The Medium Is Not Enough - Latest Comments

Re: Question of the week: is Community doomed now that Dan Harmon has left?

SK — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:37:58 -0000

Doctor Who was never the same since Verity Lambert left.

I think Waking the Dead's best episodes came after Barbara Machin was no longer involved, didn't they? Of course I don't know whether you count that as I think she always intended to set the programme up for others to run, rather than being fired and replaced.

Oh! There's a standard answer to this, isn't there? Blackadder.

Re: What the Community cast have been told to tell people about why Dan Harmon was fired

SK — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:30:32 -0000

I would find it amusing if the cast arranged that every time they were asked one of these questions they would make their face an expressionless mask and repeat those exact words in a robot voice.

They're actors, after all: saying things other people have written word-for-word is supposed to be what they're good at.

Re: What did you watch last week? Including Prisoners of War, The Bridge and Mission: Impossible 4

Mark Carroll — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:10:07 -0000

We got a batch of "Community" to finish this season which, while I thought they were more original than they were actually funny, were actually quite good by the season's standards. "Awake"'s been good too.

I wasn't disappointed by the ending of "The Bridge"; it was a good series, and, I thought, generally well-acted. (My previous mild criticism was more a script issue.)

I saw "Certified Copy". It was very well executed and certainly had an odd mid-film twist, but I'm not sure it quite reached the threshold of "glad I watched it".

I watched more "Inspector Montalbano". It continues to be steadily reasonably plotted and a bit silly.

I've started on "Suits". It's good, so far. I have the sense that I'll finish up the first season but not look awfully hard for the next. It passes the time well enough.

Re: Damon Lindelof's very long, detailed defence of Lost and its finale

Mark Carroll — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:00:13 -0000

From not enormously far through "Lost" seemed rather like they were just making it up as it went along, and then it got decidedly silly. I don't think there ever was any good answer to many of the questions it raised. Unusually for me, the individual episodes turned out to be rather more engaging than the overall arc.

Mind you, as it got further onward I thought that the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" was veering around in random craziness for a while, but they still pulled the ending together rather better than I'd expected them to.

Re: The Wednesday Play: Alice in Wonderland (1966)

Mark Carroll — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:52:03 -0000

They are indeed.

Re: The Wednesday Play: Alice in Wonderland (1966)

Rob Buckley — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:27:18 -0000

Glad to be able to help out - the TV schedules are looking decidedly underpacked at the moment, aren't they?

Re: The making of SyFy's Defiance

Rob Buckley — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:26:24 -0000

The presence of Jaime Murray in a show is usually a guarantee of it sucking, whether she's good in it or not. She's the Jennifer Aniston of TV shows.

Re: A bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie - The Final Three

Aaron Smithies — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:26:15 -0000

Yay!

Re: The Wednesday Play: Alice in Wonderland (1966)

Toby O'Brien — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:06:33 -0000

We've reached that point here in America where, at least for me, there was nothing to record last night. So thanks - you've set me up for what to watch when I get home in the morning. I needed new grist for the "As Seen On TV" mill.....

Re: Engrenages/Spiral finishes filming on the fourth season (video)

Rob Buckley — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:58:33 -0000

Oh yes! It sure does look like him, anyway. Good spot!

Re: The making of SyFy's Defiance

benjitek — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:27:10 -0000

Yuck... being attached to SyFy alone means it's doomed for failure -- based on the the video clip, it's achieved that already...

Television needs a good SciFi show, this isn't it :-(

Re: Question of the week: is Community doomed now that Dan Harmon has left?

bob — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:55:51 -0000

I want to see a decent character arc. Dan Harman was never able to deliver that. I look forward to the next season without him.

Re: Engrenages/Spiral finishes filming on the fourth season (video)

Chloe McMahon — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:42:57 -0000

Is that Sami (series 2) at 1:12, or are my eyes failing me?

Re: Tuesday's "Sanctuary cancelled, Gabriel Byrne is a viking and DC goes gay" news

Rob Buckley — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:06:49 -0000

Shaman hasn't been introduced yet - Billy has but he hasn't yet become Shazam. The time is drawing near, though, when Shazam will come... out of the closet

Re: Tuesday's "Sanctuary cancelled, Gabriel Byrne is a viking and DC goes gay" news

TheReader76 — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:56:50 -0000

Ha! Unfortunately Shazam is a back-up story in Justice League so he's already been introduced.

Re: Tuesday's "Sanctuary cancelled, Gabriel Byrne is a viking and DC goes gay" news

Rob Buckley — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:48:59 -0000

I'm going to go for Shazam/Captain Marvel, although as a twist, make Billy straight but Captain Marvel gay. For a laugh

Re: Tuesday's "Sanctuary cancelled, Gabriel Byrne is a viking and DC goes gay" news

TheReader76 — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:35:43 -0000

I can't remember if The Riddler has been introduced to the new 52 yet, but I've always had my suspicions about him; I suspect he shall remain in the closet.

I think it would will be a 'hero' though, even though Batwoman is already gay. Who's the biggest name not introduced already? It's hard to keep track.

Re: Review and competition: Fry's Planet Word

Stuart Ian Burns — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:04:15 -0000

My PVR failed to record the final three after not telling me it was clashing with something else. Thanks Panasonic.

Re: Review and competition: Fry's Planet Word

Aaron Smithies — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:47:06 -0000

I downloaded each episode via iPlayer and then forgot to watch them so they expired. So I figure I should get a 2nd chance because of my massive idiocy.

Re: What did you watch last week? Including Prisoners of War, The Bridge and Mission: Impossible 4

Lisa Rullsenberg — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:11:23 -0000

Well the ending of the Bridge was nonsense but as you say there was enough good stuff to make this a brilliant bit of TV for the year so far. Helin was great - best character of th year by miles.

Re: A couple of Doomwatch books for your delectation

Jim Smith — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:21:08 -0000

Pre-ordered. <<bosh>> </bosh>

Re: Question of the week: is Community doomed now that Dan Harmon has left?

TheReader76 — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:56:58 -0000

Community has become increasing peculiar this series. It's probably become less funny, but perhaps more interesting.

I doubt American network TV executives have much interest in programmes experimenting or messing around with structure and would rather just have another Friends

I'd expect Community to become less adventurous, but perhaps funnier and, almost certainly inferior.

Re: What did you watch last week? Including Common Law, Touch, Playhouse Presents and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Mark Carroll — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:43:06 -0000

Yes, that's exactly it. For someone who has shown herself to be observant and interested and high-functioning enough to have the career she has, she still gets some very basic social things wrong, like menstruation as a social conversation topic. By now I'd have expected her to be revealing herself more in less common situations, like ~~over the visits from a colleague's son~~, or being more unsettled at breaches in procedure, or something.

(Hmmm, my HTML tags are looking literal, hope I didn't get them wrong, let's post and see what happens ...)

Re: Question of the week: is swearing all right when no one understands it's swearing?

Rob Buckley — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:58:01 -0000

The mighty censoring power of Mac OS autocorrect, I suspect

Re: Why did they change the title of Mel Gibson's Get The Gringo?

Rob Buckley — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:57:15 -0000

Really? This surprises me. I must have known it for a good couple of decades now. But that would explain it