Saturday, February 5, 2011

The Fitz + Legend + Mrs. Brown's Boys

Here's an Irish 3-fer.

The Fitz is a sitcom about a family that lives in a house that is half in the Irish Republic and half in Ulster and all the children are named after one of the Kennedy's. Pat Shortt (Killinaskully, Mattie, Father Ted) is one of the offspring.

Legend is a drama about 3 families. Someone contributed this to IMDB:
Notwithstanding the epidemic of sitcoms today that try to balance the drama of crime and family, Legend emerges as an incredibly fresh yet genuinely touching experience. I knew nothing about the show and almost as much about Irish television (Radio Telefís Éireann), yet this program stands shoulder to shoulder with the giant enterprises of American cable. The writing, the acting, the cinematography and the music are brilliantly combined, creating an artistic and relevant atmosphere easily equal to some of my favorites like Showtime's Brotherhood or Weeds or HBO's The Sopranos. Yet the show lacks all of the dramatic pretension that has become a prerequisite for American primetime. "Legend" even surpasses other television shows with its gritty yet beautiful realism. The premise of a middle-class young father losing his loving wife, falling into financial difficulties with some less than reputable characters and having to care for his children, could so easily fizzle into a myriad of clichés. However, within this deflated modern Irish suburbia, every character is developed into beautiful contextual nexus of what it means to be young and struggling with life and death today. I was really blown away with the series and I hope the generic title of the show will not bury this gem in obscurity.

Mrs. Brown's Boys is a new sitcom (that just concluded tonight) "starring Brendan O'Carroll about a meddling market stall holder. With three of her six children still living at home, the foul-mouthed matriarch still finds time to interfere in their lives." I read that this will be aired in Canada starting next month.
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/mrs_browns_boys.html

Band Of Gold


Band Of Gold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_Gold_%28TV_series%29

Casualty - Series 25 Discs 1 & 2


Casualty - Series 25 Discs 1 and 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualty_%28TV_series%29

Friday, February 4, 2011

Shortland Street - Disc 6

Shortland Street - Disc 6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortland_Street

Emmerdale 2011 - Disc 1

Emmerdale 2011 - Disc 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmerdale

Doctors - Series 12 Disc 10

Doctors - Series 12 Disc 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors_%282000_TV_series%29

The Bill 1997 - Discs 6 & 7


The Bill - 1997 Discs 6 and 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill

The Chase



The Chase is a drama about a family run veterinary practice in West Yorkshire. Actors include Gaynor Faye (Fat Friends, Playing The Field, Between The Sheets), Nicola Stephenson (Christmas-Northern-City Lights), Michelle Holmes (Goodnight Sweetheart, Common As Muck), Janet Dibley (The Two Of Us), Reece Dinsdale (Home To Roost, Haggard), Rachel Davies (Boon, Making Out, Band Of Gold, Linda Green), Sunetra Sarker (No Angels), and so on. Keith Barron (Duty Free, Haggard, All Night Long, Where The Heart Is,  The Good Guys, Dead Man Weds) had a role in Series 1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chase_%28TV_series%29

Acropolis Now!



Acropolis Now! was an Australian sitcom that ran for 63 episodes in 5 series between 1989 and 1992. Warren Mitchell guested in the first episode as the Greek father who convinces his two sons to take over his cafe when he returns to Greece. He was in Australia at the time for the filming of the 4th series of In Sickness & In Health.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropolis_Now
http://www.crawfords.com.au/libary/sitcom/acropolis.shtml

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Making Out



Making Out. Not much information out there on this. It was a comedy-drama from BBC North about a group of women (and their lives) that work together at an electronics factory in Manchester. Each episode runs about 50 minutes. Well-known Welsh actor Alan David (The Green Green Grass, A State Of Mind, Sleepers and guest appearances in many popular programs), Heather Tobias (Sitting Pretty, All The Small Things, Is Harry On The Boat, The Palace), Tracie Bennett (Joking Apart, Next Of Kin, Burn It, Rich Tea And Sympathy), Moya Brady (My Hero, The Bill), Rachel Davies (The Chase, Linda Green, Boon), Shirley Stelfox (Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Emmerdale, Keeping Up Appearances, Common As Muck), Melanie Kilburn (All The Small Things, Down To Earth, Peak Practice, Where The Heart Is, Moving Story) are all part of the main cast. Keith Allen, who played the psychotic Dexter in Roger Roger, was in many of the episodes. Someone found these in a box of old tapes belonging to a relative. Nice find. 

Shameless - Disc 8

Shameless - Disc 8 with the early Series 8 episodes. More life with the model citizens of Chatsworth Council Estate. Sort of makes you want to brush your teeth and wash your hands, ya know? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shameless

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Doctor Who - 7th & 8th Doctors






Doctor Who - 7th Doctor, plus the 8th Doctor which was the 1996 film. Discs 1 through 3 hold the entire Series 24 / 25/ 26. Discs 4 through 6 hold a lot of extra material including special editions of Battlefield and The Curse of Fenric plus other interesting documentaries, behind-the-scenes, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

Midsomer meltdown

Midsomer Murders.........well, this is it. Right now the final John Nettles episode is airing and that is the end of the road for him. 81 episodes, about 14 years. Sure, Neil Dudgeon is taking his place and Midsomer will carry on...ssss..nnnnn..zzzzzzz.....oops, sorry. I dozed off for a minute. Where was I? Oh, right. Midsomer will carry on with Neil Dudgeon for at least another 4 episodes, but will it be the same? 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsomer_Murders

Waterloo Road returns

After being on break since the end of September, Waterloo Road's 6th season continues tonight for another 10 new episodes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_Road_%28TV_series%29