Aidan and Lenora have also noted they've missed getting a cover, but did get an invite. Everyone appears to have noticed David Tennant has had a few (covers).
Did anyone else see this pic in yesterday's papers and immediately think of this:
The guys are marines from 45 Cdo based at Arbroath, but out in deepest Norway on exercise. As I played a very small part in getting PA out there I was rather pleased with the result.
"Gay Times" (or GT as it coyly renamed itself) is obviously trying to compete with "Attitude" on covers. Good try with this one for next month, with the three lead actors from BBC Three's "Being Human".
That Lenora will get a name for herself - that's twice this week now I've seen her in bed with two men at the same time ...
Still not watched it yet but this little number neatly sums up why I'm looking forward to it. I wonder if the track releases will prove as popular here?
Was going to post up my fave three male dancers today, but they only went and booted my #2 fave last night :(
Anyways, ballet boy Alastair (above) is my #1, and appears to have survived rather well on the first live show. He gets his favourite status with me for a combination of looks, personality and talent.
The other two I like are Drew and Robbie. Blond Robbie is the one I expect to do best though.
Chris was my #2 and left last night. Still, the exposure might get him signed as a male stripper - it happened to one of the lads on "Strictly Dance Fever", now calling himself Devon (who was he on the show? Anyone know?)
What I wasn't originally planning to do was critique the show. As I'd said yesterday, the initial programme covering the national auditions to find the final 14 was a bit hard to follow, and it irked me that the format meant they weren't actually after the best 14 per se. But it was up to the first live show to win me over. Now I must admit I missed the first half of the results show as I was watching "Celebrity Big Brother" but what I did see rather underlined the niggly feeling I'd had when watching the main show and that was that it will be another also-ran itself. In the last two years, the shiny-floor competitions that began in January on BBC One have not returned and this may be three in a row. I think the BBC have been complacent about SYTYCD because it's such a big hit in the States and they've brought back the two Brits from that version to reprise their roles here. The two big mistakes they've made though is assuming we've all followed the US version somehow (pretty sure it's not possible on Freeview) and can thus 'get' the format immediately - that's a very flawed assumption as I was completely confused when the results show seemed to bear little relation to the main show, with the 10 second solo performances surely pointless after the lines have closed? And those phoning in were voting on the couple dances earlier. As someone used to Strictly and avoids anything La Cowell does I'm also adrift without any numerical scoring - for me it leaves a vacuum that tends to encourage the judges to play up their parts - with Cisco the clown it's painfully obvious he's aiming to be a celebrity in his own right, with Louise Redknapp not far behind. I also don't get why , if they contrive to have them compete as ad hoc couples, then why don't they get voted on as those couples - again that seems to encourage the shameless personality politics angle over the joint performance seen in the main show. Just all came over as odd to me.
A little more obvious and empirical is the second mistake - the budget. As I was watching it the programme I was most reminded of was the early editions of "Top of the Pops" - when I believe it was coming live out of a church hall in Manchester. Wide shots exposed that this must have come from one of TVC's smaller studios - certainly not the one they use for Strictly, even though both need space for couples to dance as well as an audience. What audience and space they did have didn't give the right feeling of atmosphere and spectacle. The set was really quite basic by today's standards and the opening titles are unfocussed and easily forgettable. Does anyone else think Nigel Lythgoe might have had some choice words when he discovered this lukewarm support for his baby? I'm sure there's more money pumped into the US version and it's one thing I can't fault Simon Cowell on (though he does it to the point of overkill).
I'm going to give it another chance next Saturday - possibly without the influence of rum and coca-cola - but they better not pick on my fave boys. I expect it'll do OK in the ratings as ITV1 have kindly moved "Dancing On Ice" to Sundays and it had little in the way of opposition last night. However there are only five shows left in what is apparently the shortest run of SYTYCD anywhere and that's not very long to build momentum. Maybe another sign that the BBC have only invested half-heartedly, though I'm sure "Let's Dance" will be taking up three Saturdays after that and that may have been an issue (not heard when the ALW 'Dorothy' show is pencilled in for, but suspect it might be partnered with "Doctor Who" with both being re-sprays)
Anyway, you can check out the show at the link below.
Thought I'd see how long I could keep this up, and unfortunately this first week (well the first week the schedules properly calm down after the holidays) I got the "Radio Times" late ... as in this morning. Expect this between Tuesday and Thursday evening normally.
Introductory note: be aware this is a very personal selection and refers to programmes I'm able to watch (I have Freeview) and intend to watch. I may not manage on the day, for whatever reason, and I'm not going to beat myself up about that. Also don't expect me to review them all afterwards, though I may do for some.
If you want a far more comprehensive TV preview blog, may I recommend that splendid fellow, Mr Keith Topping at these galactic co-ordinates:
I'm including links which will hopefully lead you to iPlayer/4oD etc replays and relevant background info where I can - all times and dates are according to the print edition of "Radio Times" for BBC Scotland*/STV.
MY TOP THREE NEW OR RETURNING SHOWS OR HIGHLIGHTS:
BEING HUMAN - SUNDAY 10 JANUARY 9.30-10.30pm (BBC THREE)
The second full series (of 8) begins. Episode one guest stars Paul Rhys and Donald Sumpter. Though not dispensing with the comedy, this is apparently a darker series.
I was surprised that, even on BBC Three, this didn't get a "Radio Times" cover now that Russell, Aidan and Lenora are all considered 'hot' properties.
COME DINE WITH ME - MONDAY 11 JANUARY 5.30-6pm (C4)
Now getting nominated for TV awards, the cult daytime dinner party mayhem returns in the superior 5 weekday episode format (the weekly Sunday prime-time ones are more like Nicorette patches to aid withdrawal symptoms). RT neglects to mention how many weeks we are getting but I'd have guessed it will run to the end of February at least. The opening week is in Basingstoke.
GLEE - MONDAY 11 JANUARY 9-11pm (DOUBLE EPISODE) (E4)
This is not quite our first look at "Glee" as E4 showed the pilot over Christmas, but here it is again bolted on to the first of the series proper in a two-hour opener. It will be my first look, as I missed the pilot but have been very stoked up by transatlantic blog buzz and some attractive trailers. It appears to me at this point as (ascendent) geeks v jocks to a comedy musical format, which I find clever anyway. Hoping E4 keep 9 as the regular start time - the whole 4 stable has a habit of shoving all the landmark US shows to 10pm, which is past my bedtime ordinarily. Though this does make it clash with "Law & Order:UK" on ITV1 and "Hustle" on BBC One, not that I've ever followed the latter.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE - SATURDAY 9 JANUARY 7-8.05pm; 9.45-10.10pm (BBC ONE)
Technically not the first of the 7 episode series, but the first of the live shows and the accompanying results programme. I stuck with the first programme last Saturday, despite the BBC Press Office having already revealed the 14 finalists and being perplexed by the audition process which meant that it was not the best 14 that survived, but the best 7 girls and the best 7 guys, which is quite different. Of course this was to serve the live show format, where one of each flavour is booted per weekend as well as the unavoidable boy/girl pairing. So I'll be basing my continued viewing on tonight's show and whether it works for me - I liked the short lived "Strictly Dance Fever" to which SYTYCD bears similarities, but couldn't get on with the even shorter lived "Dance X". And I hope to present a post on any male totty left after tonight if it does please me ...
DELIA THROUGH THE DECADES - MONDAY 11 JANUARY 8.30-9pm (BBC TWO)
I'm going to forgive Delia for blotting her copybook with 2008's "How to Cheat at Cooking" series, whose mixed reception I'm hoping won't be excised in the last of the five featured decades presented here. This one is recipe-lite and more of a biographical documentary with the occasional sample by the foremost kitchen diva in the present. We start on Monday in the 70s, so hopefully we'll get a soupcon of "Swap Shop".
Though hardcore fans of the American original were rather snotty about this when it first appeared on ITV1 last February, I and many others saw it as one of the rare sparks of ITV quality drama. ITV1 still managed to spoil the party by splitting the first series in two and this is in fact series one, part two (already screened in Canada last summer). An actual series two has thankfully been ordered. As with all the episodes, these are anglicized and re-tooled versions of US originals - Monday's gay-themed one by Chris Chibnall is a version of a 1993 story and guest stars Patrick Malahide and Jamie Foreman.
Similarly derided by some fans of the original, I was again nonetheless rather impressed by this re-imagining of "Survivors", masterminded by Adrian Hodges. Having radically altered the character of Tom Price to become one of the leads (a masterful performance by Max Beesley) we go into series two with Abby (and seperated son) still present and correct so splitting further from the source. However, Abby was a strength of the original and missed once gone - the jury is still out on Julie Graham's needy portrayal here. Hopefully, the producers have taken on board some of the perceived weaknesses from the debut run and will have tweaked this second batch of six accordingly. Notably, since last time, Paterson Joseph (Greg) has not been killed off to allow him to be "Doctor Who" ...
MATERIAL GIRL - THURSDAY 14 JANUARY 8-9pm (BBC ONE)
The first of six hour-long episodes of a pre-watershed 'romantic comedy' debut. This is going to be another 'suck it and see' for me. One time "Gridlock" hijacker Lenora Crichlow heads the cast in her second new series of the week. Joining her are fellow ex-"Doctor Who" guest stars Dervla Kirwan (Mercy Hartigan) and the rather cute but oddly named O-T Fagbenie (Other Dave) in a presumed piss-take of the fashion world.
CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER: THE FIRST EVICTION - FRIDAY 15 JANUARY 9-10pm; 10.35-11.05pm (C4)
With last night's show headlined by a live variety show from the initial motley crew of housemates and the surprise insertion within of Ivana Trump, the end of the week should see the first planned departure from the Elstree compound. Last night's BBBM appeared to think Stephen and Katia would be up for the vote with Katia going, but we shall see.
Annoyingly, this week's regular highlights shows are all over the schedule - one at 8pm (Wed), three at 9pm (Sat, Sun, Tue), and two at 10pm (Mon, Thu).
Saturday/Monday-Wednesday/Friday * - Great British Railway Journeys
Saturday - National Lottery: In it to Win It
Sunday - The Andrew Marr Show
Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday - Eastenders
Monday - University Challenge
Tuesday - The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best
Thursday - Question Time (back from break this week)
Friday - QI (returned to 8.30pm network slot after last night's demotion to 10.45pm*)
Now if you're wondering what * denoted in a couple of those examples, they flagged up BBC Scotland's woeful attempts at re-scheduling network programmes to suit their own ends. Specifically, Thursday's edition of "Great British Railway Journeys", stripped in a 6.30pm slot on BBC Two every weeknight on the network, is shunted to Friday with the Friday one shunted to wherever they can squeeze it on Saturday (they do this with Thursday's "Eggheads too). This is due to the somehow sacred two hour 'Gaelic Ghetto' we have imposed on us from 6 to 8pm every Thursday. With "Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two" for which they would drop the Thursday show entirely, it took them to midway through the 2008 series to instigate a red button opt-out for it - I'm sure the red button got more viewers in Scotland for those of us given that option - but even then it was not guaranteed every week and become a random frustration all over again. Anyway no such option is available for GBRJ.
At one point I was actually going to have a regular "BBC Scotland Watch" series of posts to highlight the full scale of their incompetent dabbling, which rarely works in my favour. However, I decided that would just double the inconvenience - the more they moved or dropped, the more time I'd have to spend writing it up as well as chasing what I wanted to see. I've come up with the next section as a compromise, listing the major prime-time culprits. In this, unlike the rest of this feature, I list the network position of programmes where that differs from what we get in Scotland. This is because it is not noted where the programmes are moved to or whether we et them at all - but I'll bracket that if I find out. I'm ignoring reasonable replacements, such as regional news and "Sportscene" for "Match of the Day" (not that I'd be watching either). For the moment I'm also leaving out STV examples, as they've been caught out and appear to have been sent homeward tae think again ...
So, the obvious title for this subsection is ...
"THAT'S EXCEPT FOR VIEWERS IN SCOTLAND WHO HAVE THEIR OWN PROGRAMMES"
Saturday - COAST repeat 6.30-7.30pm (BBC TWO)
Monday - NURSE JACKIE 10-10.30 (BBC TWO) BBC TWO Scotland 11.20-11.50pm
Tuesday - HOLBY CITY 8-9pm (BBC ONE) BBC ONE Scotland on Wednesday 8-9pm
Wednesday - TRAFFIC COPS 8-8.30pm (BBC ONE) BBC ONE Scotland 9-10pm (?!)
Wednesday - INSPECTOR GEORGE GENTLY repeat 8.30-10pm (BBC ONE)
Thursday - EGGHEADS 6-6.30pm (BBC TWO) BBC TWO Scotland on Friday 6-6.30pm
Thursday - GREAT BRITISH RAILWAY JOURNEYS 6.30-7pm (BBC TWO) BBC TWO Scotland on Friday 6.30-7pm
Thursday - SNOOKER 7-8pm (BBC TWO) red button only in Scotland
Friday - EGGHEADS 6-6.30pm (BBC TWO) BBC TWO Scotland on Saturday 16th, presumed.
Friday - GREAT BRITISH RAILWAY JOURNEYS: Edinburgh to Kirkcaldy 6.30-7pm (BBC TWO) BBC TWO Scotland on Saturday 16th, presumed.
I must point out, this week we are fairly lucky as it's light on tampering - wait until they 'need' to clear the schedule for a football match. And I shall personally apply a knee to the groin of the first person who mentions iPlayer or 'Sky channel whatever' in regard to this sub-section. Until BBC Scotland pays for my broadband download allowance or a Sky subscription that's entirely irrelevant. It's bad enough that some my contribution to the licence fee pays not only for the BBC Scotland insertions but the original network programming, so I really should get decent access to both. They really need to utilise the red button much more, but that's another story.
