One of my goals for this blogspot by 2010 is to be even more eclectic than usual. Reasons for this vary. I want the blog to be accessible as possible for everyone, even though the main theme is always going to be television related. Plus it will give me more to go on and it means I can cover stuff such as reality TV and soaps, which I do watch from time to time in an objective manner. Don't worry, I'll still be reviewing the usual shows and doing spoilers blogs as well.
If I tried ignoring I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, I'd probably have to try and literally bury myself underground in order to successfully accomplish that. That's not going to happen. The latest series hasn't exactly been much to gush about. In fact for the last eight days, it was more The Katie Price Show rather than anything else, with Miss Price enduring all the bushtucker trials as she finally realised that the public simply don't take to her. I'm not gonna lie - I can't stand Katie Price and generally think she's a Grade A moron whose constant yapping about every fucking thing she does is beyond irritating but even I felt a little sorry for her. Just a little and not enough to feel sad when she fled the camp. Mainly because that'll be another thing she won't shut up about for a good week and a half.
Prior to going onto I'm A Celebrity, Price went on Chelsea Lately, a pretty tacky talk show with a somewhat irritating but amusing host, Chelsea Handler. The show wasn't exactly her greatest moment either. As you can see here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdA5Y3Gle
Every week on
The X-Factor, I feel a sense of apathy growing in the room. As Simon Cowell protests to high heaven how much he supposedly hates, Irish duo John and Edward (or Jedward as they're known by), I get the urge to scream, 'liar' at the screen.
I'm under no delusions when it comes to
The X-Factor in the sense that I'm aware of it's catered for popularity than musical talent. Jedward may be devoid in talents, despite being nice enough lads but they have been generating a lot more press for this show than their fellow contestants so there was little doubt that there would be some controversy upon their exit last night.
Personally I don't see the big deal. Even if by some weird fluke that they had actually won the bloody thing, would they realistically have a career with longevity? No! Stranger things might have happened but Jedward getting the boot after weeks of enduring boos from a clearly childish crowd is hardly shock of the century. If this had been an actual singing contest, they would've never made it as far as they did. I don't have anything against the lads but maybe it's time that the judges actually took the show seriously instead of treating proceedings in the farcical manner they've been doing for some time now
What is with soaps and gay storylines? For ages you can go without any and then you're attacked by many? Not that that's always a bad thing but 2009 wise, let's er see ...
Home And Away: Charlie, who was bisexual for five seconds before hooking up with the deathly dull Angelo. Now tends to mostly whine. A lot.
Fair City: Yvonne/Connie, not much plot there, even with the former's pregnancy. Plus Troy disappeared as quickly as he debuted.
Hollyoaks: Um, some bisexual plots with Kris/Ravi and the whole Lydia/Sarah/Zoe mess that's now involving Charlotte. Slightly better.
Coronation Street: Sean trying and failing to woo Leon, who in turn fancied Jason, who won Mr Gay Weatherfield, despite his heterosexuality. Hardly riveting.
EastEnders: Christian/Syed, which even without the Muslim aspect of the storyline should be really interesting. Except it's not. I feel a bit sympathetic towards Christian but Syed's doing very little that makes me think he's worth pursuing. Some of the upcoming Christmas spoilers with them and Amira suggest their relationship will be outed in the usual manner and will play a backburner to the 'Who Killed Archie?' plot line.
Doctors: Um, dishy Simon and the American guy, Todd but that didn't last long mind. Still both were exceptionally cute though.
Emmerdale meanwhile started the year by reuniting and exiting Paul and Johnny rather quickly as well as reawakening Debbie/Jasmine. Only then poor Jasmine went to jail for caving in the brains of a rapist police officer and Debbie hooked up with a bloke so bland that not even the revelation of him engaged to Charity was enough to ignite excitement into him.
Funnily enough from next month onwards, it seems that wayward Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) tries to snog his only mate Adam Barton (Adam Thomas), despite spending most of the time pursuing Adam's sister, Holly (Sophie Powles).
In terms of gay stories, Emmerdale do usually have a better track record and perhaps this is one that might not peter out so quickly if we're lucky.
Coronation Street - Aww, even I felt bad seeing poor Jack Duckworth dying in a rather poignant episode and while I was initially sceptical of the use of Vera, I thought it worked brilliantly for his big send. This show has improved in months - the Nick/Leanne/Peter/Carla quadrangle is actually interesting, Charlotte's nuttiness is surprisingly making me feel bad for John and the writers have dialled down the Steve/Becky stuff. Now if Tina could go five minutes without scowling and the Molly/Kevin rubbish could come to an end, this show would be perfect.
EastEnders - Double weddings will not be the only thing that pull Kat and Ronnie together during December but it was certainly nice to see the two of them bond, amidst the chaos of their weddings to Alfie and Jack though. This month has been mixed in some ways - Phil/Shirley stealing Roxy's money was crap, Carol/Connor are crap, Glenda/Ian - just, no but I did like the Msaood's stuff with Yusef and Lauren gunning for Stacey has been more entertaining. Stacey - you think you have problems now - wait until Janine finds out that you've bumped Archie. Then you really will be up the creek without a paddle.
Emmerdale - Hell hath no fury like a Dingle scorned. While Marlon might settle for disowning both Rhona and Paddy, Chastity is less charitable. Toffee in hats and damaging USB keys might be childsplay but planning an elaborate wedding purely to humiliate both Carl and Eve definitely takes the biscuit. Who am I kidding? This plot is actually a lot of fun, more so with Aaron and Charity in on it and so far, better than Debbie's low-key return and Nathan and Natasha's respective exits. In other stuff, not sure how to take both Ella and Mia at the moment, even if it's wise to extend Declan's family but Holly's drug addiction storyline has actually gotten far better at the moment.
Fair City - Domestic violence storylines are ten a penny on soaps but fair play to this show for actually doing one where it's Suzanne who was the aggressor and Damien the victim. Even better is the fact that Suzanne is gettting her comeuppance at the moment and that her only ally is Yvonne of all people (where the fuck is Connie by the way?). Apart from that, the rest of the storylines are more or less a commentary on the recession again and given the 'bloodbath budget' we're getting in Ireland next Tuesday, I'm sure these will only intensify.
Hollyoaks - Okay, the fire was an excellent story. Pleased as I am that Amy survived (get Lee away from Leanne now), I was sad to see Steph go, even if it was obvious that Dom was stupidly responsible for the blaze. I'm not too sure on Warren's return just yet but I'll take him over Brendan, who just doesn't convince as a hardman. Nice to see Ste's storyline continuing and the teenage pregnancy plot with Amber/Finn and gender identity with Jasmine also progressing along nicely. Oh and I was sad to see Malachy die that I even felt bad for Mercedes for once.
