Hello! And welcome to what should have Monday's blog post....which i forgot to write. I'm back at Newcastle in my cosy flat. Tis a strange feeling but a good one.
Little explanation for the quote used in the title. It's a quote by T.S. Eliot, the famous poet. The quotes gonna be the backbone of this essay....I mean blog post. As the New Year has past I look back on 2010, not as the Year of the Tiger as the Chinese do, nor the International Year of Youth as the United Nations have decided. Instead I feel that 2010 was the year of media, more specifically TV, which T.S. Eliot talks about in the quote. The reason why I think that 2010 was the Year of the TV was because of the amount of events in people's lives that revolved around it, myself included. There have been some great TV shows that have begun, finished and continued throughout 2010. The programs that we lost were great ones that finished such as LOST, which many people (myself included) stuck with from season 1 till the very end. The TV show Heroes which started off fantastically in 2006 was cancelled in 2010 due to poor ratings and reviews. The Inbetweeners also came to an end with its third, hilarious and final series. Also concluding in 2010 was The Tudors, a period drama looking at the reign of Henry VIII. As someone who enjoys history, I enjoyed watching The Tudors as an almost guilty pleasure as it brought the brilliance and almost insanity of Henry VIII's reign and how it changed English History forever. Some shows both started and finished in 2010 for a short run, one such great example was the brilliant An Idiot Abroad which introduced the nation and the world to the incredible buffoon that is Karl Pilkington, a man no one had heard of until this show. It followed him on his journey to visit the 7 Wonders of the World and he gives his frank opinion on each one without a care in the world about how his views will come across. It also brought about a big question: was this man some form of genius or was he simply a complete idiot? The show's series sadly finished and it is still unknown as to whether it will be come on again in the near future. There were however some brilliant shows that hit our screens both home and away. In the summer we had Sherlock which was just brilliant. Benedict Cumberbatch is cast brilliantly as Sherlock Holmes. The three-part series has been renewed for a second which will hit our screens once again this year - I personally cannot wait! In the US we had great shows such as Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead. Both shows completely different, Boardwalk Empire follows the highs and lows of a treasurer, brilliantly played by Steve Buscemi, in Prohibition Era Atlantic City. With the first episode directed by Martin Scorcese who also serves as executive producer of the series, you can see why it's first season has been so brilliant. The Walking Dead, which is completely different as a show that Boardwalk Empire, follows survivors after a zombie apocalypse has taken place - a plot that is used in such brilliant films such as 28 Days/Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead and Zombieland. The first brilliant episode is directed by Frank Darabont who directed the brilliant adaptations of Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist, Darabont is also the executive producer of the series. Again I feel that with the backing of another brilliant director the series gets off to a brilliant start and continues to be brilliant throughout it's entirety. There have also been TV shows that have continued to be brilliant. One such example is Doctor Who which saw Matt Smith in his first series as the Doctor after taking over from David Tennant. Smith does a brilliant job of continuing where Tennant left off and has definitely made an impression on me. His craziness and all round brilliance in his portrayal as the Doctor makes a change to Tennant's almost know-it-all. A new series is on its way this year which I am very excited about indeed. Also the brilliant Outnumbered made it's way back onto our screens with another brilliant series following the lives of a family that is steeped in chaos. Misfits arrived back on our screens for its second series. High expectations went with this series after the brilliant and first. And I think that my expectations were met. The new series continued to show that the show was brilliant with it's comedy, drama and, at some points, action. The Office came back on American screens and mine for the start of its 7th season. And my god its funny. After watching it, I went back and watched all the previous seasons. Shame though as it will be Steve Carrell's final season playing the stupid but lovable Michael Scott. These are just a small handful of shows that I watched over the past 2010. You and many others may not have watched them, or not liked them, or enjoyed them. Who knows! TV seemed to dominate most of our lives. Whether it was with the X-Factor - the modern day equivalent of a Victorian freak show - (which still manages to brew controversy when it's pretty much the same thing every bloody year) or whether it was the coverage of the General Election, including the Party Leader Debates which brought now-destroyed popularity for Nick Clegg. The General Election coverage I feel brought a new talk of politics amongst my generation. I dunno whether it was just me, but I genuinely cared about which party would come into power. I read the party manifestos. I watched the debates. If I could have voted I would have done - I was just shy of the 18 voting age limit. In light of recent events - the ConDem-nation being formed, the horrific cuts made to our way of life and the recent student fees rising - politics is coming closer to the young generation. And even though it's in hard times, young people are becoming interested in politics and now want to have a say. Times are changing! On top of all this news programs still covered our screens with both good news and bad. Music channels still pumped out different genres. Documentaries still feed us information - useless and knowledgeable. The History Channel still talks about the bloody Nazis! All of this has shown that TV has made a substantial impact in our days and lives. Whether it has been for better or for worse? I'll let you be the ones to decide.
I know I do this after every bit of BIG SPEECH that I write. But I would just like to apologise for the rant/essay/load of bullshit that you have just read. As ever I have written something that I have thought about and it may not exactly make any sense - ah the wonders of the human mind!
To conclude this essay....I mean blog I'll leave you in the very capable and great hands of Johnny Flynn and my oh so favourite song - which has appeared on these blogs before - Brown Trout Blues.
Enjoy!
Brown Trout Blues:
So till the next blog , which will inevitably be on Monday. Hope you all have a cracking week. Take care. And I'll see you all on Monday.
Much love and adieu
E.
x
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