The Couch Potato Report - January 12th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels Henry the VIII, eagles and sharks, the Cosbys, and a film about a man who lied about sailing around the world.
Henry VIII was King of England and Ireland, from April 21, 1509 until his death in 1547.
Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII, and the younger Henry is the main subject of this week's HOT POTATO, the 4-DVD Box Set for the television series THE TUDORS.
THE TUDORS - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is an Emmy Award-nominated CBC television series that is based upon the early reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Based upon...this is not a documentary series, it is a series meant to entertain.
And it does entertain.
The series has a good cast, an interesting script, incredible costumes,...and sword fighting!
If you are a historian, or study the British Monarchy as a hobby, this probably isn't the series for you, as some of the facts that are given are quite inaccurate - for instance King Henry VIII had two sisters, Mary and Margaret, THE TUDORS only gives him Margaret...and that is just one example, but there are many more.
However, if you are just looking for a 10 part series that is full of attractive actors and seasoned professionals to entertain you, something that isn't just a stuffy retelling of history, then this is the show for you.
I didn't love the THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of THE TUDORS, but I was entertained by it...and I am looking forward to the SECOND SEASON.
I am also looking forward to SEASON TWO of the hilarious television show FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, about a musical duo from New Zealand living and trying to succeed in New York starring Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement!
That show's second series is expected later this year.
For fans of the show in the meantime, there is EAGLE VS. SHARK is a quirky little film from New Zealand, starring Jemaine as a man on a mission.
Okay, to be clear, EAGLE VS. SHARK is not an action film, or a full-blown tale of revenge. It is a love story between two socially awkward misfits.
No, EAGLE VS. SHARK isn't a great film, but if you enjoy movies that are just a little bit different from what we usually see, then this is a great little romantic comedy for you!
I have seen it twice now, and each time I had fun, and laughed while I watched it.
Up next this week is DEEP WATER is a real life documentary about Donald Crowhurst, a man who lied about sailing around the world.
In 1968 the Sunday Times of London newspaper sponsored a race to see who could circle the globe, alone in a boat, without stopping.
Prizes were offered for the sailor who finished first and the one who finished fastest.
Nine sailors entered the race and DEEP WATER focuses on three of them, but primarily on an amateur sailor and eccentric inventor named Donald Crowhurst, a man who never should have entered the race.
It tells his story through photographs, archival film footage; news reels; audio tapes, 16mm film, ship logs, diaries and interviews with family members and friends.
Now I love the sea, and I enjoy any opportunity to watch films and documentaries about it, but DEEP WATER is one of the slowest films I have ever watched about a subject that I found to be so interesting, I mean, Crowhurst was wearing a tie and slacks as he set off on the race, that is hardly seafaring gear!
I wanted to know more about the man, the race he was in, and his fate, as I still find it all fascinating...but somehow the filmmakers didn't effectively succeed in telling his story, and the result is a documentary that I am glad I saw, but had higher hopes for.
DEEP WATER is not a complete failure, but it isn't a success either.
Finally this week, two DVD Box Sets that are a complete success!
VOLUME 5 AND 6 of THE COSBY SHOW!
SEASON FIVE is when Sondra had the twins, Denise was gone to Africa, and all eyes landed on Vanessa and Theo.
There were also some great special guests, like Sammy Davis, Jr.
In SEASON SIX of THE COSBY SHOW, future superstar-teen idol Raven Symone joined the cast, and after a few seasons away Lisa Bonet came back as a regular.
And of the many guest stars in this season, my two favourites were BB King and The Muppets!!
More than twenty-four years after they originally aired, SEASONS FIVE and SIX of THE COSBY SHOW are still entertaining, and funny, and still good for the whole family!!
In the year 2032, I wonder if anyone will say that about any of the shows that are on the air now?
I wonder.
VOLUME 5 AND 6 of THE COSBY SHOW, the not quite successful documentary DEEP WATER, the quirky New Zealand film EAGLE VS. SHARK and the entertaining, but not historically accurate THE TUDORS - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in two weeks on the next Couch Potato Report
Regina born Leslie Nielsen joins the cast for SEASON TWO of the television series ROBSON ARMS; KENNY VS. SPENNY - SEASON THREE allows the guys to battle each other once again; THE HUNTING PARTY is one of the most surprisingly entertaining films of last year; 3:10 TO YUMA is an interesting remake of the western classic starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale; TORCHWOOD is a great British Science Fiction Series; and then there is WONDER WOMAN - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, an 11-Disc Box Set featuring every episode from the television show's three year run.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!
Letterman turns down N.S. hospitality
A fiddling demonstration from Premier Rodney MacDonald was not enough to lure David Letterman to Nova Scotia.
Nor were the dozens of top 10 reasons to visit the province delivered in response to a campaign by CBC Radio Halifax.
The invitations were sent after Letterman expressed a wish to see Nova Scotia during an appearance by Halifax actress Ellen Page on his late-night talk show.
A spokesman for Worldwide Pants, the production company behind the Late Show with David Letterman, turned down those invitations on Friday.
"We have seen it," Worldwide Pants spokesman Tom Keaney said, referring to MacDonald's video showing his top 10 reasons and demonstrating his fiddling prowess.
"We're honoured and flattered to be invited to Nova Scotia, but we have no travel plans for the show at this time."
Premier MacDonald's pitch included reasons such as "you can make a blueberry grunt" and "no matter where you are in Nova Scotia, you're within 30 minutes of the sea. Thirty-five if it's rush hour."
In his video submission, the premier plays a few bars on a fiddle as he gives his No. 1 reason why Letterman should come to the province.
'Top that, Mike Huckabee'
"Nova Scotia's political leader, yours truly, plays the fiddle," he said, before taking a playful jab at a Republican presidential candidate who plays bass guitar. "Top that, Mike Huckabee."
Information Morning had its own 10 reasons why he should visit, and encouraged listeners to send theirs so it could send them on to Letterman.
Several schools, an improv group and even a tourism management class at the Nova Scotia Community College got in on the campaign, which quickly turned into a contest.
Businesses joined in, too, with one lodge offering Letterman a free place to stay.
Page, who is winning acclaim for her role in Juno, wooed Letterman with her own tales of Nova Scotia during her appearance on his show.
She mentioned the 1917 Halifax Explosion and how her century-old home in Halifax used to be a whorehouse.
Letterman said he had never been to Nova Scotia but heard it was beautiful.
Letterman's spokesman did not rule out a personal visit by the funnyman.
"As far as Dave's private life goes, I cannot and do not comment," he said.
Information Morning show producer Susan Rogers said getting Letterman to Nova Scotia would be the "cherry on the sundae."
"But I think the coup is just the energy we've built around this," she said Friday.
We'd never get Monty Python onto television today: Jones
LISBON (Reuters) - Terry Jones says being funny as a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus was just a byproduct of the real aim: subversion.
The 64-year-old writer, director and actor told Reuters in Lisbon ahead of the world premiere of his new musical "Evil Machines" that he is still surprised by the popularity of the Monty Python series of television shows and films.
"I think one reason was that with Python we purely wrote for the six of us," he said. "Our message was: don't believe anything people say."
Jones, who co-wrote and performed in the British television series during the late 1960s and early 1970s alongside Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle said their absurd brand of humor would never make it past today's television programmers.
"Nowadays it would be impossible to do that. You really have to satisfy the needs of television stations which carry out audience surveys before they commission shows," he said.
Jones -- whose many madcap characters include the lynch-mob happy mother in "Life of Brian" and the obscenely obese diner Mr. Creosote who explodes after a touch too much supper in "The Meaning of Life" -- said he doesn't see himself as a comedian and would hate to do a stand-up routine.
"I'm not really that funny, but I do like to laugh."
Python's original name -- "Bun, Whackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot" -- was rejected by the BBC, which urged Jones and his friends to come up with an easier name for viewers to digest.
"We spent ages discussing names," he said, adding that other proposals included A Horse, a Spoon and A Basin, before the group eventually settled on Monty Python's Flying Circus.
EVIL MACHINES
Jones's new show, which features singing telephones, ovens and parking meters, may prove that he is still closely in touch with the innovative humor that has made the Pythons famous.
The show derides the modern world's disposable culture.
"We have come into an age of a throw-away culture and it has reached machines," he said. "Evil Machines is about machines realizing this and deciding to take matters into their own hands."
He hopes to take "Evil Machines" to London and New York, adding that a New York orchestra has shown interest.
"The music is great. The show is quite original and the sound is very particular," he said.
Jones recently underwent surgery for colon cancer but said he was now doing fine.
"Unfortunately, my illness is not nearly bad enough to sell many newspapers, and the prognosis is even more disappointing," he said in a message on his website www.terry-jones.net.
Not only is he in improving health, he also plans to carry on writing, directing and acting as long as he can.
"I hope I never retire. I hope to die in harness."