This week I’ve been on the wrong side of healthy, which sucks, but does come with the upside: it’s totally legit to go to bed at 7pm and watch telly ‘till I fall asleep. This week there are two new shows that I managed to watch the whole way through.
GCB (Tuesday- 8.30pm) was created based on a “semi-autobiographical” book called Good Christian Bitches and turned into a TV show by the creator of Sex and the City.
This was the second episode. I didn’t manage to catch the first, but I caught on to the storyline fairly quickly -
- 30-something, broke and Über hot mother Amanda moves with her teenage children back to Dallas (and in with her mother) after her philandering, fraudster husband dies in a fiery car accident and leaves her with nothing.
Being the “Queen Bitch” at high school, she meets the women that she made life hell for as a teen - Carlene (The new “Queen Bitch” I guess you could say); Sharon, who was pretty in high school but now on the heftier side with terrible self-esteem; Heather, a real estate agent with some pulling power; and Cricket, who has a gay husband.
Featuring guns in handbags (pretty gold ones, mind you), big hair and a plethora of rhinestones, you may feel that this show has gone overboard on the Texan stereotype, but it has enough funnies sprinkled throughout to make it watchable. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I didn’t change the channel once. What makes it even more fun to watch is the fact that many US Christians have called the show blasphemous and lacking a moral code.
You can watch the trailer here.
Straight after GCB was a premiere of Necessary Roughness.
I kind of feel like the name of the show was the last thing that the creators thought about - in fact, I wasn’t planning to watch it based on the fact that the name alone, but my remote had fallen onto the floor when my cat jumped onto the bed and I couldn’t be bothered retrieving it.
The title is derived from an 'unnecessary roughness' penalty in American Football, which makes sense, as that’s the basis for the show. Not related in any way to the film of 1991.
Based on true events, newly separated mother of two Callie becomes the therapist for a Gridiron football player named Terrance (T.K) King, who is the star player for the New York Hawkes, but can’t seem to keep his anger in check, resulting in him playing like shit (for want of a better word).
Callie has to juggle the tumultuous TK, as well as her disobedient daughter and the P.I that was hired by her ex-husband to follow her for their upcoming divorce.
I can see this show as a movie, but as a TV show it gives the characters the ability to grow and become relatable to the audience over a number of weeks, instead of trying to cram it all into two hours. Funnily enough, I can see myself watching this show again- a sort of 'don’t judge a book by its cover' scenario, perhaps?
You can watch the necessary roughness trailer here. (What is it about American Trailers that make them all seem super cheesy?)
Finally, I have one more thing to talk about: 1986.
1986 was the year I was born. The year that Halley’s Comet reached its closest point to the sun and the year that the Beastie Boys released Licensed to Ill.
It was also the year that the wildly popular Alf hit our television screens. According to my parents it was my absolute favourite show, and I even cruised around with an Alf soft toy in tow.
Do you know what I remember about Alf? Absolutely nothing. I had to watch some YouTube videos to even get the gist of what it was about: he’s a smart-mouthed alien from the planet Melmac with a bottomless pit for a stomach, and not some awkward looking yet lovable bear.
1986 was 26 years ago now (I’d know, the dreaded birthday is coming up) which is why, along the lines of The Smurfs, The Muppets And Transformers, I guess it is due for a comeback. Alf’s creator Paul Fusco believes that the timing is right. Are they clutching at a past that needs to be left in peace with good memories and good ratings? Would a reboot that fails tarnish the fond memories?
What is the need for re-booting old TV shows and movies? Sometimes they work, sometimes they are a complete travesty. With regards to Alf, time, I guess, will tell.
Comments
comments powered by Disqus