Tv Land that Time Forgot
I mentioned briefly before the goodies available on some of the Freeview channels, like abc1 and ITV2 and 3, for example. There's some pretty decent stuff, and I'm much more likely to watch something on ITV3 than I am on ITV1, which is one of life's little ironies.
Above anything, these channels are the places television shows go when they die. Much of what you see (and I'm talking about American shows here, because that is what I mostly watch) has already been cancelled in its native land. abc1, for example, has Sports Night, which is fairly decent but not as good as it thought it was; and Mad About You, the Helen Hunt vehicle that shot her to fame; the Geena Davies Show; and others.
Sports Night has a stellar cast, with faces familiar from many other hit shows. Him out of Six Feet Under, her out of Desperate Housewives, Benson from Benson, her out of Sliders, him from The West Wing. The problem with it, and the reason it was cancelled, is that it's not quite a comedy, but with a 30-minute running time, doesn't cut it as a drama or comedy-drama, either; and the canned laughter is annoying.
abc1 is also a window into hell, for uk viewers who have never experienced the US way of broadcast. Suddenly the pre-credit bit and the little bit at the end are revealed in their full horror: for a programme to run a full ad break (which on abc1 almost entirely consist of trailers for Now and Again and General Hospital) and then show the last 30 seconds or so of the show is, frankly, disturbing.*
On ITV2, we're enjoying the superb 3rd Rock From the Sun twice a night (as I mentioned, CJ loves it - she nearly killed herself laughing at Tommy with his hair done like a girl). And on ITV3, I think Hack is pretty darn good: a slow-moving and quite intense drama starring David Morse and Andre Braugher. It's hard to make an emotional investment in a show you know has already been cancelled, but you can't help liking it. I also thnk Crossing Jordan is decent enough to pass the time.
As for Mad About You, I have to say, I always thought Helen Hunt must have looked glamorous and beautiful in this show - an explanation for her subsequent popularity, because I never understood her appeal in the movies I've seen her in. Turns out she wasn't, so go figure.
Cancelled shows are sometimes like musicians out of contract. As a fan, it's sometimes hard to see why something failed, but I try to be a little bit objective.
*Fortunately, because I record most of these shows on my hard disk recorder, I can skip through the adverts easily.
Above anything, these channels are the places television shows go when they die. Much of what you see (and I'm talking about American shows here, because that is what I mostly watch) has already been cancelled in its native land. abc1, for example, has Sports Night, which is fairly decent but not as good as it thought it was; and Mad About You, the Helen Hunt vehicle that shot her to fame; the Geena Davies Show; and others.
Sports Night has a stellar cast, with faces familiar from many other hit shows. Him out of Six Feet Under, her out of Desperate Housewives, Benson from Benson, her out of Sliders, him from The West Wing. The problem with it, and the reason it was cancelled, is that it's not quite a comedy, but with a 30-minute running time, doesn't cut it as a drama or comedy-drama, either; and the canned laughter is annoying.
abc1 is also a window into hell, for uk viewers who have never experienced the US way of broadcast. Suddenly the pre-credit bit and the little bit at the end are revealed in their full horror: for a programme to run a full ad break (which on abc1 almost entirely consist of trailers for Now and Again and General Hospital) and then show the last 30 seconds or so of the show is, frankly, disturbing.*
On ITV2, we're enjoying the superb 3rd Rock From the Sun twice a night (as I mentioned, CJ loves it - she nearly killed herself laughing at Tommy with his hair done like a girl). And on ITV3, I think Hack is pretty darn good: a slow-moving and quite intense drama starring David Morse and Andre Braugher. It's hard to make an emotional investment in a show you know has already been cancelled, but you can't help liking it. I also thnk Crossing Jordan is decent enough to pass the time.
As for Mad About You, I have to say, I always thought Helen Hunt must have looked glamorous and beautiful in this show - an explanation for her subsequent popularity, because I never understood her appeal in the movies I've seen her in. Turns out she wasn't, so go figure.
Cancelled shows are sometimes like musicians out of contract. As a fan, it's sometimes hard to see why something failed, but I try to be a little bit objective.
*Fortunately, because I record most of these shows on my hard disk recorder, I can skip through the adverts easily.
posted by Anonymous at
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
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