Tags: bbca
BBC International iPlayer
Doctor Who News: International iPlayer less than $10 per month
The Beeb is going to have an international iPlayer soon. I'm not sure how it works in the UK, so any users in the UK please enlighten me. Just something you can use on your computer or mobile device, or can you access it directly through your TV without connecting it to your computer or mobile device?
Will people who don't have access to BBC America be willing to pay $10/month to be able to get those specific programs? Will those who do have it drop their cable or satellite package down if they just got the tier for BBCA, simply because they can play the shows in their original UK version with no edits? Even though the edits are minor, they annoy me to no end.
Yet the iPlayer will probably be useless to me and many people I know because we live in an area where many people are still on dial-up, and not by choice. I'm able to get a slightly faster connection, but to get something that would be able to handle streaming and the like, I'd have to pay an extra $20/month. Other than avoiding spoilers online, it's almost better to just wait for the DVDs to rent from Netflix.
The Beeb is going to have an international iPlayer soon. I'm not sure how it works in the UK, so any users in the UK please enlighten me. Just something you can use on your computer or mobile device, or can you access it directly through your TV without connecting it to your computer or mobile device?
Will people who don't have access to BBC America be willing to pay $10/month to be able to get those specific programs? Will those who do have it drop their cable or satellite package down if they just got the tier for BBCA, simply because they can play the shows in their original UK version with no edits? Even though the edits are minor, they annoy me to no end.
Yet the iPlayer will probably be useless to me and many people I know because we live in an area where many people are still on dial-up, and not by choice. I'm able to get a slightly faster connection, but to get something that would be able to handle streaming and the like, I'd have to pay an extra $20/month. Other than avoiding spoilers online, it's almost better to just wait for the DVDs to rent from Netflix.
Law & Order: UK promo
I saw a shorter version of this and had to share the extended edition. Enjoy your lessons in British Justice, with American English translations. Well, sort of. They use the "cleaner" versions of certain words, which still technically work, but the American versions won't get past the censor button. But the censors don't know their knackers from their knickers. ;-)
"Hey Cthulhu. ‘Sup."
I am, at best, a very casual viewer of South Park. When it's good, it's hysterical, when it's bad, it's, well, hysterically bad. Sometimes both can happen in one episode. Last night's episode, which apparently was part two of three, had me at "Hey Cthulhu. ‘Sup."
In other TV news, I've started watching Blood Ties on DVD. I'm almost finished with season one, so no spoilers, 'K? What's amusing me is how much it reminds me of a lot of the glory days of sci fi shows in syndication in the 90s. Not just the obvious Forever Knight comparison; there's just a certain "style" that gives it a similar feel.
I lament the passing of 90s syndication. I had hoped the "niche" channels would allow for more sci fi/fantasy shows to be concentrated in watchable timeslots. To paraphrase the late Don S. Davis about SG-1, you needed a hunting dog and a Ouija board to find 'em at whatever time the local channel decided to air them each week week.
Unfortunately the era of the "niche" is long gone too. A channel might feature more of a particular type of program, but that's about the best you can get, as most no longer fit their name. I won't even get started on The Channel Formerly Known as Sci Fi (which alone gets my feelings across, doesn't it?), but I have to say I'm really disappointed with BBC America now. Star Trek: The Next Generation? Really? The only British connection is the lead actor! Though sadly, I read a ratings report which had ST:TNG listed as beating some of the new British programming, plus it's probably cheap as hell to air after airing elsewhere eleventy billion times.
BBCA was parlaying some great sci fi cred for a while, with Doctor Who, Torchwood, Being Human, Primeval, etc. Couldn't they get the rights for some old British sci fi shows, such as the original Doctor Who, or Blake's 7? As far as I know, those were shown on PBS ages ago, usually in the hunting dog and Ouija board wee hours. B7 hasn't been released in the US on DVD either, so there's some weird holdup at play. Not sure what else they could go for, but going for a night of programming a "nostalgia sci fi" could be interesting, especially since a lot of Americans probably have never heard of them unless they're uber geeks.
In other TV news, I've started watching Blood Ties on DVD. I'm almost finished with season one, so no spoilers, 'K? What's amusing me is how much it reminds me of a lot of the glory days of sci fi shows in syndication in the 90s. Not just the obvious Forever Knight comparison; there's just a certain "style" that gives it a similar feel.
I lament the passing of 90s syndication. I had hoped the "niche" channels would allow for more sci fi/fantasy shows to be concentrated in watchable timeslots. To paraphrase the late Don S. Davis about SG-1, you needed a hunting dog and a Ouija board to find 'em at whatever time the local channel decided to air them each week week.
Unfortunately the era of the "niche" is long gone too. A channel might feature more of a particular type of program, but that's about the best you can get, as most no longer fit their name. I won't even get started on The Channel Formerly Known as Sci Fi (which alone gets my feelings across, doesn't it?), but I have to say I'm really disappointed with BBC America now. Star Trek: The Next Generation? Really? The only British connection is the lead actor! Though sadly, I read a ratings report which had ST:TNG listed as beating some of the new British programming, plus it's probably cheap as hell to air after airing elsewhere eleventy billion times.
BBCA was parlaying some great sci fi cred for a while, with Doctor Who, Torchwood, Being Human, Primeval, etc. Couldn't they get the rights for some old British sci fi shows, such as the original Doctor Who, or Blake's 7? As far as I know, those were shown on PBS ages ago, usually in the hunting dog and Ouija board wee hours. B7 hasn't been released in the US on DVD either, so there's some weird holdup at play. Not sure what else they could go for, but going for a night of programming a "nostalgia sci fi" could be interesting, especially since a lot of Americans probably have never heard of them unless they're uber geeks.
Random Fandom
You Tube: Four Days at DragonCon Preview
No Dragon*Con for me this year, but a little taste doesn't hurt (well, OK, it hurts a little bit). This is the opening of a documentary done by the Atlanta PBS station and will be offered for distribution to other PBS stations too. Who knows when or if that will happen, but the Dallas PBS station has a history of geekiness, so I have hope.
If you've never been, this will give you some idea of the scale, though from what I can tell, it was primarily filmed in only one hotel. Probably due to the awesome elevator shots. To quote from this awesome pic post of tips for D*C attendance, "Vertigo: If you have it, stay the hell off the 10th floor mezzanine."
Fave quote, from Erin Gray: "I describe it to my friends as a sci fi, fantasy, anime Mardi Gras."
Or as one fan put it, "Nerdigras." *g*
Clique Clack: Bradley James talks Buffy, Merlin, and much, much more
I'm greatly amused that he's a Buffy fan, now working with Giles himself. And apparently singing from the Buffy Musical Episode around him. There's also talk of the "road show" that he and Colin did, which if you haven't seen it, things won't be nearly as funny.
Gallifrey News Base: International iPlayer on the way
No Dragon*Con for me this year, but a little taste doesn't hurt (well, OK, it hurts a little bit). This is the opening of a documentary done by the Atlanta PBS station and will be offered for distribution to other PBS stations too. Who knows when or if that will happen, but the Dallas PBS station has a history of geekiness, so I have hope.
If you've never been, this will give you some idea of the scale, though from what I can tell, it was primarily filmed in only one hotel. Probably due to the awesome elevator shots. To quote from this awesome pic post of tips for D*C attendance, "Vertigo: If you have it, stay the hell off the 10th floor mezzanine."
Fave quote, from Erin Gray: "I describe it to my friends as a sci fi, fantasy, anime Mardi Gras."
Or as one fan put it, "Nerdigras." *g*
Clique Clack: Bradley James talks Buffy, Merlin, and much, much more
I'm greatly amused that he's a Buffy fan, now working with Giles himself. And apparently singing from the Buffy Musical Episode around him. There's also talk of the "road show" that he and Colin did, which if you haven't seen it, things won't be nearly as funny.
Gallifrey News Base: International iPlayer on the way
The plans, which are subject to approval by the BBC Trust, will hopefully allow viewers around the world to watch BBC programmes, including Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, soon after their UK transmission. There are also plans to develop a way for UK licence fee payers and British servicemen and women around the world to gain access to a version of the UK public service iPlayer.OK, that's all well and good, but does that mean they'll be able to show the actual episodes outside the UK very soon after transmission, or the two weeks or more date we've already got? And I wonder if nuTorchwood will be on the international iPlayer, or reserved for Netflix streaming due to their deal with Starz? It's all sort of moot to me since I can't get a streaming to work worth a damn. I was hoping my phone's 3G would be fast enough to do some of the work my ISP can't without getting a bloody fortune from me, but unless the rumored systems upgrade in the area happens, the answer would be no. Glad I didn't pay for the "unlimited" plan, because it's automatically "limited" from my POV.
Toons and Torchwood
XKCD: Book burning + irony = Darwin Award winners.
Two Lumps: Methinks they overdosed on Steampunk at AKON. *g*
BBC: They've shacked up with Starz to produce a 10-episode series of Torchwood. Sounds like the project that RTD was pitching to Fox as an American-based Torchwood (which they passed on), with no clear picture on whether or not any original cast members would be in it has morphed into a co-production with what's left of the cast (OK, Jack and Gwen confirmed, but they're all that's left of the organization itself) that will only be partially Americanized:
I bet BBC America is not happy with this decision. Torchwood is the show that finally gained them a real audience. They don't automatically get shows from the BBC, they have to bid just like any other network (they can also carry programming from other networks), yet it sounds like the BBC screwed them over to get cash for a new production and are handing the American audience BBCA cultivated over to Starz with a bow on top.
Two Lumps: Methinks they overdosed on Steampunk at AKON. *g*
BBC: They've shacked up with Starz to produce a 10-episode series of Torchwood. Sounds like the project that RTD was pitching to Fox as an American-based Torchwood (which they passed on), with no clear picture on whether or not any original cast members would be in it has morphed into a co-production with what's left of the cast (OK, Jack and Gwen confirmed, but they're all that's left of the organization itself) that will only be partially Americanized:
"While previous series were based on location in Cardiff, Wales, this new instalment will see storylines widen to include locations in the U.S. and around the world."
Wanna bet the focus will be on US and UK locales, with a stress on the former? Pass. But for those of you in the US who don't have Starz but do have Netflix streaming capability, I think Starz has a deal with Netflix to stream episodes the day after they air. No need to pay extra for Starz just to check out the show.
I bet BBC America is not happy with this decision. Torchwood is the show that finally gained them a real audience. They don't automatically get shows from the BBC, they have to bid just like any other network (they can also carry programming from other networks), yet it sounds like the BBC screwed them over to get cash for a new production and are handing the American audience BBCA cultivated over to Starz with a bow on top.
Doctor Who Marathon
BBCA is showing a marathon of Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.
I really like Turn Left, despite the critter f/x being so awful looking, and the other two are mostly silly fun (except for the fate of one character!), but I can't help but roll my eyes over every scene with Badass!Rose, Marbles!in!Mouth!Rose, or Pining!Rose. So, basically any scene with Rose. At this rate, I'm going to have some major eyestrain. ;-) Especially with her "I was here first!" bitchy comment about Martha, when Sarah Jane was also onscreen. Let's talk seniority now, eh?
The Torchwood-centric scenes are rather bittersweet too, even though I'm living the Land of Denial (I split time between there and The Gutter). At least Sarah Jane Adventures seem to be staying in Happy Land. I like Happy Land. I get enough depressing reality in reality.
Next week, there's a marathon of The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, an Inside the TARDIS special, capped off with the US premiere of Waters of Mars, plus a bonus Inside Look to round out the WoM timeslot, topped off with The Graham Norton Show's Doctor Who Special 2.
I really like Turn Left, despite the critter f/x being so awful looking, and the other two are mostly silly fun (except for the fate of one character!), but I can't help but roll my eyes over every scene with Badass!Rose, Marbles!in!Mouth!Rose, or Pining!Rose. So, basically any scene with Rose. At this rate, I'm going to have some major eyestrain. ;-) Especially with her "I was here first!" bitchy comment about Martha, when Sarah Jane was also onscreen. Let's talk seniority now, eh?
The Torchwood-centric scenes are rather bittersweet too, even though I'm living the Land of Denial (I split time between there and The Gutter). At least Sarah Jane Adventures seem to be staying in Happy Land. I like Happy Land. I get enough depressing reality in reality.
Next week, there's a marathon of The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, an Inside the TARDIS special, capped off with the US premiere of Waters of Mars, plus a bonus Inside Look to round out the WoM timeslot, topped off with The Graham Norton Show's Doctor Who Special 2.
BBC America tidbit
In the "I can only conclude that I am paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate" category, not only am I still sans my own computer, but my satellite system drowned during a storm Thursday night. Probably won't have anyone out to fix it until next week, so all I've got is broadcast channels, which isn't bad because that's mostly what I watch during primetime, but on weekend afternoon, I'm now reduced to sports, infomercials or Judge Judy.
Variety: Beeb builds on brand in States
Interesting interview with BBCA President Garth Ancier, with much of the focus on the difficulty of adapting shorter UK show runs for American audiences. We're barely getting used to a 13 episode run being a standard for cable, and many UK shows are 6 episodes a seasons. I'm pretty sure this is why the US got season one and two of Primeval in one run; give the audience more in the first dose to get them interested and they'll be more likely to come back. There's also a mention of BBC Worldwide ponying up the dough to continue Primeval.
I don't see why they don't run them like the miniseries of old (not that old, because I remember them *g*), or do one night a week featuring one or two short run series, similar to the marathons being done with shows in syndication. They could even stagger out the starting dates of each one if they did different shows in each time slot, so there'd be something new each week, then work their way through British shows both old and new, just... short.
On a tangent... has Blake's 7 run anywhere in the US since a run on PBS ages ago? And why in the world has it not been released on R1 DVD? Maybe BBCA could do a "Classic SF TV" night and show older Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and similar shows. I know I'd tune in.
I still wonder if they dropped the ****ing blurred of both words and images (seriously, they blurred out someone flipping the finger) if it would improve ratings even more. It's an irritant worse than commercials to me, and if I'm not a really dedicated fan of a show, I'm more likely to find it elsewhere uncut, even if it means waiting for DVDs via Netflix.
Though BBCA isn't the only one doing bizarre editing. I was watching a repeat of Criminal Minds on A&E and they bleeped out the word bitch. Say what? The show aired on broadcast TV with that word, but they're not going to air it on cable, which has much fewer content restrictions? Perhaps they're worried that repeats shown during the day might be heard by children, and it would be a Very Bad Thing to hear a man refer to his mother as a bitch, right? That's much worse than the entire storyline revolving around him "role-playing" with real live people as stand-ins for his mother and himself, trying to have sons injure or kill their mothers in front of a crowd while holding them all at gun or knife point. We can't risk having the children hearing naughty words while watching that sort of fun for the whole family! [eyeroll]
F*ck Censorship! ;-)
Variety: Beeb builds on brand in States
Interesting interview with BBCA President Garth Ancier, with much of the focus on the difficulty of adapting shorter UK show runs for American audiences. We're barely getting used to a 13 episode run being a standard for cable, and many UK shows are 6 episodes a seasons. I'm pretty sure this is why the US got season one and two of Primeval in one run; give the audience more in the first dose to get them interested and they'll be more likely to come back. There's also a mention of BBC Worldwide ponying up the dough to continue Primeval.
I don't see why they don't run them like the miniseries of old (not that old, because I remember them *g*), or do one night a week featuring one or two short run series, similar to the marathons being done with shows in syndication. They could even stagger out the starting dates of each one if they did different shows in each time slot, so there'd be something new each week, then work their way through British shows both old and new, just... short.
On a tangent... has Blake's 7 run anywhere in the US since a run on PBS ages ago? And why in the world has it not been released on R1 DVD? Maybe BBCA could do a "Classic SF TV" night and show older Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and similar shows. I know I'd tune in.
I still wonder if they dropped the ****ing blurred of both words and images (seriously, they blurred out someone flipping the finger) if it would improve ratings even more. It's an irritant worse than commercials to me, and if I'm not a really dedicated fan of a show, I'm more likely to find it elsewhere uncut, even if it means waiting for DVDs via Netflix.
Though BBCA isn't the only one doing bizarre editing. I was watching a repeat of Criminal Minds on A&E and they bleeped out the word bitch. Say what? The show aired on broadcast TV with that word, but they're not going to air it on cable, which has much fewer content restrictions? Perhaps they're worried that repeats shown during the day might be heard by children, and it would be a Very Bad Thing to hear a man refer to his mother as a bitch, right? That's much worse than the entire storyline revolving around him "role-playing" with real live people as stand-ins for his mother and himself, trying to have sons injure or kill their mothers in front of a crowd while holding them all at gun or knife point. We can't risk having the children hearing naughty words while watching that sort of fun for the whole family! [eyeroll]
F*ck Censorship! ;-)
Link Salad
Been offline for a bit, so y'all get a link salad as I catch up.
AfterElton: Is "NCIS"'s Pauley Perrette the coolest straight person ever?
As if I needed more reasons to adore Pauley. The woman is crazy smart and pretty damn cool.
AfterElton: IMHO "Merlin" (1.12 and 1.13): It's the season finale and I'm only realizing NOW that Bradley James is hot?
Don't feel bad, it kind of snuck up on me too. *g* Review also includes an overall opinion of the season, and I find it amusing this show was the one that introduced the reviewer to the concept of HoYay. I think he was expecting outright gay stuff, but HoYay is more subtle, and slashers find the smallest bits to give life to a Slash Empire. I do agree that the female characters are given short shrift and hope we see more of them in second season, but please, for the love of all that's holy and a lot of things that aren't, please don't let it be just as love interests. Been there, done that, was bored.
futon critic: BBC America - U.S. premiere of acclaimed drama, Occupation
Brit folks on the flist (or those with other means of watching), is this worth watching?
Sci Fi Wire: 10 ways District 9 will change sci-fi moviemaking forever
Spoilers in the article, but it's an interesting "wish list" for how D9 could change science fiction films, but I'm not so sure it will get beyond "wish list" to "reality". Hollywood doesn't take change very well.
AfterElton: Is "NCIS"'s Pauley Perrette the coolest straight person ever?
As if I needed more reasons to adore Pauley. The woman is crazy smart and pretty damn cool.
AfterElton: IMHO "Merlin" (1.12 and 1.13): It's the season finale and I'm only realizing NOW that Bradley James is hot?
Don't feel bad, it kind of snuck up on me too. *g* Review also includes an overall opinion of the season, and I find it amusing this show was the one that introduced the reviewer to the concept of HoYay. I think he was expecting outright gay stuff, but HoYay is more subtle, and slashers find the smallest bits to give life to a Slash Empire. I do agree that the female characters are given short shrift and hope we see more of them in second season, but please, for the love of all that's holy and a lot of things that aren't, please don't let it be just as love interests. Been there, done that, was bored.
futon critic: BBC America - U.S. premiere of acclaimed drama, Occupation
Brit folks on the flist (or those with other means of watching), is this worth watching?
Sci Fi Wire: 10 ways District 9 will change sci-fi moviemaking forever
Spoilers in the article, but it's an interesting "wish list" for how D9 could change science fiction films, but I'm not so sure it will get beyond "wish list" to "reality". Hollywood doesn't take change very well.
What are the new dirty words?
After watching BBCA's edits of Being Human for the first two episodes (and inspired by Torchwood editing as well), I thought it would be interesting to maintain a special BBCA version of Seven Dirty Words.
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