Archive for September, 2012

The Brits and the Emmys

Posted: September 29, 2012 in Uncategorized
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I’m definitely a TV watcher, not just British TV. I like a lot of American shows as well. That being said, I don’t pay any attention to the Emmy Awards. I didn’t realize who was on the list of nominees until after last Sunday’s broadcast.

So, I was quite surprised to find so many British actors on the list of nominees, and even more surprised to find two winners, Damian Lewis for Homeland and Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey.  I was not surprised that they won, because they’re both brilliant actors, but with so many British nominees, I thought I was reading the list of BAFTA nominees! (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)

Here’s a list of British nominees and winners in the acting and show categories:

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Hugh Bonneville-Downton Abbey, Damian Lewis-Homeland-WINNER

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Benedict Cumberbatch-Sherlock, Idris Elba-Luther, Clive Owen-Hemingway & Gellhorn (Winner: Kevin Costner-Hatfields & McCoys)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Michelle Dockery-Downton Abbey (Winner: Claire Danes-Homeland)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Emma Thompson-The Song of Lunch (Winner: Julianne Moore-Game Change)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jim Carter-Downton Abbey, Brendan Coyle-Downton Abbey (Winner: Aaron Paul-Breaking Bad*)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Martin Freeman-Sherlock (Winner: Tom Berenger-Hatfields & McCoys)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Joanne Froggatt-Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith-Downton Abbey-WINNER

Outstanding Drama Series: Downton Abbey (Winner: Homeland)

Outstanding Miniseries or Made for TV Movie: Luther, Sherlock (Winner: Game Change)

Congrats to Damian Lewis. He’s fabulous and I love all his work. Many Americans may not even realize he is British because he’s been in so many American productions like Band of Brothers and Life. (Viewers probably thought the same about Hugh Laurie in House.) I haven’t seen Homeland yet, but I have it on my Netflix list. I’m looking forward to seeing Damian Lewis’s Emmy-winning performance.

And congrats to the wonderfully lovely and entertaining Maggie Smith. She’s a big part of what makes Downton Abbey so fun to watch.

*And finally, on a non-British TV note, congrats to Aaron Paul for his win for Breaking Bad. He has played a huge range of emotions on that show and definitely deserved his win.

Fawlty Towers

Posted: September 22, 2012 in Comedy, Top Picks
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TOP PICK

In my opinion, there are several British TV shows that are true classics, that stand the test of time, can be watched even today and are still as funny as they were when they first aired. These include Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Good Life, and Fawlty Towers. (And there are several more classics I have yet to post about!)

Basil Fawlty is a hotelier who really doesn’t like people all that much. He and his wife, Sybil, run Fawlty Towers, a hotel in the small seaside town of Torquay, on the “English Riviera.” Along with his waitress/maid, Polly, and porter/waiter Manuel, they try to deal with their eccentric guests.

        

Apparently, the idea for the show was born when the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay. The owner of that hotel, whom John Cleese described as “the most marvelously rude man I’ve ever met,” became the inspiration for Basil Fawlty.

There are a lot of words to describe Basil Fawlty, none of them good. He’s aggressive, short tempered, impatient and snobby. Basil can’t stand the “lower class” clientele that stay at his hotel. He’s constantly trying to attract guests with higher social status. Yet he’s so cheap he hires an inept contractor to do some major remodeling with disastrous, yet hilarious, results. John Cleese himself considers Basil an “awful human being,” but because his antics make us laugh, we can’t help but like him.

         

Basil’s wife, or as he affectionately calls her his “little piranha fish,” is more friendly to the customers. Though it seems she might be better at managing the hotel, she’s often off doing something else when difficult guests appear, or she’s on the phone gossiping with friends.

Polly Sherman is probably the most level-headed member of the group. She’s the chambermaid and dining room waitress. She’s also the one that Basil tries to con into helping her with his crazy schemes or misunderstandings. When Sybil storms off after an argument with Basil (she thinks he forgot their anniversary) Basil recruits Polly to play an ill Sybil to fool the guests coming for the party he’s planned.

Spanish waiter, Manuel, doesn’t speak English very well, which upsets Basil to no end. He tries hard to do his job well, in between beatings from his boss. One of his best storylines is when his pet “hamster,” actually a rat, goes missing while the health inspector is visiting.

In 2000, the British Film Institute voted Fawlty Towers the Best British TV series of all time. I have to agree. You can watch all 12 episodes over and over and still laugh out loud.

MAIN CAST:
John Cleese – Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales – Sybil Fawlty
Connie Booth – Polly Sherman
Andrew Sachs – Manuel
Brian Hall – Terry
Ballard Berkeley – Major Gowen
Gilly Flower – Miss Tibbs
Renee Roberts – Miss Gatsby

Total Seasons: 2 (12 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 2
In Production: 1975 – 1979
Viewer Discretion: Some adult situations

McCallum

Posted: September 15, 2012 in Crime Drama
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Forensic pathologist Iain McCallum works in the basement mortuary of St. Patrick’s Hospital in London’s East End. Along with his team, he works with the police to help solve murders and other suspicious causes of death.  From deadly viruses to suicides to poisonings to murders, McCallum and his team dig for the answers in this dark and gritty crime drama.

Although I enjoyed watching the show, and John Hannah in particular, I found the series very inconsistent. The show’s format changed throughout the series. For the first few episodes, just when I thought I’d solved the crime, the story took a surprising turn, keeping me guessing. But in other shows, you knew who the culprit was, ala Columbo. Not that that’s a bad way to tell the story. Columbo is a great show. But Columbo consistently had the same format throughout the series.

Some of the characters were also different from episode to episode. In the series opener, Professor Paddy Penfold, who heads up the pathology unit, is so drunk on the job he accidentally stabs a co-worker, Bobby, with a scalpel during an autopsy. In subsequent episodes, he’s more of a mentor and is always “thinking about the department.” The characters’ life paths go so many different directions it’s hard to keep up with them, to get to know them because they keep turning corners unexpectedly. First McCallum is working on his tenuous relationship with his live-in girlfriend, Joanna, then he’s jumping into bed with other women.

After researching the show a bit more, I discovered the probable reason for the inconsistencies. The series was produced over a three-year period. Episode #1, “The Key to My Heart,” was done in December 1995, while Episode #2, “Sacrifice,” was done almost two years later. Perhaps over time the writers changed, producers changed, who knows?

But probably the most confusing thing was that for the last episode, when John Hannah left the show, he was replaced with another character, yet the show was still called McCallum. (Sorry to include a spoiler here. I usually don’t like to do that.)

I’ve seen a lot of rave reviews about this show that I don’t necessarily agree with. There are some much, much better, more engrossing, better written British crime dramas. This one is, in my opinion, just average. It’s not nearly as good as Waking the Dead, although that’s about a cold case unit. And I was confused by the odd choice of the twangy, country theme music for McCallum.

But, that being said, I really do like John Hannah a lot. So, if nothing else, I enjoyed watching McCallum just to hear his Scottish accent. And quite often, he revealed his naked bum. Can’t be bad.

MAIN CAST:
John Hannah – Iain McCallum
Gerard Murphy – DI Bracken
Zara Turner – Angela Moloney
Richard Moore – Paddy Penfold
James Saxon – Fuzzy Brightons
Richard O’Callaghan – Bobby Sykes
Alex Walkinshaw – DS Small

Total Seasons: 2 (9 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 2
In Production: 1995 – 1998
Viewer Discretion: Adult situations, nudity, violence, language

Hyperdrive

Posted: September 8, 2012 in Comedy, Sci-Fi
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It’s 2151 and the HMS Camden Lock journeys through space “to protect British interests in a changing galaxy,” trying to convince alien governments to bring their businesses to Britain.

Space Commander Michael Henderson (aka Mike, Lucky Jack, Hendo) leads this tea-sipping bunch of explorers aboard the HMS Camden Lock. His crew includes: First Officer York, second in command and a sociopath who’s obsessed with weapons and violence; Diplomatic Officer Teal who has a huge crush on her captain, but the feeling is not mutual; Navigator Vine and Technical Officer Jeffers round out the bridge crew along with Sandstrom, a female cyborg/human interface that runs the ship.

England isn’t the first country that comes to mind when I think of space travelers. But hey, there’s a lot of space out there, lots of aliens to encounter, planets to discover and havoc to wreak.

So, the HMS Camden Lock (designed to look like the BT Tower in London) boldly goes where no British spaceship has gone before, mostly taking on assignments that nobody else wants. Some of the alien races the crew encounters are more bizarre than any you’d find in the cantina on Tatooine. The Glish communicate by licking and drooling on everyone. The Queppu dress in red latex suits and have a “Doom Ray” that will kill Henderson, York and Teal in under three days. The Lallakkis threaten the crew with their battle song, “Kill the Humans.” (Jeffers enjoys listening to the song over and over again.) The Red Shiny Robots of Vortis are kind of like Star Trek’s Borg, absorbing the knowledge of various species and then killing them.

I’m a big fan of sci-fi and of Nick Frost. He was hilarious in Spaced with Simon Pegg. I think their work together, including their films, is much better than their solo stuff. But still, this is a fun, silly show and all the crazy characters are very entertaining.

MAIN CAST:
Nick Frost – Space Commander Michael Henderson
Kevin Eldon – York
Miranda Hart – Teal
Stephen Evans – Vine
Dan Antopolski – Jeffers
Petra Massey – Sandstrom

Total Seasons: 2 (12 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 0 (was briefly available on Netflix streaming)
In Production: 2006-2007
Viewer Discretion: Some adult situations

James May’s Toy Stories

Posted: September 1, 2012 in Documentary, History
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When you were a kid, did you ever dream of creating a house made out of Lego bricks, big enough to live in? Or how about building an actual full-sized model airplane? James May, one of the hosts of Top Gear, had those same dreams and decided to make a TV series about them – hoping to make those dreams a reality.

James also produced the show to introduce the kids of today with the toys of the past, to get them away from video games and feel a sense of accomplishment from building something. And over the course of each episode, he brings together people from different communities in England to work on each project.

In “Airfix,” they build a full-scale model of a World War II Spitfire fighter plane. “Meccano,” which is kind of like the pieces of an erector set, is used to build a 75 foot working bridge in Liverpool. Other episodes are about creating a 2.95 mile “Scalextric” race track (kind of like Hot Wheels), laying out the world’s longest model train track, and building a house out of Lego bricks. (James actually spends the night in the house, saying he got the best night of sleep in his life!)

My favorite episode is “Plasticine.” One of my hobbies is working with plasticine, or polymer clay. James and 2,000 volunteers create a life-sized plasticine garden to exhibit at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show.

        

In some episodes everything works out great, other times the results are disastrous. But either way, the show is fun to watch, just to see if James will achieve his goal.

MAIN CAST:
James May

Total Seasons: 1 (6 episodes plus 1 special)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 0
In Production: 2009-2011
Viewer Discretion: Suitable for all audiences