Tag Archives: TV

Next winner of X-Factor?

  By Niamh | August 24, 2009 – 11:17 am | Music, The Culch, TV
6 Comments

I’ll admit I did not watch X-Factor on Saturday (or Sunday either) but since Saturday I have heard rumbles and rumours about how great this guy Danyl Johnson was. So I searched for him on YouTube…Wow! This guy has an amazing voice and such stage presence, such confidence! The cynic in me is saying it looks like he had a fair bit of rehearsal on that stage but sure what do I know?! Listen and enjoy anyway, he’s incredible! You can watch other auditions from Saturday night on the X-Factor’s YouTube channel.

Were you ever told not to paint with your fingers?

  By darraghdoyle | August 18, 2009 – 5:56 pm | The Arts, The Culch, TV
5 Comments

This possibly one of the most amazing art pieces I’ve ever seen in my life. Artis that funny thing that means so so much and means nothing all at once. People will look up to the paint splatterers but down on the street artists, up to those who have been to art college but down on those who have been drawing for years and years. Up tho those on TV but down on those who have sold art to fans and friends and neighbours for years. It’s a funny one. Equally too, we look at those who queue for hours for shows like Britain’s Got Talent. What, other than tabloid headlines and 15 felleting minutes of fame could they offer, especially to the art world? That video is for a testament to all those people, like me, who don’t know what art is but know what they like. The next … There’s more →

Why So Series? One Season Wonders Part 1

  By Sinéad | August 5, 2009 – 7:58 pm | Featured Post, The Culch, TV
9 Comments

Veering slightly away from the concept of cheap and cheerful TV boxsets, but if you have a multi-region DVD player or download your TV shows (either from iTunes etc.) then you might be interested in these “One Season Wonders”. There are a huge number of TV shows that have gone under the radar because they’ve only survived one season in the US, thus never surviving long enough to be syndicated here. Usually when a TV show gets cancelled it’s justified, but there are quite a number of gems in the rough out there. One of my biggest “secret shame” genres of TV/film is the American teen or college dramas and they don’t come any better than the likes of Freaks & Geeks or My So Called Life. I can remember watching this show as a teenager and completely and utterly swooning over Jared Leto, much in the same way girls … There’s more →

The first episode of The Byrne Ultimatum with Jason Byrne

  By darraghdoyle | July 29, 2009 – 5:50 pm | Comedy, Featured Post, The Culch, TV
10 Comments

I’ve been in TV audiences before. The Late Late Show, Questions and Answers, Tubridy, The Panel, Blackboard Jungle and even Jason Byrne‘s own show a few years ago (the Christmas episode where we sang “Chocolate Bin” to the tune of Christmas carols) , but I have rarely laughed as much out loud nor enjoyed a TV show recording as much as I did last night for the first episode of The Byrne Ultimatum. It was only during the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival this year that I realised just how funny Jason Byrne was and I really hoped he’s get his own show. I realise he’s had them – Anonymous and The Jason Byrne Show among others – but he has a wonderful way of looking at Irish society, culture, the things we used to do and how we used to do them.

Why So Series: Spaced

  By Lottie | July 21, 2009 – 12:05 am | Featured Post, The Culch, TV
6 Comments

Show: Spaced Starring: Jessica Hynes (Stevenson), Simon Pegg & Nick Frost Channel: Channel 4 Genre: Sitcom First Aired: 24th September 1999 Concluded: 13th April 2001 The Story: Meet Daisy (Jessica Hynes-Stevenson) and Tim (Simon Pegg), both down on their luck and out on their arses at the end of two disastrous relationships. A chance meeting in a greasy spoon results in Daisy & Tim, previous strangers, shacking up together as a make-believe couple in order to get a great apartment which stipulates that only couples need apply. Background: Pegg and Stevenson are not only the stars but the writers of the series with Edgar Wright directing all 14 episodes. “Spaced” is heavily laden with pop culture references and according to Pegg (& wikipedia) the US TV show Northern Exposure, with it’s frequent use of fantasy sequences was one of the key influences on the show. The pair pitched the show as … There’s more →

Why So Series? Frasier

  By Sinéad | July 1, 2009 – 10:51 pm | Featured Post, The Culch, TV
11 Comments

Why So Series is a weekly feature on DVD boxsets, to guide your summer viewing… Frasier has recently been heavily syndicated on digital tv, becoming almost as pervasive as the Simpsons and Friends. I’ve caught the occasional episode with Jen, who has never watched it before and had no idea that it was a spin-off of Cheers, which just goes to show how strong it is as a standalone series. For anyone that’s never caught a few episodes (have you been living under a rock?) a literal description of the show is deceptively dull. It revolves around the life of an effeminate radio Psychiatrist who gets divorced; moves back to his hometown, and then has his father Martin (a retired cop) and his dog Eddie move in with him, he also hires an eccentric English live-in physical therapist/caretaker Daphne for the father and is visited regularly by his equally effeminate … There’s more →

Gunning for Redemption

  By Robocons | June 29, 2009 – 1:36 pm | Featured Post, The Culch, TV
1 Comment

From the opening credits you know this is something different. Johnny Cash’s gravelly version of God’s Gonna Cut You Down sets the tone from the off for new major four-part drama Father and Son, co-produced by RTE and ITV. Written by the Emmy award winning Frank Deasy and directed by Brian Kirk, the drama features a celebrated international cast which includes Dougray Scott, Sophie Okonedo, Stephen Rea and Flora Montgomery, and focuses on the gun culture of inner-city life. Set in Manchester and Dublin, Father and Son tells the story of Michael O’Connor (Dougray Scott), an ex- gangland criminal now living in Ireland, who returns to England when his estranged son is charged with murder. Admittedly, when I was first given a copy of Father and Son for review, I was rather dubious. Despite the high calibre cast, it crossed my mind that this was just another mini-series designed to … There’s more →

“I’m running Sainsbury’s…”

  By Conformist No 2 | June 23, 2009 – 10:16 pm | The Culch
4 Comments

Well, you’re not, obviously. But the guy who is, is the most unbelievable twat. I’ve never seen someone so up his own arse and yet so matter of fact about it. He’s spent two full minutes explaining to us what “a helicopter view” is… “It’s as if you were in a helicopter you see, so you’d get an overview. It’s like you’re above everything and can see what is going on…” and so on. For two minutes. Later he explained to poor innocent trainee guy, that running a business is like driving a bus – and either people would be on the bus – i.e. working with you, or not on the bus… I’m sure you can work it out, but just in case he explained it anyway. The pitch I think for the show, is that lower level workers get the chance to be managers. This week, it’s some … There’s more →

Why So Series: Life On Mars

  By Lottie | June 23, 2009 – 10:04 pm | Featured Post, The Culch, TV
11 Comments

Show: Life On Mars Starring: John Simm and Philip Glenister. Channel: BBC ONE Genre: Best described as a sci-fi police drama First Aired: 9th January 2006 Concluded: 10th April 2007 The Story: “My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever’s happened, it’s like I’ve landed on a different planet. Now maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.” And so it began, one of the most greatest TV shows the BBC has produced in years. Sam Tyler (Simm, of Doctor Who/The Devil’s Whore fame) is our tortured protagonist. One moment Sam is a rising star in bureaucratic politically correct British Police Force, the next he’s lying flat on his back in a warped corrupt Manchester City. Oh and it’s 1973. Sam is a great principal character. He’s a … There’s more →

Grey’s Anatomy – Poignant? Pained? Puerile?

  By Conformist No 2 | June 22, 2009 – 10:31 pm | The Culch, TV
11 Comments

I’m torn sometimes… It’s a pretty straightforward formula, the old medical drama…. Casualty is still the stone cold classic… Old lady reaching for toast, trips over terrier, sets house on fire and next thing you know 14 people are in ambulances, heading for the one ward where all the cameras are… The American shows are more about the people in the hospital, ever since ER, it’s always been about the doctors, the nurses and the interaction between the two…And the hotter the doctor / nurse combinations, all the better… It also is about the adrenalin rush, the cut and spurt of blood, the shouting and the drama that the high speed life saving creates. ER is probably modern TV’s formative medical drama, although I have a soft spot for what is now probably the hopelessly slow and old fashioned St Elsewhere. No one seems to show that one on the … There’s more →

Tellybets – which new US TV shows will be hit or miss?

  By Amanda Fennelly | June 22, 2009 – 8:32 pm | The Culch, TV
6 Comments

Now that all the American TV networks have released their autumn schedules, it’s time to take a look at what new shows will be hitting their screens this coming season. Because there’s a good chance that many of them will end up on Irish and UK terrestrial channels or on cable/satellite over the next year or so, you need to know what to look out for and what’s not worth investing your time, heart and soul into. Over the next month or two, we’ll be concentrating on a different US network each time and examining what’s new in its line-up. We’ll give you a basic run-down of each new show and predict if it will be a hit or miss for that network and if you should bother watching it, should it be picked up on this side of the Atlantic. So let’s get started. To kick us off, we’re … There’s more →

Why So Series: The Wire

  By Lottie | June 10, 2009 – 9:47 am | Featured Post, The Culch
8 Comments

“I had such fucking hopes for us.” -McNulty How do I summarise the The Wire? Well, I can’t. In the simplest terms, it was so good that I watched all five series in a warm flush of excitement over a period of no more than a five weeks. Set and produced in Baltimore, I think it’s universally agreed that The Wire is The Greatest American TV series ever made. It’s insightful, honest, brutally dark yet comically entertaining. A true testament to the power and talent of American Televisions that makes other TV shows weep. And yet it’s one of those shows, like many great BBC/ITV series (which will be covered at a later date) that few seem to have seen on TV but everyone is catching the fever as it hits DVD. The plot: Created by David Simon, The Wire was originally to be a police drama based on the … There’s more →

The monkeys have landed in Elstree

  By Robocons | June 5, 2009 – 10:24 pm | Big Brother, The Culch, TV
5 Comments

Last night saw the return of unrealistic reality freak show Big Brother. A sombre Davina McCall appeared on the screen in breaking news style fashion, delivering her grim message across the airwaves: the circus is once again back in town. Now in its tenth season, the fact that Channel 4 continues to churn out the same old tosh year in year out is nothing short of baffling. But churn they do, and tosh is still very much the order of the day. So, once again, the crowds gathered at Elstree studios, and we were introduced to the new batch of performing monkeys. Perhaps it wouldn’t be fair to cast assumptions on the Big Brother sixteen so early in the series. But lets not dwell on what’s fair. As usual it’s a mixed bunch, and as usual most of them can fit into one of four categories: thick, tits, likeable and … There’s more →