The Sky At Night Every episode of the BBC science series made since the end of 2001 viewable online. Anything I know about the universe I learnt from Patrick Moore.
posted by feelinglistless
on Jul 30, 2005 -
17 comments
In '
24 Hour Quiz', three contestants spend many days in a mini-Big Brother environment ('The Pod') constantly having questions fired at them with no end in sight.
'off the telly' fill in the blanks: "There's no getting away from it, '24 Hour Quiz' is quite the worst thing currently showing on ITV1 (that's even allowing for 'Footballers' Wives'). That it's spread-eagled across the schedules in three separate editions just compounds the agony. This is cheap, worthless television, offering up a huge mallet with which to beat the ITV network. It plays to our worst suspicions about the channel, and that's just annoying. There's nothing about the show that's prepared to confound or surprise, other than its sheer shoddiness." Has anyone else seen this? Is it really the worst gameshow format ever?
posted by feelinglistless
on Feb 26, 2004 -
8 comments
Tv Licenses do not infringe people's human rights. Journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Miller refused to pay his license because it seemed as though the BBC had license to charge what they like raise the charge when they like; and that it didn't take into account the gulf between someone only receiving an Analogue service as opposed to digital. He lost the case. Serious implications.
posted by feelinglistless
on Jul 17, 2003 -
51 comments
Last night, ninety-five thousand British Internet users took part in '
Test The Nation', an IQ quiz, broadcast live on BBC television, which attempted to survey the intelligence on the national. As a simulcast it was only partially successful -- the questions appearing on television sometimes five minutes before appearing on computer, but the results from those who coped with the technology were quite interesting. Any other UK Mefites take part? The test is still available for the curious.
posted by feelinglistless
on May 12, 2002 -
46 comments
Another trip into TV Hell. In the UK we're much kinder to bad television -- shows will go on for weeks without an audience and often get comissioned for second series before someone releases they're awful (yes you 'Let Them Eat Cake' -- if that French and Saunder monstrosity had been on UStv it would have been cancelled after two episodes -- if it had been comissioned at all). 'Off The Telly' considers all the things prospective television producers need to avoid if they're going to create something they're proud of. Does anyone else have any bad examples?
posted by feelinglistless
on Apr 4, 2002 -
18 comments
Was Christmas TV really ever all that special? 'Off The Telly' reviews three decades of Christmas Day television in Britain. "It's funny...that Christmas time is actually an excuse for some of the worst TV atrocities of the year to be inflicted upon us. Christmas telly does not equate with quality. And yet, never does TV become a more integral part of our own family or personal routines and traditions. And never are we so receptive to a gathering of disparate middle-of-the-road celebrities and their stale party pieces." And for the ultra-cynic, TV-Go-Home's Charlie Booker presents
an alternative schedule.
posted by feelinglistless
on Dec 24, 2001 -
17 comments
Richard & Judy's new show on Channel 4 has begun. Three episodes in and Judy still looks nervous and Richard's marbles have still escaped him. But they've also taken a turn in 'National Enquirer' territory, featuring an item about non-movement excersise programmes and a video about a man who could change shape. As 'Off The Telly' reports: "This pandered to Richard and Judy’s well-worn obsession with anything of a freakish nature. The footage showed an ordinary person - or “Spookman” as Richard instantly dubbed him - whose face ostensibly changed into others as you studied it. The studio crew were convinced, gasping on cue, and Richard was rapt: “Oh man, I could watch this all night”
posted by feelinglistless
on Nov 28, 2001 -
15 comments
Kilroy's Kingdom Robert Kilroy-Silk is the 'king' of the British talkshows (a title conferred because he's the
only male talkshow host). 'Off The Telly' investigates why an ex-MP and potential Prime Minister now finds himself attempting to relate with the common people three hundred and sixty mornings a year (including repeats). Typical quote: "I suppose I’m really lucky, I get on really well with my son - always have - but some fathers and sons don’t always find it easy to be friends ... some boys are even deprived of their father altogether, when he walks out, and dumps not just their wife, but them. Which is a bit like you Mike, you haven’t seen your Craig, who’s 15, for seven years. Why’s that?" No on screen fights then, but one old buffer got frisky one morning and tried to remove his pants . . .
posted by feelinglistless
on Aug 2, 2001 -
1 comment
