Re: Television programmes

by bungobaggins Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:57 am

halfwise wrote:
bungobaggins wrote:Watched Cosmos tonight. :DAnother great episode.

I could only watch about 10 minutes, it was annoying me too much. All about graphic artists and cheesy sets and special effects, precious little science. Just show the stuff directly, if clearly presented it doesn't need all the damn ribbons and trappings.

Well, that's kinda what they have to do to get people's attention these days. As much as I like/dislike it. Rolling Eyes

Remember, this is on national broadcast television and Neil deGrasse Tyson said that evolution is a scientific fact, that seems like a pretty big step for America.

by bungobaggins Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:47 am

http://screenrant.com/mystery-science-theater-3000-new-show/

In the not-too-distant future (next Sunday A.D.), there was a guy named Joel, not too different from you or me. He worked at Gizmonic Institute, just another face in a red jumpsuit. He did a good job cleaning up the place, but his bosses didn’t like him so they shot him into space.

That’s pretty much all the set-up you need to know for Mystery Science Theater 3000, which popularized the still-popular trend of comedic riffing. The show’s host, with the help of his robot pals, would watch old and forgotten B-movies and gently (or harshly) mock them and parody them in short skits. The sets were wobbly, the props were cheap and the robots weren’t created using state-of-the-art CGI, but Mystery Science Theater 3000 is still fondly remembered by fans to this day.

The show currently lives on in RiffTrax, a site in which the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 – Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett – provide comedic commentaries for both old movies and recent blockbusters like The Avengers and Twilight. After being off TV screens for almost 15 years, however, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew are making a three-episode comeback… on National Geographic.

According to Zap2It the MST3K revival will actually air under the RiffTrax name, but Murphy will be reprising his role as Tom Servo and Corbett will be playing Crow T. Robot. Whether this means that the full show format will return – complete with their silhouettes projected onto the screen and the comedy skits in between – remains to be seen, but the riffing subject will apparently be some kind of TV programming.

Despite the change in name, the RiffTrax commentaries are still just as entertaining as the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes and the hosts’ return to television is very welcome, even if it is only for a few episodes.

RiffTrax will air on National Geographic on April 1, 2014.

Sadly, with the return under the RiffTrax brand, this means no Joel (I don't care much for Mike, he's funny, but he never had the dopey, laid-back charm that Joel exuded). I'm surprised that the bots will be making a comeback due to the messy issues with the IP rights, but the fact that they made a brief appearance at the end of the 2013 Turkey Day marathon showed that Jim Mallon probably finally got off his high horse.

by Bluebottle Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:28 pm

Boris Johnson on his appearances on Have I got news for you.

by Bluebottle Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:39 pm

by azriel Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:49 pm

I love Boris ! Hes SO funny & he takes the baiting so well ! I could watch HIGNFY with him on it all day ! Thanks for that Blue ! Best laugh Ive had all day ! lol!

by Mrs Figg Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:34 pm

I once saw Boris on Top Gear and weirdly as the interview went on Clarksons voice got posher and posher, it was really noticeable to me i dont know if anyone else saw it? I think it was completely unconscious mimicking on Clarksons behalf but it was a bit cringeworthy.

by Bluebottle Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:51 pm

They both went to public school of course. And judging by the company of Camerons and Murdochs Clarkson keeps posh might be an understatement. Shrugging

Some more Boris as it was appreciated. Smile

by halfwise Sun Mar 23, 2014 4:05 pm

bungobaggins wrote:
halfwise wrote:
bungobaggins wrote:Watched Cosmos tonight. :DAnother great episode.

I could only watch about 10 minutes, it was annoying me too much. All about graphic artists and cheesy sets and special effects, precious little science. Just show the stuff directly, if clearly presented it doesn't need all the damn ribbons and trappings.

Well, that's kinda what they have to do to get people's attention these days. As much as I like/dislike it.

Remember, this is on national broadcast television and Neil deGrasse Tyson said that evolution is a scientific fact, that seems like a pretty big step for America.

I'll give it another chance tonight. Hopefully most of the cheese was front loaded in the first episode, and I'll catch enough real stuff to hook me in instead of storming off after the first few minutes due to "hey kids, science is full of cool blinking lights and flying saucers" type of crap. The fact that it's on Fox should help temper my rage somewhat....

by halfwise Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:45 am

Okay, I'm won over. The presentation of Halley and Newton is charming, accurate, and likely thought provoking for those who haven't been exposed before.

by bungobaggins Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:07 am

When I finished the episode I thought for sure Halfy would have stormed out after the first five minutes. Laughing

But seriously, I'm not a scientist, and it's been five years since I had an astronomy course, so I find all of this stuff very interesting. Shrugging

by halfwise Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:27 am

the first 5 minutes were a bit weak. the cometary harbinger angle could have been compressed to half, and I think a brief sketch of Kepler's accomplishment (a huge accomplishment without which Newton's law of gravity might not have come about) would have been nice.

by Mrs Figg Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:39 pm

because I am not very knowledgable on science stuff I like popular science tv programmes a lot, and I dont mind bells and whistles. If it gets kids interested it must be a good thing.

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Mar 24, 2014 3:18 pm

My main crabbit gripe with any modern documentary, not just science stuff, is the the fact there is actually only about fifteen minutes of information in them
You get the intro to the subject and a little info- then an ad break, then they recap the first bit, tiny bit more info, more ads, then the recap the first two bits ect- by the end of an hour you've watched fifteen minutes of info recapped half a dozen times Evil or Very Mad

by Mrs Figg Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:22 pm

yeah theres a lot of padding

by Bluebottle Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:36 pm

Loved the first series. Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

After their Yorkshire gastro-odyssey in The Trip, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan set off for the next series - around Italy in a Mini, to stuff themselves silly (again). Here, Brydon gorges on the glamour of it all...

http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/march-2014/travel-tuesday-rob-brydon-and-steve-coogans-italian-road-trip

by **Amarië** Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:46 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:My main crabbit gripe with any modern documentary, not just science stuff, is the the fact there is actually only about fifteen minutes of information in them
You get the intro to the subject and a little info- then an ad break, then they recap the first bit, tiny bit more info, more ads, then the recap the first two bits ect- by the end of an hour you've watched fifteen minutes of info recapped half a dozen times

I find that tends to be the US way of doing it. But it is spreading. And I hate it.

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:26 pm

Yeah its spreading a lot, I have increasingly noticed it even in BBC programs which dont have ad breaks- but they have their eye on selling it to foreign markets, so they are more and more copying the US format- I quite often find it saves time, and no less of information, to skip to the last bit after the final ad break- you will get the rundown of everything to that point, and the final conclusion, which they would just otherwise have been teasing you with all program to keep you watching to the end through the ads. Mad

by Bluebottle Sun Apr 06, 2014 10:11 pm

I mentioned this earlier.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's culinary travelogue comedy The Trip to Italy may well be the most sustained and successful example of genuine ad-libbing that Britain has ever produced.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/apr/04/trip-to-italy-steve-coogan-rob-brydon

Television programmes - Page 29 Thetripitalyjpg_2870476b

Television programmes - Page 29 Thetripitalyjpg_2870476b

by Bluebottle Mon Apr 07, 2014 12:19 pm

Anyone interested can see it here:

http://vodlocker.com/jzh1otygspm2

Or here on iPlayer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0406rg3/The_Trip_to_Italy_Il_Cenobio_dei_Dogi_Camogli/

by bungobaggins Wed Apr 16, 2014 6:55 pm

Anyone watch Fargo last night? I can't find any free streaming links, yet.

by halfwise Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:24 pm

I'll have to check out the culinary road trip, BB, I love those things.

As far as documentaries go, if you get the PBS documentaries you don't have the ad breaks and recaps. That's all History Channel shit and their ilk. Look at NOVA, Frontline, Secrets of the Dead, etc. Very high quality. Remember: PBS.

by bungobaggins Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:12 am

Watched Fargo last night. It was pretty good. Just need less of Martin Freeman's terrible accent (it's unfortunate that he's the focus of the story), and more of Bob Odenkirk. Very Happy

I know the Coen's are producing, and it does feel like they've had their hands in it. Which is good, of course.

by Mrs Figg Sat Apr 19, 2014 3:28 pm

just watched the first ep of Itv cop/thriller show Broadchurch, its really good. great actors too. David Tennant and Rory from Dr Who, and Water Frey dude, and a host of other brilliant actors. Thumbs Up

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Apr 19, 2014 3:31 pm

Yeah its well worth the watch Figg- I enjoyed it.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:23 pm

Episode 2 of Fargo was solid. And there was more Bob Odenkirk! cheers