Back in 1983, M*A*S*H bowed out, having been running for 11 years (eight years longer than the real-world war it depicted. The episode, Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen was two and a half hours long, two hours longer than the normal ...
Read More »The legend of Buffy
‘Where are all the daughters of Buffy?’ asks Naomi Alderman in the recent Radio 4 Front Row Special on cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What she is really asking is this: why, after the huge, lasting success of ...
Read More »My top 10 things from 2013 that weren’t released in 2013
While everyone else is reflecting on what came out this year, I’m going to be different (I always was contrary). There are a lot of things I have loved this year that I was very late to jump on the ...
Read More »Quit while you’re ahead: TV needs to learn how to bow out gracefully
When we grow up, parents will often warn us not to wear out our welcome. It is a good lesson to learn. And everyone will have experienced getting completely and utterly sick of something or someone at some point in ...
Read More »The original isn’t always better: TV and film
The American Film Institute voted An Affair to Remember the most romantic film of all time. It is a seminal classic. But how many people know that it was a remake of a film made 18 years earlier – with ...
Read More »Michael J Fox: TV’s sexiest homunculus
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Michael J. Fox was quoted saying, ‘I was a homunculus.’ It’s true, he is small, but then again, I have always had a thing for short men (the other biggie being Prince). Fox measures in ...
Read More »Sleepy Hollow: What’s your name? Tall, dark and British?
The fall schedule was announced a while ago, and I have to admit that Sleepy Hollow barely peaked my interest. While I indulge in guilty pleasures like The Vampire Diaries (brought to us by Dawson’s Creek creator, Kevin Williamson), this ...
Read More »Exported Culture
It has always been easy to travel as an English speaker. Over the years, I’ve met many Europeans around my age and I feel terribly ignorant and lazy. Most of them speak numerous languages – fluently. I speak English, and ...
Read More »Jumping the shark: The problem with The Big Bang Theory
I was once a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory. It was funny. They made jokes that only geeks would get and it included cameos from Wil Wheaton (and other geeky celebrities). The first few seasons of this Bill ...
Read More »Why you should be excited for the Veronica Mars movie
There are two factors that feed into possible excitement for the new Veronica Mars movie, slated to hit cinemas in 2014. The first is that Veronica Mars, the television series, was absolutely brilliant (and if you haven’t made the time ...
Read More »