Catching up on British Programs: No Heroics & Secret Diary of A Call Girl

I have began watching UK's No Heroics, this superhero comedy I was talking about a few days back. It's not a whole lot of laugh, that I can honestly say. But it's different for TV.

There are plenty of superhero characters the show can do without. But since it's a comedy series, their being there and not making sense? It's still making sense. (Unlike that other superhero TV show...) For instance, they have a character named Light Killer. What does he do? He can turn off lights. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

The heroes on No Heroics have a lot of flaws, just like us regular people. Like, the world's third strongest woman is actually annoyingly needy and insecure. She is, so far, my least favorite character.

Patrick Ballad (who is more familiar to me as that guy who is the opposite of Ricky Gervais' Office character, David Brent) is also in this cast and he plays the most popular superhero of 'em all. Except his ego is also huuuuge. He thinks he is above everyone else, judging by the number of TV appearances they have (the superheroes keep scores).

The costumes are outrageous...I should mention that. All superheroes are required to don capes and tights except when they are off duty. Most of them do not look good wearing it.

The humor is incredibly British --- self-effacing and downright pathetic. The Brits are masters of finding what's funny in that, which is sometimes harder for some people to grasp.

If you remember that Ben Stiller movie, Mystery Men, this show is a lot like it. Except a bit off-center with the humor. I kinda like that it's this weird.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl's second season is almost over. But to be honest, I've been quiet disappointed by it, in that...well, I used to revere in the idea that this a really cleverly written story about a prostitute; and yet her life is devoid of any drama.

It was a fun and humorous look at being a call girl.

Season 2 is not at all like that. They allowed Belle/Hannah to fall in love and to have two men pining for her, too... As much as I like that they are there for eyecandy (coz the men are really hot!), Belle's personal relationships just complicated her situation... and then the drama started. Bleech.

Also, Billie Piper's pregnant body is really beginning to show. She only looks not pregnant via the face. Anything below it, Belle/Hannah is just huge. The actress is loving her pregnant body, but the camera and the show, where she plays a high class escort girl, aren't.

Will there be a third season and will they go back to being funny?

British Series: The Palace

I've been reading up on the Royal Family recently; trying to familiarize myself with their protocols, titles, rankings, who's senior over whom and such. (Watching the movie, Elizabeth: The Golden Age peaked my curiosity, that's why!) So, when I found a way to watch this series, I was glad to find another medium I can enjoy, whilst learning about their system. Admittedly, I'm not attuned to British culture as I am with the more accessible American lifestyle.

But this not to say the series, The Palace, is as close to reality. It's still fiction, with a reference to real life here and there.

The show follows the drama and politics inside the King's courts. The King is a reluctant young man, Richard, who ascends to the throne in the very first episode, when his father suffers a heart attack. Richard is only 24 years old and isn't ready for such a responsibility. His elder sister, Princess Eleanor, is portrayed as the more ambitious one. And it's clear to see where this family/political drama is heading.

The Palace is modelled as British TV's The West Wing. I can't make a comparison between these two, as I've only watched few episodes of the latter. The premise is intriguing and maybe in terms of pacing, it is acceptable and even enough. I'm still grasping its essence, but I've quite enjoyed the first two offerings. I'm looking forward to watching how the drama develops.

What bothers me about this series, though, is only very minor but very important to someone watching it --- the "Royal family" don't exactly look alike, not even remotely resembling each other:

• Eleanor has strong Italian features.
• Richard has boy-band good looks.
• Younger brother George looks older than him and is most likely Mr. Bean's cousin.
• Youngest sister Isabella has ethnic features, she's not all blue and blond as I would have imagined.
  
• And mum Queen is so small, you'd wonder how on earth she gave birth to all four.

In the same breath, they don't also gel together as cast members. So, it's taking longer to convince myself I'm watching a "family" drama.

Learn more about this series here.

British Series: Fairy Tale

The idea of Fairy Tale is, at the very least, original. Yep, you read that right.

It's a series that attempts to adapt classic stories to fit this era. Take for instance, it's second offering, Cinderella, which is my favorite fairy tale story.

In this BBC adaptation, Cinderella is a struggling young woman working as a cleaning lady in a university. But she is also into anthropology and deeply academic. The "prince" in this series is a savvy anthropology professor and the "wicked step-sisters" are played by two college students who are competing to become the professor's research assistant.

The magic and meaning of the fairy tale got lost in this adaptation. It felt too contemporary and the comedy is a hit and miss. But I give it kudos for boldly and bravely adaptating a very well-loved and familiar story.

Other adaptations include: Rapunzel, The Emperor's New Clothes and Billy Goats Gruff. I read that these other stories fare better than the Cinderella adaptation. So, we'll see...

British Series: Honest

Matriarch Lindsay Carter, stands as the head of the family after her husband is sent away to four years in prison for stealing a car. That's the least of her problems though because in her family, everyone else needs straightening out. With the police as a constant visitor to their house, Mrs. Carter vows it is time they turn a new leaf and start earning their own money. One wonders how this 6-episode series will develop, especially since it is no secret, stealing and extorting money is their way of life.

Dysfunction in this family reminded me of Dirty Sexy Money and Arrested Development. And these days, I'll take to watching anything, especially anything that may resemble Arrested. :)

Adapted from an award-winning New Zealand TV series, Outrageous Fortune, I hear Rob Thomas (creator of Veronica Mars) is also doing the same story for ABC.

Extras Finale was Extra Fantastic!

Extras is British produced TV series about best friends Andy (Ricky Gervais) and Maggie (Ashley Jensen, Christina of Ugly Betty to most people) who are working their way towards becoming bonafide actors in the glitzy world of entertainment. Along the way, they have to deal with demoralizing situations faced by a movie/tv bit player, or what Andy calls as a "background performer".

The show is particularly interesting because not only does it have an amazing guest list of big named Hollywood stars playing appalling versions of themselves (Daniel Radcliff, Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller, Clive Owen), its brand of comedy is the kind Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant is known for: cringe comedy, self incriminating comedy, characters making a fool of themselves. And yet it works with viewers because those cringe-worthy situations are applicable in real life. We empathize with the characters. We know how it feels to be embarrassed.

In Season 1, viewers are showed how Andy and Maggie cope with their jobs as bit players, in that it's never easy to break into the business. In Season 2, Maggie is still a struggling extra while Andy becomes a popular TV comedy actor. His show is a top-rater in the UK but because it was a character that had to wear silly wigs and say funny catchlines (that loses its luster eventually), Andy gets no respect as an "actor". He has the money but no integrity.

In the 80-minute season finale that aired this week, Andy has decided he's had enough of his current job. He tries to get what he can't have: respect as an actor. He quits his TV series and hires a new agent who promises him bigger things. But all his agent gives him are things he didn't want: photo ops with slutty celebs, roles in crappy hit TV series, more fame but no Oscar award. He wants a job that would make the industry take him seriously.

Maggie, in the meantime, gives up on becoming a bit player. She's getting old, acting parts for her age bracket are scarce and she can't forever be a background performer. In contrast to Andy, Maggie just wants whatever TV job she can get and it wasn't happening anymore. With no savings, she moves in a pathetic apartment and gets a job as a cleaning lady.

In a very interesting twist....Andy joins UK's Celebrity Big Brother --- which is like saying that's where desperate actors go to revive their sagging careers. At one point, Andy realizes what he has made for himself and attempts to speak his mind on Big Brother:



If anyone else is wondering why Ricky Gervais wins actor trophies over better known celebrities, there's why. To deliver a performance like that is extra special.

[Extras], [Ricky Gervais], [Ashley Jensen]

Extras - Season 2

Finished, Extras Season 2, this British comedy starring Ricky Gervais and this lady most people know and love as Christina in Ugly Betty:



Extras follows the life of bit players in films and TV --- those who play "Man 1" or "Girl in the Bus".

Season 2 opens with Andy (Gervais) as an ill-famed TV star, whose fictional TV show "While The Whistle Blows" becomes the worst thing on British TV. The only people who follow his show or recognize him as a TV star are lowlifes.

Maggie, his ditsy best friend (played by Ashley Jensen), still works as a cast extra. In one episode she gets hit on by Daniel Radcliff (playing himself) who had only one thing most boys his age have in mind - sex. Horny Daniel was a revelation for me. Very amusing.

Also in the cast is Andy's agent, Darren (Stephen Merchant) who actually triggers some embarrassing moments that put Andy at a big disadvantage, like giving Andy this project with Sir Ian McKellen (playing himself, too) but with Andy actually needing to play the role of a gay man (his agent didn't tell him).

It's a very, very short series. Only six delightful episodes.

Other guest stars include:

• Orlando Bloom, who off-cam, was so full of himself
  

• Chris Martin (Coldplay), who was very much the marketing man; gets every to promote his album...whether he is doing photoshoots or a TV guest stint.
  

• Robert de Niro, who was every inch how I would imagine Robert de Niro behaves off-cam --- just sitting there quietly staring at you.

Of course all these guest stars are just playing parts or pretending to be horrible characters, even as they play themselves...which is part of what makes Extras different from other comedies.

[Extras], [Ashely Jensen], [Ricky Gervais], [Stephen Merchant]

Jekyll

On with my British TV viewing...

Checked out Jekyll. It was interesting at first. Until the alter ego, the character of Hyde, appeared. Perhaps because I didn't like the way the bad guy was portrayed, it just got corny and it ruined it for me. Evil characters like Hyde can be portrayed in an enigmatic, sinister, evil way, me thinks. But for this one, he came off as a has-been gigolo reeking of bad perfume smell or something. Watch this video to see what I'm talking about:



This is not my favorite scene from the episode, but it's the only clip on Youtube.

I am also not familiar with the actor, James Nesbitt. I don't even know if Jekyll/Hyde is portrayed by two guys. Coz the Hyde character has a clef chin, the other one doesn't. Can you tell if they are one and the same?

Anyway, as a whole though, the series is pretty okay. It's right above mediocre....miles from being "great". Writing isn't top-notch...yet. Because I felt that some parts of the first episode was fuzzy. But I have faith in the writer Steven Moffat, whose work I've followed and loved on Coupling (the British FRIENDS).

Perhaps it will get better in the next 5 episodes. Coz that's how long it is, just 6 episodes to watch and it's done for the season. British TV shows are short. Wonder why that is. Hmm. I found my answer on this page. (Yey for Google!)

More of Jekyll here.



[Jekyll], [Steven Moffat], [Coupling], [James Nesbitt]

Meadowlands

Great stuff, this Meadowlands.

It is surrounded in mystery, on the strange... as if there is not enough of that on TV these days. I don't know though why this show has pulled me in. Because I kinda liked it. Maybe it is the accents. Meadowlands is a British show.

I didn't realize what it was all about right away. I only got a clue towards the last few minutes of the first episode....when the leading man said it so. (Haha, hina ng pick-up!)

There are all hiding away from something, someone. And Meadowlands is a place where people are brought to safety, as part of a Witness Protection Program.

A voice in my head kept asking "Why?" as I watched the first episode. I tell you, not since Lost Season 1 has my mind been that stimulated or curious. But unlike Lost, Meadowlands does not carry a complicated intertwining back story. It is not even a fresh idea as many who have seen this have likened this to Twin Peaks.

But I am hooked. Especially after seeing previews of the next episode where someone was able to penetrate Meadowlands and is after one witness. *curiosity heightened!*

For more of the show, click this. Or watch below:





[Meadowlands], [Lost], [Twin Peaks]

Robin Hood BBC

BBC Channel's 2006 version of Robin Hood looked promising at first...



And then eventually, everything felt half-baked...
- Save for their lovely accents, half the cast in this series act unconvincingly or worse, over the top.
- For all its wit and humour (<--- British spelling hehe!), the story-telling felt laboured and contrived. It felt like the writers had a very simple story on hand, but they told it in a really complicated manner or something.
- The swordplay and the action sequences only looked really good in the first episode (see above video). The succeeding ones didn't quite deliver. I was expecting Legolas-like arrow shooting from Robin, I didn't get any.

There are about 12 episodes to this series, my husband (who didn't like the music they used for this show) and I are halfway done. We're both fans of stories that take place in, to borrow Rachel's line from Friends, "the days of yore". Maybe this show will get better in the next half.

One other thing, the guy who plays Robin Hood? Yum! That's all that matters, not the story! LOL! Jonas Armstrong, really cute and charming. In that boy-band/young Brad Pitt sort of way. *sigh* And I'm not even into boy bands nor Brad Pitt.

More on Robin Hood TV Series here.
Official site with recaps, summaries, videos and others here.