June 2008 Archives
By Dan Owen
TOP GEAR (BBC2, SUN 8PM) Three middle-aged men yakking about road signs, congestion charges and speed cameras, while ogling cars nobody can afford.
It really shouldn't work, but Top Gear's become a global favourite after a successful revamp in 2002. An American version's on the way, the Polish love it, it takes up half of Dave's schedule, is the most-watched series on iPlayer, and dominates YouTube after each episode.
Continue reading TV Week: Top Gear, MeeBOX and The Culture Show.
By Stevie Harrison Not that it isn’t great to see that shiny little byline on the top of the screen as I deliver another little dose of complaints for your consumption, but sometimes I walk along the street and wonder why I don’t have flashbulbs illuminating my face and people tapping their friends on the shoulder and pointing in my direction.
Maybe I should call in some help. Save my pennies and for a modest sum hire a few paparazzi to follow me around as I cruise around in a stretched limo, a warm up for inevitable stardom.
Soon after I am sure those glossy magazines will have my mug cover to cover, finally giving the recognition that a newslite column writer deserves.
Continue reading Rant: Celebrity.
By Dan OwenTHE APPRENTICE: THE FINAL (BBC1, WED 9PM) SPOILER WARNING. Sir Alan Sugar's thirst for an apprentice has been quenched for another year. Lee "that's warrum talkin' baaht!" McQueen became Big Al's latest employee -- which was a mild surprise, but made sense. Of the three other finalists: Alex lacked personality and defensively jabbered on about his youth and inexperience like a stuck record; dour Helene sneaked into the finale by luck, not merit; while Claire's officious nature perhaps tipped the scales Lee's way. Is Sir Alan just scared of women who are bossier than him?
Continue reading TV Week: The Apprentice and Six Degrees.
By Dan Owen,BIG BROTHER 9 (CHANNEL 4, THU 9PM) If Bill Oddie heralds spring with Springwatch, then Davina McCall heralds summer with Big Brother. Remember when it was marketed as a social experiment in 2000? Nearly a decade later and such pretensions are long gone: it's a gameshow for narcissistic wannabes – all of whom can afford to take the summer off. They must all be self-employed entrepreneurs, no?
Continue reading TV Week: Big Brother 9, The F Word and Have I Got News For You.
By Dan OwenLOST (SKY ONE, SUN 9PM) SPOILER WARNING: The season finales are consistently exciting, enthralling, action-packed and revelatory affairs -- and this was no different.
It presented us with various fronts of action: Locke under orders from ghostly Jacob to "move the island" using the subterranean Orchid station; Jack desperately trying to fly everyone to safety in the helicopter; the need to disarm a bomb on the waiting freighter; Keamy's capture of Ben for billionaire boss Widmore; and I haven't even mentioned the customary flashforwards to post-island life -- where the suicide of a man called Jeremy Bentham has cast a shadow over the Oceanic Six's lives...
Continue reading TV Week: Lost, Gladiators, Britain's Got Talent.
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