It appears to be obligatory to look back on a year just gone and reflect on one’s entertainment high and lows. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, so I thought I’d have a go. Hey, please don’t stop reading!
I’m not sure, by the way, why I’ve never done this. It might be because lists of things about a specific year / decade / millennium are very tedious and tend to ruin December on TV. But, hey, December is sooo last year! It’s January now, innit.
Ok, what have I hated on TV for 2010?
Easy answer, but not a very good answer. I don’t really watch a lot of telly despite having 8 million channels to choose from. And, if I have tried something and hated it then I’ve just zapped away as soon as I’ve got bored, never to return. I think I treat such programming that has received a personal ‘Fail’ mark the same way as most people treat dreams. I forget them within hours of experiencing them, and have no way to recall them. Hence my list of TV ‘fails’ is, erm, blank. Can I just add here that I really just do not watch the Britain’s Got Talent / X Factor / I’m a Celebrity / Strictly Come Dancing type output. Honest. Oh, and I don’t watch any soaps. True.
On the other hand, what have I enjoyed in 2010?
Well, I seriously got into the Inbetweeners, Chuck, MisFits, and of course Fringe, and found myself getting excited waiting for each episode. And we mustn’t forget the new style Doctor Who. I had mixed feelings about losing David Tennant and all the characters I’d gotten comfortable with, but I liked the fresh yet slightly retro approach taken with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.
It was quite sad to see Jonathan Ross’s Friday night show go.
That show, like the David Tennant Doctor Who, had become warm and familiar, and it certainly stepped up a notch in its dying episodes. Most memorable being the impromptu wrestling ‘fight’ he had with Ross Noble. That was one of the best laugh out loud moments ever.
I enjoyed, but didn’t mind if I missed, QI, Have I got News for You, Question Time, Celebrity Juice, Gadget Show (how come I never win their delicious competitions?), etc., and for some strange reason got drawn in to The Apprentice.
I have issues with The Apprentice. In the real world of business, selling is just one aspect. You need a sales team, yes, but good management and co-ordination is not necessarily a sales technique. Neither is product innovation and development. What I’m saying is that ‘sales’ is just one brick in the wall of a business’s total strength. Yet, the ‘process’ (as it gets referred to) of The Apprentice show is almost entirely about selling as an individual. The best salesperson wins. This then gives them a job that they had no idea about (Isn’t that a bit risky, applying for a job for which no details are available? Where else but on telly would you do such madness?) and mainly consists of management not actually selling. True, management is also networking and representing, but it’s not being a salesperson. Sales people are usually horrible and in need of a good kicking. I wasn’t drawn to kicking the winner of The Apprentice, I quite fancy her.
Can I also say ‘props’ to Ronnie Corbett and the “One Ronnie” one-off show to mark his 80th birthday. How excellent to see a very modern adaptation of the old not-rude Two Ronnies. So may shows harping back to the old days are crap. This wasn’t. It was so good I watched it twice!
I didn’t specifically go and watch any films in the conventional cinema during 2010. I find it hard to enjoy what is constantly interrupted by people chattering and using their phones throughout, and so have retired to watching things on the screen at home.
I’m guessing 3D things will force me back out again though as the Tron Legacy did. Excellent film.
I also went to a couple of shows at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts which seems to count as one of its u.s.p. ‘facts’ the fact that it was Paul McCartney’s old school. Indeed, the main auditorium is named after him.
Although what I saw were essentially musicals or dance based, which in theory are not my ‘thing’, I was absolutely impressed with the level of professionalism and can only hope that ‘tomorrow’s’ national performers were among those who entertained me at the start of their careers. If so, there’s great hope for the future.
Radio-wise in 2010 I still found myself mainly entertained by Radio 1. This seems to bother those of the older generation who don’t think I should be listening to Radio 1 or current and new music. However, Radio 1 is the only station that plays the kind of music I currently like and has the commercial-free and personality presentation that I have always liked. Sadly, there are no pirate stations to listen to up here in Liverpool, which is something I’ve not gotten used to compared to when I lived in London. Well, there are some pirate stations I can hear faintly, but they seem to be playing the same oldies as anything else that plays oldies so the excitement of ‘modern’ London piracy is missing. I do ‘tune-in’ to various London pirates, especially Hightz via my phone or via a PC from time to time just to see what I’m missing.
When I need to escape from Radio 1, Liverpool’s Juice FM is excellent. A bit heavy on the commercials, but it packs a high energy that is missing from all the other blander commercial stations I am able to receive.
Whoever is programming Juice needs to be congratulated, but please stop using the generic constipated-sounding voice over artists for all your trails and shouty bits. If you must use them, buy them a few laxatives.
I like talking radio but I cannot listen to ‘talk’ peppered with long chunks about sport, nor can I stand the ‘talk’ offered locally via BBC Merseyside. I am about 80 years too young for its output. Plus it is interspersed with god-damn old songs I’ve heard a billion times. Now that’s worse than sport.
There is a talk show on commercial station City hosted by Pete Price, and from time to time I drift into that. Unfortunately most of his callers are drunk, mad, or stoned and very rarely make much sense. He’s good though despite locals hating him.
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| Christopher likes Chris |
My default talking show of choice is of course the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1. I even listen to it via ‘listen again’ if I feel drawn. Not only do the subjects generally interest me and give me something I can identify with, but also it is buffered by the kind of music I like. Chris gets a lot of bad press from the haters out there, and I suspect his days on breakfast really are numbered (When he finally does ‘go’, all the press will be saying, “See? We told you so!” ignoring the fact that they’ve been saying it for most of the nearly six years he’s been presenting the show and so must eventually be right).
I suspect that by the end of 2011 we will know when he is moving on, and I for one will be sorry when he’s gone. He’s comfortable for me in the way that the old Doctor Who and Jonathan Ross show were.
Musically, 2010 was still as exciting as ever.
Dubstep (as an old Drum’n’Base anorak, Dubstep is a natural love of mine!) became more and more mainstream and the charts got a little bit more exciting rather than just having bland X-Factor-ish ballads dominating it, so ‘pop’ stopped eating itself.
Finally, a review of 2010 can’t conclude without noting that the evil tyranny of the Labour years finally came to an end, to be replaced by this strange Conservative and Liberal Democratic Coalition Government. Hmmm. More about that in the future, but it’s sure been entertaining so far.
England's England 