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...a blog by Richard Flowers

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Day 2121: The Worst TV in the World; the Best TV in the World

Tuesday:


We’ve been having a bit of a time of it lately, which is why Daddy has been being VERY BAD and not doing my diary when I tell him!

Fortunately, we still have the telly.

The Penguin TV Companion has compiled a list of the 20 worst television programmes EVER.

No, it is NOT the ITV1 schedule for tonight!

Daddy Richard thinks that the list is rather harsh on 3-2-1; he has fond memories of Saturday tea time with Dusty Bin. Which is probably not actually any less PECULIAR than it sounds!

And I must confess a dreadful SECRET DESIRE actually to see the BBC's NOTORIOUS "I, Claudius" follow up, "The Borgias", if only to discover if it really was as terribly horribly bad as everyone says it was. Allegedly, the BBC swore never to commission another 26 episode series off the back of this!

This list does seem to have MISSED some of the most horrible examples.

For a start, what about including anything from America! Where, for example, is the category for ghastly shiny Star Wars cash in "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"? Or all of those 80's adventure series that copied "Knight Rider" with ever more LUDICROUS hi-tech vehicles and adventurers. How can they have forgotten "Blue Thunder", "Street Hawk", "Manimal" or (don't say it Daddy!) "Automan".

Not that we can blame America for the really WORST of what we get on our television. TO be fair, we actually get the very best of their rubbish TV – for the genuinely awful we have to take our share of blame. After all, no one in America forced us to watch ELDORADO. A series so BAD that its name is an ANAGRAM of a REAL DODO!

(Mr Michael Grade – the man who tried and failed to cancel Doctor Who – happily pronounced that El Dorado would be an huge hit. Fortunately, he is no longer in charge of television, as he is now chairperson of the BBC. Er.)


On the other fluffy foot, not all television has to be BAD, and there have been the annual National Television Awards to prove it.

For the second year running, Doctor Who has won all the top award: his and hers most popular actor for Mr David (who plays Dr Who) and Billie Piper and most popular telly series too. I bet Mr Eccy-thump who quit after only getting one award is sorry now!

In fact, the BBC has done really pretty well overall in these awards. No doubt the ITV people are once again grinding their teeth at having to broadcast two and a half hours of prime time telling their audience that they are missing the good stuff on the other side.

We wonder if this is in fact connected with Doctor Who too – I know that I would not have been bashing votes into their website with my big fluffy nose if I had not wanted to vote for Mr David! If lots of BBC-watching and Doctor Who-loving people have been enthused into voting by Dr Who, maybe this is behind the BBC’s good showing. Which is GREAT because it shows how the series is making the BBC popular again and showing people that they can and SHOULD demand terrific telly!

Now, what’s on the box…?

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