Radiation by Fiona Rae

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Radiation: All this, and Lucy too

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  • Craig Ranapia,

    How odd. The censor has nothing to do with broadcast television.

    No, but I'm sure there's someone at TV3 whose job is to rattle the Broadcasting Standards Code and all relevant practice notes and decisions in a vaguely intimidating manner. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Educational? Indeed, I know one parent who wasn't quite prepared for having that level of education foisted upon his kids. We told him that's why they put warnings on the front of shows like this.

    Are you ever tempted to ask what sane parent is watching Outrageous Fortune with their "kids" in the first place? Love it, but it's one of those excellent local kidult dramas nobody is watching on a Saturday afternoon.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Oh come on, how could it be better than Troop Beverly Hills?

    This is true. Troop Beverly Hills is a cracker, but I think Shelley Long's best post-Cheers work was as Carol Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie.

    In other matters, I also recommend Life On Mars (but how long ago did that first screen in the UK)? And Torchwood is a rude little delight, that manages to make Cardiff look very modern and sexy.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • JP Hansen,

    Thanks for the clarification of the show's title James. Love your work!

    Also the mates from Te Atatu and I had a good chuckle about that reviewer (Herald, maybe?) who panned the show for being cliche ridden and full of unrealistic charactures. Holy hell, has she never been over the Norwestern Causeway?

    Us westies love the little in-jokes like "Chris Amon High School" that won't mean anything to anyone who lives more that 50km from Henderson Square (__West City__ my ass).

    Also, our Te Atatu friends found the West's house one night on an evening stroll - according to local legend it used to belong to Barry Butterworth and was the scene of many a Westie party back in the day, so quite a nice piece of location-casting. Mr Butterworth eventually bought the house next door to my parents up the scenic drive, so had our share of exposure to traditional Westie parties in my formative years too, even if it was just via bass throbbing through the walls at 2am most weekends.

    Waitakere • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report Reply

  • James Griffin,

    Barry Butterworth, as in speedway Barry Butterworth?

    Legendary!

    Since Nov 2006 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • JP Hansen,

    Yup.

    Waitakere • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    censor...

    quite.

    Love it, but it's one of those excellent local kidult dramas nobody is watching on a Saturday afternoon.

    The Lost Children was excellent wasn't it?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Damn right. Can't wait for series 2 to hit the wires. Interestingly, creator Matthew Graham says it will be the last: "We decided that Sam's journey should have a finite life span and a clear-cut ending and we feel that we have now reached that point after two series."

    If only they'd made that decision about the first season. It seemed to be a story with a very definite plot-arc, and I felt rather cheated by the (lack of an) ending.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    No, but I'm sure there's someone at TV3 whose job is to rattle the Broadcasting Standards Code and all relevant practice notes and decisions in a vaguely intimidating manner. :)

    I think they're actually called the "internal censors". You want to be (well, actually, you don't want to be) somewhere really risk-averse like Radio NZ. Towards the end of Off the Wire on NatRad, they were vetoing a a lot of the better jokes.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    If there are Outrageous Fortune DVDs (and I always think that their last name is Fortune, even though I know it's not), will there be Insiders [sic] Guide to Happiness ones? Please please please?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • David Slack,

    I know they film Eye to Eye with an honest-to-goodness lawyer from - I think - Simpson Grierson sitting in the control room.

    I also recall that when I worked in advertising about a hundred years ago you'd have to take the script of your client's TV commercial over to an office in the terrace where a bloke from TVNZ (or was it BCNZ) would approve it.

    I actually think Outrageous Fortune functions as a pretty accurate barometer for anyone who would want to be a censor in contemporary NZ. If it's in OF, it's probably going to be just fine with the punters.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Craig: Actually, from looking at the closing scenes of episode 1 and comparing it with Google Earth, I think its the Millennium Centre, AKA the "armadillo".

    (Assuming that is the building Emma is looking for, of course)

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan,

    will there be Insiders [sic] Guide to Happiness ones? Please please please?

    Happiness was released on DVD but appears to no longer be for sale on Groovy's site, perhaps they all sold out? The follow-up is there too.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • Lambert,

    TV3 holds onto BSG for a year, TV2 only shows half a season of The Sopranos before pulling it? Oh well, thanks to the magic of DVD I can officially give up on broadcast tv.

    Obviously it doesn't bode well for the networks and their ad revenue if too many people are buying the box sets (or renting them - cheers Fatso.co.nz), but since they have their heads so far up far their backsides when it comes to programming (__The Wire__ on in the early am anyone?), I don't have any sympathy. It's a genuine Golden Age for tv - shame no one told Canwest and TVNZ.

    Besides, who the hell wants to watch something as dense and novelistic as The Wire or Deadwood rationed out in 50-minute snippets, once a week, and interrupted by commercials every 15 minutes? (And TV characters like Calamity Jane, Jimmy McNulty and Tommy Gavin from Rescue Me make those don't-get-drunk-or-you'll-make-a-dick-of-yourself ads redundant anyway).

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 27 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    Oooh thanks Matthew, further googling has found that Aro Video is selling it!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Besides, who the hell wants to watch something as dense and novelistic as The Wire or Deadwood rationed out in 50-minute snippets, once a week, and interrupted by commercials every 15 minutes?

    When I went to the US this year, the last (and shabbiest) hotel I stayed in had HBO and widescreen TVs in room. I watched Spike Lee's Hurricane Katrina doco, over four hours, occasionally briefly interrupted by promos, and I thought, how glorious. While we're bashing free-to-air TV, it's probably worth noting that Sky ain't too flash either ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    That's the beast, I/S, thanks. I'm somehow inordinately pleased that that sexy beast is an arts complex and not a stadium.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I/S:

    OK. that makes more sense considering Torchwood is supposed to be in the basement.

    Lambert:

    I think you have a point. Perhaps I'm just getting old, but I'm watching less and less broadcast TV and being more and more picky about what I do bother to watch. And if you're a fan, even with no extras to speak of, $69.95 isn't obscenely expensive for the BSG season two box - and if you want commentaries, the podcasts are free to download from the show site, and there's lots of other tasty extras. Not so long ago, I'd have had to be satisfied with a pile of grotty tapes.

    If free-to-air broadcasters are going to bother shelling out for the rights to overseas dramas, then they better get a little imaginative about building profiles and audiences for those of us who are willing to try something a little more ambitious than Corrie, Shortie, CSi and that venerable old warhorse Lara 'Norder.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    No extras to speak of? We got extras for the first half of the season - a large number of deleted scenes (15-20mins for some episodes) and the podcasts. Gotta say I wouldn't have minded waiting a bit so we could have gotten all the bonus features, however.

    At $69.95 you're being robbed at the moment however, Whitcoulls (I love Whitcoulls, and they probably love me) is selling it at $49.95 at the moment.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Fiona Rae,

    At $69.95 you're being robbed at the moment however, Whitcoulls (I love Whitcoulls, and they probably love me) is selling it at $49.95 at the moment.

    Frak! Does that mean we were dicked at Armageddon by Whitcoulls? I thought it was meant to be cheaper there ...

    Torchwood is a funny one, btw, it's trying to be adult, but still exists in a kind of Doctor Who paradigm. Still, where else would you see a sexy Cyberwoman being attacked by a pteradactyl? I thought the last one with the lesbian alien was actually the best in tone and coherence so far. Other eps seemed to lurch from one situation to the next so that you were thinking, "where did that come from?" However, totally watchable, and if it's out there, the Jonathan Ross interview with Captain Jack is the funniest thing I've seen in a while.

    Point Chevalier • Since Nov 2006 • 34 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    and I always think that their last name is Fortune, even though I know it's not

    "Hey, cousin J.D. from Canada's gonna be in town. He's in some Aussie pub rock covers band and they're over here doing a tour of the nine main centres."

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    the Jonathan Ross interview with Captain Jack is the funniest thing I've seen in a while.

    Well, if you liked that, then I will reccomend the recent episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, where throughly the episode, John Barrowman and pixieboy host Simon Amstell fiercely competed to see who could be the gayest. Start with part one here.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Graeme:
    At $69.95 you're being robbed at the moment however, Whitcoulls (I love Whitcoulls, and they probably love me) is selling it at $49.95 at the moment.

    Certainly, but being the sad little fanboy I am (who couldn't wait for his fix of Jamie Bamber wearing nothing but a tea towel) I got it the day of release and paid full list. Still, I don't think it's a bad price for a full season box. And, sure, it's extras light compared to the R1 sets - but when everything is pretty much available for free on the show website, I don't see the point of paying the premium for import. There's also the LoTR diminishing returns factor to cosnider - you shell out for the Viagra-cised Extra Super Special Edition, but what are the chances you're going to watch twice the feature-length documentary on the tea lady?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Robyn:

    Who needs to watch? - John Barrowman is automatically the gayest of 'em all after out-swishing Nathan Lane in his brief, but memorable turn, in The Producers' infamous 'Springtime for Hitler' number.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Brislen,

    The Millennium Centre in Wales was used in one of the first series Dr Who (well, first new series) to great effect - nothing like seeing the Tardis parked in front of Gwyneth Lewis's magnificent "In these stones horizons sing" ...

    more on Gwyneth and the Centre here:

    http://www.gwynethlewis.com/millenniumcentre.shtml

    and a history of it all here:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/wmc/

    Who would have thought that two of the best written shows on TV this year would be Dr Who (clearly the best drama we've had for yonks...) and Battlestar Gallactica (!) I mean, really... it's The West Wing in space! Bags of fun.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 200 posts Report Reply

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