CouchSlobs - A Monument To Human Idleness

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Due to the blasted strike our TV schedule is completely topsy turvy. Not to mention due to the blasted strike we will be seeing less episodes of our favorite shows. But as I promised myself I will try and be positive the good news is we still have some House to look forward to. That and 3 hours of Lost finale. I know, isn’t that great? If this season is anything to go by it should be spectacular. I have scoured some of my favorite TV blogs to see what we can expect next week when our favorite shows commence. But beware its spoilers galore so thread at your own peril.
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Oh Lord, yesterday I have read a short blurb about the latest actor to join the cast of the latest Harry Potter movie. Jim Broadbent, who will play the character of professor Horace Slughorn has gone public that he is not really a Harry Potter fan and has only read 2 of JK Rowling’s books.
What irked me really to write this rant (and not only because I am quite a big fan of Harry Potter’s books, I have read the last one in about 48 hours) is the fact some of the actors that have been cast to play various roles have went on record to express their dislike/ambivalence/disinterest in the saga that has captured the imagination of children (and a good number of adults) worldwide.
Ok I am biased, I know.

But, if you were hired to do a job (regardless what it is) is it really beneficial that you go off slagging the people who have hired you? I don’t see that passing the mustard in any other business. And surely we can argue that actors are artists and whatnot, but why then accept a role to begin with? At least Garry Oldman was up front enough to say he is doing it for a paycheck. And because his kids will think he is cool. This nonsense I cannot get over it. And its coming from Ralph Fiennes, honestly how far up your arse your head has got to be? Yes we get it, you are a “serious” actor heaven forbid anyone would think otherwise. Tssssssss
I think Broadbents and Fiennes of the world could take a lesson from the late Ralph Harris. Or better yet Alan Rickman. That is how you do it.

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You know we have been taking part in the “So Say We All” BSG blog carnival over at the Remote Access.

I cannot let our wonderful host Amy down, here you can find the 2nd edition of BSG blog carnival and I am happy to report we are having even more contributors this time around (I guess I am not the only one embracing the geek within

There is all sorts of goodness and wonderful discussion topics such as who might be the last Cylon model (wouldnt we all want to know), comparison between BSG and Deep Space and even a cool BSG widget.

But I dont want to give everything away, so head over to Remote Access and check it out yourself.

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I’m sorry but I cannot bring myself to write anything coherent today. I thought about should I share this or not (I don’t want to go all morbid on you) however since I have shared with all of you my Stephen Fry appreciation and my unseemly crush, the travels we have been on not to mention our embarrassing TV confessions I thought I might as well. Back to regular programming tomorrow I promise.

Our family dog passed away last night. And even though he was old (17 whopping years) and even though you try to prepare yourself for the inevitable it does not mean it is any less sad when it does happen eventually. He has been with us since my brother was 10 and I was 14.
Astor died peacefully in his sleep and is survived by his loving family and two of his cat compadres.

To his very last day he still perked up at the sight of chicken, he had all of his own teeth and he still wagged his tail. Impressive record for a 17-year old dog. I miss you already.

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Over the past couple of weeks or protagonist, Mr. Fry, found himself in a middle of controversy relating to two Twinings Tea ads he stars in. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the whole case, the ads (you can see them below) were accused of presenting negative stereotype of a black man as sexually promiscuous. I will not go into the merit of these charges simply because a) they were ruled on, b) the point of this blog is to have fun and not be the authority on racism and c) I think they were total bullocks. Wait a minute, was argument c) a comment on the case? I’ll have to have my people check that and get back to you!

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Dear faithful readers, happy Stephen Appreciation Monday!

As you can see from the previous post appreciation abounds today. But this is nothing new here. Anyhow for today’s edition of Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday I have collected some news and tidbits about our lovely Mr. Fry that I think you might find interesting.

However first of all I have a bone to pick with Digg. Now bare with me I know I am technically challenged but this one I don’t understand. Since I never was too much into the whole podcast thing I never paid much attention to podcast section on Digg. But along came Mr. Fry’s podgram and of course now I am exploring the media and looking for podcasts that might seem interesting. And while I really digg Diggnation and the lovely boys how come Mr. Fry’s podgram is not even listed on Digg?!
Its number one podcast on iTunes UK hello! And its really good. When I have tried submitting it on Digg it said it has already been submitted so I thought ok it says its beta and whatnot. Maybe it will take a while. But now 3 days later and it is still not there.
Come on Digg lads, get Mr. Fry listed already so we can digg him!
The man is the original Apple fanboy, he played Daddy Dietrich in V for Vendetta not to mention his podgrams are funny, intelligent and interesting! And number one podcast download on iTunes UK. But I have mentioned that already Will someone do something about that? Soon? Thank you!

Ok bone picked. Now back to the regular programming.
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Four months ago in the midst of the writers strike I wrote about this new show Eli Stone. Honestly at that point I would have watched just about anything, which I proved with the first ever reality show I followed - the infamous Project Runway. To further inflame my passion for this show, the writer and executive producer Marc Guggenheim left a comment thanking for the review. This short single sentence comment meant a world to me and Berta, our nagging was actually read by someone from the industry we love and follow.

Through the months I kept quiet about Eli Stone, primarily because I was on the fence regarding the quality of the show (I though Ally McBeal type visions were the real low point). Plus my prediction of Dragon got me worried and two CAT scans later I’m assured I’m aneurysm free. But now after last episode “Waiting For That Day” I can say: I Approve of Eli Stone’s Message. The show had it’s childhood diseases and I realize not all episodes can be seat-gripping, but when you take into perspective the whole session so far, I can honestly say: “Mr. Guggenheim you have yourself a keeper!” Please don’t frack it up, I hate eating my own words!

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Darren Rowse of Problogger came up with a wonderful idea of Blogger Appreciation Day. The gist of it is that it is a kind of Pay it Forward where you the blogger in question say why you appreciate another blog or blogger. And since we have been running our Stephen Fry Appreciation Mondays for a while now, we do love to appreciate so without further ado I present to you blogs Couchslobs love to appreciate (and don’t worry Stephen Fry will get his own appreciation post, because he is well Stephen Fry).

Blogs Couchslobs love to appreciate

• The lovely crew at Shiny Media’s TV Scoop who keep us up to date with all the latest in British TV, who keep us on our toes with their Midweek Mindbenders and who made me feel less of a freak for not being crazy about Pushing Daisies (ta for that

• Lovely Amy over at Remote Access - the brain behind “So Say We All” BSG Blog Carnival who made me embrace the geek within and finally take a plunge and take part in a blog carnival. And not any old blog carnival but BSG blog carnival, beyond cool. Lovely Amy is also responsible for keeping the Jericho fire going (another one of my favorite shows) and for that we appreciate her.

• Now off to my favorite House blogs - Barbara over at Blog Critics with her “Welcome to the end of thought process, House MD” .Her wonderful and detailed analysis of another one of my favorites House is always a pleasure and a delight to read. Barbara does not miss a beat and trust me she does not do recaps, these should be called elaborate essays rather then recaps - a must read for any true House aficionado.

• And Lynn over at “House is Right” who has all the latest promos, trailers, clips and some dare I say wonderful photos of our favorite doctor Lynn we appreciate you for keeping us up-to-date.

• Wonderful Whitney Matheson over at Pop Candy whose blog is my daily guilty pleasure because surely I dont need to know what is happening with MTV’s Real World, what Kristen Bell is doing and how Moonlight fans are trying to save their show by organizing a blood drive. Not to mention the Lost discussions are the best ever. When I grow up I’d love to do what you do

• And speaking of Lost, last but not least Jorge Garcia (yes as in Hurley) and his blog Dispatches from the Island which has got to be the best celebrity blog ever. It is funny, entertaining and it restored my faith there are still actors who do not take themselves too seriously. Hurley rocks, but Jorge is even better.

So there you have it. And who do you appreciate?

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So here is the top 10 list of the most popular articles on Couchslobs this week.

• This one is a bit predictable - 16 hottest ladies of Sci-Fi TV shows

• I was a bit surprised at this one, even though it has been months since I first posted it the original Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday is going strong (its a bit funny Stephen Fry right after the hot ladies well hello he must be much more appealing then he claims

• 20 famous face and where have we seen them before (more of the naff roles some of our favorite actors had before they hit big - Indiana Jones had a role on Dynasty can you believe it?)

• The best of British crime series

• Battle of TV giants - LA Ink vs Miami Ink

• 14 of my favorite QI clips (whoever is not watching QI well you should it is Quite Interesting after all)

• 55 best British shows ever with clips and quotes

• A little travelogue about our time in the Kingdom country or as it also known East Anglia (some pretty snaps here as well)

• My verbal diarrhea about Altman’s Gosford park

• And last but not least things I have learned watching Battlestar Galatica (how good was the 2nd episode eh?)

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This month marks the opening of what should supposedly be the last season of “Battlestar Galactica” remake series. This makes for a fine excuse to do rather shallow and completely personal analysis of BSG’s virtues and flaws.

Watching “Galactica”, I immediately fell in love with it’s dark look, somber - almost fatalistic - tone and obvious inspirations with the War on Terrorism. But the funny thing I got about BSG is that – strictly speaking – it isn’t much of a hardcore SF story, innit?

Let’s ignore the FTL drive that obligatory plot device of any decent SF series today. But you also have the Cylons - androids who could have been easily replaced with any generic cultural group with unhealthy obsession with religion-approved carnage. And, although Twelve Colonies build spaceships and robots, their generic technology, weaponry and even clothes are almost laughably similar to our own.

This lack of interest into technological future is even more pronounced with the show’s firm focus on interpersonal, political and religious conflicts which have much more to do with the our world today then the potential future of mankind. Add in the mythical prophecies, messiahs and visions that get more frequent as the series goes on, and the viewer gets a feeling that SF elements in BSG are little more than a mere window dressing.

Realizing all that, I asked my self: so, is this a bad thing? No, not really.

“Battlestar Galactica” is space opera and is not particularly interested into technobabble of any kind. Its focus is on the story: the characters, the plot, the challenges and temptations. As such, it normal to see focus on drama instead of technology.

But what BSG does is create a much grittier feel than, say, “Star Wars”. In “Galactica””technology breaks, humans fail and argue and there are no cleancut definitions of good and evil. Even the look of the show mirrors that: it’s all claustrophobic corridors, grey walls and shadows.

And therein lies the genius of the whole show: by making us feel the darkness and imperfection of it’s world; by basing it firmly in our familiar world, “Battlestar Galactica” makes the whole space opera concept that much closer to the viewer. At the end of day, from the first moment new BSG was not about exotic future or possible ramifications of science and technology in the future: it was always about here and now.

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