So Only Fools and Horses, Celebrity Millionaire, Posh and Becks Big Impression, The Queen, Creature Comforts, what did you think of today's offerings that you managed to watch today on the main channels.
In my opinion, Big Impression was a bit mixed, some good impressions but I think the 'Posh and Becks' was getting a bit tiresome 45 minutes later
I saw a bit of Outtake TV this afternoon, seemed a bit funny as did it actually contain that many outtakes. Most clips seemed to be highlights from Weakest Link such as dodgy answers and Anne Robinson classic put-downs. I would have prefered a standard edition with Paul O'Grady
The creature comforts was definally funny, and The Queen was a BBC job this year. Any views on Only Fools..., I wonder if they'll dig it out again next year
Not bad from what I saw. Better than some recent years. Especially good line up on BBC Two this evening with Grumpy Old Men, Room 101, Fast Show, Red Dwarf, TOTP 2 and Later - I'd watch them all if I could be bothered.
The bit of Amelie I saw on C4 looked good too. But no Simpsons on BBC2??
Edit:
Now watched all of Amelie. Fantastic. Well done C4 for showing it on Christmas day.
I think ITV has proved very strong competition for BBC1 this year, which is surprising. Our family actually chose to watch World Idol instead of the traditional Only Fools and Horses.
I watched Top of the Pops, Emmerdale, Corrie and World Idol today - Emmerdale was a bit poor IMO, I mean it was "OK" but disappointing. Corrie and World Idol were really good tonight, excellent schedule on ITV1!
Didnt have much time to watch anything else really what with all the family stuff at Christmas.
I watched Top of the Pops, Emmerdale, Corrie and World Idol today - Emmerdale was a bit poor IMO, I mean it was "OK" but disappointing. Corrie and World Idol were really good tonight, excellent schedule on ITV1!
Didnt have much time to watch anything else really what with all the family stuff at Christmas.
Does your TV only allow you to watch 30 minutes of BBC television a day?
I watched Top of the Pops, Emmerdale, Corrie and World Idol today - Emmerdale was a bit poor IMO, I mean it was "OK" but disappointing. Corrie and World Idol were really good tonight, excellent schedule on ITV1!
Didnt have much time to watch anything else really what with all the family stuff at Christmas.
Does your TV only allow you to watch 30 minutes of BBC television a day?
No, on Tuesdays I watch Holby City - a whole hour.
For most of the day I have watched DVD's mainly Bo Selecta and The Office, but I have to say that the TV today has been very good early evening and prime time.
I watched My Family which was very funny, possibly one of the funniest I have ever seen and as I said in another thread we had a cameo from Richard Whiteley as himself, even funnier when Nick says to him.. "Can I have a P please?" It was very good. Only Fools and Horses though good as it was it wasn't that funny, it was a good script and the acting was great but it didn't make ROFLMAO, though a good ending, the funniest bit when they hear that they've recieved £145,000 each on behalf of Uncle Albert and then Del's phone goes off, it was good but it'll never beat the 1996 Finale. I didn't see all of Alistair McGowan and that was quite funny too, different than usual but good, especially Alistair as "BIG MOIRA", if some of the forum's members didn't see it.
ITV I have to say has been better than other years, I only catched the end of Celebrity Millionaire at teatime and that was very amusing with Foxy and Simon. Coronation Street was very good this year I found it bizzare that Sarah would even go to Gail's for Christmas Day but otherwise good, though Steve's reaction to Tracy's pregnancy was very funny. I watched the first half an hour of World Idol and it was okay, just like Pop Idol but had a certain Eurovision thing to it. Though I felt sorry for the girl representing the Pan-Arab Pop Idol, as none of the judges understood her but she had the guts to sing and she sung well. But I don't think the first guy would win, was he the German guy? But he wasn't great, as I said I didn't see it all but apparently Will Young didn't do to well.
...Only Fools and Horses though good as it was it wasn't that funny, it was a good script and the acting was great but it didn't make ROFLMAO, though a good ending, the funniest bit when they hear that they've recieved £145,000 each on behalf of Uncle Albert and then Del's phone goes off, it was good but it'll never beat the 1996 Finale.
I have to agree - OFAH was quite disappointing (expecting Square Eyes to have a severe pop at it in the near future). The story was OK, but the comedy was mostly bad, very bad, cringeworthy in places. It's a shame as the episode in principle could have been so much better. Out of this trilogy, the 2002 "Strangers on the Shore" christmas episode was by far the best, and the only one that compares with the mainstream OFAH of 1996 and before.
Unlike what I expect most people to say, I don't want OFAH to end here. I think that John Sullivan and the BBC should do the decent thing and bring it back to the levels of how it used to be, it's the proper thing to do.
Not wishing to sound too arrogant/cynical - but I thought this year's terrestrial offering was on the whole, terrible..
BBC1 + ITV in my opinion offered very little that you wouldn't see the rest of the year, and the overused phrase 'dumbing-down' was probably invented for today.
I'll start with the negatives and ITV:
Who Wants to be a Millionaire - do people really *still* want to watch this? Surely a very tired format by now, celebrity special or not.
World Idol (ditto)
Coronation Street / Emmerdale: I while since I've watched Coronation Street and never seen Emmerdale - so others can evaluate the quality of the Christmas Day episodes - however seems a bit desperate scheduling two soaps on one channel back to back.
Meanwhile on BBC:
Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special (seems slightly desperate that they put this on every Christmas - if its so popular why's it not being shown during the rest of the year?)
Top of the Pops - I'd argue that TOTP is far less appealing now given the ridiculous amount (5-6 weeks?) of airplay most singles get before they actually go on sale - i.e. by the time they are in the charts you are already fed up of the song - perhaps that's more of a complaint with the UK music industry rather than TOTP - though frankly I don't really see what's "All New" about the format.
Out-Take TV: sorry but just think this is the ultimate in cheap TV and Paul O'Grady, and/or the script - makes it even worse. Tend to find whenever I end up watching a show like this I'd rather just see the clips back to back and get it over with (though Wogan suffered from that as well..)
Stuart Little: I am not a film critic so am not going to try and analyse this or the other films on the terrestrial channels.
I note Channel 4 packed much of their schedule with films though - probably a sensible move, rather than filling them with the crap that was everywhere else (am I sounding really bitter and twisted yet?)
Only Fools and Horses: I agree with what was said elsewhere - these three extra episodes really didn't work. There were a few decent jokes this year, but on the whole it seemed to be lacking a plot - was I alone in finding this whole Marlene thing totally unbelievable? Seemed like they were desperately trying to tie up all the loose ends, and I could see the Uncle Albert inheritance thing coming a mile off, nor did I think that sequence actually merited any of the canned (or maybe genuine?) laughter it got. And was Rodney's book idea really that funny?
Things I liked:
My Family Christmas Special (BBC1) - just very well written and performed.
Christmas Night with the Stars (BBC1) - not nearly as bad as I was expecting, very funny in places and I stuck with it for most of the show.
Room 101 with Jonathan Ross (BBC2) - him+Paul Merton was always going to be good really..
Smack the Pony Specials (C4) - actually a repeat, but still very funny.
Knowing Me Knowing Yule (UKG2) - nice to schedule this on Christmas Day - fans of Alan Partridge will know this is his final TV show before getting axed.
Beagle 2 documentary (Discovery Channel) - really interesting. Weren't channel 4 meant to be doing coverage on Christmas Day up until a week / two weeks ago - can't find any trace of it on Digiguide now.
(incidentally the attempt to receive the carrier signal via Jodrell Bank has just failed, for any of you were interested).
Channel 5: watched none of this, but I note they had a number of interesting looking documentaries during the afternoon.
Radio: There was loads of good stuff today;
5 Live - Sporting Century
Radio 2 - replay of various live concerts, several special programmes
Radio 4 - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - first ever panto - excellent - apparently all the tickets sold out in just over an hour, Review of the Year with John Humphries, suprisingly interesting programme on how the Carols from Kings have been broadcast each year.
But all in all I thought the terrestrial TV schedule for this year was pretty poor. Granted we have two 'The Office' specials coming up, and a few other decent programmes - but I was genuinely surprised how unappealing it all looked. And New Year's Eve TV is *even worse* this year than it ever has been, virtually nothing "special" and/or LIVE.
Another thing is that BBC1 could be a lot more competitive in peak time with ITV than it usually is, and offer more choice than it does presently, but the whole BBC1 management seems to be dead in the head, the schedulers seem to be incompetent and put programmes in very daft slots, not just around this time of year. I've thought that Heggesey has done a good job mainly over the past few years, but she is starting to mess up. She's already starting to have popular BBC2 programmes moved over to BBC1, rather than commision new programmes, or normal BBC1 programmes, and is relying too much on classics like OFAH. Time for a change me thinks.
This years OFAH was I feel the weakest of the trilogy. I've always considered the revival over the last 3 years to be a big mistake which ruined the original conclusion to the series (and even in 1996 that was very much a wrapping up of an allready retired series - OFAH ended regular production long before 1996). There were some good jokes this year, but viewing these new episodes alongside repeats on UK Gold this week, the episodes over the last 3 years just don't work as well.
I agree that there was no plot, nor has there been ever since they brought the series out of retirement 3 years ago. Basically, the Trotters lost their fortune, then they got back a smaller amount of money which allowed them to carry on. Apart from that, it's just been a load of pointless subplots which ultimately have gone nowhere.
The revelation that Rodney is only Del's half brother was interesting, but ultimately was just built in to add a poignant moment - there was nothing to build up to it, and now that this really is it (i'll loose all respect for the BBC if they make any more) it won't go anywhere either. It didn't advance the plot (not that there was much of one) at all.
The revival had all the elements of classic OFAH (although the iconic yellow 3 wheeler only appeared at the very end), but all in a very higgledy piggledy fashion. These 3 episodes have added nothing to the series as a whole, and destroying the original (and very well crafted) conclusion.
I'll sit down and watch them, and they certainly weren't terrible, but I really feel they were a mistake, and nothing more than ratings chasers at the expense of the series. That they did this does make me wonder what they are going to do next, bring brack One Foot in The Grave?
But then with the older episodes standing up so well to repeat airings, they might as well just rerun an old christmas special, it would still bring the ratings in.
Alistair McGowan was funny - for the first 10 minutes. After that it all became very samey and 45 minutes was too long - I didn't stay to the end.
I stopped watching Eastenders regularly years ago, but did see the christmas day episodes, and they weren't bad. Probably the best thing on the BBC this christmas day.
No opinion on ITV since I didn't watch them, but I did notice they had millionaire on at gone 11PM. A little bit unimaginative there.
