Boston Legal is excellent. It's quick, it's dry, it makes no appy-poly-logies to those who are not fast on their feet.
Over weight, yes. Over the hill? Oooooohhhhhhh no. If you see him in Boston Legal you will see he has a long way to go before he even sees the hill.
Now, back to the actual actual topic at hand... Did these two fellahs, Ant and Dec, enjoy a moderate amount of fame as the music group PJ & Duncan, or was that more of a marketing thingie?
and still, no one has come up with an answer to my question of why the fleep they were there in the wings, when susan boyle went on!
True. I'm not familiar with the format of Britain's Got Talent. Are they a regular part of the stage compliment??
Because that's what they do, they take the person from the waiting area, interview them, plonk them on stage and wait so they'll be the first ones to see her when they come off.
I just wanted to say, I really love US humor. Some of my favorite comedy shows are currently on in the US. Actually, the US and UK sense of humor is pretty similar. The major difference seams to be that in the US there is always a character who gets the upper hand, has a moral high ground. Either that or the show tries to force a particular morality in to it (something which South Park pastiches very well) or forces the characters to learn a lesson. In the UK, the characters are more disaffected, they are the underdogs and the morality is not really there. They don't learn because they are never held to be pillars of any community, unlike those in the US. The underdog status means that every character can be failing over the course of the show and, because of that, the social hierarchy plays an integral part in the comedy of the piece. I think that is why UK comedy (in terms of sitcom at least) is funnier. It is, I believe, why we don't do drama as well, or as diversely, as the US. Sure we do some great drama but, more often than not, the Americans do it far better and over such a diverse range of subjects. Take Heroes for example. It is such a great show, but it would never have been produced in the UK. UK execs don't take those sort of risks, preferring to stick to tried and tested formats. This is why I think they have got Doctor Who wrong in terms of its pitch. Currently it is made for 8 year olds. There is no doubt that it appeals to this demographic but if it was made for a more sophisticated audience (as some of the US shows are) then it would still appeal to the children but also garner a greater following amongst the adults. Which, strangely, beings us back to Ant & Dec. SMTV was a kids show but what the producers did, very cleverly, was hit the zeitgeist of the young adult/student market as well. It was then easy to make the change to a format like Takeaway (which is very similar) and still retain the SMTV audience whilst gaining an adult base as well. I say 'very cleverly' because it is a format that was tried before with Tiswas, but that never really made the transition properly.
Man i hate that show. Even ash in pokemon lost from time to time, making that show more mature then Boston legal... And the arguments they use... dear god! A nine year old can poke holes in them. To be fair, i did stop watching mid second season, it could have gotten better.
Well Ant & Dec's career started back on Byker Grove in which they played characters called PJ & Duncan, I have no idea how they got round to having a music career but I'm lead to believe that they had a several songs that made its way into the UK charts. Never reached the top spot but did pretty good considering they were actors acting as singers. The only song I can remember from them though is "Lets get ready to rumble" or something like that. They are much better as presenters and have gotten more fame and fortune in that aspect of their career than they have with acting and singing. The Office? Really? The UK version sucked ass. Ricky Gervais is a douche. I happened to catch the American version the other week and preferred it so much more than our own.
OK, well substitute Heroes for House, Bones, Prison Break, Lost. The fact is, we don't make drama like that and it is to our detriment. On a world stage, those are the dramas that sell. They out-perform many British dramas in the UK, even when you need a subscription to watch them. I'm not missing the point on Doctor Who at all. It's not just popular because of its nostalgia factor. Of course that has a part to play in its success, but you don't win BAFTAs year after year just because people remember what a show used to be. As for re-targeting for adults, I didn't actually say they should. What I said was a more sophisticated show would appeal to a larger range of adults whilst keeping the attention of the current core audience. The show is currently pitching to 8 year olds (RTD has said that in many an interview). The demographic though is more towards the 13 year old market with interest tailing off towards the late teens and increasing again when you reach the 'student' population. Re-targeting the show for 15 year olds won't loose the audience and would keep the monster-of-the-week format. You would end up loosing some of the exposition in each episode, but if you look at some of the Hinchcliff era you will see that happening to the show anyway, and that was at the height of it's success. I have heard Doctor Who done very well and for a more adult audience. In fact the Dalek episode in series one was virtually a direct rip-off of the authors previous work with Big Finish audio. Human Nature, as well, was a great adaptation of a book that was primarily targeted at adults. The show has done these older-pitched shows before and they are by far the more popular, and critically acclaimed, episodes. Why should Doctor Who matter so much? Well because it won the best drama series in 2006 and has been up for something every year since. It is again up for best drama series this year. In terms of your views on The Office, YMMV - you have to remember that British translations to the states need to re-format for the American audience. They are no longer being made for us. You really need to look at these things as different shows because that is, essentially, what they are. Personally, I get a lot out of both versions of The Office but I do separate the two out. Neither version is meant to be the same/superior, they're just different.
*Carefully wades through the debris of last night's Brit vs Yank television action here in my fluffy little lighthearted thread about two British actors for whom I have come to have a fondness.* So, I was Youtubing some of their PJ & Duncan music-career early videos and they have a sound that reminds me much of EMF, then at some point it appears that someone on their marketing team decided, "Now we shall make them into tweeny heartthrob material. Lot's of sappy songs about love and in the videos I want plenty of closeups of the pretty blond one. Unbutton his shirt. One more button. One more."
Some wikilink hopping from Ant & Dec's wiki page has lead me to a wondrously interesting article on the Geordie Dialect. Fascinating. I think I've made my mind up as to my vacation spot next year.
Yeah! Come to the North East! Me & Lemex are here already...we can show you round & teach you to speak Geordie xxx
Yeah!! See, that's the way I like to take vacations. Of course you have to see all the touristy things, but then I want to have beer in a pub with local folks where tourists never go. That's the real way to get to see a country and to get to know the people. Who needs to go to the tourist shops? They're the same in every country.
Well you'd be more than welcome Look Hartlepool up...its not all that interesting tbh though. Newcastles good like, thats about 50 minutes away xxx
Are there any of the big, country manor houses in your area? The ones owned by the National Trust that give tours. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.
We're right near Durham Catherdral which is good if you like that kinda thing, & about an hour / hour and a halfish away from Alnwick Castle which is where they filmed Harry Potter xxx