got released (it’s all about terrorist attacks in New York, and was filmed pre-9/11) —it’s worth a watch actually, given the extra poignancy of some shots featuring the World Trade Center.

Anyway, back to Parky and Martin Freeman. Naturally, they showed a clip of The Office and I found myself giggling along. Louise and my Mum were less than impressed though and quickly came to the conclusion that you need to work IN an office to find The Office funny. Is this true?

Ohh and I bet Mr. Freeman may, one day, regret his “there is no reason for anyone, once they’ve got a bit of money, to ever do anything that isn’t any good” statement.

The Global Goggle Box

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 ~ 1 comment so far

The internet brings us many things, many of which have been listed before and it should be said that most of the things are joyous and good, although some of them are nasty and bad. I really like the good things, the people, the ability to lose three hours and not realise it, and the way I can sculpt information to how I want it delivered and stored. I really don’t like the bad stuff like spam, viruses and the rampant globalised information.

I guess I should qualify that last one, huh.

Most of you know that the USA and the UK are connected. Physically by miles and miles of cables, geographically by an ocean, and socially by the ever increasing influence of American culture. Whilst I’m not blaming the internet for this shift in culture, not entirely at least, I do think it has to take its share of the blame. Of course it’s not all bad. Yes, there are some good things to come out of the US of A – Starbucks, McDonalds… ohh calm down, I’m kidding – I’m talking about the TV programmes.

There is a lot of good TV made in the UK, but most of the stuff I’ve enjoyed recently is one-off or short-run series, the natural history stuff that only Sir David can do (again, how WONDERFUL is Planet Earth!?), or quirky comedies. However, it seems that the USA is able to reliably produce good quality, long-run series and I’ll happily admit that I’m hooked on Grey’s Anatomy, House and 24. Admittedly my interest in Lost, Desperate Housewives, and The Sopranos has waned, and I never got into Six Feet Under or West Wing but they are, by all accounts, further good examples (and yes, I’m aware that we also receive some real dross from our American cousins. Swings and roundabouts).

For various reasons, none of which I’m au fait with but most of which I’d guess are due to monetary influences, we only receive these TV series after they have aired over in the States. Shouldn’t be a problem, should it?

And it’s not. The problems start when you stumble across a website only to have a plot twist thrust unexpectedly into your view. A plot twist that is months away in the UK schedules and which renders everything that lay before it pointless and misleading. My poor brain just can’t cope:

• I click onto an American website/blog
• A part of my brain instantly spots the text “Grey’s Anatomy”
• Another part of my brain starts reading the surrounding text
• The fast thinking part of my brain, which has now processed the fact that I’m reading about an upcoming plot twist, starts screaming at the reading part of my brain to STOP READING YOU IDIOT!!
• The reading part of my brain pauses, glances around as if it’s heard something, then continues reading
• Yet another part of my brain slowly awakens, stretches, grabs a cup of coffee and ambles over to the reading part of my brain, taps it on the shoulder and says “You shouldn’t be reading that mate”
• The reading part of my brain stops reading, looks up and says “Ohh OK”
• By which point the fast thinking part of my brain is a spluttering, gibbering wreck, rolling around my cranii interna

All of this takes place in about 1.4 seconds. I’m powerless to stop it (mainly because I can’t find where that damn coffee machine is plugged in).

Thing is, it’s completely ruining my TV watching and I’m beginning to get a bit pissed off. Yet I can see no solution. I don’t seek these websites out, and I spot these things on entertainment sites, gossip sites, blogs, every and any where.

It’s a bit like the eyes of a portrait following you around the room, except the eyes are a bomb inside a patient, and the room is a helicopter dropping Jack Bauer over a ‘target’ in downtown L.A.

Or something.

We can’t broadcast episodes at the same time because of the time difference, and even then the TV schedule in America lacks the formulaic rigidity of it’s UK counterpart, and that’s not to mention the mid-season breaks that crop up stateside. So what’s the answer?

Why our dear old friend the internet, of course!

Ohh I do love a good paradox, the very thing that is causing the problem offers the solution. Sort of.

For whilst it is possible to download episodes of your favourite TV series mere hours after they have been broadcast in the America, I’m not entirely sure it’s legal. It’s a worry, let me tell you.

Anyway, enough of this, I’m off to watch the next episode of 24… think I’m up to thirteen. It’s the one after the episode where Jack gets run over… ohh sorry…

The F Word

Monday, December 19, 2005 ~ Comments Off

Seems that Mr. Ramsay is in the papers again – no such thing as bad press, right? – for showing the deaths of six turkeys. For once I happened to have watched the show, and can admit that it was a bit of a shock (geddit!!).

For those who aren’t aware, Gordon Ramsay and his family have been looking after some turkeys for the past few months. The primary aim was to slaughter them and eat one for Christmas dinner, one of those “life lesson” things I guess. Fairy muff you might say, that’s his business etc etc.

Of course it’s slightly different as, when it came time to slaughter the birds, you saw it all. The method of slaughter is to insert an electric probe into the mouth of the bird, flip a switch and pass 600 volts through the animal until it dies. Apparently this is the most humane way (according to the farmer who was providing the service, but then he would say that…) and was described in detail – “Flip the switch, watch for it’s eyes to roll back… there we go” he intoned as the bird, shocked into rigidity, spends the last few seconds of it’s life straining every muscle and sinew… perhaps painfully, perhaps not, we’ll never know.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that for me to enjoy eating meat (and I do) something has to die. And whilst I did find the images being broadcast a little… unpalatable?… it certainly won’t stop me eating turkey again. Was it too graphic to be shown at tea-time on a Saturday night? Well I’d argue that the audience for The F Word isn’t young children, or at least shouldn’t be, and if the adults that were watching it found it offensive maybe, after the first of the five birds had been slaughtered (executed?) they should’ve taken the hint and turned over?

On the flip side of this is the fact that it took just seven people to complain about this to trigger Ofcom into action. What kind of culture are we creating here? A handful of people complain and the PC-sensitive ‘authorities’ leap into action and start banning things, left, right and centre. It’s getting ridiculous.

As for Gordon Ramsay but I hope he comes out with a statement on this, and I sincerely hopes it consists of little more than the abbreviated F word used in the title of his show. This madness has to end sometime.

Guilty Pleasures

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 ~ 1 comment so far

Sometimes I loathe our TV, despite paying for the “all the channels, yes even the poker ones” some nights there is just NOTHING ON! Quite frankly it’s ridiculous and it’s all that Murdoch’s fault, sometimes I wish I wasn’t addicted to Sky+…

Mind you at other times it offers day long TV marathons and next thing you know you have to lever yourself up from the sofa (always a slightly painful experience when bare skin has been in close proximity to a leather couch for nine hours) and you are wondering why it’s gone dark. Of course, they never EVER broadcast day long marathons of good TV shows, no no, if you are going to spend all day in front of the TV it’ll be brain-numbingly awful stuff that you’ll be watching.

Ohh yes, it will.

Don’t deny it.

So, what programmes yield such power over me? Well in an effort to clear my soul of some of it’s burden (I’d like it to be nice and trim for when I get sent to hell) here is a short sampling of my guilty TV pleasures:

• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – An American house DIY/design show where they, sometimes, knock the house down and build a new one. It’s all done for “needy” families and is a mixture of OTT Americanisms and heart-wrenching stories. If you have a soul you’ll have tears in your eyes at the end of every show, if you don’t it’s worth it just to see what they put in the houses.
• The Best – the only made a couple of series of this but we still enjoy watching it. Three chefs, well two chefs and a cute food scientist, cook a meal based on a given theme which are then judged by three members of the public in secret. A running score is kept through the series and the banter between the chefs is half the fun.
• U.F.C. – late night on Bravo, amongst the titillation and … er… whatever else they do, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In the same vein as boxing I’ve always believed that if that’s what these guys want to do, and it’s as safe as it can be then why not? Often bloody, always exciting, but I wonder if it’s just the shock factor that drags me back?
• Friends – yes. That’s right. We still watch repeats (re-runs for my American reader) of Friends. They are simple, easy to watch and light-heartedly funny.

They are the most common culprits the ones I’ll happily embrace along with my dressing gown, a jumbo bag of minstrels, a mixed selection of (generic supermarket brand) crisps, and copious cups of coffee (surely the reason advert breaks were invented). Couple them with a very laisse faire attitude to personal hygiene for the day, and I’m in TV heaven.

It’s so bad that I only allow myself one of these days every two or three years lest my brain rebel and force me to stab myself in each eye with a blunt spoon, for if there’s something guaranteed to make me want to stop watching TV it’s a sharp pain to the eyes inflicted by a rounded metal eating implement (but each to their own of course).

Now, it’s over to you dear reader, time to fess up! What’s your guilty TV secret? What’s your ideal “TV loafing day”? Share your techniques and let all of us slobs benefit.

Ohh and I’ll pre-empt the wisecracks about “nekkid ladeez” or any reference to Jude Law naked, daytime TV only guys and gals!

Extras

Friday, July 29, 2005 ~ Comments Off

Two episodes in and I’m just not convinced. Not sure whether it’s the addition of “stars”, the acting style of Ricky Gervais (although I think calling it acting is stretching things a bit), or some other factor but whilst there are some very funny moments it doesn’t feel complete. Of course that may be by choice, mirroring the bit parts the characters have, but I’m not sure it helps.

House

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 ~ Comments Off

No, this is not a post about bingo. It’s a post about an American TV show – House (official site which is crap, try TV Tome instead, mind the popups though).

Hugh Laurie – yes theHugh Laurie of “Fry and..”, “Jeeves and Wooster”, and … er… something else… (a guest appearance in Friends?) – plays Dr. Gregory House, an acerbic diagnostician, an American diagnostician at that, pay attention now, that bit of information is important.

Dr. House is, the central character of the show, heads up a team of young doctors in a clinic. He’s not interested in everyday complaints or everyday patients, preferring to take on challenging problems. He’s the diamond in the rough, the rogue doctor who everyone tolerates because he’s brilliant. In a rather schmaltzy piece of production he also has a limp, presumably so you feel some sympathy with this single minded, rude and determined man.

Laurie plays it well, never coming across as aggressive, merely emotionless – when faced with an outbreak in the maternity unit, he comes to the conclusion that they’ll have to use two babies as test cases, lest the other six die – and the rest of the cast seem adept. The first couple of episodes have been laying the back stories of the main characters and other than some “why the hell do they have to SHOW the graphic detail moments” on the operating table, it’s not been too bad.

The only slight problem will be if Laurie’s A-merry-can accent will start to grate. Took me a good 15 minutes of the first episode to get past it but after that it was barely noticeable.

I guess the main competitor will be ER but so far there is no romantic interest in House and I think it’s the better for it. It is still finding it’s feet, that’s for sure but is definitely in the black humour/drama category and has offered some good viewing already.

Not sure when it’ll hit terrestrial but when it does, give it a look.