First Australia give us Neighbors and now this!

Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 20 June 2008 06:25 (A review of Summer Heights High)

Summer Heights High is an 8 episode mockumentary about a public school (Which the show is named after). It focus' on the lives of Jonah, a miscreant year 8 boy who just cant seem to follow the rules and faces expulsion if he doesn't improve his ways. Mr G a flamboyant performing arts teacher who feels he could have become a famous actor but decided his talents were better suited to teaching children to be as great as he is, and thirdly Ja' Mie a private school girl who is sent to Summer Heights High on an exchange deal to prove that Public and Private schools offer exactly the same level of education.

I've just spent the past four hours watching SHH from start to finish, the episodes are only half an hour long and it is quite a short lived series. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, the 3 main characters are played by the same actor Chris Lilley who also Created, and Directed the entire thing. This man is extremely talented and he adapts to each roll perfectly, stereotyping your average year 11 girl, and your regular year 8 rebel in exactly the right way. The character of Mr G reminded me at first of David Brent from the UK's Office. He loves himself, but he is disregarded by the rest of his peers. I would say it is likely that the character is inspired by Brent in some ways, but it did not leave me feeling like I was just watching a Clone, Mr G suffers far more from illusions of grandeur to be considered a copy. Overall, the characters are very likable, and I am extremely impressed with Chris Lilleys talents.

Something I particularly loved about the show was its catchphrases. Being English I have no idea wether these were common place in Australia before Summer Heights High, but if it gains popularity over here I imagine Ginger people will forever be known as "Rangas" for their Orangutan hair colors. Part of me wishes I was still at school so I could use phrases such as "Are you on your period or what Miss?" and the brilliant [picture of a penis] tation (dick-tation) Tag which Jonah plasters over everything.
The show seemed to have its targets set from the start, with frequent jokes about Asians, Fat people, Ginger folks, Lesbians, Poor people to name but a few. It wasn't performed in an outrageous South park style, but more of a "Laugh at the ignorant, narrow minded, private school girl" kind of way.

I rated this 8/10 as I felt that it was very well performed. It is shot on site in a real Australian school and has many young actors and actresses in it who all act perfectly for their ages. Included in the cast are several disabled children who also perform to a high standard.

The most impressive aspect of the show is the fact that 1 man has invested so much effort towards it, there are not many things we watch now days which have had such input from only one person. Of course there are supporting actors, and supporting workers behind the scenes, but it must have taken such a long time to perform in every single scene of the show, and to do it at the standard given. I am surprised this has only aired on BBC 3 in England as usually that channel is reserved for shows such as "Titty Titty Bang Bang" If they keep airing shows like this then they will be on to a winner as they already house 2 other comedies I enjoy, "The Mighty Boosh" and to a lesser extent (Lesser than the Boosh and SHH) "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps"

Good work Australia!

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Its not a Saturday without it!

Posted : 3 months ago on 26 May 2008 06:13 (A review of Gillette Soccer Saturday)

Gillette Soccer Saturday is pretty much the highlight of my week, every Saturday morning i wake up, put on the tele and Sky Sports News is already there waiting for me from the night before. Its usually great Sun-Fri, but on Saturdays it becomes even better, with every single football score in the country being fed to you from one place, all the highs and lows of the football league and every bit of information or footballing history you need to know is right there for absorption. Its about the only time Sky Sports News can be relied upon to have good commentators, and a decent standard of presenter. They get on well and have an obvious rapport with one another which cant be forged. The banter and jokes with each other are actually fun to watch, and some of the reactions to goals/misses/decisions about fouls etc are brilliant to watch. Its such easy viewing too as you do not need to pay 100% attention to it, you can leave this on whilst you go about your day, but it is always there keeping you posted on how your team is doing, and giving you up to the minute information on where things stand for everybody at that current moment in time.
The best times of years to watch this are Christmas, and the final day of the season. On the last day it is usually found that at least 4 teams from each league are in the running for being relegated, quite often there are at least 2 teams battling for top spot/promotion/play offs too and so when each goal is scored, you get an update of where things stand and who is going where, many an exciting climax to the football season has been spent watching this show, it is irreplaceable and can not be equaled. Setanta tried, and failed!

If you have a television, like football, and have any form of free view/cable then you should already be watching this, it doesn't cost you to have it! But it is definitely the most watched channel in my house.

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Not funny anymore.

Posted : 4 months ago on 25 April 2008 05:37 (A review of Scrubs)

Scrubs used to be the most brilliant comedy series available in its first 5 years. Every episode had a wonderful tale, some hilarious inventions such as new phrases, or highlighting things certain people do that make you laugh because you agree and know someone just like it etc.

Then it started to become formulated. JD has far to many stupid outrageous thoughts, Turk and JD are always childish and naughty, Turk acts black, and Carla acts like the mum/Spaniard/straight one. These 3 alone would be enough but then you have Eliot who now cant seem to be in a scene without some anecdote, they used to be superb but now they just make me feel uncomfortable, as do Dr Cox's rants. You just want both of them to find a new gimmick and never look back. The Janitor and Ted are still funny as ever, but the writers are abusing this humor by making them wacky or absurd.
Even the episodes seem to follow the exact same template, new predicament/happening, trouble adjusting/fixing then resolution and moral of the story. Every time, in every episode this happens. It just needs to stop!
Sadly, they were going to stop it at season 7, but the American network executives decided to sell it and make a season 8 on another channel! So low and behold the show continues. I feel out of the yearn to finish the story i must watch along, but this is fast becoming like Smallville for me, there is only so much i can take before i stop watching because its become tripe.

That being said, if you are reading this as someone who wants to know wether to bother watching Scrubs, then i would say YES, DEFINITELY purely because the first 5 seasons are absolutely hilarious. The writing in these years just seems clever and witty. The formula is there, but it is used properly as a conduit for their brilliant tale. Its only when they start creating episodes in a "paint by numbers" style filling in the blanks as they go along that things start trailing. But by then you would be on season 6 so you would of had a fill of great tv anyway!

I wouldnt say this is the funniest comedy America has given us, i was a big fan of Friends, and you cant really say that was less of a success as it ran for 10 years and was still very funny at the end. Scrubs however feels more like an upbeat soap opera to me now, i watch it because i want to know about the characters lives, but i found tonight for example i laughed about 3 times in a half hour episode. I guess they raised the bar to high and lost it. Roll on Americas next top Sitcom!

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Childrens TV died with this.

Posted : 4 months, 1 week ago on 19 April 2008 05:22 (A review of Muppet Babies)

This show had a lot of imagination in it, much like some episodes of Rugrats today i guess (except better) Coupled with the immensely brilliant characters of the muppets you have one hell of a cartoon.
The muppet babies mainly told each other stories and re-enacted famous stories/films/plays etc, it was fun and innocent and much better than watching the teletubbies and the tweenies! Much more can be taught by watching a baby frog and a baby pig re-enact romeo and julliet than by watching a fat purple alien ponse around with his handbag going "et oooh"
If you are a new parent, forget the bull you find on television now. Go on the internet and download this, Thomas the Tank Engine (Ringo Star only) and other old classics like that. They didn't do you any harm, but your kids stand no chance with todays crap!

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Brilliant, clever humor.

Posted : 5 months ago on 27 March 2008 08:12 (A review of South Park)

When South Park was first released it was just being dubbed as a "naughty cartoon" that had swear words and little point to it. This is not at all the case and sadly too many people are false in thinking it is.
I remember watching it as a young teen and thinking it was great with all the violence and swearing etc, and i spose i never really got it, because it IS for adults. Now im older i watch it and find a whole new level to it. The past 4 seasons have been absolutely brilliant, each episode having some kind of political underlay or some form of social/topical issue with a moral story/outcome at the end. It also deals with controversial issues in a hilarious fashion and gives a well thought out view on the argument at hand.
Now days people who seem to rate this show 1 star etc are just the very people who are believing the adverts you see on tv. They probably have never seen it, or have only watched very early episodes when the messages were less clear. South park is one of only a very few intelligent American tv shows i have seen, and i think it is great that it reinforces its intelligence by being delivered in such a way that ignorant people just do not get it. Your average Joe will watch an episode and think it is stupid, because they cant engage themselves. This is a truely great animation series, and i am very glad i began to watch it again! The proof of my words is in the fact it has lasted 12 seasons! 12 years of television is a very long time, and few shows ever get that far, is that not reason enough to reconsider your opinion?

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You kids aint seen nothing.

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 17 March 2008 03:57 (A review of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers)

There was such a big deal made about power rangers when it came out in the UK, adverts for weeks before its pilot episode, loads of attention given to it, and when it began it was mostly warranted! The theme tune went to number 1 in the charts, the toys were the "most wanted" in all good stores, and every game at school was Power Rangers or an argument over who got to be Red/Green/White.
The characters were all classic, it wasn't greatly acted but a lot of effort went into it, all the monsters and bad guys actually cost money to make and it was considered a real tv show worth watching. Sadly most kids grew out of it real quick and so they had to keep reinventing it to keep things fresh, the first couple of times it survived, changing the dinosaur vehicles they used at first, then making them into animals.... it got worse each time.
Things progressively got worse for the power rangers though, Zordons wallet seems to have became increasingly empty until present day where the Power Rangers have been reduced to motor bikes!! I kid ye not, Motor bikes, compared to dinosaur robots called zords that combined into one megazord or the far cooler "mega dragon zord" in the later episodes.
This show had a lot of imagination and originality which made it a brilliant show for young boys, now days there is no imagination and that shows when you look at how dumb children are becoming. It seems this show is a good example of how creativity is diminishing throughout every generation. Soon we will all be forced to watch shows like 2 and a half men and read autobiographies by Katie Price!

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Genius idea for a show!

Posted : 5 months, 2 weeks ago on 16 March 2008 04:26 (A review of Are You Dave Gorman?)

Dave Gorman is one of these people that doesn't just imagine things, like the rest of us, he DOES things.
This is a show about how Dave Gorman basically goes out of his way to make contact with EVERY other person named "Dave Gorman" he can find. He meets up with them, finds out things about them and essentially bases a whole show around them. This is absolute brilliance! I wish he hadn't thought of it so i could. Everyone would love to have their own personal club where everyone had the same name, and there was enough of them to populate a small country!
The show is very funny, Gorman can certainly tell a tale, and he comes up with very inventive ways to keep the program interesting. I recommend this to you, and also suggest that you watch "Dave Gormans Googlewhack adventure" which is yet another show about him doing something crazy. I hope he is sitting at home right now coming up with another fantastic idea, as watching him do what im not capable of doing makes great television!

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Predictable and Mundane

Posted : 5 months, 2 weeks ago on 16 March 2008 03:58 (A review of Two and a Half Men)

2 and a half men might as well be one episode filmed from different angles. You get Charlie who mainly cracks lines about women, beer, and being a man. His nerdy brother whos main humor centralizes around his pathetic life and loner ways and thirdly his Son. His son is averagely funny, again its the exact same type of joke, he will either misunderstand something, because he is a kid and doesn't know the meaning, he will say something obvious, or he will say something grown up when expected to be dumb.
Thats the entire show summed up in a nut shell. There are other characters, their old mum who is like 65 years old but gets more than her nerdy son. Their man hating house keeper, and their stalker neighbor. All there to just fill the mundane gaps with more carbon copied jokes from the episode before.
The shows only good quality is that it does exactly what you expect it to. Its like a hammer, no frills, you know what it does and you know exactly who does what, so if it makes you laugh they have achieved something. Its as if someone has given them 6 ingredients and said make me a tv show! You can only make so many things with 6 ingredients, and 2 and a half men proves that.

Overall, if you just want to watch something and you have no real specific tastes and this is on, give it a watch. But if you want something that is part of your likes and dislikes, something to follow on the long term and follow through with to the end, this is not that kind of show. You have no excuses to watch this when there is so much more on offer in the world.

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A lesson in flogging a dead horse.

Posted : 5 months, 2 weeks ago on 16 March 2008 03:50 (A review of Smallville)

Smallville started out brilliantly showing the early life of Clarke Kent before he became known as Superman. It was clever and fun to watch, he barely had any powers bar strength and speed and so you got to watch him learn throughout the years. This set it apart from any old Superman show because he couldn't just rely on his super hearing, or his heat vision, or flight! He doesn't have these powers yet. Growing up is not helped by the fact the young Lex Luthor has just so happened to of moved to his town, they start off the best of friends but Lex's story is in my opinion, the more interesting on the show. He begins as a guy who feels like he can make a difference, hes a good guy and he just wants to make his mark. Of course we all know he is going to turn into a villainous mastermind, and so over the 7 years the show has been running for, this is exactly the spiraling slope you see him slip down.

I found each season of it enjoyable, the only major down fall of the show is they follow a similar format each year, where by Clarke saves the day each ep, mid season he learns a new ability, with crazy results, red kryptonite makes him evil, with crazy results. He loses his powers, with crazy results. Theres a big bad guy to fight, everyone winds up in their own individual "big finale" circumstances, and Clarke *usually* winds up leaving Smallville. The next year it starts with him coming back, and then repeats!
Its not as arduous as it sounds, well not for the first 5 years, its only by that point you begin to think the show is falling apart. They bend the feasibility sometimes with characters like Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen being regulars in it now, and even Super girl is a main character in season 7. The show ended at season 6 for me, on a whimper. I will watch season 7 one day, but when i watched episode 1 and knew exactly what was happening before it did i decided its not worth it.
To summarize, it is worth watching. You will enjoy it and the characters are great in it. The stories each episode are fun and usually pretty original, its just once it gets later into the series you begin to notice they only follow a set template and it gets silly. If they do a Season 8 of the show it will be going too far with it, things should of ended by now. Id say this will appeal more to teens than older audiences. But fans of Superman are missing out if they dont watch this.



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Outragious, and Great

Posted : 5 months, 2 weeks ago on 15 March 2008 01:50 (A review of Neighbours)

Neighbors is in basic terms, an Australian soap about the people who live on "Ramsay Street" but since it has been running since the 1980's it has become an Australian institute and a firm British favorite.
The stories they do are usually quite outrageous, you get plane crashes, bombs, identical twins 1 evil 1 good, and thats only one storyline they have had in recent years! They always tackle dramatic story lines about illness and old age, and also the usual relationship issues and life problems.
The characters range from 0-75 ish and thus there is something for everyone as they generally intertwine what with living on the same street etc. I find the characters are usually lovable and fun, and neighbors has a lot of comedy to go along side the tragic stories so you actually care when something bad happens. Its not like a few British Soaps such as Eastenders and Emmerdale who prefer to focus on depressing stories and are at a constant low morale. Neighbors loves to bring your morale as high as possible 1 moment then crush everything with something terrible. Countless times someone has got married, had a baby, done something incredible, only to find someone else is having the worst luck imaginable.

Neighbors is a great show and the only people that tend to dislike it in England are those who frankly have never sat and watched it!! I am guilty of doing this, i thought it was rubbish, i was adamant people were lame for watching it, and then i became hooked. Thats the problem with Soaps really, you CANT call them bad because the story changes so rapidly you are watching a totally different show one week to the next, and so of course, flipping that the other way, neighbors is guilty of some boring story lines too of course, but usually they are running along side something else which means things are kept in line. The episodes are only 20 minutes long so it manages to fit things all in quite well, i really recommend it for anyone who thinks they like soaps, or wants something constant to watch. Its probably aimed more at late teens through to mid thirty year olds, but of course plenty above and below watch it too.

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