Belle Du Jour to the Big Screen?

Belle Du Jour's Secret Diary of A Call Girl is rumored to be getting a movie treatment, after the British series, starring Billie Piper, airs its fourth and final season.

The how is based on a real-life high-class London call girl who used to run an anonymous blog under the pen name Belle Du Jour. It was later revealed that she is actually academic scientist Brooke Magnanti.

I would love for this series to turn into a movie! With the show running eight episodes per season, I feel I could never get enough of Belle's adventures. A movie would be a nice supplement.

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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?

The whore is back!

And no, I'm not talking about a woman I'm having a spat with or something like that. I'm really talking about a whore --- Belle/Hannah from Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Yep, she is back for a second season. Couldn't be more thrilled! I did notice that she's a bit pudgier, see:



My first thoughts were that she looked very pregnant.

And well, I didn't know that at the time this was filming, Billie Piper is actually pregnant here (She's due next month). In some scenes where her character is required to strip, they used a body double for her.

Anyway, the first two episodes back are still just as amusing as ever. I wasn't expecting this on my watch list, what with USA's fall season already starting to pile up my viewing list. But this is something I really can't pass up.

You can read my post about the first season here.

Secret Diary of A Call Girl

Secret Diary of A Call Girl is a British Series that will begin airing on Showtime (USA) this week. It stars Billie Piper, who has a cult following among fans of the sci-fi series, Dr. Who.

Based on "The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle De Jour" who is a real person with a real blog about her escapades, the series achieved critical success in the UK.

Watchin' it or ditchin' it?

First off --- I have been watching it straight, I'm done with the first season. All eight thirty minute-episodes of it flew by so fast, I did not expect to finish the series in one sitting.

What is it about: Hannah Baxter's family and friends think she's a legal secretary in an international firm that lets her work crazy hours. The truth, and she narrates this on the first two minutes of the pilot, is that she is whore.

Going by the name Belle de Jour to her clients, Hannah is a highly priced London call girl who does what she does not because she is poor or has a sorry past she's trying to overcome. She does what she does because she loves sex and she loves money, plain and simple.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl is not a dark tale. It's not an exposé. It's not an inside look at a prostitute's psyche. There are no sexually transmitted diseases, no battery, no women murdered, no drugs and no policemen in this story. This is what Carrie Bradshaw's story would have been, had Carrie Bradshaw been an actual prostitute (or Samantha's more like it).

What I like about it:

• It's a candid look at the oldest profession in the world. Light and humorous.
  
• Billie Piper and her character- Belle/Hannah. She is both funny and sexy; smart and sassy. She shares the secrets to her trade while animatedly talking to the audience via the camera, she hooks you in.
  
• The clients and the supporting cast in Belle's trade. They are normal, average people with quirks, making the series all the more funnier.
  
• The montages, this being the story of a call girl, you will see plenty of it. You see privates here and there...The shots are provocative alright, bordering on soft porn. But, heck, they're part of the appeal of this show. It's still tasteful not trashy.
  

What I don't like about it: I did not notice the time while watching the first season, and that only means I was having fun the whole time so, what's not to like?

Good Reviews:
Entertainment Weekly
TV Guide
Variety

Bad Reviews:
Newsday
Baltimore Sun
Philadelphia Inquirer