The X files are coming back to British TV

https://youtu.be/rbBX6aEzEz8

Mulder and Scully return to British TV on Monday!

George Cole Delivers Arthur Daley's Goodbye Message 1994

https://youtu.be/2c7sShLY1d0

George Cole RIP

Amazon Prime signs ex-Top Gear hosts

Another reason to cancel the licence fee?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33715671

London Live add another great show to their roster

London Live TV (Sky 117) has been getting a lot of stick since its launch and apparently has very low viewing figures. For a lot of the time I can understand why, just look at the schedules. However it does also show four really great shows:

1. Coupling - Steven Moffat's master-work of three series from 2000 to 2004 and a dodgy series four. A genius comedy series with some great acting, some poor acting but always very very funny, and sometimes toe-curlingly embarrassing. You must watch this series, if not on London Live then buy the DVD. I have previously blogged about Series 1, Episode 5 'The Girl with Two Breasts' - Shadayim... and Series 3, Epsiode 1 "Split" is another that you must watch. The series starred Jack Davenport, Sarah Alexander, Gina Bellman, Kate Isitt, Ben Miles and Richard Coyle. This was a programme about relationships, sex and misunderstandings.

Shadayim extract...


How to dump your girlfriend...


Sally could kiss Jennifer...





2. Spaced - Simon Pegg's great TV slacker comedy series with a heart and numerous popular culture (mainly sci-fi) references. Simon Pegg is great but to my mind Jessica Stevenson steals the show, along with Colin (the dog). A wonderful great programme but not really lending itself to video extracts, but this should give you a flavour...

...do watch it.



3. Smack The Pony - The brilliant sketch show that didn't receive the recognition that it deserved. The stars of this programme included Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan, Sally Phillips, Sarah Alexander and Darren Boyd. With a mostly female cast this show was often portrayed as some sort of feminist programme, to me it was just very very funny.

The window cleaner



Hair




4. Black Books with Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig, oh and a small part for David Walliams...

TV Quiz time - the answer

Yesterday I asked - Only two characters appeared in every episode of the original series of Dallas 1978-1991, who?

The answer is J.R. Ewing and Cliff Barnes

TV Quiz time

Only two characters appeared in every episode of the original series of Dallas 1978-1991, who?

Answer tomorrow evening... 

From when children weren't treated as passive imbeciles by broadcasters - Merry Christmas

An excerpt from "Pinky and the Brain" season 1, episode 48:

'KS: I am honoured by your visit. Let me show you our assembly line. First, sheets of sheer synthetic sheepskin are slit into several Kicky-Sack shoe shapes in shapely shoe sizes by six sitting sheet slitters. B: I only see five sitting sheet slitters. KS: The sixth sitting sheet slitter's sick. His son Sammy's subbing 'til the sick sixth sitting sheet slitter's back, sitting pretty. P: You're not the sheet slitter? S: No, I'm the sheet slitter's son. P: Well.... You keep on slitting sheets until the sheet slitter comes. Haheheheh! Whooohaaah. [View of a machine labelled "Sheet Slitter Shoe Shaper".] KS: The Shoe Shaper then shapes the slit synthetic sheepskin sheets, and shoots out shoes through the chute. KS: Now, this is Mr. Plunkett, the new khaki sock plucker. (I had to fire our previous sock plucker. He had a bit of an attitude.) B: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky-Sack sock plucker? KS: The second cocky khaki Kicky-Sack sock plucker I sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick. [Lights dim. Machine whirs and slows down.] KS: Whoops! Don't worry; just an electrical problem. One of the Kicky-Sack sack pickers will have to flick the plug. P: Not the khaki sock plucker? KS: Oh, _my_, no! The Kicky-Sack sack pickers flick the plug. The khaki sock plucker can't reach the socket over the latex child perambulator fenders we use to line the treadmill. B: It might make more sense to have the sixth sitting sheet slitter's son flick the plug, if the sack pickers and the sock pluckers are behind the rubber baby buggy bumpers.'

Lewis Collins R.I.P.

Lewis Collins has died at the age of 67, William Andrew Phillip Bodie is dead... Another part of my childhood lies in tatters.

I wonder if this might herald a re-run of all 57 episodes.

In the meantime, here's some Bodie moments...

The Clangers are returning, which means...

I hear that the BBC children's TV show from my childhood, The Clangers, is going to have revamp and return to our TV screens in 2015. I hope they don't ruin my memories of the original...


Of course if the Clangers return, then so will the Soup Dragon.

And talking of Soup Dragons, here's Turning Stone form The Soup Dragons' 1988 album 'This is Our Art', a true indie classic album, look it out, it's in stock at Amazon.


Although Kingdom Chair and Majestic Head are the standout tracks on that album.

Blackadder aka The Black Adder - The pilot episode - unaired in the UK

Part 1...


"The Eunuchs have cancelled"

"What's sounds like Greek but isn't Greek"


Part2...



"Well it's quite cunning....."


Possibly the worst fight scene ever...


Part 3...


"Stupid bastard" 

"I wouldn't pass water over Scotland"

A rather good sword fight, Errol Flynn had nothing on Rowan Atkinson.


Overall I think Tony Robinson was a fine addition and Brian Blessed made for a noisier King.The whole piece was pretty much carried forward into series 1 which had much darker humour than the later series which had Ben Elton added to the writing team. The main change between this and the first series is that Edmund Blackadder becomes more of a snivelling fool in the first series, a change that was reversed most successfully for the subsequent three series.

Tonight's Sherlock

Tonight's Sherlock was brilliant, Mrs NotaSheep and I sat and watched the whole episode with scarcely a word spoken. Riveting entertainment indeed. Benedict Cumberbatch was excellent and the whole episode felt classy and intelligent.

However there was one error that did take the gloss off slightly. Sherlock Holmes deduces that the flight must be a 747 as it has a seat K on it, as no other plane does. This is wrong; I know for a fact that the Boeing 777 has a 3-4-3 configuration and as it misses the seat I, that means a seat K next to the window on the right side of the plane. The Airbus A340-600 as flown by Lufthansa has a 2-4-2 configuration but that far right seat is also a K.

Picky? Maybe but how can I believe in the infallibility of Sherlock Holmes when he makes such an elementary mistake?

Colonel Sherman Potter R.I.P.

I have just heard that the actor Harry Morgan has died at the age of 96. For those of you who do not know the name, he was the actor who played the role of Colonel Sherman Potter in M*A*S*H*. I loved M*A*S*H* when I was a teenager and I always thought the horse riding Colonel Sherman Potter was a great character and that his two-pieces with Radar were often most moving...

Sir Jimmy Savile R.I.P.

Sir Jimmy Savile has passed away aged 84. An odd man, not my favourite DJ by any means, but a personality who had a lot of TV and radio time during my childhood. Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It were staples in the NotaSheep household when I was a child.

Wow!

That was an hour that sped by with more cries of wow in this house than I can remember. The cause? David Attenborough's BBC documentary Frozen Planet. If you watch no other television this week, watch this programme - simply wonderful television, I could even forgive the occasional global warming narrative. The most spectacular scenery, mind boggling facts and close-ups of animals in the raw.

Ashton Kutcher is not fit to iron Charlie Sheen's bowling shirts

An absolutely ridiculous decision to replace Charlie Sheen with Demi Moore's toy-boy. Ashton Kutcher is just not half the man that Charlie Sheen is and how are they going to explain the change in appearance? That would be one hell of a face-lift...

For more Charlie Sheen coverage try looking at my earlier posts - here; including 'that' photo of Rachel 'Bree' Olson and two other women friends of Charlie Sheen keeping hold of their assets...

Oh Terry

Oh Terry, what have you done?  I don't watch soaps but back in the day I was a real Brookie (Brookside) addict, so the news today that the actor who played Terry Sullivan Brian Regan, is accused of murder vame as a shock.

Here's Brian Regan in happier times alongside Paul Usher aka Barry Grant.

A sad day for American comedy - Two and a Half Men of course

It would seem that Charlie Sheen has been fired from the hit TV comedy 'Two and a Half Men' after he criticised its producer. Warner Brothers Television has said:

"After careful consideration, Warner Bros Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on 'Two and a Half Men' effective immediately"

That's a shame as Mrs NotaSheep and I enjoyed the antics of Charlie, Alan and Jake. Evelyn, Berta and Judith had their moments and then of course there were Melanie Lynskey as Rose, April Bowlby as Kandi and the recently returned Jenny McCarthy as Courtney. Here's a quick reminder of the latter three as who really wants to see a photograph of Charlie Sheen?

Will we ever see their like again in a family comedy show?


And only slightly off topic, here's Melanie Lynskey aka Rose showing rather more flesh than normal from, I believe, a film called 'Park'.


Melanie Lynskey And Anne Dudek Topless

Understatement of the day

'in a separate interview with America's People magazine, he admitted he is rather pleased with his current set up.'

That is The Mail reporting on Charlie Sheen's feelings about his current relationship with:

'Porn star Bree Olson - Rachel Oberlin - and former nanny Natalie Kenly have both moved into the Two And A Half Men star's LA mansion in a situation Sheen describes as a 'polygamy story'.

'We do whatever Charlie wants us to do,' Olson tells the New York Post. 'This is the type of lifestyle I’ve always wanted, and I’m thrilled with it.''

I suppose 'rather pleased' might just cover how he feels.

Is there any point to 3D TV? (NSFW)

I couldn't see the point of 3D TV. Do I really need to watch Wayne Rooney in 3D, isn't he scary enough in 2D? Rugby in 3D might be a little much for Mrs NotaSheep. However as always, porn may be the driving force towards adoption of this technology. It seems that Penthouse has announced the launch of a 3D TV service and is describing it as "the first Pan European 3D formatted adult channel". If you areninterested and fully equipped (with 3D TV and glasses) then try tuning in between 22:00 GMT and 04:00 GMT to "ASTRA 3B, 23, 5 Degrees East".

Failing that here is a very Not Safe For Work (NSFW) preview...

Two and a Half Men may have come to an end but...

Charlie Sheen may have blown his chances of another series of Two and a Half Men as he apparently in 24 hours 'challenged Two And A Half Men producer Chuck Lorre to a fight, had production on his sitcom halted as a result and claimed that a new series on rival channel HBO is already in the works.

His bizarre behaviour, including multiple rants in which he calls his now ex-boss a 'turd' and a 'contaminated little maggot' has now put his role in an upcoming film Major League 3 in jeopardy, according to the film's producer James G. Robinson.'

Pictures of his holiday companions hit the press, here's one with helpful tags for the participants...

That's Charlie Sheen with his estranged wife, a porn star and a nanny (although no children seem to be on the plane)

Thankfully so long as there is Comedy Central there will always be repeats and that meansCandy...

April Bowlby aka Candy