Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: diamondgeezer on November 11, 2002, 04:45:11 pm
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OK, who saw/remembers/wants to ***** about the following three series -
Ultraviolet - a top-secret police unit battles 'leaches' (read: vampires) in and around London. Sinister conspiracy on the part of the leaches, which is only revelaed at the last minute and is really quite chilling.
Invasion Earth - an alien crashes in WWII London. Fifty-odd years later, the nasties he was running from start to think seriously about destroying the Earth, and it's up to a lone Tornado pilot to save the day (well, sort of... the point is it had Tornados in it)
Last Train - A meteroite impact wipes out civilization on Earth. In the English countryside, an intercity express train was protected from the blast by being in a tunnel, and the passengers frozen for over a century by a government agent carry some sort of insta-freeze gubbinz. Basic premise was a bit daft, but the actual show wasn't at all bad.
Does anyone living on this fair and sceptered isle remeber any of these shows? What did you think of them?
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Originally posted by diamondgeezer
Last Train - A meteroite impact wipes out civilization on Earth. In the English countryside, an intercity express train was protected from the blast by being in a tunnel, and the passengers frozen for over a century by a government agent carry some sort of insta-freeze gubbinz. Basic premise was a bit daft, but the actual show wasn't at all bad.
I do remember enjoying this one, probably because I followed it - it was interesting to see people cope and some of the situations that could show up - as well as the sci-fi elements. Some of it was actually quite emotional, especially towards the end of the series.
Edit, oh and this one:
Invasion Earth - an alien crashes in WWII London. Fifty-odd years later, the nasties he was running from start to think seriously about destroying the Earth, and it's up to a lone Tornado pilot to save the day (well, sort of... the point is it had Tornados in it)
This one got really emotional at the end as well as the futility of their efforts dawned on them and the girl commited suicide as they started nuking each of the alien structures in turn. A bit far-fetched at times but still had some good ideas (I particularly liked the idea that the invasion was carried out on infinite dimensions and therefore there was no way to halt the attack).
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You guys have the BEST television shows. Be it scifi, real life stuff, comedy... We americans get RAW SUCKAGE from the studios. :(
All three of those sound cool.
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What, no Space: 1999? Sheesh.
And mikhael, it sounds like you just don't know where to look. There's more quality American-made TV on in a week than I have time to watch.
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
And mikhael, it sounds like you just don't know where to look. There's more quality American-made TV on in a week than I have time to watch.
Failing that, there's always S:AAB reruns :nod:
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
What, no Space: 1999? Sheesh.
And mikhael, it sounds like you just don't know where to look. There's more quality American-made TV on in a week than I have time to watch.
Having lived all over the world, from Europe to the Japan, Australia and the US, I have to say that American television is among the worst in the world (though not as bad Saudi Arabian TV!). When I lived in Japan and Saudi Arabia, I had access to the STAR! networks out of Hong Kong. They carried a lot of older british shows, as well as chinese and filipino shows. Great stuff.
American TV just lacks the sort of writing you get from Brit shows. About the only two shows I watch anymore on TV are Farscape and ER. Pretty much everything else is annoying.
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My favorite shows are: SNL (the old ones, either the originals or the David Spade/Chris Farley years), ST:TNG (don't even mention DS9 or Voyager), and Monty Python's Flying Circus (anyone here remember the matress sketch?).
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Originally posted by mikhael
About the only two shows I watch anymore on TV are Farscape and ER. Pretty much everything else is annoying.
I see. So you find (or found) all the following shows "annoying"--
Frasier
Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Will and Grace
MASH
Just Shoot Me
South Park
Duckman
Futurama
Stargate: SG-1
Babylon 5
The Simpsons
Cheers
Kids in the Hall
Star Trek TOS/TNG/DS9
Night Court
The X-Files
Newsradio
The Tick
That's an interesting sense of taste you've got there. Glad I don't share it!
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hate 6 of those
love 10
the rest are passable
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Well Luckily in the UK we get the best of both worlds. We get imports of the cream of american TV (CSI, The Shield, Law & Order, 24, almost everything on ZB's list) plus we get our own TV shows which often rival the quality of the american shows yet almost never get seen by you americans unless they are remade (badly) for american TV.
As for the series that DG mentioned, I watched them all and I`ve got UV on DVD :D
I liked Invasion Earth too, especially the bit where they finally begin to realise they won`t win.
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Originally posted by karajorma
...and I've got UV on DVD :D
*pokes karajorma with stick*
I'm comming to rob your house :nod:
I'm so gonna have to find Invasion Earth on disc somewhere... BBC store, methinks :)
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
I see. So you find (or found) all the following shows "annoying"--
Frasier -- TEH SUCK
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 -- TEH SUCK
Will and Grace -- This one is a close call. On the one hand we have Will, Grace and that Megan Mulally chick. On the other, we have the campy faggy moron. call it a draw.
MASH -- TEH SUCK
Just Shoot Me -- TEH SUCK
South Park -- TEH SUCK plus TEH SWALLOW
Duckman -- TEH SUCK
Futurama -- TEH SUCK
Stargate: SG-1 -- TEH SUCK
Babylon 5 -- The pinnacle of long-storyline television goodness
The Simpsons -- TEH SUCK
Cheers -- TEH SUCK
Kids in the Hall -- Canadian. 'Nuff Said.
Star Trek TOS/TNG/DS9 -- A truly mixed bag. All Trek has its high points, but its caught amidst a wash of lows.
Night Court -- TEH SUCK
The X-Files -- See the note about Trek.
Newsradio -- This actually had some intelligent humor. Of course, I liked it for the guy from Kids in the Hall and the girl that's on ER now.
The Tick -- TEH SUCK and TEH SPIT. This should never have been made. Its an offense to human intelligence. Far better in the monochrome deadtree format.
That's an interesting sense of taste you've got there. Glad I don't share it!
And if you like ALL of those, I'm glad I don't share YOUR sense of taste, Zylon.
Since I moved back to the United States this last time (I've lived less than half my life in the continental US) I've watched an average of about 3hrs of television per week. Lately, that's dropped to a single hour.
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Wow, I caused a fight! Bonus!
And just so you know, mik - Futurama is the daddy, and SG-1 is a firm favourite, despite the major wobbles in quality (there's always the excuse that it's got Amanda Tapping in it. Yes please!).
Frasier is very clever, but gets annoying after a while, and I wouldn't touch Will and Grace with a ten foot clown pole.
As for X-Files - am I the only one that thought Robert Patrick was The Man(tm) compared to that miserable Duchovny bugger?
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The only things I watch on TV these days:
- Enterprize (still on season one here)
- Andromeda (still on season one here)
- Alias
- The West Wing (when I can)
- CSI and CSI:Miami (the latter just started here)
- Law and Order: Criminal Intent
- The District
- The Chronicle (damn, this one rules)
I'm seriously considering cancelling cable. :p
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Originally posted by diamondgeezer
As for X-Files - am I the only one that thought Robert Patrick was The Man(tm) compared to that miserable Duchovny bugger?
Nope. He didn't have as much chemistry with Scully, but he had more of an edge to him. When they got the other girl to work as Patrick's partner though, I lost my last shred of interest.
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I guess mikhael isn't much of an animation fan. All the bright colors and rapid movement must confuse and enrage him.
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Oh, well, yeah, they were never gonna get someone who could out-Scully Gillian Anderson (if that makes any sense at all), but I ran with... after watching eight bloody years of it, I was gonna see it through to the end.
Speaking of which - the last epsiode was pretty lame, right? I mean, it wasn't just me that felt short-changed? Eight years of conspiracy unfoldage and that was all we got - The aliens are comming in ten years time and there's nothing we can do about it (blacked out to minimise spoilage for those suckas without cable :p)
[EDIT] OK, this'll get the topic closed, but what the hell - Zylon, you may be the FS2 guru around here, and I respect what you can do with FRED and the rest of 'em, but you really are a proper twat sometimes.
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DG: I forgot to watch the last episode. Actually, I think I missed the last six or eight episodes.
Zylon: I like animation just fine, so long as the writing isn't watered down, the plots are not just rehashed sitcom plots, if the animation quality is good, and if the animation isn't really a 30min commercial for a product tie in. That rules out most everything. I wasn't much of a fan of american animation before I moved to Japan. While in Japan, I grew to loathe most japanese animation. Between the two, there's not much left except small studio and independent work that very few people ever see. TV is just a waste for me. The only reason I have cable is that my wife likes it, and its only like $10/mo on top of my network access.
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Frasier
Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Will and Grace
MASH
Just Shoot Me
South Park
Duckman
Futurama
Stargate: SG-1
Babylon 5
The Simpsons
Cheers
Kids in the Hall
Star Trek TOS/TNG/DS9
Night Court
The X-Files
Newsradio
The Tick
All of them have pretty much come out of top production studios and are shown on some pretty big networks throughout America. In the UK however, we don't have anything like that nor are there any large budgets for our Science Fiction programmes, with the exception of some recent documentry-style programmes such as BBC "SPACE" which had some very impressive CGI.
About the only two shows I watch anymore on TV are Farscape and ER. Pretty much everything else is annoying.
Farscape is as good as 100% Aussie and isn't really an American show at all, it's just funded by them.
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Originally posted by Hunt Smacker
Farscape is as good as 100% Aussie and isn't really an American show at all, it's just funded by them.
My wife points this out constantly, when she's not mooning over Ben Browder.
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You all seemed to forget (at least I didn't see it) the greatest British sci-fi show of all time: Doctor Who! Shame on you all.
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Originally posted by Tar-Palantir
the greatest British sci-fi show - Doctor Who
I know those words but that just doesn't make any sense.
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Oh come on, it's an old classic. The film sucked but Doc Who is a really great program all the same.
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Originally posted by diamondgeezer
OK, who saw/remembers/wants to ***** about the following three series -
Ultraviolet - a top-secret police unit battles 'leaches' (read: vampires) in and around London. Sinister conspiracy on the part of the leaches, which is only revelaed at the last minute and is really quite chilling.
Saw that... bloody cool IMO. Probably the best Vampire proggy I've ever seen, and knocks ten shades of **** out of Buffy and Blade IMHO, simply because it's believable.
Invasion Earth - an alien crashes in WWII London. Fifty-odd years later, the nasties he was running from start to think seriously about destroying the Earth, and it's up to a lone Tornado pilot to save the day (well, sort of... the point is it had Tornados in it)
Remebr it vagualy...didn;t really like it though
Last Train - A meteroite impact wipes out civilization on Earth. In the English countryside, an intercity express train was protected from the blast by being in a tunnel, and the passengers frozen for over a century by a government agent carry some sort of insta-freeze gubbinz. Basic premise was a bit daft, but the actual show wasn't at all bad.
Um..I think I watched it.... did it have rabid dogs atall?... not sure. To be honest, the only thing I remebr is lots of broken down buildings (which just looked like Govan in a good light)
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Originally posted by Tar-Palantir
You all seemed to forget (at least I didn't see it) the greatest British sci-fi show of all time: Doctor Who! Shame on you all.
The Doctor rocks. I must now crank up some KLF/JAMM and groove to Doctorin' with the TARDIS.
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Funny you should mention the doctor cause I`ve just been watching it's supposed replacement in the 80's The Tripods. I`m about halfway through season 2 at the moment and any moment now the realisation going to dawn on me that they never actually made the third and final series and then I`ll ... have ... to
DAMN IT!
*walks off swearing loudly*
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I never really got in to Doctor Who... guess because I'm scared of looking like an anorak... :nervous:... er... yes... *ahem*
That said, I quite liked the recent one with Paul McGann in it. Though I can only imagine that Doctor purists would hate that one the basis that's new. Often the way with such things :sigh:
Oh, and Aldo - yes, Last Train had packs of dogs roaming the ruined cities... most of the survivors were killed in the first episode by a pack of the buggers :lol: And as for you not liking Invasion Earth... well, your loss :)
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Kids in the Hall -- Canadian. 'Nuff Said
And what does that mean, eh?
What about:
Boston Public
Crossing Jordan
Without a Trace
Law and Order (all of them.)
Enterprise
Andromeda (Well sorta American)
CSI (the pair of them)
ER ( I actualy am not a fan, but I'm complelled to watch it. weird)
Third Watch (Now that show is quality. I'm really getting in to it.
As for home grown Canuck TV, well, the choices are slim, but there are at least 3 that will make you laugh
This hour has 22 minutes
Red Green
Royal Canadian Air Farce
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Originally posted by diamondgeezer
That said, I quite liked the recent one with Paul McGann in it. Though I can only imagine that Doctor purists would hate that one the basis that's new. Often the way with such things :sigh:
I thought it was just about passable but didn't have most of what made Who, Who.
The entire thing was (I'm sorry US people) Americanised. The Master in previous settings had been a scheming evil type but with the same kind of dress sense as Dr Who and the general attitude of someone who is evil but not weird. The Master in the film was over-dressed and had the attitude of your typical evil person. He lost all his charachter and was your basic "oh ho ho I'm evil, I use people then chuck them when I don't need them. Now I'll take your soul!!" type affair. The whole thing just didn't seem to mesh properly. Dr Who himself wasn't bad but the whole thing had to much of a Hollywood spin on it. Suddenly the Doctor can ride a police bike perfectly well as well as other various stupidly "stunt" like occasions.
Bleugh, just didn't like it.
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Originally posted by Thor
And what does that mean, eh?
Its not american. Its no surprise it doesn't suck thoroughly.
What about:
Boston Public -- Not too bad. Probably the best of this group, next to ER.
Crossing Jordan -- TEH SUCK
Without a Trace -- Never heard of it
Law and Order (all of them.) -- TEH SUCK
Enterprise -- TEH SUCK
Andromeda (Well sorta American) -- started okay, then went the way of all Roddenberry efforts. TEH SUCK
CSI (the pair of them) -- TEH SUCK
ER ( I actualy am not a fan, but I'm complelled to watch it. weird) -- Not bad. The only thing on television I go out of my way to watch.
Third Watch (Now that show is quality. I'm really getting in to it.) -- TEH SUCK
As for home grown Canuck TV, well, the choices are slim, but there are at least 3 that will make you laugh
This hour has 22 minutes
Red Green
Royal Canadian Air Farce
I'd check these out if we carried them on our local cable network. Chances are though, I'd not stick with them for long however. I cannot watch television shows shorter than 1hr. There's not enough room for a story, once credits and commercials are taken into account.
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Originally posted by Thunder
I thought it was just about passable but didn't have most of what made Who, Who... Bleugh, just didn't like it.
:)
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Originally posted by Thunder
I thought it was just about passable but didn't have most of what made Who, Who.
I only aobut 20min of the movie, as soon as I saw how they were portraying the Master, I turned the televison OFF.
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Ultimate Force was pretty good, though it wasnt Sci-fi it was a dang good British action mini-series.
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Originally posted by mikhael
Its not american. Its no surprise it doesn't suck thoroughly.
I cannot watch television shows shorter than 1hr.
Criminy mikhael, did America kick your dog or something?
I think the immortal Mr. Bueller summed up your type (http://www.80s.com/saveferris/sounds/ferris/diamond.wav) pretty well.
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
Criminy mikhael, did America kick your dog or something?
I think the immortal Mr. Bueller summed up your type (http://www.80s.com/saveferris/sounds/ferris/diamond.wav) pretty well.
No, Zylon, America did not kick my dog. I've just lived in, and watched television from, enough places that I have a broad basis for comparison. I say, based on such experience, that I don't like it. I'm sorry if I killed your sacred cow.
And 30min is NOT long enough for a story. 60min is almost not enough for a story unless you're doing Bab5 style story arcs.
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Well, the three canadian comedies I listed are found on the CBC, though I think Red Green is carried on some PBS stations. They are half an hour, but are more sketches than a story. And what does TEH mean? I think I understand the point (you don't like it) but what the heck is TEH?
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Originally posted by Thor
Well, the three canadian comedies I listed are found on the CBC, though I think Red Green is carried on some PBS stations. They are half an hour, but are more sketches than a story. And what does TEH mean? I think I understand the point (you don't like it) but what the heck is TEH?
Too much time reading posts/emails from my friends who read too much JeffK on somethingawful.com. TEH WIN, TEH SUCK, blah blah foopty fair anezka blah. Dumb stuff.
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Bah, you want genuinely bad to the point of suicide-inducing television, try watching Brazilian soap operas... :D :p
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As regards to the McGann Dr Who story what made not so good were the considerable number of errors for instance, the Eye of Harmony is not in the TARDIS and as to the trial on Skaro: 1) the planet got destroyed and secondly would the Daleks really allow the Doctor there since don't exactly get on well together!
Mini-rand over
PS: not's not a show but the Martian invasion Mini advert is quite ammusing.
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Originally posted by diamondgeezer
I never really got in to Doctor Who... guess because I'm scared of looking like an anorak...
:D
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Originally posted by mikhael
And 30min is NOT long enough for a story.
The millions of humans who've been telling sub-30 minute stories since before the age of recorded history would beg to differ.
Perhaps you should revise that statement to, "30min is not long enough for a story of sufficient complexity to engage my superior intellect."
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What about Red Dwarf. That series was practically cult in the UK.
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Originally posted by ZylonBane
The millions of humans who've been telling sub-30 minute stories since before the age of recorded history would beg to differ.
Perhaps you should revise that statement to, "30min is not long enough for a story of sufficient complexity to engage my superior intellect."
30min is not long enough for a story of sufficient complexity to engage my average intellect, you smarmy git.
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Originally posted by Wildfire
What about Red Dwarf. That series was practically cult in the UK.
Over here too. Heck, the last couple seasons were actually co-funded by PBS.
Looking forward to the movie next year!
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Lexx is teh space pron!!!!
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I'll drink to that!
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Originally posted by Carl
Lexx is teh space pron!!!!
If it was, it'd probably have got more viewers.... I just thought it was bloody wierd.
Red Dwarf stopped being funny after a few series, though. just about the time they got a bird into the series.......
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Red dwarf ceased to be as funny after series 6 (and signs of bad things to come were appearing even then)
(Ironically series 7 and 8 were the ones co-funded by PBS but I don`t think that's the problem. )
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Doctor WHO = THE FIRST ORIGNAL SCI-FI (screw flash gordon Dan dare would kick his ass)
ULTIMATE FORCE = Purile crap, poor Respirator usage, youd get bollocked to the glasshouse if you had it hanging off your face like that in kosavo...., Take it from an ACTUAL Serving soldier, (sapper class 1 EOD Combat Engineer service no 25123242 I HATE ACF ATC AND SEA CADETS TOO !!)
Red Cap = Tamzin outwaite -Tasty, and a more REAL View of the army, at least they showed accurate drills in Red cap.
Eastenders, = Good old fashioned London life and when your 2 thousand mioles from home and everyone talks another language and you miss your GF etc, Seeing Sharon makes it all better ;7
Ummm, Crystal maze (always wanted to go on it when i was about 11, ( 20 now)
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Originally posted by Colonol Dekker
Ummm, Crystal maze (always wanted to go on it when i was about 11, ( 20 now)
I always remember the sketch (I think it was from Punt and Dennis) complaining about how dumb the contestants on that show were.
Your task is to make a cup of tea....... It's too difficult! I`m coming out!
:D
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By the way, what happened to Space: Above and Beyond???
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Babylon 5= GOD
Star Trek= Suckz
Red Dwarf= Up to series 6 0WNZ J00, after it gets progressivly worse.
Dr Who= Not a big fan, but it seems OK
Dads Army= Brilliant old school humour
The Morecambe and Wise show= Comic Genius ;)
The Two Ronnies= Again very good, especially the one with "The Raiders of the lost Auk"
Monty Python= Both programs and films, what can I say but "We are the nights that say NIH, and we demand a sacrifice"
Simpsons and Futurama are good, nice and simple for after a hard days learning about Aircraft Maintenance, Jet Engines etc.
'Allo 'Allo= Good, but very hard to follow since they mess up the order on TV.
The Osbournes= Love it, it's well funny.
Rather obscure British TV is a comedy program trying to corner the late night stoned market: Dare to believe. I liked it ;)
Oh yes, and Black Books was good especially the first one where Bill Bailey accidentally ate his "little book of calm" and turned into a Jesus-alike.
In the future look out for Bosch Beer adverts, the Rural School Infested With Demons series, and generally anything that has "made by Clan ><{}#sPaZm#{}><" written on it. It's all MINE (moohaha).
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Originally posted by Colonol Dekker
Ummm, Crystal maze (always wanted to go on it when i was about 11, ( 20 now)
I remember watching reruns of Crystal Maze on the british station out of Hong Kong. That was the bestest gameshow ever. :D
I always wondered how they picked the contestants though. So of those puzzles were diabolically tough, but others were simple enough that even your average american Springer Guest could have figured them out. :D
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Screw going on Crystal Maze. I always wanted to be on Knightmare. 'Course, I'd be the Dungeoneer:
Random Guard: You'll have to give me a bar of gold to pass this gate.
DG: I don't ****ing think so, my pedigree chum *smacks guard with 2x4*
Oh yeah -
Originally posted by NeoHunter
By the way, what happened to Space: Above and Beyond???
It never got a second season, even though one was in the works. Therefore, I hate Fox. Would you like to know more? (http://www.space-readyroom.de/e_index.html)
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Never heard of Knightmare. What was it?
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Enter, Stranger! (http://www.knightmare.clara.net/)
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That looks kinda cool, but a bit on the juvenile side. :D
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I was in primary schoold when I first started watching Knightmare. Me and my mates were, what, seven? Kept watching it as I got older, but after a while it stopped getting better and just started getting daft as the flashy CGI seemed to become more important than the game. I guess it suffered the fate of every low-budget cult show - once it starts making money for the producers, they suddenly increase the budget and the program makers can easily get their prorities blurred... which is exactly what happened to the Dwarf after season six :sigh:
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Bugger...
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KNIGHTMARE IS KING< Im sorry i forgot about it, :D The bit that used to scare the sh1t outta me (being 7/8 also when it started) was when the face in the wall asked you the password and you got it worong, So it eats you, Damn..... Also when you do that spellcast eg> S*U*B*M*A*C*H*I*N*E*G*U*N And you get an H&K MP5SD5 lets see an ord outrun my 9mm full metal jacket, Muahaha
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And that's why they never let you appear on the show... :rolleyes:
Ah, Knightmare... what I wouldn't give for a flight on old Smirkinorf... or a riddle game with Hordriss... or to be dodging Frightknights... or the chance to punch Motley the jester in the face... :sigh:
*wishes he was back in 1988*
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88 ? Blimey i was only 6 then, "starts to get all nostalgic," Well done mate im all swooney over Cheetarah and She-Ra now, Cheers......... BTW I found one of my Red Dwarf Tapes, and Chloe Annett Is F**KING Fit !!! I never noticed it at the time i was too busy checking out my science teachers legs, "Ms Thornton if your reading this, OPEN MORE BUTTONS WHEN YOU FORGET TO WEAR A BRA !!" "ahem"
Back on topic now, There were a couple of Knightmare rip-offs were there not? Ie That thing with a flying fish on Citv and craig charles one on Channel 2 for "grown ups" (**** i never thought id say that and actually be one-20 aint grown up yet :p)
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Meh... I actually prefered CP Grogan as Kochanski, in the early series. Chloe Annett seemd a bit... :blah:
And as for nostalgia... I went out and bought the Tranformer movie DVD last week.
It's the Daddy.
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Originally posted by Colonol Dekker
KNIGHTMARE IS KING< Im sorry i forgot about it, :D The bit that used to scare the sh1t outta me (being 7/8 also when it started) was when the face in the wall asked you the password and you got it worong, So it eats you, Damn..... Also when you do that spellcast eg> S*U*B*M*A*C*H*I*N*E*G*U*N And you get an H&K MP5SD5 lets see an ord outrun my 9mm full metal jacket, Muahaha
When the giant spider appeared out of nowhere and began moving towards the player. That always had me jumping up and down and screaming at the TV.
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People you are all mad! Oh I could not stand Knightmare. Oh well, it's a free country.
Since were kinda going off topic here, I'll help the process. Does anyone remember 'Tre and Simon' on Saturday morning TV. Look back I loved there sketch type things.
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Knightmare! Cool! I remember it most clearly because I used to eat Marks and Spencer's corned beef crispbakes and spaghetti hoops when it was on (I was about 6 back then). Mmm, tasty. And yes, the programme was occassionally quite scary for someone of that age (the face wall and evil floor tiles I remember most vividly).
Sid.
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Apparently, Challenge TV is trying to get the rights to the Knightmare brand...
God, I love unsubstantiated internet rumour...