Been watching TOTP on BBC4, they've been doing 1997 into 1998 recently. Two observations; 1) The Lighthouse Family were indeed as boring as I remember them. 2) Never Ever by All Saints must have been performed (mimed) by the girls on at least eight different episodes of the programme. A nice song that kind of created a chilled chav genre. The first couple of times they performed it, the band members were wrapped up like they were about to ascend K2. Fair enough, it was November. And a refreshing change. But between then and January, each studio appearance saw the young ladies wearing a little less Maybe it was a mild winter.
The head teacher on QT tonight, who is passionately arguing that smart phones should be banned for under 16's. Next to her forceful argument, the spineless Government minister is wobbling more than a jelly in an earthquake. That headmistress should be the next Education Secretary. Her personality and arguments are totally dominating the programme.
A cartoon in Private EYe showed a nursery class with all the little ones sitting staring at their phones except on who was sitting looking at a book, with one nursery nurse saying to another "That's the strange child I was telling you about". Well, I liked it.
I thought that the jazz combo Ezra were outstanding at Glastonbury, especially the trumpeter. Louis Armstrong would have approved.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...Harry-80-Blondie-bombshell-looks-secrets.html Whilst I have been a big Blondie fan, got loads of her vinyl and seen her live a few times, one time in Sydney even, I do wonder how much longer she can do gigs. Not surprisingly, time has caught up with here, and particularly with the sad death of Clem Burke, who I thought WAS Blondie, perhaps it is time for her to call it a day. Serious crumpet over the years tbf as well
I tend to agree. She was knocking on a bit even in the early 1980's. A lot of singers look better as they get older (more character). But they are the ones who didn't depend on their looks to start with. Great tunes as some Blondie tracks were, Ms Harry definitely sold on her looks. I know it's sexist, but for me Grandpa Rockers Granny rockers
Suzi Quatro is still going strong at 75. She recently played the Albert Hall. Funnily enough, she was in an episode of Minder, playing Terry's love interest.
Sorry to change the subject from Beauty to the Beast, But I read on the front page of the Currant Bun that Anty Beeb have hired Shrek to be a pundit, presumably on MOTD For £800,000 a year I'd rather they had hired Gazza
Two examples of the sad decline of BBC entertainment 'flagship' programmes of recent times. 1. Walking with Dinosaurs The original series from around the year 2000 was good. 6 x 30 minute episodes, light on facts but padded well with guesswork, nice CGI and simple storylines similar to a modern day nature programme. Nothing too taxing on the mind, good entertainment for the kids. The latest series? Dreadful. Missed the point completely, fell between two audiences and in my view failed to please either. I don't mind dry-as-dust documentaries about people digging up dinosaur bones. And I quite like CGI imaginings of what those creatures might have looked like and how they might have behaved when alive. But not all chopped together in the same programme. The bone digging sequences were deadly dull, revealing nothing. Just padding the episode to around 45 minutes for commercial sale around the World where every other TV network fills out an hour with adverts. The CGI dinosaur sequences were very disappointing as well. Barely any more realistic than those of 25 years ago, and riddled with bad choices and mistakes which combined to suck all the excitement and menace out of the dinosaurs. Yes, perhaps some of them did have feathers. But guessing how those feathers looked on this programme reduced the creatures to comical freaks. Before they got bored, I expect most of the kids watching just laughed. And the total censorship of any actual violence displayed by the carnivores was ridiculous. The supposedly ferocious flesh-eating raptors didn't even get any blood on their chops. Not a drop was seen as far as I recall. Kids don't want that kind of sanitised squit. They want blood & gore. Give them a little of it for pity's sake. And the worst faux-pas? The incredibly annoying modern habit of giving the featured dinosaur in each episode a name. Not the name of it's species. A human name, such as 'George'. A clumsy and moronic creationist device to try to generate sympathy with the plight of the poor creature. To anthropomorphise it, turn it into a pet. For Christ's sake, these were not cuddly puppies or kittens. They were wild creatures fighting for survival. No tear-jerking sentimentality. A total waste of licence payers' money. 2. Doctor Who Billie Piper the next Doctor? I've been patient, but that takes the f**king biscuit. Who's her companion going to be, Chris effing Evans? Laurence Fox? The BBC has finally killed that show, stone dead.
Check out Dept. Q on Netflix. Excellent tellybox from start to finish, even though it's set in Scotland.
Agreed. But the answer is not Billie Piper. Younger fans will barely remember her, she was last on the show almost 20 years ago. Older watchers who do remember her are, I believe (like me), just about out of patience with the way the show has disappeared up its own backside. Can't they do something new? Are they so bereft of ideas that they have to bring back tatty old characters? Seeing Bonnie Langford again was bad enough. PS: I will check out Dept Q. By the way, does anybody remember a TV show called Department S ?
