Lopez Blogs

"Harry Hill's TV Burp" (ITV) has ended its latest series. I previously said that the shark was circling around the show, but Harry's managed to pull the show to safety in its latest run. Unfortunately the shows he features aren't so great now, but that probably says more about the state of television at the moment than anything else...anyway the last 'fiiiiight!" was a star-studded extravaganza with the return of Wagbo and the Knitted Character. Oh, and Nobby the Lady Gaga-horse just totally cracks me up. "Coronation Street" (ITV) has been going through a bit of a rubbish patch of late. Too many characters I couldn't care less about, too much Steve McDonald and his two facial expressions, and a ridiculous fake-marriage plot involving Graeme, who was one of the best things about this show, and whose character has now gone down the same road as all the other so-called 'men' in the show. Why so many overpowering women and weak men? There have never been so many food-related programmes on TV, and for the total obsessives there's the Good Food channel. Where you can find a nighly feast for the eyes called "Choccywoccydoodah": it's a fly-on-the-wall look at life in the Brighton cake shop of the same name. But these are not just cakes, these are works of art. I totally love this show. I'm not usually too keen on British TV drama these days, but a couple of recent series worth a mention - "Marchlands" (ITV) and "Mad Dogs" (Sky 1). "Marchlands" was a very original mystery thriller, set in one house, occupied by three different families from 1968 to the present day, and how the death of a child in 1968 went on to change the lives of the house's future inhabitants. It could have been a bit shorter though, as at times it was all a bit too slow. "Mad Dogs" meanwhile had a cracking cast - reuniting Life On Mars' John Simm and Philip Glenister in two very different roles, as two of a group of friends who are caught up in a bizarre chain of events whilst on holiday at their friend's villa in Spain. Parts of it were unmissable, but sometimes it drifted aimlessly...and the ending was a bit of a letdown. Still loving "Louie Spence's Showbusiness" (Sky 1): especially the understated Louie himself, Andrew Stone, David 'Rich and Famous' Van Day, and Colin Evans the talent agent....could do without the mega-annoying Tricia Walsh-Smith though. She totally pulls this show down, in the same way she did in "Pineapple Dance Studios". Bring back Black Lad!

Staying in is the new going out!

It's box set and retro telly mania at EuropeCrazy these days. I'm continuing to wallow in the emotional rollercoaster that is "ONE TREE HILL" and I'm now on season 6, having spent the best part of the last few months having watched the series from the very beginning. By this stage the main characters are now all grown up, but it still remains a very watchable and addictive (and hugely underrated) show. I've still to catch up with season 7, although I'm not sure how it would go with the absence of two major characters who've been a part of the show since the very beginning.

Talking of underrated shows, I reckon that "BOSTON LEGAL" was probably one of the best and most underrated shows of recent years. Stuck away over on Living, it never grabbed any of the headlines, but if you were lucky enough to be a regular viewer then you'll agree with me that it was consistently watchable, and James Spader and William Shatner are one of the best on-screen partnerships ever. Recently HMV had the complete series box set on special offer, which was good timing as I had some Christmas present money to spend so needless to say I bought it! Just finished season 1 which was great, but of course it got even better as the series went on.

Going further back in time with another box set which was inspired by a recent TV revival over Christmas - I refer to "UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS" and the original complete series which ran from 1971 to 1975 has now been reissued and repackaged. I remember being a big fan of the series even as a very young child so it's very nice to see it all over again, all these years later.

So we're watching all this old telly, but what's new?

Well there's Sky Atlantic, which launched with a big fanfare and critical acclaim, notably for its flagship series "BOARDWALK EMPIRE" - the saga set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era. Its main character Nucky Thompson is a not-entirely-squeaky-clean politician (no change there then!) and there's lots of illegal activity going on all over the place. Martin Scorcese directed the first episode, and there's definitely a film-quality to it all. It's quality TV, no doubt about it, although I get a little bit mixed up from time to time about who all the characters are but then that's probably just my muddled mind :)

I started watching another new Sky Atlantic series, "BLUE BLOODS". No it's not about vampires and not to be confused with True Blood, but it's all about a family of police officers. It started off well enough, there's a good cast including Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg, however due to other stuff I've missed a couple of episodes lately so will need to get back on board.

The other good thing about Sky Atlantic is its repeats - some really good stuff in there including different series of the always wonderful "ER". Then there is the rerun of that long-lost 80s guilty pleasure = "THIRTYSOMETHING" sorry that should be "thirtysomething" which inspired all those ensemble dramas including "Cold Feet". It looks horribly dated and 'of its time', a decade which I hated for a number of reasons, but I loved that show all the same. At the time I was in love with Michael, and my favourite character was Melissa because she was so cool and unconventional. Ah, memories...!

Will modern TV stand the test of time? Will we look back at reruns of "GREY'S ANATOMY" in 20 years time and think....flippin' eck, that Meredith talks a load of pretentious garbage in those little voiceovers, doesn't she? I think the answer's yes to that one. Despite that though I remain a fervent viewer of this addictive and nonsensical drama. Cage off Ally McBeal (remember that?) is now in the cast and it'll be interesting to see what happens with his character. At least they don't spend so time with the Meredith/McDreamy on-again off-again back on-again saga now, which previously had me passing the McSickbucket.

Then there are TV fads, which inevitably crash and burn. It seems no time since "GLEE" arrived on our screens. It was a fresh and exciting TV format (well, for everyone too young to remember the kids from Fame) with a sharp and funny script. OK I could have done without the horrible, plastic, sanitised versions of songs which at one point threatened to take over the top 40. Fast forward to series 2 and what have you got? Unnecessary theme weeks, worse songs, stupid plotlines (that 'Grilled Cheesus' story was the worst thing I've seen on TV in years) and a little moral lesson learned every week. Then I learned there was going to be a Bieber week. Ugh. Only Sue Sylvester is stopping me reaching for the remote, and even she's not in it enough.

My favourite person on TV right now: Louie Spence. I. Love. Him. I only have to see him wave his arms around and I'm in stitches. "LOUIE SPENCE'S SHOWBUSINESS" is basically "PINEAPPLE DANCE STUDIOS" with added bits from (cue hilarious deadpan Michael Buerk voiceover) 'somewhere in the suburbs of showbiz land'. The terminally deluded all find a home in this fantastic show - notably series regular Andrew Stone who continues to seek world domination for his band Starman, and, um, former popstar David Van Day and his wife's attempt to regain past glories with their 'Rich and Famous' duo! Funniest moment of the series: dancing horse Black Lad's 'Fight For This Love' routine. It's car crash...but you know you want to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEYJKaa-X_g&playnext=1&list=PL7EB950D8E0510446

Another piece of unmissable viewing is "FASHION POLICE" on E! Entertainment every week, with the magnificent Joan Rivers who tells it like it is, rating the fashions of the A-listers (and Z-listers, come to that). I guarantee that at least a couple of times every week you'll find yourself thinking: "Oh my God! I can't believe she just said that!" It's throwaway nonsense but sometimes that's all you need.

Watched very little over Christmas on terrestrial TV - thank goodness for DVDs and a backlog of recorded stuff - but made an exception for the revival of "UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS" (BBC1). I was a massive fan of the original during my childhood so it brought back some good memories to get back again to 165 Eaton Place, and in a nice touch Rose from the original series returned as housekeeper. And Newt from Hollyoaks even turned up as one of the 'downstairs' staff. Aww!

During my blog break I've had the opportunity to catch up on some movies.

As a child growing up in the 1970s, I remembered the names Baader-Meinhof always seemed to turn up on news bulletins, although I was too young to understand what it was all about. "THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX" (Sky Movies) didn't really provide too many answers, apart from going down the obvious route of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". It was a good enough film, but a little disjointed and didn't really explain or give the back-stories on the main protagonists and their followers.


"UP IN THE AIR" (Sky Movies) was quite different from the usual modern film fare. It starred George Clooney as a man who spends his time going from one part of the country to the other, firing employees for other companies, only for him to find love and discover that no man is an island. Good film, although with a rather regretful ending.

"THE PROPOSAL" (Sky Movies) was a reasonable enough romcom, although it has to be said I'm no fan of that particular genre. It starred Sandra Bullock as a frozen-faced publishing executive being punted back to Canada because her visa was running out. Cue predictable green card scenario as she plans a fake marriage to her assistant. You can guess the rest. Yes I did say it was predictable, but it had some funny moments and wasn't too bad.




Matt Lucas also popped up in "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" (Sky Movies) which we weren't originally going to watch but had to check it out anyway. Two words: Johnny Depp. One of the things we love about Johnny - and there are many, many things we love about Johnny (!) - is that he's not afraid to take on movie projects which make him look totally ridiculous. Which, being the world's most beautiful man, is some achievement. The film itself was a colourful and reasonably accessible adventure, and better than we expected.

"GREY'S ANATOMY" (Living) is back for a seventh season, with its resident cast going through various stages of post-traumatic stress following the big dramatic shooting at the end of the last season. I won't give too much away for anyone except to say that one of the main characters got married...

"AWFULLY GOOD TV" (Channel 4) was, for once, a TV show which lived up to its title - where bad TV definitely made good TV, topped off with some devilishly deadpan voiceovers by David Walliams. A refreshing change from the usual clip shows with commentaries by Z-listers.

Although I usually make an exception for "THE MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE OF..." (BBC3) which is always an annual end-of-year must-see, thanks to its clever voiceovers by Richard Bacon and a slightly higher calibre of Z-listers offering their comments.

It was good to see Matt Lucas and David Walliams back on our screens. "COME FLY WITH ME" (BBC1) is a spoof of those old docusoaps "Airport" and "Airline". It's very funny, but lacking some of the more side-splitting moments of the heyday of "Little Britain", which was one of my favourite comedy series ever - but thankfully also lacking some of the more gross-out moments which eventually dragged that series down in its latter days. The high point of this new series remains the "Martin Clunes" song - they haven't topped that one yet. Series 1 has now ended, but the good news is that it's been recommissioned for a second series.

"THE SECRET MEDITERRANEAN WITH SIR TREVOR MCDONALD" (ITV) does what it says on the tin. The major surprise here being that there is finally something decent on ITV, and I never thought I'd see the day when those words would be uttered. So I guess we'd better make the most of it while we can. Basically it's Sir Trevor checking out some undiscovered stories from the countries which border the Mediterranean. It was a feast for the eyes and a very enjoyable series - I wonder if there will be more stories to tell?

The closing months of the year traditionally means only three things: Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor, and I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Those three programmes alone are enough to keep every tabloid journalist in a job for a few months, and inevitably they provided lots of "stories" of course those quotation marks are there for a reason!!



Let's start with good old Strictly Come Dancing, which remains one of my favourite celeb-reality programmes although I prefer to watch the good dancers rather than the ones with the dreaded "journey" which probably makes me a killjoy I guess. This explains why my favourite dancers this year were Matt, Kara and Scott, and I said I'd be happy if any of them won. So when Kara Tointon won, I was happy. Of course her own "journey" was considerably assisted by her romance with professional partner Artem Chigvintsev. I'm always a bit cynical about this kind of thing. Romance or faux-mance? Only time will tell I guess. I thought Matt Baker was very likeable from the beginning and I think he'll get a good TV career out of this, while Scottttttttt! Maslen was always going to be one of our faves at EuropeCrazy HQ, even before he stepped onto the dancefloor :) however he couldn't recapture the magic of his brilliant jive. Perhaps Scott would have done better with a different partner, rather than Natalie 'me-me-me' Lowe.

Of course the usual judges' favouritism came into play, and this year their chosen one was Pamela Stephenson, whose ingratiating responses to the judges' comments had us reaching for the sick bag. And I can't write about SCD without mentioning Widdy.....

...who almost came close to stealing my 'Best bad celebrity dancer ever' award from my all-time faves from "Let's Dance" in Sweden - the legendary Lasse Brandeby and Willy Bjorkman! (Talking of which, the new series of that show starts in Sweden on 7th January and we'll be watching out for Alexander Rybak and Jessica Andersson).

Yes the real highlight of 2010's Strictly was Ann Widdecombe, who, refreshingly, didn't have that "journey" - she started the show with two left feet, and ended several weeks later with no progress made whatsoever :)

I didn't watch X Factor, but always made a point of catching the weekly performances by Wagner on YouTube. His "Viva Las Vegas" will live on in my memory long after winner Matt Cardle's safe, sanitised cover of Biffy Clyro's "Many Of Horror" (retitled "When We Collide", with all the guts and passion of the original ripped out) has faded from my memory. Oh wait, it already has.

I really enjoyed this year's I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! although at one point it was threatening to become a one-woman-show as the hideous "Dr" Gillian McKeith screamed, squirmed and fainted her way out of one bushtucker trial after another. Happily there were some likeable characters around this year: it was great to see Dom Joly back on telly as he has such a wicked sense of humour, (which not everyone gets, but we did) and Shaun Ryder and Jenny Eclair were also good campmates. Not being an X Factor fan, I didn't really know anything about Stacey Solomon until she appeared on this show, but she impressed the nation with her goofy likeability and was a deserved Queen of the Jungle.

Never thought it would come to this, but....I think Harry Hill's TV Burp has finally come to the end of the road. The glory days of the show are long gone and the recently ended series was probably the unfunniest ever. It probably will come back though: ITV has such an impressive record in flogging dead horses.


One still very much alive TV format is Coach Trip, where tour guide Brendan leads a bunch of unimpressed/unpleasant tourists all over Europe. Brendan is that rarity these days: a genuine new TV personality, therefore he totally deserves a place in the schedules. It was all going quite well and then they decided to inject this show with the dreaded Z-list celebrity disease. But wait! It wasn't all bad, as the Chuckle Brothers were on it. It wasn't so much 'to me, to you' as 'to me, to Europe' (groan) as they won Celebrity Coach Trip, beating off all the opposition - including the likes of the Cheeky Girls (!) and posh-Raef from the Apprentice, who's made a reality TV career out of being, well, posh-Raef I guess. That scene with Barry Chuckle, Brendan and Ingrid Tarrant in the bath even got a tribute from Harry Hill in one of his (few) funnier moments on TV Burp :)


A variation on the celebs-on-tour format came on "Monte Carlo Or Bust" on ITV, where three celeb-pairings in various cars - Jack Dee and Ade Edmondson/Jodie Kidd and Julian Clary/Penny Smith and Rory McGrath - went in search of items representing France, ending in Monte Carlo. It was all a bit strange. It was all a bit pointless, it wasn't funny, and sometimes relied a little too much on stereotypes. It might have been better without the celebrity-angle, but then that would be asking too much of ITV these days to make a show without so-called 'celebrities'.

Unfortunately Living TV, which was once quite watchable, is becoming another ITV2, going down the Z-list celebrity route and seems to be showing less of the US drama series it built its reputation on. In between the Alex Reid/Outer Mongolia's Next Top Model rubbish, Private Practice continued to wring every possible combination out of the relationship merry-go-round before the season 3 finale, along with the usual hankies-required moments. Which I won't spoil for you in case you haven't seen the show yet. I rather enjoyed this series, more than the last one, although I'm wondering just how far it can go. Maybe another series, and then it should sign off.

I don't watch as many films as I used to, so it was nice to catch up with a couple recently. I'd heard a lot of good things about The Hangover but was very sceptical due to the recent post-Apatow trend of vulgar humour, however this was a genuinely funny film with lots of laugh-out-loud moments. Even better was that it didn't have to rely on 'bankable' leads, going for some relative unknowns instead. Who won't be unknown for long of course, thanks to this film!

The trend for remaking perfectly good films shows no sign of going away. Why even bother to remake a classic like Fame? But someone thought that in this age of High School Musical and Glee, that it might be a good idea. No it's not, actually. But I gave it a chance and watched it anyway. The verdict: it is to the original, what the Cowellised version of "Many Of Horror" is to the Biffy version. You get the idea. Shallow and stereotypical, and not worthy of sharing the same title of the gritty original - which of course was already watered down for the TV show back in 1982, the "Glee" of its day you might say. True what they say, everything goes round in cycles.

Finally, we headed to the boardroom one more time for another series of one of the few 'reality' shows I still watch - The Apprentice. This series was littered with moments of TV gold, mainly thanks to Stuart Baggs - THE BRAND! - he's not a one trick pony, he's a field of ponies y'know. The funniest moment was when he finally got his comeuppance in the interview episode - 'you're not a big fish, you're not even a fish!'. Amid all this, Stella and Chris managed to make it to the final two, with Stella winning. I read somewhere that this is the last year of this format, as from next year there won't be a job on offer, but Lord Sugar will invest, Dragons Dens-style, in the winner's company. Don't know if I like that idea, but I'll reserve my judgement till I see it.

One more thing before I go - my favourite Christmas TV advert of recent years which has been back on our screens once again over the festive season...

I thought this deserved a separate post from this month's "Square Eyed".

The latest (and disappointingly sub-standard) series of "Harry Hill's TV Burp" finished last night. To commemorate this, here's one of my favourite moments from the series, from the recent Celebrity Coach Trip - Barry Chuckle, Ingrid Tarrant and Brendan in the bath (warning, this sight may put you off your dinner!!) - everybody sing along!

First things first: I'm not watching too much day-to-day television at the moment, mainly because there is so little of any appeal to me, so I've been catching up with some old (and new) films, and working my way through old seasons of "Dexter" and "One Tree Hill" which ironically, are having their current seasons aired at the moment but I'm having to record them for future reference. In the meantime....

This month saw the return of "Strictly Come Dancing" to our screens on Saturday night, in a ridiculously early slot which ensures they don't clash with "The X Factor" - I get round this by taping it and then watching after Harry Hill - anyway series 8 is characterised by the usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Draw your own conclusions....

The first celebrity to be voted out was drum n'bass guru Goldie, who has recently diversified into acting. He shouldn't have gone so early, but this programme is all about fanbases and preferential treatment, and "chosen ones". Initially I thought Kara Tointon was this year's "chosen one" however I'm beginning to think that title has now been snatched by Pamela Stephenson, comedienne-turned-psychologist, who seems just a little too desperate now. Also in the desperate camp this year: ex-Corrie Tina O'Brien. Just check her facial expressions when the judges are giving their comments...


At least there's no-one as annoying as Chris Hollins this year, and the standard of dancing is up on some previous years, but there is already a danger of overmarking at this stage. My personal favourites are Scott Maslen (pictured above with partner Natalie Lowe) and Matt Baker, both have started well and kept up a very high standard. But these kind of dancers don't seem to win - there always needs to be a back story, a "journey", doesn't there? There also seems to be a lack of chemistry between many of the couples this year.

"Harry Hill's TV Burp" is three weeks into its Autumn 2010 run and already we've had "bush push!"/"It's not a cube - it's a rectangular cuboid"/Mr Fuzzy replacing Knitted Character....but this week we probably had one of the poorest Burp shows of recent years, concentrating too much on the "sick run" gag which very much overstayed its welcome. I love the show, but I'm beginning to worry that its best days are behind it.

"Coronation Street" is getting ready for its 50th anniversary and some tram-crash carnage. I can think of a list of about 20 characters who I'd love to see on the receiving end of that. In the meantime we've got one tedious storyline after another - Becky's sister, John Stape, David running Graeme over. We need some more humour, because Corrie is currently lacking in that department.

I still love "The Apprentice" and it could go on forever, because there will always be a long queue of egomaniac wannabes desperate to impress Siralan - sorry I mean Lord Sugar. This year's crop are reassuringly deluded, and the more deluded they are (including most recent evictee Shibby, pictured above), the more entertaining it gets.

Season 3 of "Private Practice" is currently running on Living TV and whilst I'm enjoying it more than the last season - after all, sometimes you just need some brain-dead ludicrous nonsense which doesn't require you to think - I think they've probably gone as far as they can go with the relationship merry-go-round. Therefore it was quite surprising that it's gone to another season. How much more can they milk it?

I refer, of course, to arguably the world's most overrated TV talent show: The X Factor. There are now many international versions of this show, which might actually be ok: I just want to clarify that my criticism relates solely to the British version.

In these times of austerity, cuts and the government from hell, what's on the cover of the newspapers? The X Factor. Perhaps that sums up why our country is in such a mess. It dominates press, magazines, even the TV news. Why? What's so special? It's only a third rate, past its sell-by date TV talent show, which quite frankly has got far too big for its boots. Believe it or not, I used to watch it once, back in the early days, (although admittedly I resented it from the beginning because my beloved "Pop Idol" was axed after two seasons in favour of this manipulative piece of s**t).

I couldn't care less about who's in/who's out/who should have been picked/who shouldn't have been picked. What I do care about is the amount of time wasted on it by our media, and the ruthless manipulation of the great British public, not to mention its dominance of the British charts over the years. There may be some good acts who have come out of this contest, but their careers are then destroyed by the same machine which created them.

There is clearly an appetite for prime time music shows on TV, so why will no-one take the chance on broadcasting a decent one on a Saturday night? Maybe then I wouldn't need to reach for the off switch.

Surprised that I can actually cobble something together, considering I hardly watch any telly these days, particularly since the arrival of this fab new computer at EuropeCrazy HQ :)

But that actually means I can watch more Swedish telly instead, buffering-permitting. Such as "Let's Dance" on TV4, which ended a couple of weeks ago, on the same weekend that I was over in Gothenburg.

After the departure of Willy "John Sergeant of Swedish dance" Bjorkman, it was left to Mattias Andreasson and Claudia Galli to fight it out for this year's title....and it was Mattias who danced away with the trophy! Congratulations to Mattias - he did very well! His Michael Jackson-style show dance to "Beat It" was the icing on the cake. The following day, all the Swedish papers seemed to concentrate more on runner-up Claudia who, it appeared, didn't take defeat all too well and was very upset. Here are Mattias and Cecilia celebrating their win. (Photo courtesy of http://www.tv4.se/)

Of course the lovely Mattias is one-third of Swedish boyband sensations E.M.D. who turned up on the first in the new series of "Så Ska det Låta" on SVT. This very popular music quiz gives various Swedish singers and other celebrities the chance to show off their lyrics knowledge and of course it gives them the opportunity to burst into spontaneous song! Anyway week 1 saw E.M.D. compete against Cookies N' Beans. You can watch the show at SVT's website, it will remain available until 4th July 2010: http://svtplay.se/v/1934194/sa_ska_det_lata/del_1_av_12?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,1958314/sb,p102967,1,f,-1


Don't forget you can also watch the subsequent shows in the series at SVT Play. (http://www.svtplay.se/)

The next show on 16th May is a Norway vs Sweden contest - with none other than Alexander Rybak and Maria Haukaas Storeng competing against Shirley Clamp and Robert Gustafsson.

"Glee" has ended for now on E4/Channel 4 and what a nice place to end at! (Sectionals). I've really enjoyed this show but the only bit of it I don't enjoy is - wait for it - the songs. You probably think I'm a bit strange to say that, but I know I'm a bit strange so that's nothing new :)

Briefly back to Swedish telly now - "Jakten på Julia" which is the search to find a female lead to play opposite Mans Zelmerlow in the "Romeo & Juliet" musical which launches at the beginning of 2011 in Stockholm. This TV show has, according to the Swedish tabloids, been a ratings flop.

Of course this TV format has been very popular over recent years in the UK, helping to find a Maria (Sound of Music), a Joseph (Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), a Nancy (Oliver!) and now they're searching for a Dorothy for the Wizard of Oz. You may be surprised to know I'm not watching "Over The Rainbow" (BBC-1) although usually catch the last few minutes whilst waiting to watch "Who Dares Wins" (my fave TV gameshow at the moment, probably because I find the lists very easy to complete!) anyway I've switched off the latest Lloyd-Webber venture, because a) it's all so stale now, b) I can't stand "The Wizard of Oz", and c) I'd rather have another all-male talent show. Although if they did, I doubt if they would ever find another Lee Mead.....;)

If the shark was circling around the pre-Christmas series of "Harry Hill’s TV Burp" then it has gone swimming off in the opposite direction. Harry is back on form, most definitely. And the icing on the cake is ....big fanfare...."The K Factor - So You Think You Can Knit" which has me in (pardon the pun) stitches every week: Knitted-Rolando from "Popstar to Operastar" is an inspired creation. And awww....poor Peter the duck.

While we're on the subject, I didn't stick with "Popstar to Operastar" the latest variation on the reality-talent format. Did watch the first couple of weeks though out of curiosity to see Darius again (and faithful travelling companion's Saturdays-Vanessa obsession) however I lost interest pretty quickly. Anyway big congrats to Darius who won it....

The British version of "Wallander" made a brief but reassuringly bleak return to BBC-1. In the hands of its Swedish cast it always makes for a watchable ensemble piece; but the British version is far too reliant on Kenneth Branagh pushing the misery-meter up to 10 and far too much time is wasted on sighs, close-ups and long non-verbal stretches of gloom. Still worth watching though, but the Anglicised pronunciation of Swedish names is laughable. Good news for fans of the vastly superior original: BBC4 will be showing a new series of the vastly superior Swedish series in the spring, and fhey’re currently re-running the first English language series, if you’re interested.

"Strictly" may be gone for another year, but this month it's all been about dance. I didn't tune into Sky One's "Got To Dance" - a 'Britain's Got Talent' for dancers, you might say - mainly due to my aversion to Davina McCall (but that's another story) anyway a few of my work colleagues did though, and seemed to enjoy it.

Hot on the heels of that show, Sky One has brought us "Pineapple Dance Studios" which is a mix of reality TV and the fly-on-the-wall docusoaps which were a popular fixture of British TV during the early part of the 90s before the reality-bug bit....anyway this is a very entertaining way to pass an hour, helped along by the reassuringly flamboyant Louie Spence (pictured above, courtesy of Sky One), who would probably have reached the dizzy heights of, say, Jeremy "Airport" Spake or Maureen from Driving School had it been 10 years ago: I'm not sure if he'll achieve cult status now, although he became an instant hit at EuropeCrazy HQ.

Still on British versions of ‘foreign’ TV shows, I’ve been a fan of the American TV show (which admittedly was a British idea) "So You Think You Can Dance" for a while. Our home grown version was recently screened on Saturday nights on BBC1, and what I particularly liked about it was that there were no "celebs" involved - just ‘ordinary’ people (well, the kind that compete on reality talent shows anyway). It was a clash of egos on the panel: ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe and Arlene Phillips, both of whom now look younger than ever, dare I say? If this goes on Ms Phillips will look even younger than Alesha Dixon, whom she was axed to make way for on "Strictly " :) Anyway there was an extremely high standard of dancing throughout, not to mention some drama, as the (IMHO) overrated Mr Hudson-lookalike Robbie was floored by injury, leaving Lizzie, Tommy (från Sverige!) and Charlie to contest the final. I would have been happy with any of these contestants winning, but in the end the viewers (helped along by, dare I say, a bit of encouragement from the judges) chose Charlie Bruce (pictured above) as the winner. There will be another series, which is good news....but does Cat Deeley really need to tower over everyone in those six-inch heels?

Interesting to see that one of my all-time favourite reality pop contestants, Darius, is one of the contestants appearing in the new celeb-reality "Pop Star to Opera Star" show which is coming to ITV1 on Friday nights.

Slightly more baffling though is that he has now changed his name from Darius Danesh to Darius Campbell. Surely it's not the name but the talent that counts? He did pretty well for a while in musical theatre being Darius Danesh, so why the change now? (I sincerely hope it's not to appease any mindless morons working in the entertainment business who may view anyone with a non-English-sounding name with suspicion....!)

Courtesy of Digital Spy here are the top 20 most watched TV shows on what (IMHO) was a very uninspiring day telly-wise. Last year's positions are in brackets.

1. (3) EastEnders - BBC One, 8pm - 10.86 million, 45.9%
2. (4) The Royle Family - BBC One, 9pm - 10.23 million, 42.5%
3. (2) Doctor Who - BBC One, 6pm - 10.03 million, 42.2%
4. (-) Gavin & Stacey - BBC One, 10pm - 9.17 million, 39.2%
5. (-) The Gruffalo - BBC One, 5.30pm - 8.79 million, 42.6%
6. (7) Coronation Street - ITV1, 7pm - 7.89 million, 32.4%
7. (-) Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Carol - BBC One, 10.30pm - 7.13 million, 36.2%
8. (-) BBC News - BBC One, 5.20pm - 6.8 million, 36.5%
9. (6) Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special - BBC One, 7pm - 6.79 million, 27.9%
10. (-) Shrek The Halls - BBC One, 4.55pm - 5.56 million, 31.9%
11. (9) The Queen - BBC One, 3pm - 5.56 million, 36.7%
12. (12) Emmerdale - ITV1, 6pm - 5.19 million, 21.9%
13. (-) The Incredibles - BBC One, 3.10pm - 5.09 million, 32.1%
14. (-) BBC News - BBC One, 11.20pm - 4.64 million, 30.5%
15. (-) ITV News & Weather - ITV1, 5.40pm - 3.78 million, 17.9%
16. (-) Agatha Christie's Poirot - ITV1, 9pm - 3.71 million, 16.1%
17. (15) Top Of The Pops Christmas Special - BBC One, 2pm - 3.4 million, 27.6%
18. (-) Happy Feet - ITV1, 3.40pm - 3.39 million, 20%
19. (17) Dad's Army - BBC Two, 8pm - 3.39 million, 14.5%
20. (-) National Lottery Euromillions Draw - BBC One, 11.30pm - 2.38 million, 17.9%

The only shows I watched were Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Strictly Come Dancing (justice was done! Well done Ali & Brian!) and of course the annual institution which is the Top of the Pops Christmas Special. Unfortunately I have to say that this year's show was endured rather than enjoyed. As I said whilst watching the show: 'thank goodness I look elsewhere for my music'.

I just noticed that this is my 1600th post, not really a significant milestone but I thought I'd mention it. I think I'll aim for the 2000th post by this time next year :)

Anyway it's been a while since I posted a TV review so I'll get this one out of the way tonight.

Let's rewind back to October.....

• Two programmes about the German capital - "The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall" and "Berlin" both screened on a Saturday night on BBC2. The first one was a refreshingly different take on 20 years since the fall of the Wall, as it concentrated on the real lives of ordinary people and how it affected them. "Berlin" was a short series, going back to various points in history to look at how they have informed the city’s progress. Again it was really good to see a documentary series like this on our TV screens - more please!
• "Private Practice" season two ended on Living, with Pete realising he’s in love with Violet, the mother of his unborn child; Addison struggling with an affair; Naomi deciding to leave for another practice after Sam telling her he still loves her; and a particularly gruesome cliffhanger where one unhinged patient holds Violet hostage and is going to cut out her baby! I haven’t really enjoyed this series if I’m honest, it’s generally been quite stale and going through the motions, and there is only so much of the relationship merry-go-round we can take.
• I never thought I'd ever say this, but I saw the shark circling around the once invincible "Harry Hill’s TV Burp". I can't put my finger on it, maybe it’s the choice of TV shows he featured, but dare I say that Harry was less than perfect this time around, although having said that it’s still the funniest thing on the TV. I liked the "where has the knitted character been this week" thing though, but black mark to ITV though for turning this into another money-making phone-in competiion. Hopefully when he comes back there will be an improvement!
• Unlike its British counterpart, "Dancing With The Stars" was played straight - it’s smooth, professional and slick with no Brucie-style "am I doddery?" jokes. No change in Bruno Tonioli though, he was still his controlled, restrained self (!!!!!!) It did however have one thing in common with "Strictly" - the wrong person won. Mya was the best dancer from day one, but try telling that to the voting public who chose Donny Osmond instead. Kelly Osbourne did pretty well though, getting into the final three. I particularly enjoyed Aaron Carter - shame that not enough of the great American public shared my view. By the way I will eventually get round to posting my "Strictly" review although I'm still too annoyed at Ricky Whittle not winning, to write anything about it just yet.
• I didn't watch "X Factor" although watched the clips of the singing on YouTube, if only to keep in the loop with my friends at work. Anyway you’d need to have been on Mars not to have been caught up in the ‘Jedward’ mania which swept the country for a few weeks. They eventually outlived their usefulness and the show got back to being a "singing competition" (© Dannii Minogue) although it was highly questionable if any of the remaining contestants did have that elusive "X Factor": I thought Stacey Solomon had a nice voice, although I didn't get Olly Murs who looked as if he’s been manufactured in a lab with the combined DNA of Gary Barlow and Will Young, only without their respective talent. The press hatred of Danyl meant that it was inevitable he wouldn't make the final. Joe McElderry won: good luck to him, he seems a nice enough young lad with a good voice but I will foolishly predict here and now that his career progression will be more Leon Jackson than Leona Lewis....
• "Hung" was a strange American drama on More 4. It started off well but I felt it lost its way qather quickly. It was the story of a man who becomes a "happiness consultant" (the key is in the show’s title!!) and a second series has been commissioned; but I don't really know if there’s enough depth in the character development to carry the show beyond one series.
• When it comes to American TV series I'm always late to the party. I recently discovered "One Tree Hill" which has been going for years! Happily there is a solution in sight: E4 has been re-running the series from the beginning so I've been able to catch up. I really like this show, which is based around the family dynamics and romances of the Scott brothers, Lucas and Nathan.
• "FlashForward" is currently on a break and will return to Five in March 2010: every week it continues to add more and more complexity but I still think it's worth sticking with.
• "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" crowned its latest king of the jungle, TV chef Gino D'Acampo, who we've been a big fan of here at EuropeCrazy HQ for many years since he used to appear on "Good Food Live" on the Good Food channel (remember that!!) - anyway we rather enjoyed this year's series once Katie Price walked out after a week of non-stop bushtucker trials.
• Finally, season one of "Being Erica" on E4 has come to an end. I've thoroughly enjoyed this new Canadian series although it did get a little silly towards the end; again, like "Hung" I don't know how this series will develop, although I think there's another series left in it.

OK I know I'm not supposed to be posting on here for a week, but I just wanted to mention something that I'm feeling very genuinely sad about.

After tomorrow there will be no more Teletext on ITV and Channel 4. I previously mentioned this on here a few months ago, but it's hard to believe that the day has finally come when our much-loved and accessible source of information and entertainment is going off the air.

My best wishes go to the hard-working staff who put all the Teletext pages together and updated them on a regular basis. In years to come I'll look back with fond memories of coming home from work and switching on my teletext pages - ITV's entertainment section on page 130 including TV views on page 137 and talking points on page 138; and of course Channel 4's Planet Sound from pages 341 to 345.

Keep an eye out though for Planet Sound's editor John Earls who will continue to fight the good fight for new music by starting his own record label, WET Records. Good luck with that!

It may all seem a bit last-century now, with all the high-tech innovations around us, but Teletext was very special to many of us and it will be sadly missed.

After a few weeks where I was literally not watching anything, I've managed to get enough programmes together to do a review!

"Sailors fighting in the dancehall..." You know the script by now - Sam Tyler is run over by a car and wakes up in 1973. His iPod has turned into an 8-track cartridge player, and when he looks up he sees the Twin Towers. Yes it’s the American version of "Life On Mars" which is now being screened on FX. If you thought the original series was surreal, then this is twice as surreal, as it’s like watching a tribute act. It’s not that it’s bad, although Harvey Keitel’s Gene Hunt is just a little bizarre. It’s Life On Mars, but not as we know it, they’re not John Simm and Philip Glenister, and that’s where the problem lies.

Still on a time travelling theme, I’m enjoying E4’s quirky new Canadian import "Being Erica" (E4, Mondays) Imagine a time-travelling female version of "My Name is Earl" where she gets the chance to go back in time and make right her wrongdoings and regrets. Sometimes it can be a little too cheesy, but it works thanks to its charming lead and general simplicity.

More time travelling, but this time to a brief glimpse of the future. The new US mega-hit "Flash Forward" (Five, Mondays) from the makers of "Lost" stops the world for a couple of minutes, during which everyone has a ‘flash forward’ to the future. Not much really happens, but it keeps you coming back for more, week after week. Just one thing though: what’s with all these British actors doing American accents? This time it’s Joseph Fiennes. Good old Jack Davenport’s in it too, but reassuringly, he has kept his own accent.

Haven’t watched many films recently, but "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" left an impression on me. A simple story - the son of a concentration camp commandant befriending a young Jewish boy through the barbed wire of the camp - it was very moving and thought-provoking, and the two young boys in the leading roles were very impressive. Didn’t expect a happy ending, but I wasn’t expecting that sudden, horrific, shocking and brutal conclusion either.

You can’t accuse "Later With Jools Holland" (BBC2 Tuesdays/Fridays) of lacking in diversity - for example, a recent episode featured Calvin Harris, Echo and the Bunnymen, and the Spaghetti Western Orchestra in quick succession. It’s the only music programme on terrestrial television at the moment that we can still watch at a reasonably decent hour, and which (thankfully) has no risk of Cheryl Cole appearing on it.

Hotel Inspectors. Which is better? Ruth Watson or her successor Alex Polizzi? There’s only one way to find out...No need for a ‘fiiiiiight!!!!", though as we’re firmly in the Watson camp, so we’re enjoying "Ruth Watson’s Hotel Rescue" (Channel 4, Wednesdays). Think "Hotel Inspector: The Prequel" in which Ms Watson gives out advice to hoteliers at the beginning of their career, rather than when they are at a later soul-destroyed stage. There’s nothing new or original about it, it’s undemanding viewing, but I enjoy it all the same.

I’m still disappointed in Season Two of "Private Practice" (Living, Thursdays) which may have jumped the shark. There’s no interesting character development any more, it’s all about the bed-hopping antics of the docs and their patients and everything else is now a side issue.

Criticising Jamie Oliver seems to have been elevated to an Olympic sport in recent years. Yet in spite of that I enjoyed his "American Road Trip" which was a mix of cooking, travelogue and social comment. I suppose in these days of dumbed-down TV it’s as good as we’ll get.

Finally, "Coronation Street" hasn’t been too bad lately although still far from past glories. I was quite sad to see Amber and Darryl go; of the younger characters these were two that I actually cared about. It’s been a Platt-free zone recently, which has helped immensely. Tony’s proposed to Maria - but don’t expect the happy times to last too long, thanks to the return of Carla! On the down side, the continuing Kevin/Molly shenanigans would have you parting with the contents of your stomach. Luke Strong a.k.a. Craig Kelly of "Strictly" fame has also left the show - we thought he’d be out of "Strictly" before he was out of "Corrie" but hey, there you go....!

...I thought it was about time I came back here. I’m about ready to resume normal service on this blog. There are a couple of out-of-date posts about Eurovision and the Tour de France, which will be posted on here over the next few days, if only to get them out of my system!

Still addicted to Flight of the Conchords: so much to love but we're still obsessed with "If You're Into It" because it's daft, silly, funny and Jemaine is just on top form, "doing stuff with the food" :) I promise you will love this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0