Succumbed
Sky+ = the future
OK, so we moved into a house that already had a Sky dish and a Sky hole in the wall, so we thought, "Why not?" and after years of cable-based resistence, signed up with Mr Murdoch. Not only that - and you'll be ahead of me here - we did the sensible thing and got Sky+, and guess what, it's a revolution in the hand. I can't tell you how many times people have sworn by Sky+ and said that once you've had it, you'll never look back. (Just a few less than have told me to watch The Wire.) Well, unfortunately, getting Sky+ means the chances of me watching my Wire DVD are now much, much slimmer. Who needs DVDs when you can record 40 hours of telly digitally and watch it whenever you like without having to label up tapes and risk taping over things? You can even - and you'll be ahead of me here - record entire series!
Anyway, the long and the short of it is, I've been watching some telly programmes on different days to when they were actually on. (And, yes, I've been through the pain of accidentally deleting a programme with a hasty slip of the finger instead of selecting it for play. I'm sure everybody does that.) Let's rattle through them: Extras, episode three, easily the strongest of the otherwise slightly disappointing second series (I say disappointing not in terms of performance or pathos or jokes, merely in terms of credibility: I don't believe Andy would have his own BBC1 sitcom, not without any past form, and they certainly wouldn't let him star in it - this pulls the rug out from under the entire premise, whereas the first series made clever and profound points about the biz by being rooted in reality), and I really liked Daniel Radcliffe; The Stiff Records Story, an absolutely gripping biog of the pub rock label with strong, relevant, valid, first-hand talking heads except Jonathan Ross (did his wife's production company make it?) and lots of fabulous archive of the Stiff tours in particular - a BBC4 gem; Spooks, episode four, terrific series, as rude to the Labour government as ever, and there's romance brewing between Harry and Ruth, that may end in tears, if not grim death; Cracker, two-hour one-off, great to see Robbie Coltrane's bulk back on screen, and his family too, but even though Jimmy McGovern's desire to make broad political points is laudable, this one was just an inferior retread of the Robert Carlyle one, with Hillsborough replaced by Northern Ireland and September 11 - nevertheless, still a cut above most ITV drama, and strong performances throughout (having said that, I can never look at Fitz's son in the same way again since Nine Songs); Say No To The Knife, an appalling BBC3 makeover show that we never watched through, in which two young, attractive women with mental problems were talked out of having surgery on their non-existent physical defects by a patronising pyschologist and a patronising fashion woman.
And that's it. For now. Note to self: yellow button = delete.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 9:51 PM
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26 Comments:
What?! You still haven't watched "The Wire"? It is SO good. How good is it? It's so good that after watching a couple of episodes I "worked from home" the next day so that I could watch the whole of the series and then logged on to Amazon to buy season 2.
Re. Extras. I get your point about the credibility of Andy Millman getting a sitcom deal with the BBC. But... Think about Ricky Gervais' career. He was a social sec at ULU (or somewhere), managed Suede (for 10 minutes) and got a job on XFM before he and Steven Merchant made the pilot for "The Office" mainly as the final project on Merchant's BBC producer's course.
Not a proper pilot - in effect it was a chunk of coursework!
Does that not explain the credibility gap?
[It's a serious question - you yourself have more knowledge of the BBC than most of your readers; but it seems to me that, rarely, a hidden talent does get a huge chance at something IF they show enough talent.]
That's a little bit too much of a potted RG career guide. Personally before the Office I would have already have considered him quite well established on TV after all those appearances on the 11 o'clock show followed by his own chat chow series. If it hadn't been for those, The Office wouldn't have been so eagerly anticipated when it was first shown.
Also, how do we know that Andy Millman doesn't have any previous "form" - we didn't realy learn much about his background in the first series and we've learnt nothing new really so far this series.
With Sky Plus are you able to record something that, in terrestial terms, would be in the future? And also, are you able to watch other channels whilst recording?
Clive,
As a Sky+ veteran of well over 2 years...
No you can't record something in the future but your planner does show you what you have sheduled to record in the future.
Yes you can watch another channel whilst recording up to 2 things at the same time on different channels - anything more than that and the box tells you to leave it...
All this and not forgetting that you can pause and rewind live tv (up until the point at which you joined that particular channel if you catch my drift, i.e. if you turned onto BBC1 on Friday night halfway through NGO you couldn't rewind it back to the beginning - however, if you box had been on BBC1 when you turned on your tv you could rewind it as far as you liked....geddit?)...Was that a long enough sentence for you??
It really is the future, may you never have to miss anything or be stuck for a decent programme at any time ever again!
Clive-Yes, you can set it to record up to seven days in advance. You can watch other channels whilst recording fron one channel. Sky+ also allows you to record two programmes simultaneously, in this case you would only be able to watch either of the channels being recorded.
Andrew- Blue button=keep.
It is, along with salad in a bag and the dishwasher, one of the best inventions of the modern age. I couldn't live without it. Lucky for me, I get mine free, and I've just upgraded to Sky+ HD with free 32" Sony Bravia HD TV to boot - life couldn't be better.
However, one thing I've noticed about Sky+ is you have to watch out that it doesn't just ignore series link. Sometimes, if you watch something that you have on series link then delete it before it gets the chance to move on and register the next episode, then it just stops doing it. But generally it's a gem. All thos series you can back up and watch all in one go - they're the new box sets.
I tend to tag everything with the blue Keep button on my Sky HD box. That way it makes you have to press the Select button after you've hit the Delete one.
..still struggling with the old fashioned VCR and tape, and loving it in my luddite way, plus tapes are ridiculously cheap!
Re : Cracker. I thought it was superb in the context of ITV drama in 2006, and especially intriguing given that, more so than with Robert Carlyle, there was a deal of sympathy with the killer. Can't recall ever having experienced that so closely before, especially with the second victim, who I definitely wanted to see get his come-uppance if not actually be killed.
I've been waiting with bated breath for your Wire review, but at least it's good news about Sky+. I've thought about it many times, but resisted.
The next thing you need to do though is obviously look to download from newsgroups avi files or dvd rips of shows currently airing in the US - get yourself ahead of the rest.
Studio 60 is OK, but I'm worried they're going to run out of steam, and Prison Break has got to the point where I can predict the twists.
Hooray Andrew!
You can Sky + NGO tomorrow night and then invite me round to watch it on Saturday.
You could make me one of your nice soups. Vegetarian please.
:^)
Incidentally, when are you going to publish a book of your best soups?
Good point, herbaliscous, I would buy Andrew's soup recipes (and cook the vegetarian ones). I've been out looking at DVD recorders today thinking I was being all modern, now I see that I am still a luddite really!
Thanks for the replies...
It sounds amazing but I suspect the subscription rates would be daylight robbery...
Re: Extras. Don't you think Ricky Gervais is desperate to do his own version of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'?
We get:
A lead character who generally upsets people (Larry David disabled people, Andy Millman disabled people, Larry David gay people, Andy Millman gay people - next week apparently)
References to the previous successful series of the creator (Larry David refers to Seinfeld, Andy Millman is appearing as a cartoon David Brent in his sitcom)
Famous actors appearing as 'themselves'
Gormless sidekicks (Geoff in Curb, Maggie in Extras)
Probably more comparisons I haven't even noticed. I don't think Ricky Gervais has thought too much about the credibility of Extras. He just wants to be Larry David.
Sky+ definitely changes how I treat the TV. What I have found though is that I am very very selective about what I watch.
I've taken to 'archiving' onto DVD-R certain music shows to watch at a future date - something I've been doing since VHS over 10 years ago (I have copies of many of the Glastonbury broadcasts and Jools Holland shows).
Irritatingly though Sky in Ireland doesn't include BBC3 and BBC4 which is a pain-in-the-arse. Most of the programmes that interest me appear on those channels. Jack Dee night was quite good wasn't it ?
The latest episode of Spooks (this week on BBC Three, next week on BBC One) is the most amazing thing ever.
I won't spoil it by mentioning any of the plot, but you will be glued!
Sky+ sounds good, but you don't have to sign up to Murdoch to get the functionality, there are similar PVR boxes you can buy that work with Freeview, and don't require a subscription...
Freeview PVRs are currently hampered by a lack of certain features in the EPG, which renders them less flexible than Sky+ (less able to cope with schedule changes for example). They're still a huge step forward from VHS though. I find that I now back up virtually nothing to more "permanent" media. That may have something to do with the fact that everything is repeated forever now - they just keep adding new channels to spread the load (and we welcomed Five US and Five Life to the Freeview EPG today to prove it).
You're right about Extras, Andrew. The conversation with the homeless bloke was (as I think you mentioned on your show) particularly unbelievable. And David Bowie making up a song ripping the piss out of you within moments of meeting you might be the most humiliating thing you can imagine happening, but it wouldn't happen. And Andy Millman veers between social awareness and political incorrectness from scene to scene, almost as if his character is a product of the plot rather than the other way around. It's still funny though. And I guess it's a luxury to have a sitcom were the credibility gap is the biggest issue.
Congratulations on the move Andrew and welcome back to the 'Smoke!
I hope you don't mind me asking, or rather raking this all up, but how did it feel to leave the house where you were living when you lost Chilli?
I ask because we lost our precious boy (cat) yesterday; he was put to sleep in my arms at home. For 8 months we have been trying to sell our flat and today we finally got an offer, but now I feel terribly emotional and even guilty about the prospect of leaving what was the only home he ever knew and somehow "leaving him behind."
I'm sure given a bit of time it will all be fine and I'll no longer be attaching this kind of significance to physical things, but I suppose I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance that it all feels OK. Thanks for listening.
As far as Sky+ goes, TiVo got there years before, but was hampered by a dreadful ad campaign.
One thing that it still has over Sky+ is that it watches your viewing patterns and then suggests shows you might like - even recording them if you're not using it at the time.
Oh, and you can get it to record based on criteria like which actor is in a show, which director etc.
Mine's still going strong, but sadly you can't get them in the UK anymore.
I worked on the launch of TiVo many years ago, and although I never got one it was quite revolutionary at the time.
Sky brought it over here, launched it, abandoned it when it failed to take off so then used the technology for themselves. Very clever.
Having to pay for the Sky+ subscription (unless you pay for movies or sport subscriptions) is a pain especially if you have Sky HD.
Without it you're unable to record high definition shows.
As a result we ended up paying for the movie channels as we thought as we're paying £10 for the ability to record we may as well pay for movies instead.
However, saying that, it is nice to be able to record one show while watching another.
Anonymous, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. We're still sad about the loss of Chilli, which happened in April. But moving house/flat is anything but disrespectful to the memory of your beloved cat. Your memories go with you. In fact, not being around the house you associate with him might actually be positive. You move on, but it doesn't mean you forget. (I'm not a qualified counsellor remember - I'm only going by my own experiences.) If your boy cat was the only one, I'm sure you'll soon consider getting a new cat. Neither will that be disrespectful to the one that's just departed. It's a tough time, trust your instincts, and I hope the move helps. It sounds crass to say it, but time really is a great healer. Savour those memories, and be as soppy as you see fit. Pets are family members, after all.
Andrew - what the heck have you done? For weeks you slavishly reviewed the Sopranos from end to end and got maybe 3 comments per post. One mention of Sky+ and suddenly the comments are flooding in thick and fast. Pulse of the people duly found!
I've been resisting Sky in any shape or form on anti-Murdoch grounds, which if I'm honest would probably fall apart if really challenged (and this may be the very blog to do it) but fear I may be forced into submission this Christmas. Was your previous lack of Sky a point of principle or just never feeling the need?
Forgot to ask, and this might sound dumb, but will you be recording NGO tomorrow night?
David, I already have a 'K' (for 'Keep') and a green, two-headed arrow symbol (for 'Series') next to Not Going Out on the Sky+. Incidentally, let me know tomorrow if you think the end credits whizz past too fast. They certainly do on the preview discs I've been sent.
Andrew
If, like me, you soon find that 40 hours of recording space just isn't enough, I'm happy to post a link to instructions on how you can very cheaply (about 50 quid) increase the capacity six-fold. Very simple to do, too. Just say the word.
Doug
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