Monday, July 30, 2007

TV Rewind: renewing my acquaintance with some old "Friends"

Since that very popular series ended, its cast have had varying fortunes. Matt Le Blanc’s "Joey"...well let’s not go there eh. Meanwhile Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry now have leading roles in two new TV shows, both of which are now being broadcast here in the UK.

I wanted to love "Dirt" - it sounded as if it would be a cracker, set in the world of a stop-at-nothing paparazzi magazine, with Ms Cox as the editor. But I watched the first episode and found it to be shockingly bad, so bad that by the end of it I felt "there goes one hour of my life which I will never get back".

Unlike "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip", a highly intelligent drama from the USA. Sadly our TV here in the UK is so dumbed-down at this point that it’s not being shown on Channel 4, but on the more serious/highbrow More 4.

It kicked off in fine style, with a "Saturday Night Live"-type show being halted by the producer’s disaffected speech reminiscent of the "mad as hell" moment in "Network". It may focus a bit too much on the politics of US TV networks, which may go over the head of many a viewer, but I thought it was a rather good opening which set the scene very well. Matthew Perry and his sidekick are brought in to rescue the ailing entertainment show, and you can’t help feeling that it won’t be an easy ride for them.

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