The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| 'Two and a Half Men' funeral tops most-DVR'd list Posted: 19 Dec 2011 08:51 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - What do Ben Roethlisberger's Super Bowl choke and ''Two and a Half Men's'' send-off to deceased cad Charlie Harper have in common? They were the most-TiVo'ed moments on television in 2011. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Roethlisberger's incomplete pass to Mike Wallace during Super Bowl XLV was the year's most ''time-shifted'' television moment, according to DVR company TiVo's newly released annual report. Coming in second was the eulogy for Charlie Sheen's character on ''Two and a Half Men'' during the show's September season premiere. The Best Pictures Oscar win for ''The King's Speech'' at the Academy Awards came in third, while ''Modern Family'' - a DVR favorite - rounded out TiVo's Top 5 television moments with its ''After the Fire'' and ''Hit and Run'' episodes. Speaking of ''Modern Family,'' the ABC comedy has overtaken ''Grey's Anatomy'' as the top-ranked show on the company's ''Season Pass'' list, which automatically records shows week-to-week, regardless of time-slot changes. The medical drama had held the top ranking for months. (In this case, DVR use appears to echo real-time viewing; ''Modern Family'' consistently leads the ratings on Wednesday nights.) In terms of network breakdown, the most-DVR'ed series - at least within the scope of TiVo's study - air on the CW, with ''The Vampire Diaries,'' ''Gossip Girl'' and ''Smallville'' being viewed in time-shifted mode more than 83 percent of the time. This would seem to be in alignment with the CW's younger audience, which presumably has better things to do than plunk itself in front of the television in accordance with the network's dictated schedule. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:52 AM PST It's the end of the year, and we thought we'd like to trace what made 2011 such a worthwhile year where TV is concerned. So we're giving you an alphabet's worth of things to think about. A – Australians They're everywhere, have you noticed? Toni Collette (United States Of Tara), Simon Baker (The Mentalist, The Guardian), Rose Byrne (Damages), Anna Torv (Fringe), Jason Clarke (Chicago Code), Jesse Spencer (House), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Dominic Purcell (Prison Break), Ryan Kwaten (True Blood) ... yeah, I know! Amazing when you think about it, how the Aussies have surreptitiously infiltrated our homes through our TV sets. And then you flip to a food channel thinking it's safe there, and you have the likes of Curtis Stone and Adrian Richardson telling you how to grocery shop properly or make your own sausage! B – Bishop Walter and Peter Bishop (pic below) of the strange series Fringe, to be precise. Walter is a former government agent researcher with a recorded IQ of 196 (who keeps a cow in his lab), who's been institutionalised (one of the best mad scientists on TV, no doubt), and has a very, very dishy son in the form of Peter, his team-mate in the Fringe science division. Peter also comes with a crazy IQ of 190, is a college dropout and has huge gambling debts, but you got to love his wit and occasional bursts of wisdom. (Oh, and did you know John Nobel is Australian too? What, they've infiltrated the parallel universe, too?) C – CSI Technically, we should have long been over CSIs of any sort. But we seem to be addicted to murder, mayhem, mystery and forensic science. The characters – be they from Vegas, Miami or New York – have all become part of our lives somehow. It's like watching old friends doing what they do best. And since they've been making the show since 2000, there are more than enough episodes to keep us coming back for more, and more. D – Dancing With The Stars We aren't great dancers. But after watching a couple of episodes of Dancing With The Stars (Season 13), we wish we knew how to dance better. Those professional dancers on the show are ah-may-zingg. So strong, so flexible, so agile. And the celebrities? Well, some of them are truly, truly impressive. We want to be able to dance the samba, the jive and the quickstep, too. In fact, Indra recently borrowed some instructional dance DVDs from a friend – hoping to live out her fantasies in the confines of her home (curtains drawn, of course). Indra's favourite team? Ricki Lake (she moves so fluidly for a non-dancer) and Derek Hough (he's phenomenal)! Ann Marie's favourite? JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff. E – E! Indra's favourite programme on the E! channel is Fashion Police. Why? Because Joan Rivers just cracks her up. Rivers is irreverant and catty, but always humourous with her comments about celebrities and their fashion faux pas. And she doesn't mind taking a few jabs at herself either. Some of her more memorable comments? When Paula Abdul wore a particularly ghastly outfit, Rivers commented: "With all the voices in her head, you'd think one would be a gay guy going, 'No!'". And, when Jessica Alba wore a doozy on the red carpet, Rivers went: "This dress is the ugliest thing created in Italy since Donatella Versace." Ouch. She's so bad, I love her! F – Food Watching food related programmes has never been so good. We've got a smorgasbord of food programmes; and whether it's a reality show (Masterchef, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen) or one which features a presenter (Anna Olson, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Adrian Richardson, Curtis Stone, Laura Calder, Sandra Lee, Michael Smith) or the kind that takes you to various places – sometimes across the world (Tablescapes, The Maverick Chef, A Cook's Tour, Ho Chak!) – or gives you tips and interesting ideas (Cook Like A Chef, Restaurant Makeover), watching people cook up stuff on TV has never been so delectable. G – Glee Project Ann Marie absolutely loved the Glee Project and thought it was a fabulous idea to inject new enthusiasm into the series. GP was a reality show of sorts, which served as an audition platform for the Fox TV series Glee. The prize for the winner was a seven-episode arc in the following season of the show. The series was helmed by Glee casting director Robert Ulrich, whom Ann Marie absolutely swooned over. The winners – Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen – each earned a spot on the show (seven-episode arcs) which we've yet to see here in Malaysia. There are already reports of a second season for the show. H – How I Met Your Mother We're fed up of waiting. Ted Moseby, introduce your damn wife already. Barney Stintson's entertainment value has long run out and we are not amused. I – Indian invasion Is it just us or do you also feel the sudden influx of Indian actors (or, to be politically correct, actors of Indian origin) on TV these days. There's Divya Katdare (played by Reshma Shetty) on Royal Pains; Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) on Big Bang Theory; Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) on Heroes (don't beat yourself up if you don't remember him, he was a real snoozefest); Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi) in The Good Wife; Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) in The Office, Johnathan (Maulik Pancholy) in 30 Rock and Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) in Parks And Recreation, to name a few. Makes you wonder, right? Hey Ann Marie, should we try our luck? J – Jon Hamm Okay, so we really haven't made enough time to properly watch Mad Men. But that Jon Hamm, we thought he definitely deserved mention. Come to think of it, actually we think it is Don Draper we love so much, but seeing that Hamm did take home an emmy in 2008 for his portrayal, we'll give him props, too. In Mad Men, Draper is the Creative Director of a Manhattan advertising firm. The character is, in fact, partially based on Draper Daniels, the creative head of the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago in the 1950s. We think Jon Hamm just rocks in character. Those 50s suits and styles fit him like a glove. K – Killer appeal Is it weird that Indra has a favourite killer on TV? Well, technically Dexter isn't really a killer, since he only kills bad guys ... right? Think about it – wouldn't it be a great idea to have a vigilante like Dexter looking out for you, exterminating all the scummy criminals who escape the law and continue to be scum on earth? Kinda like having your own personal superhero? Yes, Dexter rocks. (BTW Dexter, we like your shirts ... especially when you don't have them on!) L – The L-Word As in Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jason Lee, John Lithgow, Robert Sean Leonard. What else is there to say? M – Masterchef So many Masterchef series, and just not enough viewing time. Ann Marie loves watching the masterclasses and is aspiring someday to be able to cook as well as the Bliss Sisters (12 year-olds Isabella and Sofia; Isabella won the first Masterchef Junior title in Australia). Ann Marie's toughest critics are her kids who sound suspiciously like Gordon Ramsay on a very bad day. N – Nudity Who needs the censorship board when there was Indra's mother! When she was a kid, she was made to close her eyes whenever a kissing scene came on TV. Yes! She wasn't allowed to watch kissing scenes. Once the ban was lifted (when she was 30-something ... kidding!), Indra was sorely dissappointed. Nudity on TV is seriously overated. And so unsexy. She'd much rather see Alexander Skarsgard in a pair of blue jeans (and nothing else) than completely nude. Agree? O – Oprah The curtain closed on The Oprah Show this year and boy, were there tears. We must confess, there was a time we were huge fans of The Oprah Show, mostly because she brought many celebrities onto her show and we used to virtually be celebrity stalkers. At the time, there weren't too many programmes on our TV channels where celebrities came on and spilt their guts – well, not actually. We stopped watching The Oprah Show a few years ago – she got a tad overbearing and fell short as an interviewer. No matter who she brings onto her show, she ends up talking mostly about herself, often interrupting her guests, too. Gah! P – Police procedurals Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NCIS, Criminal Behavior, Hawaii Five-O – there's actually heaps to keep you busy playing detective from the safe confines of your couch. Q – Quirky characters Remember crazy Kramer from sitcom Sienfeld? Or anal Adrian Monk on Monk? Peculiar Phoebe from Friends and neurotic Niles from Frasier? Quirky characters certainly contribute to a lot of laughter on TV. One of my all-time favourite TV shows was 3rd Rock From The Sun which was full of quirky characters like Dr Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), Sally Solomon (Kristen Johnston), Harry Solomon (French Stewart) and Dr Mary Albright (Jane Curtin) – well, three of them were aliens, so it may not be fair to call them quirky by human standards. Still, they were hilarious. R – Remakes So far, every TV show that has been remade has been a collosal dissappointment. Hawaii Five-O (though it started off well), Charlie's Angels, Knight Rider, Bionic Woman ... all dissappointments. We don't understand it. You know what show we'd like to remake? Moonlighting! Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard were private detectives David Addison and Madeleine Hayes in the 1980s comedy/drama/romance. The duo had awesome chemistry – a little bit of loving and a little bit of hating – and I think an updated version would work. Who should be cast? We'd pick Jensen Ackles as David and Archie Punjabi as Maddie. S – Sheldon Cooper He's got a BSC, MSC, MA, PhD, ScD and is a theoretical physicist who eats cereal, wears checkered pants, and needs the "soft kitty" song sung to him when he's sick. Brought to life in magnificent glory by actor Jim Parsons in the TV series Big Bang Theory, Sheldon also taught the TV-viewing masses how to play "rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock" (which is a five-gesture expansion of the classic selection method game rock-paper-scissors, which reduces the chances of a round ending in a tie compared to the more traditional game, and apparently, invented by Sam Kass and Karen Bryla). T – Tyrion Lannister Never short on wit, sarcasm and all-round know-how, Tyrion Lannister (played by Peter Dinklage) gave us all something we loved tuning into (Game Of Thrones) even if it was for just 10 episodes. Season Two, where are you? U – Unceremoniously axed This isn't a rant, but let's take a moment to pay tribute to brilliant shows that were taken off the air too early. Life (of course), Detroit 187, Chicago Code, Pushing Daisies, Veronica Mars, Dead Like Me, Firefly, Jericho, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, Pan Am (hasn't come here and probably never will, but we've caught a few episodes and kind of like it). For all these casualties of bad network decisions, a moment of silence please. V – Vulgarity Hey, did you know there was an online petition (signed by more than 70,000 people) sent to the E! channel to get the Kardashians off TV? Apparently, audiences – even fans of the K-clan – have had enough of the antics of Kris, Kourtney, Kim and Khloe. They're loud, lewd and vulgar, but what drove audiences over the edge, apparently, was Kim's over-the-top wedding (which was aired over two or three episdoes on E!), which disintegrated after just 72 days. Anyone smell a rat? Hopefully, the shows' producers (ahem, Mr Seacrest are you listening?) heed the public's call. W – Winchesters Brothers Who are the sexiest brothers on TV? (All together now – imagine ring announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund saying this) The Winchester Brothers! (Clap! Clap! Clap). Ok. Maybe one brother is sexier – Dean, of course. Sam's just a little too intense for us . Like, loosen up a little, will ya? Yeah, we know you've got demon issues, but can you chill for a second? X – X Files How we long for its return. Y – Youth Do the young people on TV annoy the heck out of you? Or is that just young people in general? Think Terra Nova and 90210. Z – Zooey Deschanel The beautiful Zooey (New Girl) and her sister Emily (of Bones fame) put the cool in weird. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2011 04:19 PM PST PETALING JAYA: Almost three weeks after bursting onto the radio scene with its unique offering of women-focused content and entertainment, Capital FM 88.9 has got men all abuzz as well – with some loving it and others not knowing what to make of it. Sales executive who only wants to be known as Shukri, 40, wondered why most of the topics discussed were "so scary". "They were talking about cancer, menopause and other things like that." "I don't want my wife to get into a bad mood after hearing all that. If she's in a bad mood, then I will be in trouble," he said. He said the radio should be a medium to entertain people and not turn them off with "too many frightening stories". Telecommunications analyst Joseph Kang, 30, said he felt some of the DJs were "too high-brow". "They sometimes talk on gender and lifestyle issues which are beyond me," he said. However, other men defended the station and said the topics discussed were a "refreshing change" as they provided insightful views into women's needs and wants. Photographer Jeremy Choy, 22, said he loved the song selection and the unique concept of a radio station that focused on providing content for women. "To be honest, women have their own opinions and they rarely accept men's ideas. They have the right to choose what they want to air," he said. Events manager Naveen Raj, 29, said a women-focused station was great as long as it did not become "too sexist". "They should get views from both men and women," he said. Capital FM DJ Sheela Haran, who hosts the 8pm to midnight weekday show, welcomed the fact that some men enjoyed tuning in as well. "It's fantastic. We're not out there to make men hate us nor exclude them. "My show is a platform and sounding board for women to air their views in a comfortable environment," she said, referring to her decision not to put male callers on air. Sheela, however, stressed that she welcomed male views and discussed their opinions during her show. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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