Is Gavin & Stacey funny? (Christmas TV)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	Christmas TV
Date:	03/01/09 (383 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good telly

Disadvantages: Some bad telly

I was spun into a bit of tailspin last week when looking at the schedule in my Christmas TV Times, the religion of ringing the seasonal telly for the holidays producing the realization that there was no Only Fools and Horses repeats this year, and considering the pure volume of repeats there were listed in the magazine this was a big surprise. Brucie and the 1973 Christmas edition of the Generation Game made it on at 11: pm Boxing Day night but Del's was nowhere to be seen? In fact there were so many repeats in the schedule that there was a TV first this year, the BBC showing the terrestrial premier of 'Superman Returns' on Christmas Monday primetime then repeating it the next day at midnight, very poor schedule filling indeed. Why they couldn't put another film in that slot is beyond me.

It was the first year that online TV services dictated the big shows numbers, people able to watch Dr Who as and when they wanted on the BBCi player. This could signal the end of event TV, the big seasonal specials on the way out. The likes of the Morcombe & Wise show would not survive today with internet TV. The BBC did manage to put enough new content out to score nine of the top ten watched programs over the holidays, Wallace & Grommet topping the list with 14million viewers. ITV just didn't bother and C4 was offensive as ever by having the Iranian President broadcast his Christmas message of killing all gay people and Jews, no doubt Al-Quieda code for Palestinians rockets to rain in on Israel. I suspect C4 days are numbered on the analogue system. Just how far has that station fallen.

<*><*><*> CHRISTMAS EVE <*><*><*>

Have I Got News for You
4/5

You can't really go wrong with HIGNFY as it's just so topical and well written and great for mum and dad to relax to after they have helped Father Christmas with the presents for tomorrow.. The festive edition stood out like a diamond in a bag of coal on a very poor nights Christmas Eve terrestrial TV. Alexander Armstrong from the painfully unfunny posh boy duo of Armstrong & Miller hosted with aplomb!

Gavin & Stacey
2/5

I have to say I'm baffled with what all the fuss is about with this show, now a multi award winner and rated 5 stars religiously in many a TV magazine. It's well written, warmly familiar in a cliché sitcom way, and the actors are developing their characters. The early episodes of Only Fools and Horses were no where near as funny as series two and three either so always be patient. But unless you can relate to or like the characters in a sitcom its game over early on. I find the whole thing too shoutey and ever so slightly working class patronizing, as is the Royal Family, middle-class writers perhaps writing what they think working class life is like. None of the characters are remotely intelligent and those Welsh ascents are awful! We also discover that the writers continued their mocking by naming the families in the show after serial killers, the West's and Chapman's to name but two.

<*><*><*> CHRISTMAS DAY <*><*><*>

Dr Who
2/5

Hurry up and regenerate Tennant, bad back or not! I have to say this was a bit of a damp squib, especially as it's the Christmas Night Special, reinforcing the feeling Tennant is bored of it now.
It was obvious Neil Morrissey wasn't the new Doctor and the constant regurgitation of the Cybermen and Daleks throughout the series is quite frankly boring. Although the Doctor was in London it was bloody Cardiff again! Doesn't that TARDIS ever leave Earth anymore? Sounds rather dull being the Dr in this millennium if you ask me. On the new Doctor I have heard that the BBC politically correct police haven't succumbed and the next Dr will be a young white male. I was dreading they would go the whole hog and have a disabled vegetarian Dr, a wheelchair ramp for the TARDIS! A hot tip points to a local Northampton boy and unknown actor called Tom Smith getting the gig.

Strictly Come Dancing
1/5

The farce continues as the BBC flogs the dieing horse that is SCD to death with this pointless Christmas Special. You all know about that latest farce that because 4 out of the 6 couples finished level on points the audience vote was some how discarded first time around causing an hours break in recording. It was then decided Len Goodman would decided the top four, which then saw this non discarded studio audience added to the 'final vote' to decide a winner. It was pretty obvious that the winner wasn't really the winner and lots were drawn behind the scenes. Looking at the couples sheepish smiles they knew the whole thing was a farce. It won't be decommissioned next year but its days are numbered.

Blackadder Rides Again
4/5

Not a bad little hours documentary here on the quite brilliant BBC comedy series and the people who made it. All the stars, writers and production team contribute, including the often reticent Rowan Atkinson in these interviews, each in their representative new surroundings some 25 years on from the very first Blackadder series, the worst one by far.
There was a bit of the Python reunion about it as none of the cast or the crew seemed to want to appear in the same place at the same time for the show, only Tony Robinson, Baldrick, of course, providing any continuity by walking and talking with the shows producer. Stephen Fry was in rural East Africa being massaged by a young black man whilst Hugh Laurie was interviewed on the set of 'House', his big US success. Tim McKinnery, who played Captain Darling, had the least success and so had aged the worse because he couldn't afford the plastic surgery.

You could see the social class tensions on the show between the Manchester University lot of Ben Elton and Rik Mayall and the air of superiority around the Oxbridge lot of Writer Richard Curtis, Atkinson and Fry, what the series success was really about, making for an excellent erudite comedy hour for Blackadder fans.

Dragons Den around the World
2/5

This looked good on paper but was rather dull. The original idea for Dragons Den, as the title suggest, came from South East Asia, the land of the dragon, Japan and China doing the first ones of this now world wide franchise, this program taking a look at the different version's around the world. The original Japanese show was rather brutal, lots of bowing and dressing down by the dragons for bad business ideas. As expected the Nigerian one had some interesting business ideas, I'm sure most of you having been emailed by them, one of their Dragon a convicted fraudster. What we did learn from the other shows is the whole thing has now become about the Dragons ego and not the entrepreneurs. One Russian Oligarch has made no investments in three series so far, even though he's almost a trillionaire.

The Secret Millionaire Changed My Life
3/5

This was a catch up program on the last series of the 'Secret Millionaire' in which 8 millionaires gave away just over one million pounds to worthy causes. I was a big fan of the first series as the millionaires were genuinely down and dirty and living off subsistence wages in grotty bed-sits so they got a feel for the poverty of the community they may give to. But there was a distinct lack of willing volunteers to go through that for the next series so they let the rich people chose their accommodation, as long as it wasn't too nice. There's also a feeling in the later series that you have to give money or you will look really bad, the rich folks scrambling around to find a worthy cause, usually settling for the under-funded community centers. One millionaire gave to a blind working class Scottish guy who was quite literally 'blind drunk'; drinking so much on the dole he lost his sight. As the guy was hand over the 10 grand cheque the blind man had a pint and a fag on!

What we learnt is that the people we caught up with had indeed made good use of the money, but the people we didn't see on the show presumably hadn't. The millionaires had one thing in common in that they had concentrated their donations on people who were just like them once. But the hours TV was ok and the only thing that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is that most of the millionaires made their money from poor people, the very people they were now giving the money back to with more than a hint of guilt. One guy made £70 million from giving loans to people who couldn't get bank accounts and normal lines of credit. I think we all know about his interest rates...

<*><*><*>BOXING DAY <*><*><*>

The IT Crowd
4/5

It wasn't a seasonal episode but it was still good, as it always is, the best new British sitcom since The Office. The strength of it is the likeable characters fusion with the excellent writing, but the silliness of the whole thing puts it in that top bracket of comedies. This week's episode saw Reynham Industries make a corporate novelty calendar for charity, but not with naked ladies as planned, Roy having to use grannies. Brilliant! If you want to see a brilliant new sitcom then this is it guys. It's hidden away on C4 but go find it.

<*><*><*>Saturday to Tuesday<*><*><*>

Justin Lee Collins does Fame

I've really enjoyed this series on reuniting the stars of various 80s TV series and great movies. Justin Lee Collins has tried to reunite everyone from the cast of Star Wars to Dallas and has had mixed success, inevitably the biggest stars like Harrison Ford and JR giving him the big brush off. But this episode was the best yet; Collins rather theatrical bombing around Los Angeles's, this time producing good results, his engaging laddish West Country charm earning five of the series six biggest stars turning up at the reunion gig and champers at the agreed time. What was nice about it was the cast clearly wanted to meet up again after all these years and muddy water that had flowed under the bridges over the Los Angeles River (a storm drain) it was only egos keeping goods friends apart.

Top Gear does Vietnam
4/5

I'm not sure if this was a repeat but it was rather fun, the boys riding across Vietnam on mopeds. You never know how much editing goes on but it was a good hour's telly and the boys did have to slum it some. I have to confess I'm fully paid up Top gear fan now after watching the show for most of the year. Jeremy is God.

The Real Italian Job: James Martins Mile Miglia

In keeping with the Top Gear theme someone called James Martin, apparently a daytime TV Chef, spent most of his personal fortune on buying a classic Italian sports car to compete in the Mile Miglia, Italy's famous road race. The rest of his salary was clearly spent on his young model wife.
The guy clearly wanted to 'big himself up' on telly and over extended himself in every way here, a man with an ego the size of his repair bill for his beloved 1943 Masaratti when it conked out on day one of three. Oh how we laughed. If this was a race then I'm Stirling Moss. Only Jez, Hammond and May do cars well and this guy rose to the challenge of making entertainment TV about as well as his soufflés. Worth the hour just to see his mess up!

Shooting Stars: The Inside Story
4/5

Its 15 years since the first series of Shooting Stars kicked off on the BBC, a quirky, frivolous and very silly quiz hosted by Vic & Bob, of course, this comical documentary hour the showcase to a possible new series. There were irreverent interviews with all the prominent panel members and captains plus comment from the lesser known guests. As you would expect with Ulrika Johnson going into the Big Brother House last night she tried to dominate this documentary. With a mock introduction from Geordie Ian Healey from Aufweidesein Pet it was great fun as Vic and Bob got to go through all the memories with some fun new characters and impressions.

Shooting Stars was so much fun and well written, and improvised, that we took it for granted somewhat and that's why the BBC dropped it last year. Watching the clips here made me want it back fast. You also realize just how good Matt Lucas was back then as the baby...

Harry Hills Review of the Year
3/5

I'm puzzled why this guy wins so many awards, clearly just a good comedy writer with a better team of writers around him. I reckon those writers drew lots and the one who looked best in the silly collar was put in front of the camera and told to read the jokes off the autocue. Yes I did chuckle at some bits of his unique brand of observational comedy TV but I'm pretty sure anyone can do his job. I know I can and Beadle certainly did.

Michael Palin: Around the World in 20 years
2/5

A 64-year-old Palin was politely asked by the BBC to come up with something to celebrate his twenty years of travelogues for the channel. He graciously accepted and was packed off around the world to revisit some of the places and people he met on 'Around the World in 80 Days'. Hands were shaken and big smiles were creased but it felt self-indulgent and rather distant from Palins original ethos. It was quite interesting to see how much glamorous building work has happened in Dubai since 1988 and it was rather poignant to see him revisit Delhi (now Mumbai) three months before the attacks, eating and drinking in the very same western watering holes that were shot up. But I would much rather the BBC budget was spent on other things, like Palins pension, as loveable as he is.

<*><*><*> NEW YEARS EVE<*><*><*>

Tony Robinson and the Blitz Witch
2/5

Tony Robinson three part series on the paranormal came to ahead on the last day of the year as Baldrick and some paranormal skeptics (the audience) continued to pick over strange paranormal events in history, including the Scottish medium who claimed to know when British ships were being sunk during World War 2 before the Navy did. As hard as Tony tried to open his and our minds to the possibility of the paranormal (bored male viewers like me distracted by the most attractive middle aged female skeptic the production team could find) it was quickly revealed that all of the people they investigated were indeed all fakers by the evidence they uncovered. You don't say!
Its gullible women, of course, who pack out the church halls to hear the readings of these mediums and spiritualists and I presume the core target audience of this show to be fooled again. The only question left to ask here is why they bothered with three hour long shows to deal with a load of old and predicable fraudsters looking for attention?

<*><*><*>NEW YEARS DAY<*><*><*>

Celebrity Mastermind
3/5

The sexy Radio Five Live morning show girl, Victoria Derbyshire, revealed to her audience that she was asked to go on Celebrity Mastermind. She also revealed she was sent a crib sheet of the question she *may* be asked. I read on dooyoo that the same thing happened to someone here who was asked to appear on the regular Mastermind, she given three books to buy off Amazon that have the answers in. Now I know the BBCV have been asked to dumb down to get a bigger audience but maybe we know why these people can answer all those impossible questions now, especially on Q.I.

The celeb Masterminds have been running all week with a mix of erudite and incredibly dim celebs with less than predictable winners. The ethnic quota in the form of Labor MP David Lamey (the next Obama, they say) was hopeless whilst some bird from Eastenders managed to beat the highly bookish Mel Smith, who seems to be talking like a Dalek these days. But knowing they were sent books to look up the answers it didn't have the same effect and I soon gave up on it all.

Why I Love Celebrity Big Brother
3/5

To set up yesterdays launch night there was neat hour on the previous five shows and chats with the winners and losers. I have to say I love Celeb Big Brother and enjoy Z-Listers being humiliated. But how many of them have seen this show boost their careers. A fat zero it seems. It really is the end for them.

= = = = January 2nd = = = =

Live Celebrity Big Brother launch

I'm not ashamed to say I love CBB and will be hooked in. I thought it was pretty pathetic to drop it last time after stitching up the imbecile Jade Goody. Shilpa handled the coarse East End family with great dignity and in no way were the girls being racist. They were just a little bit thick and that's why they were put in the house.

This years contestants are a mix of C-List Americans and Z-List Brits, Ulrika Johnson and Terry Christian the most well known. The star is already 2ft, 8" Verne Troyer, Minime from the Austin Powers movies. He's been given a little ladder for the house and is already being smothered by the girls. The plonker of the house has to be one hit wonder, Coolio, who sang about gangster's paradises, which he wasn't from.

Rude Tube 2009

A nice little filler from C4 saw the top 50 youtube style videos in a one hour fun show. I'm not a big fan of downloading these videos as it uses up a lot of my time and internet usage and so this show was all new to me. The number one video of 2009 was unbelievably dull, a small baby biting his big brothers finger, but others were great fun. The funniest was black American church congregations that were dancing around for Jesus and someone had put a speed jungle track over the top... and I'm still laughing now.

Summary: It gets worse every year...