…to zeros

Before Heroes‘ second series began on NBC on Monday, the missus and I had a conversation. How long, we wondered, would we stick with the show if it suddenly turned awful? That’s the kind of thing we talk about, I’m afraid. Three episodes, we decided – it had earned that much leeway by dint of the first season being pretty much the most exciting thing on TV in years. Read more

Sunday trading

So, from Sunday 7 October (the day after the first episode proper) Strictly Come Dancing gains a regular Sunday edition, in which the losing dancers are booted out of the show. Coincidentally, that same weekend, The X Factor sprouts a one-off Sunday episode…

UKTV’s Dave new world

“Everyone knows a bloke called Dave”, is the ethos guiding UKTV’s decision to rebrand its channel UKTV G2 as – honestly! – Dave. The press blurbage reads… Read more

Michael Palin’s New Europe

A few days ago several newspapers took great glee in revisiting the second most over-egged story of the summer: TV “fakery”. Read more

“The wife gave me cabbage and bean tartlets last night…”

“… Yet another reason to despise Jamie Oliver.”

Just finished watching the first two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures (now confirmed for Monday 24 September at 5pm on BBC1), and I feel a little bit exhilarated. With 25 minute episodes this does indeed feel rather like old schoolWho. Not a huge deal of plot, but lots of exciting moments and archetypical flourishes (unseen baddies monitoring our heroes via CCTV and cackling evilly). And it moves like the clappers.  Read more

Grade one tinkering at ITV

It looks like Michael Grade is making his mark at ITV. BBC News reports that he plans to double spending on content to £1.2 billion by 2012, scrapping those awful late-night money-raking quiz “programmes” and merging some of ITV’s smaller regional news services. Getting rid of the quiz rip-offs has to be a good move (not because they are appalling programming by the way, but because “negative publicity… has seen call volumes drop to uneconomic levels”), but is merging the regions wise? Hasn’t regional identity been diluted enough as a result of corporate branding?

Grandad’s Back in Business

So what counts the most – youthful exuberance or aged experience? Read more

2 become 1

Due to a, er, clerical error, I’ve ended up watching two of the three episodes so far of Holly and Fearne Go Dating on ITV1. And surely it’s only a clerical error that has put this on the main channel in the first place, as with its flimsy concept and production budget of, seemingly, 50p, this show has got ITV2 written all over it. Read more

A Bucket o’ French and Saunders

“Hello? Can I come in?” Read more

“I can’t do Rose anymore!”

Billie Piper was on roundtable duty yesterday, to promote ITV2′s not-half-bad Secret Diary of a Call Girl (set your videos for Thursday 27 September). Of course, Doctor Who was mentioned, and if she’d ever pop back. Read more

The Restaurant

Gripping reality television is all about hubris. That’s not a startling observation, but it is one that feels particularly appropriate when watching the aspirational brand. Read more

Holly and Fearne Go Dating

Amidst declining ratings, ITV1 has been quick leap on other channel’s ideas and make their own version. This policy has so far brought us classics such as Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway, You Don’t Know You’re Born and the recent Britain’s Favourite View. Read more

First it was noddee, now it’s reality

Further to my review of the first episode of Hell’s Kitchen, I am still trying to get to grips with why the show should feature the celebrities doing so well this early on in the series. As I have previously written, if they run a competent dinner service from the off, the series has no arc to follow. Read more

Hell’s Kitchen

So who won the last series of Hell’s Kitchen? This particular reviewer turned his back on the run somewhere near the beginning of week two. Read more

Ident heaven

idents.tv is a blog dedicated to bringing television idents and promos from across the world. Oh how I miss the old BBC4 ones and look at those titles – “The Man Who Deciphered Linear B” is a favourite. [via]