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Television

TV or not TV

Okay… some television comments, as promised.

Big Brother—I’ve resisted! I resisted the first series almost completely; I wavered a little on the second; and last year, my resolve broke down very quickly and I watched most of it. (Obviously, Jade was robbed.)

Anyhow, this year, I’ve not watched it at all. Not a second. And I’m quite happy about that. In principle, I think it’s an idiotic concept that provides little genuine entertainment. Unfortunately, if you expose yourself to it, it’s almost impossible to not get hooked. The best bet is to avoid it altogether.

A few words on American import shows. In recent years, the Big Two UK terrestrial channels (BBC1 and ITV) have shown almost no American material on prime-time slots, or even close. I’m not sure why. The days when shows like Hawaii Five-O or Quincy would be shown at 8:00pm are long gone. Too many effing house makeovers and airport documentaries to fit in, I guess (read: unimaginative tat that is dead cheap to produce).
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Stranger than Strange

Last night, I watched the new BBC series Strange. There was a pilot for this 18 months or so back, but I only saw half of it. Simple premise: John Strange, defrocked priest, and his pals, investigate and put a stop to evil supernatural stuff, particularly of a demonic variety. Yep, it is as silly as it sounds… but it works pretty well.
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Death on the Nile

Or, is the war over? (Same link as yesterday—current Middle East news from BBC—so if you’re reading this in 2004, it will likely be irrelevant!) Okay, okay, enough about the damned war!

Having mentioned the new David Suchet Poirot episodes the other day, I thought I might as well give a link to the story here. The first (of at least three) will be Death on the Nile. I can’t wait!
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The Academy Award for Tackiness Goes to…

The war trundles on. Did I say war? That should be invasion, right? Even a couple of journos are using the term lately.

Nothing to add, really, except—if you haven’t already seen it (it’s being linked to a lot), go here to read a blog by an Iraqi, right on the spot in Baghdad, seeing some of this stuff first-hand. Some people have doubted its veracity, but I’m willing to take it at face value. Anyway…

Don’t mention the war! I did once, but I think I got away with it.

I stayed up watching the Oscars last night. Hell, my sleeping patterns are screwed anyway (see time for this entry). Of course, it was a load of rubbish—business as usual, then. Even so, their giving an award to Roman Polanski was surprising and rather pleasing. Rather less pleasing was all the kudos given to Chicago, which strikes me as a frankly tacky pile of bilge. But what do I know.
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