Sunday, July 22, 2007

Can You Say...Stifling?

Man it's hot. Too hot to think. Too hot to write.

So some quick comments and quotes to bide the time.

The British Open golf tourney this weekend was terrifically entertaining...nice to see a European win a major (it'd been eight years) though I was pulling for Sergio Garcia. But kudos to Padraig Harrington for prevailing after being burned by the burn (Scottish: a brook or rivulet) at the 18th at Carnoustie.

John From Cincinnati took a step back last night. Or sideways. Or some direction other than forward. Or perhaps it was impossible to top the brilliance of last weeks ep. No idea.

Flight of the Conchords is, I dunno, cutesy...The UK Office/Extras meets High Fidelity or something - maybe the kids are digging it, but I'm kinda meh. On the plus side, it feels like something that could have been made here in Canada, from the latest incarnation of General Fools (or some other regional improv group)...and airing Sunday Nights before Trailer Park Boys.

Entourage feels like it's seriously repeating itself...or perhaps they're rerunning last season and I just didn't get the memo. Like seriously. Repeating. Itself.

And Meadowlands ain't bad, but it ain't no Dexter. Kind of a British Twin Peaks meets The Prisoner about a family placed in a prison-like village/suburb witness protection program, I have stuck with it but barely...some unsettling creepy beats, but it just got me pining for more Michael C. Hall.

Now here's a good quote/writing tip from Steven Moffat (Dr. Who, Coupling):

"People complain about endings a lot, but they don't know really what they're talking about. They talk about 'God out of the machine', but they don't actually mean that. What they mean is, you can't win the game with a new piece on the board. You have to have seen already what the downfall of the enemy will be, but not recognized it for what it is. That's what they mean.

"Across the board, you have to introduce the element that's going to end your show disguised as something that was self-supporting, there for its own reasons. A self-supporting gag. Done, we don't worry about it anymore, forget about that. Then -- there you go -- it's come back!

People love that."

Yes they do, when it's done right.

And here's a good quote from Brent Butt whilst down in LA celebrating the Corner Gas sale to Superstation WGN in the gosh-almighty United States:

"I love TV. Without being facetious, I think television is man's greatest achievement. There's a lot of s--- that goes on it, but I can sit in my home and watch what's going on in Africa as it happens. What kind of a miracle is that? Flying is probably third. Penicillin is probably second. But television?

"Saying television is crap is like saying food is crap. No it isn't! Apples are delicious!"


Crunch! Yum.

Uh oh...must abort post...laptop overheating....sssssssss

6 comments:

Kelly J. Crawford said...

The heat! It's been like that here in Ottawa recently, too. My eyeballs are melting like gobs of wax in my skull.

KJC

Dante Kleinberg said...

The guy from BBCs Coupling works on Dr. Who? Maybe I'll have to give Dr. Who a shot.

Coupling = One of the funniest comedies ever on TV. Sure it is basically Seinfeld + Friends + Sex but it doesn't have to invent a new kind of wheel to be brilliant.

Diane Kristine Wild said...

I haven't seen this season's Entourage, but great quote in Time's blog:

For the second time this season, my increasingly temperamental HD Tivo crapped out on me, freezing at the end of JFC and failing to record Entourage. Which means either that my Tivo is an erratic piece of high-end hardware or that it's a highly intuitive device, and it is trying to protect me from the current season of Entourage. Is it a bug, or is it a feature?

He also wonders if John from Cincinnati is David Milch's Lady in the Water. Ouch.

Tim T said...

I love Flight of the Conchords, but this past episode was probably their weakest. Their live rendition of the Bowie Song was much better. Actually all their live stuff is really funny, if you're into that. But my favorite episode so far is probably the fourth, where Jemaine keeps coming along on all of Brett's dates. The songs are too funny...
And yes, it's hot hot hot. Thank god for Central Air.

theblankscreen said...

I think it was you Will who asked about the JFC genesis...I got this from the original interwebby thing that I read...

....'Milch started work on what became JFC well BEFORE Deadwood, only it was set among drug abusers in New York City. That first draft was completed sometime in 2001 (according to Jim Beaver), but he could never quite nail down the Jesus among the drug addicts thing, so he went on to make a series about the Roman police that somehow evolved into Deadwood. While working on Deadwood, he met Kem Nunn, who brought the surfing aspect in, and JFC as we know it was born. (Around this time, he also was planning a cop show set in the 60s with Bill Clark, but I think that never got off the ground.)'

wcdixon said...

Thx Blank Screen