political mayheim vs. entertainment

The US national election is in 3 weeks and the last of 3 presidental debates is currently on television. I know who I am going to vote for (Obama all the way), yet I am still watching the debate, not for the issues or entertainment, but because it is the only thing on tv. Typically Wednesday's nights in our house are full of tv, so much so that my dvr can't record it all: Bones, ANTM, Private Practice, Lipstick Jungle, Dirty Sexy Money, CSI New York, Project Runway...yes, I actually watch ALL of these shows from ONE night. (Thanks for whomever invented the DVR, you are my god) But, noooo, all of these *quality* programs are not available because our country can't figure out the issues for themselves, and enjoy watching a verbal banter of politicans. (one who is becoming more old and pastey as the weeks go on) I realize I am being narrowed minded and slightly joking, but I am hormonal (tmi) and I want my tv.

The Best (or Worst) of British Television: Lost in Austen

Welcome to the first edition of The Best (or Worst) of British Television, starting with the series Lost in Austen, which recently aired on ITV here in the UK. This column is the beginning of a semi-regular look of the happenings of British television. I will cover both series currently airing and plan to delve into the annals of British TV (covering such gems as The Office and Coupling, amongst others). There might even be a guest columnist or two on this topic. Before I begin it may be helpful to point out a few differences between British TV v. American TV. The major one being that unlike in American TV, most seasons of television that air across the pond usually consist of, at most, 13 episodes. They also tend to have less seasons, with the exception of the soap-style dramas, which go air each night and go on forever, just like our soaps. These two facts lead to tighter stories than perhaps happens in American television. Another fun fact is that the Brits call their seasons, series, such as Series One of Lost rather than Season One of Lost.

"I'm having a truly post-modern moment."-Lost in Austen

Lost in Austen is the tale of a modern-day London-ite, Amanda Price, (who lives in Hammersmith, where I work!) who is in love with the novel Pride and Prejudice. She is suffering at a job she doesn't like, and stuck in an unfulfilling relationship. She escapes into her tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice, and loves the fictional Mark Darcy. Her boring life changes in a big way when Elizabeth Bennet shows up in her bathroom. Yes, you read that correctly, her bathroom. As is true with fantasy/sci-fi dramas, one must just accept the premise without questioning too much, because otherwise one may get bogged down in reality.

What follows are four episodes that grow increasingly stronger in the story telling. I must admit that after the first episode I was a bit skeptical of where the story was heading. There was something a little contrived in how Amanda just happened to be reading Pride and Prejudice when this story began. [Again, though, for the purposes of storytelling, it necessarily has to be this way.] Nearly everything that happened in that first episode was fairly predictable (would you be surprised if I told you the boys of the novel were falling in love with the wrong people? I suspect not.), and had many classic "fish out of water" scenes. The one where Amanda curses and smokes when a lady of that time does not and one where she tries to figure out how to brush her teeth. One of the best moments in the whole series however, is when a certain scene from a very famous Pride and Prejudice movie is recreated. I won't spoil it for you, but if you want a clue read Bridget Jones's Diary.

The show began to shine when it moved away from what we "know" from the books and fleshed out the characters into real people. To wit: we all know the creepiness that is Mr. Collins, but we didn't know he had three equally as creepy brothers! Or, if you are familiar with the novel (and really that is who this series is made for), you know all about the dishonorable character of Mr. Wickham. But Lost in Austen manages to make Mr. Wickham more real and nuanced, and we learn there may be more to Mr. Wickham; I would even bet that the audience might even like him. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy do not disappoint either. It is quite fun to see more of these characters and even though Amanda admits that Jane Austen must be turning in her grave at some of the things happenings, but I hope Jane would enjoy these versions of her characters.

A show based on such a loved and read novel is most likely always going to be inherently predictable, and admittedly, Lost in Austen in the end is predictable. To its credit, I was not entirely sure how it was going to end. While the ending may not be surprising, the writers had at least laid out a few different options, so it did not seem completely obvious. I do feel the ending was perhaps a little bit rushed and while things are pretty much tied up, I would have like a little bit more. Still, I quite enjoyed the series despite some of the inevitability in it, and definitely recommend watching it.

I won't give away the ending, because I suspect it may show up on BBC America sometime soon. If you don't want to wait, start here, and I trust you can figure out what to do after that. After you watch it let me know what you think and if you agree of disagree with my assessment of it.

Happy 10th Sports Night

There are many things I find hard to understand: Why women don't get paid as much as men, why people always fly-over the Midwest without stopping to see its beauty, etc., but right now, I am finding it very hard to understand how it has been TEN YEARS since Sports Night first aired on television.

Sports Night will forever be one of my favorite television shows; it features such wonderful writing, interesting characters, and of course that now-patented Aaron Sorkin walking and talking trick. It had Peter Krause before Six Feet Under, and Robert Guillaume after Soap & Benson. It gave Josh Charles, an all-time favorite of mine, his best role, introduced us to Joshua Molina and made me forget that Sabrina Lloyd was ever in that show called Sliders. Most importantly through Sports Night I grew to love one Ms. Felicity Huffman, a love that culminated to me screaming in joy when she won the Emmy a few years back. [View that video, in which she mentions Sports Night here]

One of the things I love best about Sports Night is that it showcases women in positions of power the show is run by an African-American man. I would wager that this combination doesn't actually occur that often. Mostly what I like though, is Dana; I always felt a kinship to her, and as I get older I can relate to her more and more. She loves her career, it makes her who she is, and really doesn't want to comprise it. Still, she does have a desire to settle down. How she tries to negotiate these complex feelings are messy and it doesn't always work out. But, I feel that especially at the end of Season 1, she stays true to herself.

I won't wax poetic anymore for today on the topic of Sports Night, but rest assured the topic will be revisited again (and again!).

Cheers, Sports Night. Thanks for 10 great years.

thursday night premieres

This past Thursday night was season premiere's for many fan favorites; Survivor, Ugly Betty, Grey's and ER. Reality TV's King started up another season in Eden...African style. The tribes were decided by the standard school-yard pick. There could be some great characters this season, although my favorite was voted out in the second hour; Gillian. There is a new twist this year related to exile island and it will be interesting to see who will be strong and pick the clue for the idol and who will be weak and overally secure and pick the luxury. Right now the teams do not seem evenly matched so it might be a killing at every challange.

Ugly Betty picked up right where it left off, with a short recap of her love woes and a random escape trip, complete with postcard images and pictures from her "vacation." Cute, as always. LiLo herself made another appearance as Betty's childhood rival and super-duper burger joint manager. Overall the episode was kind of lame with the standard Mode family drama. Hopefully Betty's new found freedom with her own apartment in the city will bring some new adventures.

Grey's brought some interesting storylines, a new hottie-army medic who makes out with Christina after she was stabbed by a falling icicle (dramatic and not expected) and Bernadette Peters as guest star. Broadway diva's own star made her way to prime time and I love me some Bernadette! It was a standard cat and mouse game between Meredith and McDreamy and I am personally tired of this storyline. My favorite scene in the entire 2 hour episode was when Rose told McDreamy that she was pregnant with his child, but unforunately it was just a joke. I thought there was finally be a new component between the Grey-Dreamy drama, but no-go. I hope that this season brings some closure to romance-less drama.

ER is in it's last season and it started with a boom, literally. In ER-like drama they killed off a main character in the first episode, and I cried like a baby. Many characters are leaving before the final curtain, but a few favorites from the past 15 years are returning, including Dr. Green who died years ago from a brain tumor. Noah Wyle will also be returning as fan favorite Dr.Carter, but no word yet from Clooney. I love ER, but it is time for its pulse to flatline.

with love, from Emmy

Last night was award night for television; the Emmy's were on in prime time. It was the 60th anniversery of the award show and there were some cool, and not so cool, montages to the history of television. I loved the stage sets from various shows, the musical montage of 30 tv theme songs by Josh Groban (who knew he could do a south park homage) Betty White and Lily Tomlin.

It was night of 30 Rock, Mad Men and Damages. I don't watch 30 Rock; not big on sitcoms and comedy skits although I believe the critics when they say it is genius. Mad Men, a AMC drama set in 1960s NYC advertising mayhem is the new kid on the block and it can beat up any other kid on the playground! It is freakin' amazing. T and I just watched the 1st season on DVD and it is amazing, did I just say that. The sets, fashions, acting and storylines are top notch and them winning the Emmy for Best Drama atests to that. They are currently in their second season and I believe Mad Men will be around for awhile. Way to go, AMC.

Damages, a FX thriller new last year, won multiple acting awards. They won because it was, in my opinion, the best acting on television. Damages is a legal rollercoaster of death, lies and videotapes, and I personally can not wait for the 2nd season to return. Simply Fab.

This week starts up many of the new fallseasons for the big networks. Heroes, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Grey's and ER return throughout the next 4 days and you can be sure I will be watching!

One more Olympic post...

After a long break, I am back, and I promise to start posting with a vengeance, so watch out! I've finished up some things and now have time and a television. Whee.

As the new fall TV season is just getting started in the U.S. I don't have too much to say on American television. Yet. But, I have a list of shows I want to give a chance, and a color coded schedule will be coming soon. But, I have been watching some stuff here in Great Britain--namely the Olympics. I know this post is a little outdated since the Michael Phelps Games (ahem, the 2008 Summer Olympics) finished about three weeks ago or so, but I hope you will indulge me for just one more Olympic post.

I did most of my watching via the internet, which I think is the wave of the future (or, I guess the wave of the present). There were several things that I liked, both about watching on-line and with the BBC broadcast. The obvious one being that it was great to be able to watch the Olympics without owning a television, because I had been worried about that, as I am AN OLYMPIC FREAK. The other nice thing about watching on the internets was that I had several different streams of sports available to me at any given time, and I could watch highlights (of say, the swimmer boys) over and over if I wanted to. Not that I did, of course.

Specifically to the BBC broadcast, first and foremost were the English, Scottish, and Irish accents. Seriously, that was fun. I also got to "meet" athletes that weren't American or have the required sob story needed to make it on American coverage. There was still plenty of "American" action, and Michael Phelps was covered in great detail.

The parts that I didn't enjoy so much included:

Losing the element of surprise. Events were shown live around 3 am in the morning and generally I woke up, opened my computer, and found the results are displayed all over my screen. I have to say, the events I managed to not know the outcome (such as the Men's 4x100 Medley Relay) were much more exciting than when I did know the results. (such as which American gymnast won the gold). I also missed not getting to see American athlete interviews: I admit it, I am a homer. I root for Americans (often, though not always) and I like to hear what the athletes have to say. Even if it is just so I can make fun of them.

The idea of showing events live is an interesting one, and I get that generally this is a good idea, but I'm not sure about it in practice. Beyond what I mentioned above, doing this meant that sometimes I only got to see highlights: if I didn't catch the event live or on rebroadcast, I didn't always get to see it, if the BBC decided not to upload the full coverage.

I do think, however, that this practice points to a more general difference in the BBC experience versus the NBC one. In the U.S., it is all about ratings, and we are fed one feature story after another, barely seeing athletes or events that aren't either American or high profile, and have lots of commercials, albeit cool ones. The Olympics are a "viewing event" so to speak, much like an extended Super Bowl. Here the Olympic coverage is much more practical and no-nonsense. Because it isn't all about ratings (as the BBC does not need commercials or ratings to survive) there isn't the sense that one needs to pull out all the stops. I saw literally, no features stories, and no commercials. I can't necessarily say that one is better than the other, as I think they both have their good and bad points. I suppose the perfect experience would be somewhere in the middle, with some features, and more events and athletes shown. Maybe in 2012 I will broadcast Sara TV with this combo of coverage.

There is just one other point I'd like to mention, mainly because I find the contrast interesting and discussion provoking. If anyone watched the diving events, and more specifically the Men's Platform Final, you know that Matthew Mitchum from Australia won. It was a very emotional victory and his final dive was beautiful. Throughout the competition, the British commentators mentioned that he had recently been through a rocky time, and that was mainly due to the fact that he had recently come out as a gay man. This was said in a very matter of fact tone, and as part of the general info on the diver, but it was pointed out doing this has been the cause of a lot of pressure on him. I remember wondering at the time if this fact was mentioned on the U.S. broadcast. I did some digging after the event and found out that this little fact was not mentioned, but other athletes' heterosexual relationships were mentioned. You can read about it here if you like, from Yahoo Sports. I am not writing this to stir up things, but because I found the contrast interesting. I'm not entirely sure as to all the reasoning behind this, but I would wager that part of it is because NBC relies upon adverstisers and high ratings to survive.

Anyway, that was my Olympics. If anyone is reading this, let me know what you think, and what you thought of your Olympic viewing experience in whatever country you are in.

I'll be back soon with many thoughts on the new Fall TV season, one of my favorite times of the year!

Labor of Love

The upcoming Labor Day weekend means one thing in tv land...it's time for fall tv to begin! I am so excited for many favorite shows to return next week; ANTM, Gossip Girl (a guilty pleasure), Bones. Pretty soon it will be time for Biggest Loser, Survivor, Grey's, the final season of ER (finally), Heroes and CSI. I am most curious about the new spin on Heroes Villians; a new expanded cast, new plots, oh my! It will still be awhile until LOST or 24 (I missed you last year Jack Bauer) reappears, but most of us will have plenty to fill our evenings! Big Brother is still in full swing, with a double elimination last night Good-bye Michelle and Olie. Even though I don't know you, you will not be missed. Dan, one of the most genious player of BB all time, is making enemies, but playing quite a game!

End of summer

Okay, I will be the first to admit that I have not been very good at keeping up with this blog. My life has been hectic and although I have been watching tv religiously, I haven't had the time or desire to blog. The end of summer tends to see a slow-down in new tv and without Big Brother, Olympics or my Bravo show's, there wouldn't be much to watch. Shear Genius (Bravo) is nearing the end of the season but that's okay, but Project Runway is in full swing. I LOVED the last episode with the designers creating appeal for a colorful set of drag queens. It was absolute fab!

The Olympics are nearing the end of its 2008 run as well and it has been quite a show. It was the year of Phelps, Nastia and Shawn Johnson and we watched the majority of prime time coverage. My only negative comment is that the prime time" coverage ends so late at night. The night of the women's overall in gymnastics ended around midnight and I could not stay up to watch it all. Granted I DVR'ed it, but still. One of the biggest competitions and most of our country was asleep. Shame. I am looking forward to the Closing Ceremonies and I am sure I will have something to say about it.

Olympics, American Style

It is the year of Michael Phelps. At least if you watch NBC. There has always been vast coverage of American athletes, but I do not remember anything of this extreme, directed towards one person. He is freakin' everywhere! (I think that NBC forgets at times that there are over 600 American Athletes competing) There is even a Phelps Phan commercial, and as I watch the prime time coverage of the Olympics tonight, he just won his third gold metal in three days. No matter how much coverage there is, I have to admit that he is amazing.

To sound off from Sara's excellent post on Olympics, London-style, I have to admit that I am glad to be home during the coverage. I do love, and cry, at the human interest stories that are abundant during prime time coverage. I love the sappy music that plays in the background and for a non-sporting person, it makes it easier to connect to the sport, through the person. And, yes, Bob Costas is a legend in American Olympics coverage...his commentary at the Opening Ceremony adds to the drama. His voice is iconic, whether you like it or not.

Every night from 7-10p.m., I watch the daily coverage. I do love that NBC covers the major events in a consolidated time frame so that we get a nice taste, but can still work, eat and carry normal life for the 16 days. And, I watch the TODAY show every morning at 7am, so I get a nice bookend to my days.

Side Note**Not sure if anyone has noticed the new line of United Airlines commercials running through the Olympics coverage, but it is artistic-genius-inspirational and simply beautiful. I am so impressed with their campaign, that I want to take a trip. I guess their marketing did their job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzvamSr3lec

My first Olympics away from home

Before I get going, I must say in the interest of full disclosure, I LOVE THE OLYMPICS.  I love everything about them: the sports, the athletes, the outfits, the cheesy commentary, the tear-at-your-heartstrings features, the commercials...literally everything.  But, for the interest of a blog about TV, I am going to focus (as much as possible) on the television aspects of the Olympics and the overall viewing experience.  

One of the big differences that experience this year, more so than ever before, is the proliferation of streaming internet video.  I have to say it makes it so much easier for someone who does not have an actual TV set to stay connected, and it also gives quite a bit of choice on what to watch.  Obviously the jury is still out on how effective it will be, but it definitely adds a new dimension to the event.

For me most importantly, this is the first time I will ever watch the Olympics from a different location than the United States. Here in London all the coverage is from the BBC--and there is a great deal of it--especially since London will be the host in four years. The city (and country) definitely have Olympic fever. As eager as I am to see the Olympics from a different perspective, I will cop to the things I will miss: the NBC Olympic theme, Bob Costas, and the Chevy Olympic Moment they do every night.  What I won't miss--the blatant focus on American athletes at the expense of other interesting people from around the world. 

So, on to my thoughts, which is mainly a comparison of what I am used to and what I see now. The first major difference so far is that the main coverage is shown between 2 pm and 6 pm each day.  I've been trying to work out why this is done, but I haven't figured it out.  I thought it was maybe so events could be shown live, but I think China is 8 hours ahead of London, so I don't think that is why.  Since I don't know when the coverage has traditionally been shown in the past I'm not sure if this is typical or not. What I do know is how unusual it is for me!  I am used to the U.S.-style of coverage where all things important are shown in prime time.  Lucky for me I am able to watch the coverage (for the most part) during the day, but I think I would be quite frustrated if I was working full-time.  Then again, if this is how it has always been done, other people probably don't give it a second thought.

When watching the Opening Ceremony  the coverage was pretty similar to what I am used to, with the major exception being the British accents (don't you know the Olympics are being held in Chiner?). Though Michael Johnson, he of the 1996 Olympics, Nike golden shoes, and two gold medals in the 200m and 400m, is a commentator so I did get an American accent fix.  Also, I think I was sort of expecting there to be a heavy concentration on Great Britain and its athletes, but not so much. Of course during the Parade of Nations there were quite a bit of discussion on the team, but there was also as much discussion about President Bush. Granted this is a very controversial Olympics, but still it constantly amazes me how often American culture, politics, and people are mentioned in international broadcasts.  I'm not sure this is entirely a good thing, and sadly, our coverage never reciprocates. I mean seriously, can you imagine the U.S. coverage having a British person on the commentating team talking about all the British athletes and their chances. No? Me either. 

The other major difference I noticed, thus far, is the absence of the "special features" so to speak.  We are all aware of those Olympic Moments (the ones I love) and how they are designed to make you cry.  Or manipulate you, depending on your perspective and willingness to cry. And how you can't really get through an entire night of coverage without at least two of these stories. I didn't see a single one of those in the 4+ hours of coverage I saw.   But, I am actually totally okay with that.  It doesn't seem like a very British thing to do, and my tear ducts will enjoy taking some time off.

What I am excited for is the chance to see athletes that aren't American participate in events. I have already seen more gymnastics coverage of British athletes in a short 6 minute video than I probably have seen in all of my other Olympic gymnastics viewing; and believe me I have spent many (many) hours watching Olympic gymnastics.  I am excited to hear different commentary and different points of view and hear different anthems.  

As the coverage goes on I will try and talk about the similiarites and differences some more and let you know if anything else exciting happens, by way of the TV.  So please enjoy the Olympics! I know I will.