The Clash

Y'know what's been annoying me lately?

TV.

In general.

It's not because there's nothing good on though. It's the fact that there's too much good stuff on. AT THE SAME TIME.

I'm assuming that you know how the US TV Seasons system works. Oh alright then, here's a re-cap. The stations in the US pretty much all start their shows in September sometime. Then they usually run until about mid-November when, for some reason that seems to defy logic, the shows go on a 'mid-season break' and vanish until January or February. When they return, after the mid-season, not only do the previously-started shows start to wrap up, but other shows start, which usually only last about 12 or 13 weeks, with a couple of exceptions. Well, I say only, but you know what I mean.

Now, in the UK, we used to get shows months after the US. Hell, in some cases we still do. Dexter, the best TV show of all time, at least for me, is currently a whole year behind the American air date in the UK. Season 4 is starting there soon (well, September I presume) and we're only a couple of episodes into S3 currently.

But anyway, recently, mostly thanks to Sky, it must be said, we've been getting the shows only a few days behind the American airdates. Which is great. I'm not complaining. Unfortunately, the UK TV system seems to have it in it's collective psyche that one American show must compete against another.

Which is why you have, on a Sunday night, Lost clashing with Supernatural clashing with Fringe. Until a week ago, on Mondays we had Heroes clashing with 24 (incidentally also clashing with Ashes to Ashes, which has gotten much better since I ripped it to shreds last year, but is British so I'm excluding it. Oh, and Law & Order UK. That shared the timeslot too). And we always used to have Heroes clashing with Prison Break as well. When it was still good. Oh, sorry, when they were still good.

Thank God Dollhouse has only just reared its head over here, or else it would've been in the uncomfortable position of clashing with Battlestar Galactica. As much as I love Joss Whedon, he wouldn't have stood a chance in that battle.

There's more! Dexter's new time of 10pm Friday clashes with 'new' (2 year old) episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I don't think The Mentalist on Thursday nights clashes with anything, mind. Except it's the only time I get to watch DVDs. But I guess that doesn't really count, does it?

So yeah, you see my dilemma. I love all of the series I've mentioned immensely, but it's getting to the point of being ridiculous now. This week's going to be a nightmare too, thanks to Britain's Got Talent being on every single bloody night. And yes, I do watch it, and enjoy it. I am not ashamed to admit it.

You know what's worse? Sky +, that genius device that lets you record things that clash. As I say, it's genius. But you can only have 2 things recording at once: one you're watching and one you're not. So had Mondays been completely stuffed with Heroes, Ashes to Ashes, 24 and Law & Order UK then we'd have been screwed. There is, of course, also repeats, but that opens up a whole new can of worms, with even more clashes, if that's possible.

And drawing it back, this is mostly thanks to the American TV system. If they didn't shove all their shows on at the same time, this predicament would go away, as we'd have quality programming through the year. Oh, and Heroes.

Cutting Brains

Two very nice things happened today.

I finally saw Star Trek first of all. Very very awesome it is too. Without a doubt the best sci-fi I've seen in ages (and I'm including the most recent season of BSG in that too), and one of the best films in general I've seen for ages. Everything seemed nigh-on perfect.

Possibly the best 15 opening minutes of any film ever to kick us off. The casting was superb, all the way through. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Zachary Quinto, and he didn't disappoint as Spock. Although he probably could have done with a bit more brain cutting.

(That's a Heroes reference, in case you don't know. And yes, before you ask, I am more than a tad pissed off that Sylar's essentially been killed off and Hiro looks like he's heading that way too. Wayta wipe out the best two characters in the show, guys...)

Simon Pegg surprised me. I mean, I love to guy, don't get me wrong, but I never thought he'd be able to pull of Scotty. And he did. Very very successfully. Chris Pine did Kirk very nicely too. Ultimately the film lived or died by the connection Kirk and Spock shared, which they thankfully got spot on.

So overall, great film. Do see it if you've not already. One of those films that's always going to be best on the big screen rather than at home. Even, probably, on Blu Ray with 7.1 surround sound.

Number 2: Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown.

I'm an unashamed fan of Green Day thanks to American Idiot, which I rank as one of my favourite albums. Certainly my most played. 21st Century Breakdown follows a pretty similar structure: it's a rock opera, although I'm stuggling to fully get the plot at the moment. Having said that, I never even realised AI was a concept album at first, so I'm a bit slow with that kind of thing...

The new album's a little more chilled out than some of their previous stuff. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of heavy repeated riffs and shouty lyrics, but a lot of the songs start off sounding a bit like Queen, actually. No worse off for it though: if you're going to emulate a band, you might as well copy the best!

That's about all I have to say tonight really. Take care, and see Star Trek :D

Apple Orgies...

Sorry, I've let this blog go slack again. Damned Uni. Oh well, whatever!

Speaking of which, however, I'm currently doing a research project on Lost, as in the second most popular TV series in the entire world. Yeah, it's dead interesting both from a media studies point of view and a creative writing one. It also happens to be a damn fine TV show.

What I'm looking into though is the online community around it. I embedded myself in http://www.4815162342.com for a bit, and spread a survey around. It's probably the biggest forum I've ever been on, over 100,000 registered users, the majority of which seem to be at least semi-active. And all they do is talk Lost. Character links, plotlines, mythology (the forum, for the uninitiated, is named after the Numbers that crop up here there and everywhere and either have big mystical powers or...don't), tiny little bits that you'd probably never pick up on and lots more.

I genuinely don't think that the show would've been as popular twenty years ago, largely thanks to the web. I'm not going to go any further into that, I've got a 3000 word essay to do on it, so yeah.

Just thought I'd keep this place active and keep myself busy before I go to bed.