Category Archives: TV

Reality Tv? Look no further.

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Well, I’ve been away from these wild pages for a short while… I know, I know… it’s been hard for you. Those long winter nights must have been like long winter nights but fear not- stout fellows, for I am reborn in the guise of Reality TV reviewer and blogger, both here on the beautifully popular Frost Magazine and for a brand new website dedicated to everything theatrical: www.stagestatus.co.uk.
As many of you will already know, I’m extremely opinionated so I guarantee I shall be saying stuff that many of you will disagree with, and I’m NOT a performer- of any kind. As I wrote that I could almost hear the luvvies amongst you hissing like vampires in a tanning salon.

Don’t get me wrong, I have ‘connections’ and I am qualified- well enough to write this anyway. I’m not just some fat , northern, gobby bloke who resents the fact that for every Billy Elliot there are thousands of bog-standard plebs still shoveling shit every day and he’s one of them. Neither am I someone who has tried to make it vocally- queued up for X Factor only to be told by some teenager with a clipboard and a lanyard, ‘you’re not even talented enough to be ridiculed’.

I just don’t have the talent to perform… but I can write.

Wherever you get your fix of TV you’ll have about as much chance of avoiding the reality gushing from it as I have of avoiding the reality of man boobs- in other words, it’s way too late so just go with the flow and find someone you can trust to measure your cup size.

That would be me.

I shall be starting in earnest with ‘The Voice’. Currently the biggest TV show in America and already a huge hit in 29 other countries. The BBC have spent 22 million pounds of our money getting it over here so I intend to make sure I get my money’s worth.

Following that I shall be sinking my teeth into the latest ALW search for Jesus in the vain hope that the real thing will turn up and get rejected for not being ‘jesusy enough’ by someone so uptight they have their farts auto-tuned to stop them accidentally attracting sheep dogs.

Until these delicious freak shows- or amazing opportunities to unearth undiscovered gems, depending on your viewpoint, are with us, here’s my view of two of the current crop- just to give you an idea of how I think.

Dancing on Ice: Love it! Want to lose myself in Katarina Witt beyond the reach of even the coast guard and genuinely respect the amount of time and effort the celebrities have had to put into it. Plus, anything with Philip Schofield in is TV gold for me as I like to pretend he’s my actual friend so I’m clocking up TV minutes in his ‘company’ like air miles in the hope it will eventually become official. I’m glad Louie Spence took over from Jason because it was just turning, like so many other Judge-based panel shows, into a showcase for the judges and not the talent. I love Chico as much as any straight man can and I think Jorgie will win because she’s clearly the most talented at the job in hand from every angle. My only bugbear about the little fire cracker is the way she pretends to be a six year old at Alton Towers every time she speaks. “Oh my golly, it was so, so, so, hard and everything! Ooh, I’ve got sparkly on my nosey. Time for bo bo’s. Will you read me a story unky Phil?” And then she goes out and performs with the kind of steely determination that could force the Terminator to re-word his catch phrase to, “I’ll only be back if the public decide to keep me in.” If you can perform like that and are happy to occupy the wank-banks of every lads mag reader in the country then you could at least talk like someone who eats without a bib.

Take me out: With pleasure- I’m just waiting for the bullets I bought on Ebay to arrive and the I’ll be right on it, till then I’m afraid it’s, ‘No ammo- no blammo!’

So there you are.

One thing I will add is that in this age of media submersion- a phrase I just made up so bear with me, reading things like this used to be a one-way street. I wrote stuff then you read it, flushed the bog and went back to work. Nowadays it’s more conversational. We have the ability to respond to the idiotic and clearly misguided views of gits like me and that’s precisely what I want you to do. If you are a performer, or a ‘creative’ or you’re a member of the public (the most important people of all), and you have a view then educate me- tell me that you once worked with the no-mark I’ve just torn to pieces and he/she is actually bloody good and deserves a break.

I’ll be there. I won’t be getting into any slagging matches and I may not have time to respond to every comment but I’ll be about, writing and reading and, most importantly of all, maybe, just maybe (but doubtfully if I’m honest- and I usually am) changing my mind. It can happen and that’s the beauty of a blog on a website over a newspaper column or a TV show.

So please feel free to comment either via the main website forums or on my twitter account @elywhitley because, at the end of the day, your opinion is just as valid as mine and as long as what I write gets people talking, either in agreement or disagreement, then I’ve done my job.

To paraphrase the famous saying: Opinions are like arse holes- everyone’s got one… and even Simon Cowell’s stinks now and again. Also, I tend to communicate through mine so don’t worry if it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth… ever get the feeling you’ve taken an analogy too far?

The voice begins on 24th March so I shall be spewing my thoughts from then onwards- may God have mercy on my soul.

Desperate Housewives Spoiler: Who Dies?

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Spoiler Alert. Anyone who doesn’t want to know what happens in Desperate Housewives should not read further.

News of the series regular who is to die in an upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives has been revealed after it was let slip in a court hearing between the show creator Marc Cherry and Nicolette Sheridan.

 

 

James Denton’s character Mike Delfino will die. Denton has been a series regular since the show started in 2004 and he plays Teri Hatcher’s husband on the show.

Denton told Entertainment Weekly: “I was really surprised. Any other year, I would have been disappointed, but at this point I figured, well, we made it… As an actor, you just hope people care.”

“I remember lying in the threshold [while filming the scene] with the blood pouring out of me looking up at the top of the porch. I’ve been there for over eight years, and I’ve done so many scenes on that porch… It was a little creepy… It was sort of fitting.”

There will be another six episodes of Desperate Housewives after Denton’s onscreen death in the episode ‘You Take for Granted’.

This season is to the last season of Desperate Housewives.

Downton Abbey Star: Its Harder For Working Class Actors

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Downton Abbey star Rob James-Collier has said that it is harder for working class actors to make it as they don’t have the “comfort blanket” of wealth. The actor, who plays Thomas the footman in the hit period drama, said the early years of acting are like any other profession with the middle-class and privileged the only ones who can afford to work for free.

 

He said:

“You have to work for a year with no money. How on earth are you going to finance that?” he asked and said he had found it hard to make it as a “working class lad”.

The acting industry is full of Oxbridge graduates and people who went to Public School. These include Thandie Newton, Alexander Armstrong, David Mitchell, Olivia Williams, Sophie Winkleman, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hardy, Dominic West, Henry Cavill, Freddie Fox, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sophie Okonedo, Colin Firth, Helen Bonham-Carter, James Purefoy, Tom Hiddleston and Damien Lewis to name a few.

James-Collier, was raised in Stockport and he told the Radio Times that the acting industry favours the wealthy. He worked in manual labour jobs to fund his acting dream.

“Because you’ve done the horrible jobs it gives you an even grittier determination to succeed,” he said.

“If I had a comfort blanket, I wouldn’t have been as passionate and driven. When you get there, you really do appreciate it because you know where you have been.”

He also said that his mother had been supportive and that his father had allowed him to try his luck.

Join the debate, do you think working class actors have it worse? Do you think the acting industry favours the rich? Have your say.

Game of Thrones: New Trailer

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At Frost we are super excited about the new season for Game of Thrones, not least because our favourite actor Forbes KB is in it. There is a new trailer for the second season which will be on in less than a month. The first season was amazing so we have high hopes. Enjoy….

Ashton Kutcher On His New Village.

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HELLO ASHTON KUTCHER VILLAGE!

NEWS OF ASHTON KUTCHER VILLAGE TAKEOVERS REACHES US STAR HIMSELF!

Residents from across the UK were left bemused as their villages of ‘Ashton’ became the first villages in the UK to be named after a celebrity, the Hollywood hunk and US actor ‘Ashton Kutcher’.

In a prank, orchestrated by Comedy Central to celebrate the new series of Two and a Half Men, residents across the UK woke to find their small villages of Ashton had been transformed overnight to honour the television star.


The one and only Ashton Kutcher loved the prank, prompting his 9.5 million twitter followers to take a look at the UK tribute. He joked that at ‘least they’re carbon-neutral’ in reference to the village sign in Ashton Hayes, Chester which states the village’s aim to ‘become England’s first carbon-neutral village’. US media are also going crazy for the story too, of the quaint little UK villages that we’re transformed in homage to the US celebrity.

In the early hours, village signs were mysteriously changed to ‘Ashton Kutcher’, flowers beds sprang up spelling out the star’s name and local pubs were re-named the ‘Ashton Kutcher Arms’, serving 3.9% Ashton Kutcher Ale – much to the confusion of many of the regulars.

A mysterious bust statue of Ashton Kutcher himself was also spotted in the local village shop of Ashton Keynes, plus a further statue taking charge at the bar of The Golden Lion in Ashton Hayes. Bus drivers later pulled-up at Ashton Kutcher bus stops to let on passengers.

Details of the phenomenon have now made it across the Atlantic to the real Ashton Kutcher.

From the north to the south of the county, the local residents of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, Ashton under Hill in Worcestershire, Ashton in South Northamptonshire and finally Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire, were left stunned as their villages were ‘taken over’ and transformed last week – well and truly putting The Two and a Half Men star on the UK map.

Bamboozled locals were led to believe that it was the work of Ashton Addiction – a self-help group of fans completely obsessed by the celebrity, often resulting in strange acts of homage.

Alerted to the news by leaflets and posters, the message to locals was clear: ‘Congratulations! Your village has now been named Ashton Kutcher’.

Shopkeeper Tessa Mills, from Ashton Keynes said: “I think it’s fantastic, and if he could even be here in person, especially as we’ll be having the village shop official opening soon, if he could be at that, I think we’d have really hit the jackpot. We’re a bit light on celebrities in this village so actually, if we could have Ashton Kutcher as our own, that would be fantastic.”

Steve Falder from Ashton said, ‘I think there’ll be quite a bit of debate about changing Ashton to Ashton Kutcher. I think we’d have to discuss that at the Parish Council Meeting, and probably in the Old Crown Pub actually. A little beer might be required to convince everyone’.

Unknown to the residents, the Ashton Kutcher village take-over was orchestrated by TV channel Comedy Central, who decided to play-out the prank in honour of the Hollywood star and celebrate the return of hit series Two and a Half Men, in which Ashton Kutcher plays the part of internet billionaire Walden Schmidt.

Bill Griffin, from Comedy Central said: “It seems the UK has been gripped by a kind of mania for Ashton Kutcher. Even the man himself has commented on this mysterious phenomena. The stunt was genuinely meant in good humour and if any of the locals were amused, bemused or in any way inconvenienced I’ll stand them a drink at the Ashton Kutcher Arms”.

The new series of Two and a Half Men is due to air on Comedy Central on Monday 5 March, 9pm.

Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. First Look Trailers and Photos

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My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding starts 14/02/2012 on Channel 4

It’s time to go frocking bananas, as the new series of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is almost upon us.Welcome to a world of bridal excess, where the cakes are the size of dresses, the dresses are the size of limos, and the limos are the size of small Central European republics. This is how to get married Gypsy-style, with enough sequins, spangle and stardust to make Liberace blush.

First Cut Returns To C4

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Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Aysha Rafael has commissioned 12 x 30 minute First Cut films which will TX early summer.

The First Cut strand showcases original and bold documentary films by up and coming first time directors as part of Channel 4’s continuous commitment to nurturing new and diverse talent. It first launched in 2007 and now in its sixth year. These forthcoming films chronicle a range of fascinating stories from the world’s first IVF lottery, a finishing school for Chinese students in London, Britain’s oldest stand-up comic – to the moving story of the mother of one of Ian Brady’s victims who is making one last plea to him to reveal where her boy is buried.

First Cut Commissioning Editor, Aysha Rafaele said: ‘First Cut continues to be one of the very few platforms on primetime TV for emerging film making talent in the UK. I am proud that Channel 4 continues to showcase and support distinctive singular documentary films and is always open to introducing fresh new opinions and ideas. This new series of First Cut once again delivers a run of thought-provoking films from a variety of talented first-time directors.’

Films for the 2012 run will include:

The Harry Hunters
Since the marriage between Kate Middleton and Prince William, Prince Harry has been thrust into the spotlight as the most eligible bachelor in Britain. Handsome and third in line to the throne, the remaining Prince has become an object of desire for girls across the globe. The Harry Hunters follows five girls on their quest to snag a royal including Cassie who grew up in rural Iowa watching Disney movies and dreaming she would one day marry Prince Harry. She’s done her background research and has a plan – to hit his favourite haunts – from Polo clubs to exclusive Mayfair nightspots. Production Company: Rare Day; Producer and Director: Emily Hughes; Exec Producers: Emily Renshaw-Smith and Peter Dale.

Dear Mr Brady
This sensitive and poignant film tells the story of Winnie Johnson, and her son Keith Bennett who was horrifically murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s. Out of the five victims of the Moors Murderers, only Keith remains buried on Saddleworth Moor. Almost 50 years after Keith’s disappearance, Ian Brady still refuses to say where he buried the 12-year-old boy. Now 78 years-old and recently diagnosed with cancer, Winnie refuses to give up her quest to find and bring home her eldest son and makes one last plea to Ian Brady to tell her where he buried Keith. Dear Mr Brady examines the extraordinary relationship between Manchester Matron Winnie Johnson and Britain’s most notorious serial killer, Ian Brady, and reveals how Winnie has coped with every mother’s worst nightmare. Production Company: Century Films; Producer and Director: John Coffey; Exec Producer: Liesel Evans.

Fraud Lord
Lord Davenport is the extraordinary tale of ‘Fast Eddie’ Davenport and his spectacular fall from grace. How did this titled London socialite end up sentenced to 7 years behind bars? He was already notorious for a lifestyle that was said to include orgies, fast cars, and dodgy property, even before he hit the front pages following his conviction for a multiple-million pound financial fraud. Davenport has property around the world and who could not be impressed by his website which includes a gallery of photographs showing him at parties that were attended by the likes of Mick Jagger and Paris Hilton. It turned out he used the movie star pseudonym James Stewart to execute his multimillion pound con. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Ruth Reid, Exec Producer: Helen Littleboy.

Stalked
Stalked is the story of how one man became entangled in the murky waters of 21st century sexual manners; and how easily the word of one person can transform your life, causing you to question your own past, and fear your own innermost thoughts. When a single, thirty-something writer living in London awoke to find a woman he’d met just hours earlier saying she loved him, an alarm bell started to ring. Six months later, his life changed for the worse. Told through dramatized sequences and interviews with friends, family, workmates and neighbours, Stalked reveals how a confident young man ends up as a terrified victim. What are the rules of contemporary sexual politics? How does it feel to be transformed on the say-so of one person, from victim to sexual assault suspect? And why does nearly everyone view the idea of a man being stalked by a woman as a joke? Production Company: ACME Films; Producer and Director: Lottie Gammon; Exec Prod: Jaimie D’Cruz.

A Tale of Two Chinas
China has an increasing impact on the UK. The Peking pound now props up the British housing and education market, Chinese hunger for haute couture accounted for a third of the spending in 2010 London Christmas sales and almost half of London’s Canary Wharf apartments are Chinese owned. The largest number of foreign students in the UK are Chinese, but they can find it hard to comprehend British culture. This is where Anglo-Chinese businesswoman Carrie Waley comes in. Carrie escaped to the UK from Beijing and now runs a strict, straight-talking finishing school for Chinese students studying here, eager to learn British customs and snap up the top international jobs, but also to take on the ‘correct’ etiquette, fashion and business persona. The film follows Carrie back to Beijing as she revisits the places of her childhood and hears her mother talking for the first time, about their family’s humiliation and persecution during the Cultural Revolution and asks if China too can reconcile past and present? Production Company: Keo Films; Producer and Director: Frankie Fathers; Exec Producer: Katie Buchanan.

Britain’s Oldest Stand Up
Chelsea Pensioner, 90-year-old Jack Woodward has a dream: to revive his career as a stand-up comic and perform on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo. This film follows Jack on a heart-warming journey as he attempts to make it in the modern world of stand-up comedy. Jack has grown restless and is looking for a challenge and wants to do one last gig to rival them all. His comedy CV is already impressive – he cut his comedy teeth in working men’s clubs in the North, performed on troop ships during WW2 and was a BBC warm-up comic in the 1960s. He complains that comedians today swear too much, but can they actually teach him a thing or two about modern comedy and help him update his act so he can compete with the best of them? For an old dog learning new tricks, the road to the Apollo will be littered with obstacles, both practical and emotional. But the reward will be the opportunity for Jack to feel the buzz of a live audience once again – and to finally achieve a life-long ambition. Production Co: Testimony Films; Producer and Director: Clair Titley; Exec Producer Steve Humphries.

Win a Baby
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK so when single mother Camille Strachan announced back in July 2011 that she would be launching the world’s first IVF lottery, it caused both a media storm and provoked a huge ethical debate. The scheme comes at a time when more and more people are citing a ‘postcode lottery’ with regards to receiving IVF treatment on the NHS and promises a monthly chance of winning a luxurious all-inclusive fertility treatment package worth £25,000, all for a £20 ticket online. Win a Baby follows Camille as she prepares and launches the first lottery of its type in Britain and meets the people who are planning on entering in the draw. Production Company: Roast Beef Productions; Producer: Danielle Clark; Director: Joseph Martin; Executive Producers: Mike Lerner and Martin Herring

What’s My Body Worth?
Could selling your hair, fingernails or eggs make you rich? Filmmaker Storm Theunissen examines the reality of the body parts industry and embarks on a hilarious yet painful personal journey; trying to sell every bit of her body she legally can from a lap-dance to her own eggs. Setting her sights on Hollywood – the market leader in egg-brokering for IVF – Storm learns that model looks and intelligence could easily net you $15,000. Egg donation must be altruistic in the UK and What’s My Body Worth is a timely contribution to this moral minefield. In April this year, the UK government is tripling the payment for expenses to £750 in a bid to solve a shortage of these donors. The film also follows Storm as she aims to discover whether her body is worth more dead than alive. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Storm Theunissen; Executive Producers: Monica Garnsey and Angus Macqueen .

The Hunt For Prince Harry

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Channel 4 film follows ‘Harry Hunters’.

Since the marriage between Kate Middleton and Prince William, Prince Harry has been thrust into the spotlight as the most eligible bachelor in Britain. Third in line to the throne, the remaining handsome Prince has become an object of desire for girls across the globe. A brand new Channel 4 documentary, First Cut: The Harry Hunters is set to follow five girls who are determined in their quest to snag their very own Prince Charming.

The film follows 21-year old American friends Cassie and Whitney who grew up in rural Iowa, watching Disney movies and dreaming they would one day marry Prince Harry. They know that to achieve your dreams you have to be prepared to go the distance. Cassie and Whitney have done their research and have a plan – to hit his favourite haunts – from Polo clubs to exclusive Mayfair nightspots.

However, they have strong competition from the ‘queens’ of the social network in East London. School friends Joy and Jade know Prince Harry’s whereabouts at any time, day or night. Twitter is their medium of choice – whether Harry’s partying in Croatia or flying Apache helicopters, they will know within seconds. 16-year old Joy even has an engagement ring for the Prince when the right moment comes to propose.

And finally 14-year-old Flora who hangs out in Chelsea, London and avidly reads the newspapers to know what Prince Harry is up to each week. However, she is determined to impress her teenage heart-throb by working hard at school in her hopes to become an intelligent Princess.

Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Aysha Rafael says: “The Harry Hunters shares the romantic age-old dreams held by thousands of young girls around the world. They fantasise of fairy tale dresses, extravagant royal weddings and for that special day when they finally meet their Prince Charming.”

First Cut: The Harry Hunters is directed by first time producer and director, Emily Hughes and is executive produced by Emily Renshaw-Smith and Peter Dale.

First Cut is a collection of original and bold documentary films by up and coming first time directors and part of Channel 4’s continuous commitment to nurturing new and diverse talent. It first launched in 2007 and now in its sixth year and is commissioned by Aysha Rafaele.