O, yes she can!

It took a while for Ellen to get George Clooney on her show, but she met her latest goal much more quickly.

Todd’s back

The show with Todd Sampson The Gruen Transfer is back on tonight, and I’ll be watching because of Todd Sampson the intelligent deconstruction of the advertisting industry. All the panellists but particularly Todd Sampson are interesting and it’s the closest to “Media Watch TV” we’re going to get on television these days.

Love coffee

The new Gloria Jeans TV ad is so sweet and both guys (barista and coffee drinker) are cute. It reminds me a little of the Bad Day film clip and plays to my dream that the person for you is close by and you just haven’t met yet.

PS. I like the ad but important notes in the comments.

Listen very carefully

On Get This, Tony Martin used to make fun of the Time Life ads that began “Have you started your Allo Allo collection?”. He couldn’t imagine anyone would.

Well I would, not through Time Life’s expensive methods, but through patiently waiting for local releases.

The first few series were re-releases of the UK versions. The rest have been sourced from the US release (where the whole series was released).

To be honest, the earlier episodes are the better one. The series did stretch out a bit too long and once the show runners change there is a noticable dip in quality.

I loved this show as a kid, and it still makes me laugh. Some say a comedy about the Nazis is in bad taste, but these Nazis aren’t evil. They are, each and everyone, a joke. In fact all the characters be they Germans, French, Italians or British are jokes. The shows works best when they set up a good farce, but the catchphrase humour is good too.

I picked up the just released Series 9 DVD tonight, completing the set. It also has the Best of special sometimes marked as series 10. There is a reunion special as well, which I believe includes the actors in character for a special sketch but I’m not sure if that will come out on DVD. I have a copy I’ve not watched yet, I’m waiting to watch Series 9 first (I’ve only seen this once the first time it aired on TV)

TV watching

What I’ve been watching this past week

24 – The conspiracy story is fine but how will they resolve this in the end? How can Jack live happily ever after when he and his former CTU crew keep working outside the law? I’m interested in the new FBI agent though who’s willing to use some Jack-like interrogation techniques.

30 Rock – Jennifer Anisiton’s performance was pretty funny, but I don’t recall Night Court enough for the other track of the episode to really work for me.

Underbelly – This is also not clicking for me. I think it’s that these characters aren’t likeable. The bad guys in the first series had their charms, this time around they don’t. Les Kane had some good things going for him, the family, the connection to the cop, but his role is over now.

Gossip Girl – Happy to see Jenny’s plans going bad, she gets away with too much! The Blair vs Wallace Shawn story was pretty funny, the most enjoyable subplot. In fact this season I’ve enjoyed Blair’s stories more than any of the others. And the Bass family? I just don’t care.

Boston Legal – Despite wearing a buzzer to alert him whenever he’s aroused, Denny Crane still managed to be more perceptive than in many episodes. The return to the Practice’s Plan B was fun and the resulting twists and turns great.

House – The baby sub-plot is being wrapped up rather quickly but it seems pretty cruel.

Desperate Housewives – Caught up on two weeks worth of episodes. Nothing particularly stood out in them though.

Lost – The trip back to the early days on the island was interesting, particularly the other Charlie. I wonder how long they can keep this island jumping going, and with two more survivors killed is there going to be anyone left on the island in the end for the Oceanic 6 to return for?

Babylon 5 The Lost Tales – The format was a little weird, two short stories bundled together for a short telemovie. I enjoyed the first story the most, exploring how religion copes with humanity in the heavens. The second story, with it’s do you kill a killer as a child was a bit more traditional scifi, but it was boosted by giving us some insights into Sheridan as the Interplanetary Alliance president.

Oscars – The highlights were the funny people: Jack Black’s joke about Dreamworks vs Pixar was great. Steve Martin and Tina Fey were funny. Ben Stiller stole the show with his performance. Hugh did fine as host, but I didn’t care much for his opening number; the second number was better. The past winners praising the nominees was an interesting idea and a few comments were touching but others seemed very forced.

Simpsons – I’d seen the Transformers send up before and it has some good moments. The Advertising Hitman story wasn’t great. I did like a lot of the touches in the Peanuts parody particularly the animation emulation (although it got silly when the Grand Pumpkin arrived).

ER – Loved Carter’s prank on Bramford I was buying it too while at the same time thinking how ludicrous it was. The whole child-abuse survivor storyline looks like it might finally come out instead of all this insinuation that keeps coming.

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny – Watched this on Foxtel. I’m glad I didn’t go see it at the movies. It was alright and had some funny moments, and there was one moment in the Sasquatch segment that made me laugh out loud. Probably wouldn’t watch this again though.

TV watching

Over the last week

Underbelly – It’s hard not to comment on this episode’s boob-fest. Enough with the boobies! Drug smuggling seemed to be much easier in the 70s too. Throw in John Wood and Samuel Johnson and the number of Aussie actors who aren’t in this series gets even smaller.

24 – The third hour brought back some familiar friends, making it seem more like 24. The escape from the FBI was a bit far fetched but I enjoyed how the competition came down to the computer geeks. The server room incident felt like we were going back to first day events though.

How I Met Your Mother – Barney’s time travel trick was pretty clever.

South Park – Butter’s belief in the Vampire was funny and the lack of the main characters in a major role didn’t hurt. I liked the IT class full of kids playing a multi-player shoot em up while Mr Mackie tried to teach some basic 90s computer lessons.

Lost – It didn’t really feel like a part two episode, just the next episode. It did feature one thing that annoys me: someone talking and then ironically being struck down by what he was complaining about. Sawyer finally put his shirt on, and Hurley somehow managed to find a new shirt in his size at a random service station which may say something about average American sizes? I like Hurley’s decision at the end.

House – Martin Henderson guest stared and still managed to be hot looking despite being sick. The twist to the Thirteen/Foreman romance is annoying, but Cameron’s new role is quite fun.

The Simpsons – rogue robot vacuum cleaners was funny but a Prince and the Pauper storyline? Really?

ER – Carter returned for the ominously named “Beginning of the End”. It was good to see him back — complete with his jeep! — and I totally know how it feels to walk into your old workplace and not know anyone.

Kyle XY – It appears that Fox 8 have chosen the mid-season finale as a break point. A lot happened in this episode, with the Tragers putting everything together, although I thought it was odd for Josh to be upset by this when he’s the one who has been keeping notes and joking about Kyle’s Alien-ness from the beginning.

Wolverine and the X-Men – I watched the first two episodes. It does appear to follow on from Evolution (which I barely saw) but with a world in which unregistered mutants are on the run from incarceration. It’s not quite a Days Of Future Past future but it’s heading that way. I wonder if the cartoon writers know Senator Kelly did eventually have a change of heart? I liked that Pyro was given the Australian accent he doesn’t have in the Movies, particularly when so much else about the team make up seems based on the movie universe. Wolverine wearing a motorcycle helmet (which he totally does not need) is one of those touches that show censors at work (“think of the children”) but they don’t seem to mind that the kids might emulate the hero walking through flames into a burning train wreck. The third episode had much stronger connections to that future, including the gravestones, and I liked Emma’s arrival, very much in the spirit of the New X-Men appearances.

Spooks – Caught up on the final three episodes of series 2 (on DVD). The final episode put Tom into one of those how’s he going to get out of this moments, but I would have liked it if the campaign against him had been season-wide rather than coming together in one episode. There were elements of a series long conspiracy but they were mainly separate from the events of this episode which seems a missed opportunity.

TV watching

Over the last week I’ve been watching:

Underbelly Tale of Two Cities – I didn’t feel as engaged with these first two episodes as I did with the first series. I wonder if part of the problem was, as my sister pointed out, it’s a bit Life of Mars: dodgy cops in a recreation of the 70s. Like the first series it looks like it’s going to be another series full of familiar faces. These first two episodes seemed to cover a lot of plot points but not much drama.

Boston Legal – With a bunch of characters already vanished at the start of the series, bringing back in opposition does make me wonder if he’ll jump over. Kelly did that in the final series of Ally McBeal. The strong focus on American voting age in this episode wasn’t all that interesting.

House – At the end of the episode I was shouting at the screen for House to put his arms around Cuddy. I got all caught up in the emotions, it was a sad ending. Foreman and Thirteen’s new drama? I don’t think that’s adding much to the show (but at least it can be resolved unlike the Cuddy/House relationship.

Lost – A great start to the new series. The people of the island are now jumping around in time and it poses many interesting questions. If we rewatch older episodes will some unexplained things on the island be solved by this? Those skeletal remains in the cave for instance? This episode also put Daniel in the spotlight and because of my little crush on him that made me happy too.

Gossip Girl – This was also a good episode this week. I do think Jenny gets away with far too much, and successfully too, which might be appealing to the teenage girl the show is supposed to be aimed at. It should also be mentioned that Serena’s new potential boyfriend is very cute.

South Park – The take on High School Musical was pretty funny, and the camp father insisting on his son being in the musical and not playing sports was a nice little reversal.

The Simpsons – Some good moments: Skinner’s highway crossing, imaginary tea and Bart’s phone pranks going global.

ER – It was nice to see Dr Morgenstern back in the ER although I don’t recall his time and Frank’s overlapping. I assume the fictional Dr Kostin is based on a real-life pioneering ER doctor. The contrast of the 60s ER and the current was good (even if it was another chance for another show to put their actors in wigs and moustaches). I liked the chemistry between Morris and his cop girlfriend but the trip to the family birthday was laboured. My favourite moment was Dubenko’s jealousy over the hot foreign specialist Neela brought in for an operation. Clearly he wants Neela to stay but his feelings for her are not resolved so he’s pushing her away.

The Office – Real-life office birthday parties are always cringeworthy so they are more so on this show. Pam showing she has learnt too much from Michael was also pretty funny. I wonder if the content of Holly’s letter will actually come up at some stage as I don’t think Pam told him the truth.

TV Moguls – I keep forgetting about this show and this was the final focusing on the 90s, including David E Kelly. I would like to see Picket Fences return to TV and I’d probably watch Chicago Hope this time around too.

The Man Inside Dame Edna – I should have seen him on stage when I had the chance. I’ve always found Dame Edna very funny. This doco did demonstrate though how guarded and private the man behind the character is.

Marathon – It seemed like Eddie McGuire was auditioning for his own talk show. was it the In Melbourne Tonight / Micallef Tonight set dragged out of storage? If it was I don’t think it worked, Eddie’s personality doesn’t suit it. But the show made lots of money for the bushfire victims so that was good.

Late Show – Joaquin Phoenix’s performance (or lack of) on this made the press on Friday and it was a fascinating appearance. It was hilarious but if this turns out not to be a prank/in character moment then I’ll feel bad for laughing. He did seem to come out of his funk as they went to the ads though.

Desperate Housewives – Gabi’s efforts to remain in the . And if they are going to put Susan’s new boyfriend outside the house in a robe shouldn’t we expect him to get locked out naked in the same fashion as her? Oh well, if I want to see Gale Harold naked there’s another show to watch for that.

The Biggest Loser – Although I didn’t actually watch any of this, the ads showing that it’s mixing elements from Survivor and The Amazing Race in to the mix made me laugh.