The Thrill of The Chase

Well if there's one thing that I can take out of being in third year at University thus far, it is that you watch a lot of game shows. Well at least I do, I watch a lot of game shows. Generally I find myself at about half four in the afternoon pondering what I've done this morning and wondering what I'll be doing tonight, both generally lead to me realising I've actually done fuck all but flick the kettle on more times than the president of the Women's Institute would if it turned out they all actually liked to smoke a bit of weed and had some serious cotton mouth.

Probably my favourite of the tea-time game shows is Pointless. Come quarter past five on a weekday, I find myself reclining into my god knows how old sofa, cup of char in hand and as I let the soothing sounds of the Pointless intro theme run through me, as if it was a warm knife and I a cold slab of butter, I can relax in the knowledge that I've got a good three-quarters of an hour of quality quizzing to bask in.

Besides the well oiled banter that Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman bounce off each other as if they were a pair of quibbling minors, it can be easy to forget that these two co-hosts are as well-educated as I am shortsighted, and it's unfortunate for me to say that I'm pretty fucking myopic. For those who are new to Pointless, of which I am severely empathetic towards, the show aims to pluck the relevant obscure knowledge that floats about in the mass of your brain in the name of fun. The idea is to score as few points as possible to progress to the next round. With pointless answers getting you the desirable 0 points, an incorrect answer would score you the maximum 100 points; which more often than not ensures not just your imminent elimination but also your grubby hands will never grace the quiz-show holy grail that is the Pointless trophy.

(source)

Now most people would think that as I am a somewhat avid Pointless fan, I would not have the time of day to watch ITV's alternative; The Chase. But my dear friends you would be wrong. Evening scheduling dictates that I should choose between the two shows as they overlap in the constant battle for ratings. However, with the advent of an ITV1 timeshift channel, unsurprisingly titled ITV1+1, I am able to enjoy the best of both worlds and if I'm lucky, another beautiful cup of tea.

Although the two shows have completely different styles, with The Chase focusing on general knowledge and trivia in which an incorrect answer only serves to leave you stranded on the over-sized Kindle that is the score board. The real difference is the disparity between the presenters. With Xander and Osman you feel as if you're being wrapped up in a patch work blanket sewn together with knowledge and quick-wit, whereas Bradley Walsh's repartee is more like that of the coked up old fella down the local pub who's a bit too over-interested and a bit too friendly seeing as you've never met the bastard before. That and the fact it seems he knows no alternative to the word 'mate'. If I were to take a guess, I'd say that Bradley calls the contestants 'mate' for a good 25-30% of the show.

With all that said though, The Chase is definitely the second best gameshow on the TV at the moment* and you will find me tuning in at 6pm to put my general knowledge to the test, but as it stands Bradley and his team of mates are merely the David to the quiz-show Goliath that is Pointless. Although, if Bradley takes out his slingshot, we could have a different story.

Chmelt something funny Brad? (source)

*although not right this moment, as Paul O'Grady has reclaimed his 5pm slot somehow, apparently people are still interested in mid-range, D to G list celebrities.

Baby Love?

Today was an insightful day. I was invited in to the world of the 'adult baby' courtesy of Channel 4's The 15 Stone Babies. Now this type of thing is not something i tend to come across in day-to-day life, so it was no surprise that when C4's casual advertising campaign for the show caught my eyes a few days previous, I knew I was going to make sure I allocated some time to tune in. It took me all of about ten minutes to realize that the world of the 'adult baby' is a rather uniquely strange and puzzling thing. Albeit slightly perverse.

As much as I was fascinated at what I was seeing, I couldn't shift that niggling feeling in the back of my brain that was giving it, "let's be serious for a minute, this isn't really on, this is a bit fucking weird", and the show did little to help it's cause. One middle aged chap, sporting one of those 'i'm a serial killer in not so covert disguise' bushy beards that you see Frankie Boyle rocking every now and then, actively encouraging his twenty seven year old girlfriend, who happens to enjoy behaving as a six year old girl, to act "a bit younger". In my opinion, that's probably too young as it is mate, should probably let that one go, move on, have a shave or something, I'll lend you my razor if you want, it's a branded one too; King of Shaves.

Ultimately I didn't feel like i gained anything from the show, perhaps apart from the new found knowledge of a topic that I'd have quite frankly rather not known about in the first place. Anyway, cheers for that insider. Who knows, maybe one day it'll be my 'thing'. But then again, I do highly, highly doubt that.

(p.s. if it is your 'thing', i mean no offence...probably)

Well, late night boredom it seems, has got me back in to the idea of blogging. You can thank the long, non-drug/drink filled dreary nights at university for that one. I'm probably still going to write about TV, but I might throw in some other shit for good measure, depending on how I feel.

Also, I don't think spending the past three hours reading 'A Big Night Out...' articles on Vice helped much either.

'Killing' Some Time

Now we might not be aware, or we might be, i don't know, that Jordan's favourite television show at the moment is The Killing US. After watching the first series with awe last year, I could not wait for the second series to begin airing again and luckily for me, it did just that on Channel 4 a couple of weeks ago.

To those who have no idea what the show is about, it's the American adaptation of the Danish series 'Forbrydelsen' which is shown in the UK on BBC2 I believe and it pretty much follows the same guidelines, just with a few name changes to suit the general Western public and I think it's fucking fantastic.

In a nutshell, a young girl named Rosie Larsen get's murdered and is found gagged and bound in the trunk of a car thus leading on to the police investigation which the show is based on, throw in a few red herrings, some dodgy cops, political mind games, some Native Americans (obviously) and a first season cliffhanger that had me on the edge of my seat and boom, there you have it.

The Killing US is broadcast in America on the AMC channel and those of you who like your American drama's will know that this is the same channel which airs Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad so you can see why it might be rather good. It's better than The Walking Dead, probably better than Breaking Bad and definitely on a par, if not just below, Mad Men. But come on, Mad Men is fucking brilliant TV.

Now as much as I like watching it on Channel 4, I just could not help myself and found myself sitting in bed one day, streaming the shit out of the second series so I am now up to date with the antics as if i was living in America, and apparently we find out the 'killer' this series so you know, it's not all bad.