I’m not really the squeamish type. Honestly I’m not. I watched when a friend of mine had her mole removed. With a scalpel. See – not squeamish! But even I am not capable of watching something disgusting and eating at the same time. Can’t be done.  And yesterday I was watching True Blood (I am way behind) and after one vampire too many exploded and there was vampire goo all over the floor… well… it put me right off my doughnut. So not ok (especially since I was just getting my doughnut groove back after the food poisoning).

I thought why not do something useful and compile a list of shows that you should watch without reaching for any food stuff. It goes without saying some of these clips are rather unsavory so you have been warned.

True Blood – I have already mentioned True Blood and how it put me off my doughnuts. Now I know it was sometimes gross to begin with (well it is about vampires) but introducing Maryann, the maenad last season did not help matters any. All that pulling the heart out of people’s chest? So unbecoming. And while before we would get maybe one exploding vampire every five episodes now it seems to be a regular occurence. It’s just icky. And gooey. And gross. See what I mean?

Supernatural – I love the Winchester boys and it is well documented on Couchslobs. But what with demons and demon’s blood, ghosts, vampires and the other assorted monsters we have seen a fair share of grossness over the last five seasons of Supernatural. This scene from season finale comes to mind.

Dexter – if you get squeamish around blood then you should definitely give Dexter a miss. TV’s favorite killer is a blood splatter analyst after all. And there has been a lot of blood. So much blood in fact that I didn’t even register all the chopped up bits and pieces Dexter’s arch rivals left all over the place. That being said – Dexter’s opening credits still make me hungry.

Fringe – oh don’t even get me started on Fringe! But I have come to realize anything Walter Bishop finds cool, interesting and/or fascinating will either give me the heebie jeebies or make me slightly nauseated.

Bottom – for people unfamiliar with Bottom, it is a BBC comedy show staring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as flatmates sharing an apartment in Hammersmith. The series aired in the 90s and it was one of the more repulsive things I have seen. Funny, but gross at the same time.

The X Files – The X Files had a number of monsters but I don’t think any one of them put me off my food. Apart from Eugene Tooms. And I like eating liver *shudder*

Blackadder Goes Forth – Blackadder Goes Forth wasn’t disgusting in general. But then there was Baldrick. Bless I love Baldrick but seriously none could test my gross limits like that man. Remember that coffee incident? (I would have put up a video but it was removed from YouTube unfortunately so down below you can find Baldrick’s recipe for coffee). Ewww. And ewww again.

Blackadder: Now Baldrick, fix me some coffee, and make it taste slightly less like mud this time.
Baldrick: Not easy I’m afraid, Sir
Blackadder: And why is this?
Baldrick: ’cause it is mud. We ran out of coffee 13 months ago
Blackadder: Brilliant. So every time I’ve drunk your coffee for the past 13 months, I have in fact, been drinking, hot mud.
Baldrick: With sugar…
Blackadder: …which makes all the difference
Baldrick: Well, it would if we had any sugar, but we ran out New Years Eve 1915. Since when, I’ve been using sugar substitute…
Blackadder: …Which is?
Baldrick: Dandruff. But I could add some milk this time, or, Saliva
Blackadder: No thank you Baldrick. Call me Mr. Picky, but I think I’ll pass.
Baldrick: That’s probably because you’re mad, sir!
Blackadder: Well, quite!

How Clean Is Your House – have you ever watched How Clean Is Your House? I love me some Kim and Aggie. In each episode they visit one home which is a pigsty and then clean it top to bottom. And the stuff they found in some of these homes – by no means am I a clean freak but this series is beyond disturbing. It’s not just clutter and dust bunnies, it like years old lard in the fridge, ovens and stoves with mice droppings and all of that before they even do a swab test. Then it’s salmonellas and Escherichias all the way.

Kitchen Nightmares – well title says it all, doesn’t it? Roaches and grease and old meat and indistinguishable food stuff. This particular episode will put anyone (ANYONE!) off from eating out for a while.

So tell me dear readers, are there any particular shows that put you off your food? Please share in the comments below.

I am aware we have a good few Doctor Who fans so here are some related news.

Steven Moffat gave an interview for Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival and he said the series will have 13 episodes and be split in two – 7 episodes during the Easter period and then remaining 6 episode during the autumn period. So technically there will be 2 season finales.
He talks some more about the series – you can check out the rest of the interview in the clip below.

Source: The Guardian

I admit I am a bit bitter Matthew Fox didn’t get an Emmy. Nothing against Bryan Cranston and I know it was a tough category and whathaveyou but still.

Anyhow down below you can check out little clip with an exclusive Damon Lindelof gave to Give Me My Remote. LOVE. him. Also make sure to check out GMMR’s YouTube channel.

Source: Give Me My Remote

Image: Lifetime.com

Dear faithful readers,

in case you are not watching Project Runway you will not have a clue what I am on about.

BUT in case any of you are watching Project Runway I simply have to get this out of my system – I heart Tim Gunn

I am trying to find a clip but failing miserably.

Image: BBC.com

Dear faithful readers,

I am still trying to catch up on all of the shows I’ve missed while I was away.

And my Sherlock review is long overdue. If you haven’t seen it already dear readers you simply must. Seriously it is a brilliant piece of telly.

I can understand that for true Holmesians it might seem like utter nonsense to make Holmes a modern man. In fact I remember when I was reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books all those years ago one of the things I loved the most was the setting of Victorian London. For what it is worth (and I’m sure any Anglophiles will appreciate this) there is plenty of London porn (the kind of London porn that makes you want to book that ticket to UK pronto).

But as Mark Gatiss, one of the creators of Sherlock (also appearing in the series as Mycroft Holmes and more importantly the writer for the third episode the Great Game which I absolutely loved) said himself on BBC TV blog:

This may sound like heresy but really it isn’t. Although Steven and I are second to none in loving the flaring gas-lit atmosphere of a lovely old London, it felt as though Sherlock Holmes had become all about the trappings and not the characters.

Also, the original stories are models of their kind. Incredibly modern, dialogue-driven, fast paced and short! What better way to get back to the roots of these fantastic creations than to make Holmes and Watson living, breathing, modern men just as they had been originally?

Dear readers make no mistake it is fast paced, so freaking fast paced and what I loved even more about this modern version of Holmes is that although each episode is hour and a half long they do not let you off the hook for a second – you constantly need to pay attention to the details or you might miss something. Very similar to what I have come to expect from Christopher Nolan and Cuse and Lindelof. And that my dear readers is always (ALWAYS!) a good thing.
The dialogues are a joy to witness and I did love the dynamic between Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

I have seen Martin Freeman in different stuff before but Cumberbatch was a mystery. He did deliver. He managed to make Holmes part annoying, part stand off-ish, even Asperger-ish in a way but still dry and witty as hell. And he got that Holmes’ fluidity down to a pat without turning himself into a copy of other actors that portrayed Holmes before him. (OT but I still love Jeremy Brett to bits as his version of Holmes is the one I grew up with).

I loved the score by Michael Price and David Arnold and costume design by Ray Holman and Sarah Arthur (which funnily enough sparked a new fashion trend).

To make it a more interactive experience BBC launched four websites connected with the show – The Science of Deduction, John Watson blog, Connie Price message boards and Molly Hopper website – a good attempt by old auntie Beeb to make the whole experience a bit more interactive and add another layer to the story.

Since we do get a lot of American readers you might be wondering where and when you can catch Sherlock. The series will air on PBS on October 24th under their Masterpiece banner.

Anyhow check the trailer below and in case you have seen Sherlock do let me know what you thought in the comments.

my parents are on holiday. And my mum called me today and proceeded to inform me that my dad (of all people) has started watching soaps. After we had a good giggle at his expense (as one does) I had to see for myself what in the world is he watching. If it isn’t obvious I haven’t watched any soaps in a while. It seems he got hooked on Binbir Gece which seems to be a modern version of Scheherazade.

But just a few weeks ago a friend and I had a giggle at all the soaps that we used to watch when we were younger (OT but isn’t it astonishing how all twists and turns of the plot seem totally normal while you are into and make no sense at all in hindsight?!) So I’ll try and not be judg-y about it. Operative word being I’ll try

Be as it may – here are some of the soaps I have watched over the years. Feel free to chip in the comments with all of your favorites.

Rosa Salvaje

Rosa Salvaje was the first telenovela I ever watched. I just started learning Spanish and we used to ditch the class the watch the show. Which was sort of counterproductive but I remember we justified it at the time as preparation for our class trip to Spain. I do have to admit it made the communication with a group of Spaniards that were staying in our hotel a bit easier Rosa is poor with a kind heart and bit of a tomboy who falls in a love with Ricardo, a wealthy bachelor who also has a twin brother (of course he has a twin brother, they all do). Rosa Salvaje served as a template for many telenovelas to come. Which I’m not so sure is a good thing.

Santa Barbara

Oh Santa Barbara – now that shit had to be taped because heaven forbid if you missed an episode. There were Eden and Cruz (although I couldn’t quite understand Cruz appeal with his teary eyes and quivery lip) but I had a horrible crush on Mason (played by Lane Davies). Now he was hot. And grumpy.

Esmeralda

I only watched bits and pieces of Esmeralda and even then mostly by proxy since my friend was into it so much. Children swapped at birth, Esmeralda is blind and of course years later they meet and fall in love much to the chagrin of their immediate family. You get the gist.

Escrava Isaura

Starring Lucelia Santos as Isaura, a white skinned black slave during the Brazilian empire Escrava Isaura was based on the 19th century book written by Bernardo Guimarães. Series was hugely popular and it aired in 80 countries worldwide (first soap to air in Russia and one of the first foreign programs to be allowed to be shown in China). I didn’t watch the whole bit but I did love the music for the opening credits.

Marisol

Did you know Enrique Iglesias did the music for the opening credits? I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to live another day without that bit of trivia. Marisol is of course poor, she sells paper flowers to make ends meet and has a horrible scar she got from falling on a broken mirror as a child. She falls in love with a wealthy man Jose Andres who might or might not be related to her. Since I couldn’t watch Marisol during the week because of school I had to catch the re-runs on the weekend. And my grandad bless him manage to spoil the last 2 episodes for me. Tsk!

Dynasty

I don’t think there is one person growing up in the 80s who did not watch Dynasty. Please the Alexis – Krystle catfights alone were enough to make me tune in. I wrote about it once before – I remember watching the reunion episode and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why I watched Dynasty to begin with. But it was good at the time.

Home and Away

Home and Away premiered in 1987. And it is still going strong. I didn’t watch it for long but it was quite absorbing at the time. Another bit of trivia – Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts, Melissa George, Isla Fisher and Guy Pearce had roles on Home and Away. So did one stewardess from Oceanic 815 you might recognize.

The Bill

I only watched bits and bobs of The Bill when we got Sky. However it is one of the longest running police procedural/soap in the UK (it started airing in 1984). Recently ITV announced The Bill will stop airing in September this year.

Coronation Street

Coronation Street had to be included. It started airing in 1960 (!!!) and it still going strong. And when As The World Turns ends this year it will be the longest running soap in history. I can’t even begin to tell you about all the twists and turns of the plot but suffice to say it does get interesting. It is set in the fictional suburb of Weatherfield in Manchester .

EastEnders

Another British institution (Eastenders has been airing since 1985). It follows the daily lives of residents of Albert Square in Walford in East End, London. It has won a number of awards and it is considered as one of the most watched shows in the UK. On a sidenote – it is also popular with footballers for some reason.

So there you have it dear readers. So please share your favorite soaps in case you are watching any. Or what soaps were you into in the past. Or telenovelas. Don’t be shy, we are not judgy here at Couchslobs

if you haven’t been watching Flipping Out well – what are you waiting for? I’ve already written about why I love it just so and my reason still stand.

Unfortunately there are not many Flipping Out clips on YouTube. So here is one of my favorite clips where Jeff Lewis explains how he used to blackmail his housekeeper Zoila with deportation. Last season he threatened to replace her with roomba. Then poor Zoila got upset so he returned roomba to the shop (see, he is not THAT mean).

In the second clip Zoila talks about how it is to work for Jeff and Jeff presents Kitchen of the year for House Beautiful (how freaking awesome is that sink?!)

Image credit: Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images North America

Dear faithful readers,

it’s been 2 months since Lost has ended. And I’m still getting used to the idea that there will be no new episodes come February next year. On a side note, I started re-watching Lost from the beginning since I never done that before and can I tell you that now that we know the ending season 3 is not horribly hideous as I originally thought? Go figure.

Be as it may, here is a quick round-up of Lost related news.

• First post-Lost Cuse and Lindelof interview

• Damon Lindelof and Tim Kring at same place at the same time

• Michael Emerson and Terry O’ Quinn are developing a TV series

• Matthew Fox is doing Mass Effect the movie set to be released on 2012.

• Josh Holloway is being considered for the Rockford Files redux

• Jorge Garcia is still blogging

• Lost epilogue was leaked online

• Lost memorabilia is sold at an auction in Santa Monica

, below you can see a few images of items that were auctioned.

Image: Outnow.ch

Dear faithful readers,

I was away on holiday and managed to survive blissfully without the Internet connection. And while the holiday was lovely, food poisoning on the last day (just hours before the trip home) was not. I don’t know how I managed to be honest (it didn’t help much that people sitting in the row behind me kept eating for the duration of the trip. I never thought I’d be appalled by a mere whiff of food stuff). Yesterday I got a bit cocky and decided to risk something other then water/chamomile tea/dry toast but my stomach has beaten me into submission pretty damn sharpish.

So while I recuperate and try not think something resembling an alien will pop out of my stomach I would urge you to check out Män Som Hatar Kvinnor if you haven’t already. I know I am terribly late to get on the Millenium Trilogy bandwagon but in this case I’m happy it’s a case of better late then never (always had a thing for Scandinavian writers, remember Jostein Gaarder? And of course my favorite when I was a kid Astrid Lindgren?) I think the only other books I’ve gone through so quickly were Harry Potters. Unfortunately the shop I went to didn’t have the last part – Luftslottet som sprängdes.

Which brings me to the movies. Since I have to wait until the last part arrives I’m watching the movies. And a lot has been written about the American movie version over the past few weeks. David Fincher (who I love) has taken on the task of director and the movie is scheduled to be released in December of 2011. Daniel Craig (who I also like) has been cast as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara, a relative unknown has been cast as Lisbeth. And while I’m sure Fincher will do a good job or in fact a stellar job if his past work is anything to go by, I do not understand this need to Americanize everything. Because the Swedish movies are excellent. And it is saying a lot coming from someone who without fail finds books-into-movies adaptations lacking.

And that’s why I’ve put up the original trailer in Swedish. People – read the damn subtitles, it’s not THAT hard!

I wanted to do a quick round of new UK shows that you might be interested in. There is some crime and drama and then there should be (at least in theory) plenty of comedy.

Come Dine with Me – now for a bit of an exciting news BBC America has started airing Come Dine with Me. I absolutely love this program because a) the narrator is hilarious (Dave Lamb by the way) and this particular episode had me in stitches. Absolute stitches. I mean you can’t make stuff like this up. Anyhow if you fancy a good giggle Come Dine with Me airs on BBC America every Thursday at 10/9c.

Another bit of good news comes courtesy of TV Scoop – Sky1 commissioned a number of big names to boost their comedy rating (sort to speak). Our lovely Mr. Fry will appear alongside Dawn French and Victoria Wood in series called Little Cracker that will feature a number of short autobiographical films depicting events that happened in their past. Hmmm that should be interesting. Also Ruth Jones is getting her own show called Stella. And speaking of Dawn French…

Roger and Val Have Just Got In Dawn French is getting her own sitcom. Produced by BBC Two it stars Dawn French as food technology teacher Val, while Alfred Molina plays her husband the botanist. If French’s previous work is anything to go by this should be interesting. The series will air in 2010.

Above Suspicion – ITV’s franchise Above Suspicion is back for another season. I quite enjoy ITV’s crime drama offerings and this one is just as good as the usual ITV fare. Based on Lynda Le Plante’s fourth novel about a rookie police officer Anna Travis it once again stars Kelly Reilly as Anna Travis and Ciaran Hinds as her superior Detective Chief Inspector Langton. This time the team investigates a murder of one of their former colleagues who seems to connected with a World famous drug trafficker. Above Suspicion is currently in production and should premiere in 2011. You can check out the trailer below.

The Oaks – new supernatural drama for ITV it features Alex Kingston (of ER fame) and Jodie Whittaker and follows the story of 3 families living in the same house in the 1960s, 1980s and in the present day. The house is haunted by the spirit of a young girl, daughter who lived with the family in the 60s but died under mysterious circumstances. The series will have 5 episodes and it is currently in production.