The Medium is Not Enough TV blog

Friday's Sitting Tennant (from Karen): Learners

Rob Buckley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:53:50 +0000

Our Doctor, who ain't in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on blogs as it is in TARDIS. Give us this day our daily Tennant…

Thanks to Karen, God's will has been done. It's from Learners. She gets three points. Thank her, then caption.

Rullsenberg: 63.5
Sister Chastity: 60.5
Jaradel: 35.5
Karen: 13
Toby: 8
Amy, Lauren, Sabine: 4
Rosby: 2.5
Persephone: 1

Once again, Electric Dragon has ironically been cooking with gas, because he wins last week's caption competition. Good luck this week everyone!

Toby: 196.5
Marie: 192.5
Rullsenberg: 152
Electric Dragon: 86
Jane Henry: 75.5
Persephone: 45.5
Jaradel: 38.5
Rev/Views: 25
Joe, Sister Chastity: 20
Scott 2: 14
George: 10
ecg: 5
Scott: 3
Aaron: 2
almostwitty.com: 1
Stu_N: 1

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below or email me and if it's judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery.

Every photo displayed on Monday (one per person who sends one in) gets a point, with a bonus point if it's from the latest DT production; the best pic in the stash each week will appear on Friday and get three points.

You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Friday's Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points, everyone who contributes getting five points.

Review: Battlestar Galactica - The Plan

Rob Buckley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:09:42 +0000

In the US/UK: Sometime in 2010
Available from Amazon.co.uk on BluRay import

The Cylons were created by man. They evolved. They rebelled. They look and feel human. Some are programmed to think they are human. There are many copies. And they have a plan.

Unfortunately for them, it's rubbish, and they can't make up their minds about what to do. At least, that's what Battlestar Galactica: The Plan appears to suggest. A final "milk it for all it's worth" effort before it becomes impossible to get the actors in the same place, it's more like a director's commentary than a worthwhile addition to a TV classic's range.

(continued)

What have you been watching this week (w/e November 6)

Rob Buckley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:05:49 +0000

I really should take notes, because I keep forgetting things. It didn't help that our block of flats lost all TV reception for the weekend, which really knackered my attempts to watch the Francis Bacon evening on BBC4:

Mad Men – Finally caught up. All brilliant of course
Community – Another doozey. Will you ever look at Batman the same?
30 Rock – interesting, but not very funny
Dexter – a really fine episode. I'm surprised it took the police and Dexter so long to work out Trinity's MO, but great all round
Stargate Universe – still liking it. Nice touch to have them kill the helpful alien, and for the Stargate to take them to such a rubbish planet
The Thick of It – still not enjoying it as much as previous series, but at least Malcolm's a bit swearier this episode
The Border – this is what I mean. Completely forget I've been watching this. Definite pick-up in quality this week since we had an actual firefight and Grey finally showed that he's not a complete nancy. Bit of a pat resolution though
Being Erica - haven't watched this week's
Cougar Town - really starting to enjoy. The characters are now starting to show some depth
Modern Family – the cool dad is really starting to get annoying now, but every other character is great
The Sarah Jane Adventures - caught up with the wedding from last week, and it nearly bought tears to my little eyes. Obvious nods to Sapphire and Steel story six, too, which always warrants praise
CSI: Nothing desperately exciting going on here, but the characters are starting to come together again
Heroes - already reviewed but I forgot to mention the Quantum Leap shout out.
Supernatural – great joke about the clap, quite an enjoyable story, but nothing desperately radical. Will be watching last night's episode in a bit

What have you been watching though?

As always, no spoilers unless you're going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please. If you've reviewed something on your blog, you can put a link to it here rather than repeat yourself (although too many links and you might get killed by the spam filter).

Doctor Who - Dreamland clip

Rob Buckley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:26:16 +0000

Dreamland is an animated Doctor Who story that will appear on CBBC, BBC Two, the red button on BBC One and the BBC Doctor Who website. Phew. That's a lot of places.

It features David Tennant alone with new companion Cassie Rice (Georgia Moffett), and sees the TARDIS crew landing in Roswell. It'll be six parts in all, running for a total of 45 minutes.

Pity it looks awful in just about every way.

[via]

Friday's transgender and onion-based news

Rob Buckley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:05:41 +0000

Doctor Who

New trailer for Waters of Mars

Books

Fiction sales in the UK soar 90% as non-fiction sales fall

Film

Woo hoo! Elizabeth Mitchell to star in Answers to Nothing with Julie Benz
Bradley Cooper to star in Dark Fields
Dan Aykroyd to star in Burke and Hare
Anna Faris, Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake in talks to star in Yogi Bear
Isla Fisher to star in Desperados?
Trailer for Angelina Jolie's CIA action-flick Salt

British TV

Lord Burns to become chair of Channel 4
Spooks gets 6m

US TV

JJ Abrams to direct NBC secret agents pilot Undercovers?
HBO developing transgender T
A&E greenlights Sugarloaf pilot, adds Jeffrey Nordling, John Heard and Michael Arden to The Quickening
Doctor Suresh's research on Heroes unearthed [videos, spoilers]
V does well in the ratings
Comedy Central orders Onion TV pilot
Extended trailer for the CSI crossover

Review: V 1x1

Rob Buckley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:22:19 +0000

In the US: Tuesdays (for four weeks, resuming in 2010), 8/7c , ABC
In the UK: SyFy, 2010

Way back in the 80s, aliens came among us, some time during the Los Angeles Olympics, in fact. They looked like us, they pretended to be our friends.

But they turned out to be very dangerous lizard Nazis.

Let that be a warning to you.

Anyway, the mini-series that demonstrated just how you shouldn't trust any group that wears identical uniforms and has a youth league turned out to be the most popular US mini-series in history. It naturally spawned a full series, which wasn't very good. To be fair, neither was the mini-series. Bloody "star child".

Never fear though, because ABC has remade the show and is going to be blasting it at you in small chunks. It stars Elizabeth Mitchell of Lost as an FBI agent, and follows what happens as alien spaceships descend over cities around the world, only to reveal 'the visitors', a bunch of nice looking aliens who offer universal healthcare in exchange for water.

But it turns out that maybe those nice visitors aren't as nice as they first seem.

Here's the first nine minutes for your enjoyment, or if you prefer, a three-minute trailer.

(continued)

Random Acts of Ali Larter: Buying a house, killing zombies, visiting Burberry and feeding Americans and Africans

Rob Buckley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:24:05 +0000

This week, Ali Larter bought a house in the Hollywood Hills for nearly $3 million. Slightly random that – random enough that I don't have pictures of Ali buying any house, let alone "a 2007 Brian Murphy-designed three-story with an open floor plan with 5,500 square feet of interior space and walls of glass".

So instead, you can have a picture of her filming the latest Resident Evil movie with Mila Jovovich and Wentworth Miller (of Prison Break) (don't be fooled by the blonde: Ali's gone red and is the one on the far right). Mila tweets:

Wow, just finished a scene with Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller on a skiff approaching the huge ship. To say its cold is a joke. A bitter joke.

Of course, Ali and I aren’t wearing much and to make matters worse Wenty is driving the boat himself and crashing it repeatedly! lol!

Okay, not very exciting, even if they are fighting zombies. How about this pic of Ali at the opening of a Burberry store in Toronto?

Still no? Okay, you can always watch Ali's new documentary, The Cause with Ali Larter, which explores Feeding America (apparently 36 million Americans don't get enough food every day, 12 million of those being children). She also takes a look at Project Peanut Butter, which tries to solve the problems of malnutrition in Africa. She has a Facebook page for it and everything.

Have you seen Ali Larter acting randomly? If so, let us know and we'll tell everyone about it in "Random Acts of Ali Larter"

That famous one-word crime scene from The Wire

Rob Buckley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:31:26 +0000

Just in case you never watched The Wire, first can I ask what's wrong with you and tell you that you really need to get to Amazon to order the DVD box sets of all five seasons right now.

But second, have this little taster. It's a famous scene from The Wire in which the po-lice do proper po-lice work using only one word. It'll only give you a hint as to why The Wire is so good, but it's fun, it's clever, and it'll give you at least some idea of why the show is so loved.

BTW, not safe for work.

Thursday's days numb3red news

Rob Buckley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:08:40 +0000

Doctor Who

Cheryl Cole to guest on Doctor Who??

Film

Mandalay to adapt online novel Machine Man
Johnny Depp to star with Angelina Jolie in The Tourist?
Andy Garcia, Anthony Hopkins and Annette Bening to star in Hemingway and Fuentes
Helen Mirren joins Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in Red

British TV

Freesat to get iPlayer
Jimmy McGovern developing The Accused for BBC

US TV

Sarah Wynter and Reiko Aylesworth join Damages
Numb3rs cut from 22 to 16 episodes
Kim Kardashian and Vanessa Minnillo to guest on CSI: NY
Julianne Moore to guest on 30 Rock?
Trailer for Caprica featuring James Marsters
FX developing a western
2012 TV series to be set in 2013

Review: Heroes 4x8 - Once Upon a Time in Texas

Rob Buckley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:56:34 +0000

In the US: Monday 2nd November 2009, 8pm, NBC
In the UK: March 2010, BBC2

Wow. That was a bit good, wasn't it?

(continued)

Wednesday's marshalling Heroes news

Rob Buckley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:59:36 +0000

Doctor Who

David Tennant SJA gets 1.14m viewers

Film

Gerard Butler to star in Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus
Patrick Dempsey signs up for heist comedy
Fox developing CIA remote viewing thriller
Alan Cumming joins Burlesque

Theatre

Ambassador Group buys Live Nation's theatres
Prick Up Your Ears to close early
The Shawshank Redemption to close early

British TV

Liza Marshall quits as C4 head of drama
C4, BBCW merger abandoned

US TV

No more Flight of the Conchords?
Chuck exec producer to become show runner for V
Five more episodes of Accidentally on Purpose
Heroes ratings up again past season opener
Colin Hanks to star with Bradley Whitford in Jack and Dan
CMT greenlights two adventure series
James Franco to guest on 30 Rock
Blair Underwood to return to Old Christine
Dexter hits a series high again

Season finale: Engrenages (Spiral) 2x8

Rob Buckley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:48:32 +0000

In the UK: Sunday 1st November 2009, 10pm, BBC4. Available on the iPlayer

Well, it's over now. Time for a collective snivel by viewers of quality TV in Britain. Please, Sir, can we have some more? Etc, etc.

Let's face facts, season two of Spiral aka Engrenages has just finished on BBC4. So let's look over the final episode and the season as a whole, because until season three pops along, this is all we're getting.

(continued)

Why you shouldn't attack a BBC reporter…

Rob Buckley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:58:03 +0000

…particularly if

You're being watched on CCTV cameras
He's a black belt in karate

[via]

Tuesday's "David is now your lawyer" news

Rob Buckley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:32:09 +0000

Doctor Who

David Tennant to star in NBC legal pilot Rex is Not Your Lawyer

Film

Trailer for Prince of Persia
George Clooney to star in The Descendants?

British TV

BBC4 to make drama about MPs' expenses
Virgin to show TNT's Leverage

US TV

Comcast to own NBC Universal? [registration required]
And the actor leaving Heroes is… [spoiler]
TNT acquires Southland
Robert Wagner to guest on NCIS
Gordon Ramsay to co-produce and appear in US version of Masterchef
Fisher Stevens to guest on Ugly Betty
Naveen Andrews to guest on Law & Order: SVU

Monday's Sitting Tennants: Back at last!

Rob Buckley — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:44:37 +0000

We have enough Tennants sitting now to reintroduce the uncaptioned Sitting Tennant gallery to Mondays. Thanks as always to our regular suppliers, without whom your glazed stares would be impossible.

See if you can spot which picture nearly was disqualified.

Rullsenberg: 65.5
Sister Chastity: 61.5
Jaradel: 35.5
Karen: 11
Toby: 10
Sabine: 5
Amy, Lauren: 4
Rosby: 2.5
Persephone: 1

Don't forget Friday's caption competition.

You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Friday's Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points, everyone who contributes getting five points.