Does it strike anyone as odd that Geoff Bryan has to present the Olympics from a studio in Auckland, while Tony Veitch has to read the New Zealand sports news from a balcony in Athens? Poor old Geoff, stuck in a TVNZ studio behind a fake high-tech grand piano clutching his One News mug when he should be sweating it in Greece.
I did catch Bjork’s performance at the Olympics opening ceremony – possibly Iceland’s only entry – with her typically eccentric song Oceania, but it was the athletes I felt really sorry for, having to endure two-and-a-half-hours plus of that Eurotrancetrash crap courtesy of some super Eurotrancetrash DJ. Jesus, it’s a wonder they had the will to live after that, let alone compete.
But the Olympics are so eye candy, except for stupid sports like dressage and water polo.They are so fit and they know it, and we haven’t even got to the women’s volleyball – or The Cuteness riding at the velodrome they didn’t have time to put sides on. I do think TV One is rubbing salt on the wounds of Coronation Street fans with their “Revenge is Street” promos though.
Here’s a US critic’s view of the Olympic coverage so far.
On a completely different issue, I’m beginning to think that the no. 8 wire ethos has to apply to New Zealand comedy before it’s funny. For example -- Eating Media Lunch, eight half-hour episodes, made for $349,557: very funny. Facelift -- seven half-hour episodes, made for $1,240,000: not very funny. I rest my case.
Maybe frugality is the mother of frippery; it’s not like you need a lot of money to be droll. I’m betting that the $281,378 that NZ On Air has stumped up for Great Southern Television – who make Eating Media Lunch – to produce a comedy called the Unauthorised History of New Zealand will be money well spent too.
The reverse is true for drama, probably. The Insiders Guide cost $4,823,000 and worth every penny, although I neglected to tape the final ep and the repeat isn’t until this Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chris Bell has more pressing issues on his mind, like whatever happened to TVSN:
Not that it was ever really worth watching, I hasten to add -- their programming was always insane and never tallied with the Sky TV guide, making it an almost-useless service.
I did have fun betting with my evening visitors that they'd be showcasing crappy "Diamonesque" jewellery if we tried zapping to Channel 45 ... I won every time. I've tried googling TVSN, but can't find anything resembling news. Perhaps you or your readers can shed some light on TVSN's demise.
Actually what I’d like to know is does anyone know anyone at all who uses G-codes, especially on the Sky channels? With most Sky connections being digital, there must be about three people in the whole country who use them to tape sport or that soft porn they have on Sky 1 after midnight.
This is a bit old, but Onfilm has an interview with Caterina De Nave, Michael Galvin, Karl Burnett and Harriet Crampton to mark Shortland Street’s 3000th episode in June. And E! Online has this interview with Seth Green about making Without a Paddle in New Zealand.
A correction to the Letterman list came from Prime: on Monday, David Spade is a guest and Jack White and Loretta Lynn perform. Cool. And here’s the latest from the Whedonverse: Joss is thinking about spin-off movies, something James Marsters mentioned when he was recently on Rove Live – which is worth watching, btw, last Friday Wing was on, singing a selection of Carpenters and Andrew Lloyd Webber numbers. Fantastic.