Dear Doctor,

                I know your show gets reviewed a lot, mostly by amateur writers in tedious sorts of ways, so I’m going to keep this brief. In fact, I bet only Americans review your show these days, as most British people grew up with it as a sort of “children’s show”, and therefore a review on their part would mostly be  rehash (unless they’re comparing seasons or doctors). But your show isn’t a “children’s show” anymore, is it? Oh no. I know this because sometimes after watching I am scared shitless and afraid to go down the hall to the bathroom. Of course, being of slightly warped mind, I consider this a good thing.

                I have to admit that I’m something of a fan of your work. In fact, I’m writing this by the light of my sonic screwdriver at about 1:30 in the morning. So this letter is mostly full of praise. In fact, it’s chock full of praise. Let’s be serious.

                Let’s go back to the start. The first time I heard about your program was back in 2006. I was in a friend’s living room with some members of my improv troupe, when one of them randomly mentioned that your show was, in fact, a good one. I was immediately intrigued, as I  was, and always have been, a fan of all things British. Unfortunately back then I didn’t really watch television, so I didn’t get a chance to look into it. Later, I tuned in while cruising the Time Warner cable scroll down menu for something to watch. “Sounds interesting” I thought, and tuned in. I found a dying spaceship filled with gold robots and a woman in love with a squishy pink Admiral Ackbar. My mind wasn’t ready for this much interesting. The TV went off. Later- people on tons of little space ships, singing. Still no. Finally, when I got back from my first year of college, my sister said- “Doctor Who is on tonight- want to watch it?” My mom thought the Daleks were irritating and left. You used a cookie to save the world. I was sold. And that’s the story of how my sister introduced me to something good.

                I’m glad your show isn’t a children’s show anymore. There isn’t anything wrong with children’s/family shows like yours used to be. In fact I know John Cleese showed up and thought the TARDIS was art once. What I’m saying is maybe I’m being wrong in calling it a “children’s show”  and should look at it as more of a “show from the 60’s to the 80’s that everybody could enjoy.” Thing was, it was really campy and therefore pretty difficult to take seriously*.  Now obviously some did, and you garnered quite the number of fans from it (generally in the UK) but I’m glad you made this new switch to a more serious sci-fi approach. Why? Oh for a number of reasons, doctor.

                For one, I love the depth that your show now conveys. In the old series, it seems the show mostly stuck to a happy medium. In the new series, I laugh, I cry, I’m full of joy, I’m angry, I learn something, I’m scared shitless. For the most part, the way you romp about with your cavalier comments is endearing and funny, but sometimes we are granted a moment of reflection as your current companion compares you to a space whale. Meaning how alone you are, not that you could loose some weight. Your loneliness as the last Time Lord breaks my heart, and the hearts of other viewers, but we know you’re not alone, because you have your friends, whether they’re physically with you or not. And if all else fails, you can come get us. I personally would like to recommend myself, because I can’t use a compass or any other kind of orienteering equipment, and you don’t need a compass while traveling through time and space. I also think bow ties are cool.

                Of course there’s those moments like in “The Impossible Planet”/”The Satan Pit”, where the devil is like “DON’T TURN  AROUND TOBY OR YOU’LL DIE. DON’T TURN AROUND! I’M GOING TO MOLEST YOU NOW BUT DON’T TURN AROUND!” or when Rose picks up her phone in an area with no service and a voice says “he is awake”, or like in “The Empty Child” where a little boy with a gas mask for a face runs around asking for his mommy. It’s during these moments that I suddenly get very hungry or need to go to the bathroom but can’t because Satan will kill me in the kitchen.  

                And then on the other side of the spectrum, there’s those episodes that make me cry like a sappy middle aged woman watching the Titanic or the Notebook. For example, I just watched “Doomsday”, the finale of series 2. Towards the end of the episode, I cried my eyes out, giggled through the tears at something for a second, went back to crying, and then went to pee because I wasn’t scared shitless of going to the bathroom.

                Another thing I love about your show is the fact that every time I watch it, I’m reminded just how big and infinite and beautiful the universe is. I’m reminded how fascinating and significant each person is, and how we always have something to fight for, no matter how small and worthless we may feel. I don’t follow an organized religion- but I do believe in the infinite imagination of the human mind, and every episode is a rousing sermon followed by a heartfelt hallehluia, amen. Carry on Doctor- we all have a lot to learn from you. Teach us to love the universe, and more importantly, each other, like you do.

                I’ve watched a fair amount of all of your more recent forms, and really, I love them all equally. I mean, they were all the same person- you. I must admit though, I was pretty raving mad about your ninth form, the one represented by the actor Christopher Eccleston, while I was watching. But really I’d be pretty down with giving just about any of your forms a hug. You’re all funny, smart, loveable and utterly heroic.

                Long live the Doctor!
                                Lovingly yours,
                                                Alicia

*I can’t ground this in experience. Stop judging me, I have a lot of stuff to get through.

P.S. Sorry, this wasn’t brief at all. Guess I’m a liar.

P.P.S. 100th post! It’s fitting.

“The Title May Have Something To Do With Cannibis Use, or Just Tim’s Love of Scifi: Spaced.”

Oh holy thing in the sky. I just finished watching both series of the TV show Spaced staring Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. Wow. I mean just now. I mean just 30 seconds ago. And then I clicked on the Microsoft word icon and here we are now. It’s the kind of thing I just need to get right on. Because…. Well,

Every now and well placed then, you come across something so glittery and shiny and wonderful and well made and comfy, it becomes something of a comfort item.  For some people, this manifests as movies, or books, or stuffed toys, or… shiny rocks, I guess. For me, it’s the 1996 version of Hamlet (for some reason) and the entire run of Monty Python. And now, I’ve decided, Spaced. Spaced is that good, Spaced is that wonderful and sweet and cozy. You need Spaced in your life. Trust me. When I get my first pay check from my new employer, I’m going to hit up half.com and get me a copy, so that I can always have it, and if Hulu dies in a fire, it will always be by my side. And then I’m going to buy the complete Monty Python box set. Booyah.

Spaced is a British sitcom* that ran from 1999 to 2001, and apparently gathered something of a “cult following”. Well, count me in. The series revolves around Tim (Simon Pegg) and Daisy (Jessica Hynes) as they pretend to be a “professional couple” in order to rent out a flat. Tim is a graphic artist who works in a comic shop and Daisy is a writer who is, in general, unfocused. Mike (Nick Frost) is Tim’s best friend, and is in the Territorial Army, which he is very passionate about, and Brian is their friend who lives in the flat below, a struggling artist who often comes across as a little off. Along with Daisy’s superficial friend Twist (Katy Carmichael) and their always drinking land lady Marsha (Julia Deakin), they are face with a crazy set of life challenges, ranging from the moderately normal to the increasingly bizarre.

So did I mention how much I love this show? Okay good. Just checking. Let’s talk about this show’s sense of humor. It’s incredible. There are these great cut-aways as the characters talk over the top, illustrating in different, radical ways whatever they are talking about. In one episode, Daisy suggests her ideal night out, which is illustrated by a series of artistic photos, and Tim immediately offers his suggestions, which are brought to life by a series of crazy drawings. The show also uses another tactic; one American audiences might be familiar with via Scrubs, where a character will zone out for a minute, not to act out a crazy fantasy, but where they will enter their own little world, where the harsh light of judgment will shine down on a character, or where time will move very fast. One of the things that I find made these moments work so well is that the characters do not acknowledge them in any way. There is no dream mist and they do not snap out of it. I found myself backing up to watch many of them again, as they happened so fast, and I was laughing. One other thing- this show is chock full of references and homage’s to other works. You’ve just got to find them.

If I really, really, reeeaaally had to complain about something, it would be the fact that this show is only two series long, when I really feel like they could have done at least one more. The show did not slow down by the end, which is wonderful. It was still as lively and brilliant as it was at the beginning of the first season, which cannot be said for all shows, unfortunately. So a third series would have been wonderful, but there isn’t one, so I guess I’m just going to have to get over it.

The characters are some of the best examples of interesting characters I’ve seen in a while. I’ve developed a soft spot for all of them, particularly Mike for some reason. Maybe because he was a big kid? He was. And the flat they live in, along with the bar they frequented, are both ingrained in my head like some sort of warm living room I’d like to go sit in. Or the Tardis, because I want to sit in that too. And that’s what Spaced does to you- makes you love it. The end. So go watch it. This review can’t do that beautiful thing justice.

IN SUMMARY:

Show in a sentence: Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes make faces at each other, everybody else gradually joins in.

Should you watch?: Of course not, you stupid sod.

When should I watch it?: It’s a good “let’s start the day snarky!” show, so the morning would be good, but I ended up watching it in the afternoon after searching tirelessly for jobs.

How biased is this review?: Lol.

WATCH IT HERE:

 http://www.hulu.com/watch/84729/spaced-beginnings#x-0,vepisode,1,0

*Sitcom conjures up awful pictures of dramatic moments with sappy music and an Olsen twin apologizing pathetically, so I don’t like to use that word, but that’s what a lot of good shows are. And yeah, I said booyah.

“Could Have Used That Keyboard to Write This Review: Ctrl”

 Ever heard of Ctrl before? Yeah, neither had I, until I clicked on the little thumbnail icon on hulu. THANKS HULU. THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND. But your ads suck.

Anyway, Ctrl is a super smart, funny and endearing little mini-series starring Tony Hale of Arrested Development. The plot revolves around Stewart, an office nerd who discovers that his keyboard has the ability to alter time and space. He uses this keyboard to try to get back at his boss and win the girl of his dreams, if you’ll mind the cliché. The different episodes explore the different functions of a normal keyboard, such as ctrl z (undo) and ctrl c v (copy paste). It’s funny because I had no idea how to do all this stuff on a keyboard. And now I do! THANKS CTRL!!!1

What Ctrl lacks in length, (I mean, come on, it’s a keyboard that changes time, how long can you run with that without aliens?) it makes up for in sheer brilliance. I mean it- the premise is smart. It sounds vaguely silly upon first hearing it, but hey, in a world where TV is dominated by tears and dramatic pregnancies, I will be the first to vouch for more silly. But it’s not silly, really. It’s brilliant. I can’t discuss this more without giving it away, and I vowed not to do that as a reviewer, so all I can tell you do to do is watch it.

Now, Ctrl is what is known as a situational comedy*. It is a comedy that revolves around a situation that is funny or interesting, rather than a character (or characters) that is interesting or funny. Normally, while watching television, (compared to movies or improv or… music?) I go for comedies centered around the character. Just a matter of personal taste, really. Both can be great. Now character comedies are great because you really get a chance to connect and identify with the character, making it all the funnier when something happens. But in a situational, one gets the chance to explore a “what if?”. In this case, the “what if” is obviously the keyboard that controls time. “What if a repressed office nerd could control time and space?” Ta-daa, awesomenessosity.

 Because a comedy is situational, sometimes the characters inside are cardboard cut-outs, filling a role only because it needs to be filled. So are the characters in Ctrl ginger bread men from a tin frame cookie cutter? Maybe. I really can’t say. I liked them. Did I fall in love with them? I fell in love with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in Doctor Who. I fell in love with Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig in Green Wing. But I didn’t fall in love with Tony Hale (Stewart) or Emily Coligado (Elizabeth). I did rather like them though. Maybe it was because our time together was short. Maybe it was because Hale was a nerd and Coligado was the unknowing office sweetheart that we see in a lot of things. They weren’t generic, but, they didn’t scream out either. Maybe I’m totally wrong. Who knows. Loved it anyway.

If I had to complain about something in this neat little mini/web-series, it would be product placement. There is a lot of Lipton iced tea floating around in this one. Lipton, you have a lot of high fructose corn syrup in you, last time I checked, which was about two months ago. I will not be drinking you any time soon. Get out of my entertainment. You would look better if there was a little tag at the end saying “THIS BEAUTIFUL THING WAS FUNDED BY LIPTOOOONNNNN!!!” (if it really was). But then again, the tea does play a vital role in the plot, screwing up Stewart’s keyboard, giving it it’s powers. Oh shoot, I just spoiled something for you, but the opening graphic is of a brown liquid surging around the ctrl key. Tee hee. Other than that, I mean, it really didn’t give me much to find to complain about. Also, I don’t really care for complaining about things that don’t need to be complained about. Why look for a flaw if it didn’t pop out at you right away? Boom. Owned you, other reviewers. I’m an optimist.

 So give this delightful little slice of TV pie a taste. When? Whenever. This is one you could watch pretty much whenever you feel like it. You can pretty much watch it in one sitting, since I doubt it goes over, oh, 45 minutes. Though the ads for Heineken and Stouffers do tend to take up what feels like an annoying amount of time. Watch it in the morning, watch it in the evening, during dinner, during lunch, on your break, in the john, blah blah blah blah blah. Whenever. But whatever you pick, definitely give it a go. I approve of your schenanigans.

Did I really say TV pie? How delicious.

In Summary: 

Show-in-a-sentence: Aw look at Tony Hale! He’s so cute let’s give him powers and watch him change reality!

Should you watch?: Yes.

Alicia, how biased is this review?: Not very. I tried to be pretty honest. Just wait.

WATCH IT HERE:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/82867/ctrl#s-p2-so-i0

*EDIT: Okay, situational comedy, in the real world, is shortened to sitcom, the thing you are familiar with via the Olsen twins, but isn’t necissarily restricted to sappy home dramas. Now in the comedy/writing world, using situational comedy to describe something situational is perfectly legit- just don’t quote me, yet.