Chewing Gum is quirky. Undeniably, hilariously, off-the-wall quirky. But what it also is, and this stops it from becoming a one-trick comedy pony with nothing but quirk to its quirky name, is that it has enough heart-and-soul to fill a few dramas three times as delightfully earnest. The loosely-autobiographical Continue Reading
TV
Drink cranberry juice! There’s a New New New New Doctor in town #LeighLahav
You may recall that the BBC recently announced that the Doctor would be regenerating from Peter Capaldi’s distinctly male form to a – gasp! horror! (fake gasp and horror obviously on my part) – woman, specifically Jodie Whittaker, in this year’s Christmas special. Quite why this was such a Continue Reading
Game of Thrones: “Eastwatch” (S7, E5 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A WHOLE LOT OF SNARK HUNTING AND POWER PLAYING … Depending on your pop culture references, and these days most of us are a giddy, postmodern swirl of just about everything, “Eastwatch”, a reference to one of the gates watching the snowy nothingness north of Continue Reading
Saturday morning cartoons: Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor
Created by Alex Toth, an American cartoonist whose work successfully bridged the worlds of comics books and Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Space Ghost, Herculoids), Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor was a sci-fi animated series where the title inversely reflected the weighting of the protagonists featured within. In each episode of Continue Reading
Head for The Bureau Underground: Time to get Ghosted again!
SNAPSHOT A new comedy from 20th Century Fox Television, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Gettin’ Rad Productions, a cynical skeptic (Craig Robinson), and a genius “true believer” in the paranormal (Adam Scott), are recruited by a secret government agency to look into the rampant “unexplained” activity in Los Angeles — Continue Reading
“What is you smokin’ Bran?”: Even with winter here, #GoT can still have some fun
In the grim, icebound world of HBO’s megahit Game of Thrones, life is a very serious business. How can it not be? Winter has finally come – brr! – White Walkers, led by the vengeful Night King, are on the march, it’s like Westeros Idol out there with everyone Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: It’s time for your favourite character to put pedal to metal
I am not a car person. Not even a little bit. But the only sphere in which I will make an exception for vehicles, and really just about anything (bar pretty anything the extreme right advocates), is pop culture where transportation of all kinds has long been associated with Continue Reading
Game of Thrones: “The Spoils of War” (S7, E4 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND BBQ’D TROOPS AL FRESCO My what fun they had in Westeros this episode! Well Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) did … and then, did not. Fresh from killing his son’s assassin in the now-cleared out remains of Highgardens – go Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), ballsy and Continue Reading
Just 40 minutes to say yes: The Will and Grace revival picks up speed
It began with a short skit during last year’s blighted US presidential campaign, became a revived TV series with a teaser trailer, and now Will & Grace, whose ninth return season (it’s first since 2006) episode count was upped from 10 to 12 and then 16, has now Continue Reading
Inside Big Bird: Witness how one of Sesame Street’s most-loved residents comes alive
Big Bird is one of Sesame Street‘s most beloved characters, the perfect embodiment of sweet childlike innocence, playfulness and an eagerness to learn. For much of his time on Sesame Street, he was given life by Caroll Spinney, a charming man who devoted much of his life to his Continue Reading