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Posted at 4:01PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

2010? Sound's like something an opthamologist would say.

Commiserations on the Achilles injury. I went and broke my ankle by getting the skill/speed ratio wrong whilst mountainbiking the day after Boxing day and have been similarly on my arse ever since. A great way to ruin a summer. Should be fully recovered sometime in June.

(for the MD's out there... Weber C + fracture of antero-medial tibia, with severed tibialis posterir and flexor digitorum longus tendons ftw.)

Posted at 4:27PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Prime is the home of vampires, werewolves and ghosts: season one of Being Human screens this year

Oo, promise? Cause I could do with some bandwidth back.

Posted at 4:58PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Am I the only person who sees massive parallels between Glee and Ryan Murphy's earlier attempt at high school satire in Popular?

Life isn't as rosy for jocks as people might assume ... football captain surprisingly artistically talented ... popularity of cheerleader plummets after being kicked off the squad ... football quarterback knocks up girlfriend and they live together in basement? etc. etc.

The big entertainment story for me so far this year is the late night war. I suspect we're both really #teamletterman, but just following it on the web has me feeling like a part of history =)

Posted at 5:34PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Speaking of Ryan Murphy, what ever happened to Nip/Tuck on 2?

Posted at 5:45PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

I don't know what to think about this scene in Glee last week with the Deaf choir. Is it tokenistic? Are the choir all Deaf or just actors like the kid in the wheelchair? Some are just using their hands and not their faces, which is a major part of sign language communication. If they are a real Deaf choir why do they need to be helped to provide sound? (Probably it's only me that worries about things like this.)

Got the first series of Big Bang Theory for Christmas. Great entertainment for these winter days.

Posted at 6:01PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

So Being Human is about

three apparent twenty-something characters sharing a house in Bristol, trying to live a normal social life, despite being a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire respectively

Yep normal humans doing normal things.
Now if you want normal try living in a house with a pothead, a P freak and a junkie.
Ghost's, werewolf's, vampire's......pffffft.

Twenty something's are they the new thirty something's?

Posted at 6:37PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Am I the only person who sees massive parallels between Glee and Ryan Murphy's earlier attempt at high school satire in Popular?

Nope, not just you - definitely very similar, and the same strange mixture of outrageous, hilarious, brilliant, snarky episodes with inconsistent "lesson" episodes. Popular was such a great program, but I don't think America was ready for it at that time - but they seem to love Glee! (Me too, just quietly)

Posted at 6:49PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Got the first series of Big Bang Theory for Christmas. Great entertainment for these winter days.

We're just into the second season, and while I enjoy it a great deal, it definitely suffers from a few characterisation issues - notably Leonard's inconsistent people skills (+20 whenever the episode demans he play straight man to Sheldon, -20 whenever it doesn't) and the female characters, who are really quite badly written, even for a show where everyone is a stereotype to some degree.

But, at the same time, it is very funny - even if I find myself agreeing with Sheldon's point of view somewhat more than I suspect the writers intended...

I don't know what to think about this scene in Glee last week with the Deaf choir. Is it tokenistic? Are the choir all Deaf or just actors like the kid in the wheelchair? Some are just using their hands and not their faces, which is a major part of sign language communication. If they are a real Deaf choir why do they need to be helped to provide sound? (Probably it's only me that worries about things like this.)

Not just you. Glee does suffer from tokenism quite a lot of the time; the gay guy is extremely femme and fashion-conscious, the Asian girl is quirky, the Jewish family watch Schindler's List...and while there's a degree to which this is all self-satirising, there's a degree to which it's not, and it's worth noticing when they fall into those traps. I'm not sure this was one, but I know very little about the deaf (or Deaf) community, so it's not really my call.

Posted at 6:57PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Welcome back, Fiona. It has been too long.

Am I the only person who sees massive parallels between Glee and Ryan Murphy's earlier attempt at high school satire in Popular?

Freaks and Geeks, too? Interesting that parents I have talked to tend to like Glee more than their offspring (such is the case in our family). Maybe it is how adults would like teens to be--articulate, talented, forgiving and fun?

Posted at 7:05PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Save the cheerleader, save the world? What kills Glee for me, apart from excessive hamminess at times, is the auto-tune over-dub. Can't sing? Don't.

Posted at 7:39PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Good to see you are posting again Fiona

When your partner (The Owner as he is sometimes called) mentioned you had blown your Achillies playing tennis, post chistmas I just felt sick for you. Been there, done that etc

The up side is you should have more time to post?
So let's hear more

Posted at 8:10PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

If they are a real Deaf choir why do they need to be helped to provide sound?

Easy - so blind viewers can sing along.

Posted at 8:25PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

What kills Glee for me, apart from excessive hamminess at times, is the auto-tune over-dub. Can't sing? Don't.

It does kill the mood somewhat when Corey Monteith talks about he's just like Finn and never had any singing training and we're all thinking "Dude. That coudn't be any more painfully obvious."

Posted at 8:36PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Something funny for you while you recover.

http://www.youtube.com/user/anonykai#p/u/16/9nYvWMF1boQ

Shappi Khorsandi is hilarious she starts at 4.00

Posted at 9:50PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Are the choir all Deaf or just actors like the kid in the wheelchair?

There's some info here about that; also, it seems that Ryan Murphy thinks he's really going into bat for the disabled community all round. Guess it's just in that glib but occasionally meaningful Glee way.

Posted at 10:05PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Oh the humanity. The tearful tragedy and the heart-warming bravery of it all. Let's not mention that they needed a real wheelie to perform the dance moves rather than the fake ex-boyband one. Murphy is a prize douche if he thinks that's helping.

Posted at 10:09PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Fascinating, thanks Fiona. Unfortunately, I missed the Wheels episode. Wonder if the actor with Downs gets a real part in the future.

Posted at 10:26PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Some local wheelie dancin goodness as positive antidote.

Posted at 10:43PM on 24 Jan 10. Permalink.

Modern Family started well, I thought, and I managed some genuine belly laughs. Then the dad got going, and it was funny for a minute, and then he was like the cringe who stole Christmas. Still, see how it develops. Saved a bit when he shot himself in the foot.

Posted at 12:55AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

Not just you. Glee does suffer from tokenism quite a lot of the time; the gay guy is extremely femme and fashion-conscious, the Asian girl is quirky, the Jewish family watch Schindler's List...

Well, at least this time Ryan Murphy hired an out dyke to play the bitter and twisted butch villian. It's up to you whether that's progress.

(At least she wasn't a PE teacher, I guess...)

Posted at 1:20AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

Modern Family started well, I thought, and I managed some genuine belly laughs.

I don't see it being something I'd feel I need to watch, but it was okay.

The new episode of The Simpsons, however, just seemed to be missing humour.

Freaks and Geeks, too?

Both good, certainly, but the parallels less so. That said, I've just got the DVDs, so I guess I'll be able to reacquaint myself =)

Posted at 6:46AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

The new episode of The Simpsons, however, just seemed to be missing humour.

That episode was written by the Knocked Up / Superbad / Pineapple Express / etc. team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. I found it about as funny as those films (ie not very). As much as anything, that ep. was notable, IMO, for retreading a lot of old jokes and situations.

Frankly, The Simpsons has been going downhill for so long, I just can't wait for it to die; they are ruining their leacacy. For me, seasons four and five was the peak, and pretty much each season since (21st, now) has been a bit less great than the previous.

Posted at 8:28AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

The big entertainment story for me so far this year is the late night war. I suspect we're both really #teamletterman, but just following it on the web has me feeling like a part of history =)

Really? It had me feeling like actual news value and insider schadenfreude at watching the television equivalent of drunks fighting in the parking lot of the pub after closing got unacceptably confused. So, two widely unwatched men on the least watched network (which appears to be run by people who couldn't arrange the proverbial field trip to a brewery) is "history" because...?

Frankly, The Simpsons has been going downhill for so long, I just can't wait for it to die; they are ruining their leacacy.

Nope -- as long as The Simpsons is on air, there's no room for Fox to greenlight Seth MacFarlane to pinch off another load of mean-spirited poo gags. Seriously, The Cleveland Show is painful -- though if you've got a higher tolerance for pervasive racism than me, C4 has another keeper.

Posted at 8:51AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

Well, at least this time Ryan Murphy hired an out dyke to play the bitter and twisted butch villian. It's up to you whether that's progress.

(At least she wasn't a PE teacher, I guess...)

If you want to be extremely generous you could argue it's interesting to see a lead antagonist with a more traditionally male role/lines being a woman, but you probably don't. (I only do part of the time, to be fair.)

Posted at 9:02AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

If you want to be extremely generous you could argue it's interesting to see a lead antagonist with a more traditionally male role/lines being a woman, but you probably don't.

I do -- and love Jane Lynch's angular presence (and Swiss watch comic timing) to distraction. But Murphy has this weird track record of casting lesbians as evil twisted and bitter, man-hating bitch cheerleaders. (Tammy Lynn Michaels was E.B.C. Nicole Julian on Popular, and also very heavily closeted until she got involved with Melissa Etheridge, one media dyke you can't really date from inside a glass closet.)

Posted at 9:54AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

But Murphy has this weird track record of casting lesbians as evil twisted and bitter, man-hating bitch cheerleaders.

I'm not really familiar with his earlier work, so that's new to me - but weird is definitely the word.

Posted at 10:07AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

I don't know what to think about this scene in Glee last week with the Deaf choir. Is it tokenistic?

Ok I'm going to reveal how simplistic I am. I loved the scene and cried both times I watched it. I appreciate that it's likely they are actors (as opposed to real people) and I did cringe when the Glee members joined in, which in real life I would think was horribly rude.

But for me, the scene worked, the combination of the actors (deaf or not) and the song, because it is one of the truly great songs, just worked.

Glee is not even remotely real life, the characters are caricatures and played for laughs and tears and I don't demand more of them. Sometimes they deliver more and that's a bonus for me.

I guess to answer the question I'd say I didn't "think" about it I just enjoyed it.

Posted at 10:22AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

Nope -- as long as The Simpsons is on air, there's no room for Fox to greenlight Seth MacFarlane to pinch off another load of mean-spirited poo gags. Seriously, The Cleveland Show is painful...

Spoke too soon.

Frankly, The Simpsons has been going downhill for so long, I just can't wait for it to die ... For me, seasons four and five was the peak, and pretty much each season since (21st, now) has been a bit less great than the previous.

I'd have said four through nine, but it hasn't just been a slow decline. I've really like a number of episodes in seasons 19 and 20.

Posted at 10:34AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

I don't know what to think about this scene in Glee last week with the Deaf choir. Is it tokenistic?

I can normally accept silly cheesy emotional heart-string pulling, but even that was too much for me. Not a Glee watcher however, so maybe it fits in context better.

Posted at 10:37AM on 25 Jan 10. Permalink.

So, two widely unwatched men on the least watched network (which appears to be run by people who couldn't arrange the proverbial field trip to a brewery) is "history" because...?

Because ... The Tonight Show has been on the air for more than 50 years. It has a place in American history...

... as does Letterman.