The
recent Netflix
House of Cards series starring Kevin Spacey was a remake of a very popular British political thriller of the same name that aired during the 90's. The show
begins by tracking the dark political machinations and skullduggery of an urbane Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, who is conspiring to become Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher's resignation.
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posted by zarq
on Jun 11, 2013 -
91 comments
There was no wink and they never sold it out for these half-hour, densely, beautifully produced pieces, which is, for all possibilities, obscuring that this doesn’t at all sound like a comedy show. It is all the production elements you would use in a full-scale news production. All the gravitas, but just inflated to a point that it has no gravitas whatsoever. And I think that is where it became this excitingly subversive thing because it just showed that BBC Radio 4 and everything it stood for was just a big bag of shit.
John Oliver on why he's a fan of On the Hour. On the Hour, of course, is the legendary BBC news radio program created by, among other people, Armando Iannucci (
The Thick of It,
In The Loop,
Veep), Christopher Morris (
Jam,
Brass Eye,
Four Lions,
Why Bother?), Stewart Lee (
41st best stand-up comic ever), and Steve Coogan (
Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge,
I'm Alan Partridge). Short-lived but influential,
On the Hour mimicked the tone and production of other radio news shows but replaced the content with what Oliver describes as "unremitting bullshit".
On the Hour was aired in two six-episode series (
S1E1 S1E2 S1E3 S1E4 S1E5 S1E6;
S2E1 S2E2 S2E3 S2E4 S2E5 S2E6), and begat a television series called
The Day Today. That show in turn added Graham Linehan (
Black Books,
Father Ted,
The IT Crowd) to
On the Hour's already all-star lineup, upped the already-insane levels of overproduction, and ran for six short-but-glorious episodes (
one two three four five (WAR!) six), as well as a special
9/11 radio report.
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posted by Rory Marinich
on Jun 10, 2013 -
64 comments
In Defense of Betty. "I’ve always thought that the whole point is that Betty is a victim of her time and circumstances, of the very narrow, constricted gender roles (remember the ill-fitting dress she’s holding up against herself as she contemplates being a political wife) that she and women like her were forced — expected, if that seems less loaded — to assume. Those roles were deforming, and, sure enough, they’ve deformed Betty."
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posted by sweetkid
on May 6, 2013 -
2427 comments
VOISEOVER: In a Citey wher thers Somuchcrimes , theDetetcive is onthe Case... DETETCIVE: Stop crimeing! VOISEOVER: But Oneproblam...
Crimer! (Single link Twitter feed.)
posted by oliverburkeman
on Mar 30, 2013 -
61 comments
If Matt Lauer doesn’t want to be seen with sharp knives, it’s because last summer his co-host Ann Curry was discovered with one in her back. Five million viewers, the majority of them women, would not soon forget how Curry, the intrepid female correspondent and emotionally vivid anchor, spent her last appearance on the Today show couch openly weeping, devastated at having to leave after only a year. The image of Matt Lauer trying to comfort her—and of Curry turning away from his attempted kiss—has become a kind of monument to the real Matt Lauer, forensic evidence of his guilt. What followed was the implosion of the most profitable franchise in network television.
posted by Horace Rumpole
on Mar 25, 2013 -
91 comments
"This week ABC Family did something that no commercial television channel in the United States had ever done: It broadcast an entire episode of a show, “Switched at Birth,” in American Sign Language, with next to no oral dialogue."
posted by bdz
on Mar 10, 2013 -
21 comments
Enlightened is TV’s best show right now—and it needs more viewers. Written by
Mike White (
School of Rock and
Freaks and Geeks, among others) and starring Laura Dern (also the show's
co-creator, Luke Wilson, Diane Ladd, and Timm Sharp (aka
Marshall from Undeclared), the show has also seen an impressive line-up of guest directors, including Jonathan Demme (
The Silence of the Lambs), Phil Morrison (
Junebug), James Bobin (
Flight of the Conchords), and Todd Haynes (
I'm Not There). The show's range is astonishing – it depicts its main character as
cringeworthily oblivious, yet also lets her deliver monologues which are
unusually sincere for a comedy; some of its characters are
ridiculous and absurd, while others are capable of
deep melancholy.
Mike White talks to Interview Magazine about creating Enlightened before its premiere; a year later,
he talks to Indiewire about why people have such a hard time sympathizing with Amy.
posted by Rory Marinich
on Feb 27, 2013 -
43 comments
As if a line like "their house is a museum, when people come to see 'em, they really are a scree-am" (heard, of course, in
the Addams Family theme) wasn't playfully brilliant (and brilliantly playful) enough, the same fellow happened to also have written
the Green Acres theme. If you're an American of a certain age, you'll remember these two songs from their original TV runs during your childhood, or perhaps from reruns if you're a bit younger. Anyway, the composer of these catchy, familiar ditties was one
Vic Mizzy. Hear Vic talk about the Addams Family theme and his degree in advanced finger snapping
here. Thanks Vic!
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Feb 22, 2013 -
21 comments
House of Cards is a new original "TV" series that is not destined for any TV distribution channel. Instead, it was developed by, and is only available through, Netflix. Netflix posted the entire first "season," 13 1-hour episodes, on Friday.
(Is this the new thing?) Some of us, cough, watched the whole thing.
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posted by grobstein
on Feb 3, 2013 -
106 comments
"TVGuide.com talked to stars John Noble (Dr. Walter Bishop), Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop), Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham), Jasika Nicole (Astrid Farnsworth), Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles), Blair Brown (Nina Sharp), Mark Valley (John Scott), series co-creator Abrams, executive producers J.H Wyman, Jeff Pinkner and Bryan Burk, Warner Bros. President Peter Roth and Fox's Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly about the bumpy road to the series finale, starting with the conception of the show.
This is the first in a four-part series. Check out
Part 2 and
Part 3." (Part 4 is pending.)
posted by hippybear
on Jan 17, 2013 -
155 comments
Front Row (BBC Radio 4), 28/12/12 – 30mins. British stars of big American series like Homeland & House discuss why US TV and movies are so keen to employ UK actors right now. Answer seems to boil down to (a) proper theatre training (b) greater willingness to play unsympathetic characters and (c) botox-free faces still able to move in reaction shots. Damian Lewis, Hugh Laurie, Thandie Newton, Adrian Lester, Clive Owen, Ashley Jensen and Stephen Frears all take part. It’s an interesting discussion, though perhaps a little smug in its assumption of British superiority. I’d be interested to hear what American listeners make of it.
posted by Paul Slade
on Dec 28, 2012 -
80 comments
