Posts Tagged Television
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November 14, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: The TED.Danson Talks
* I first knew Ted Danson from Cheers. He played a guy called Sam Malone. But he could have been named Ted Danson. * Ted Danson had been in a load of TV before Cheers – rubbish soaps and sitcoms, a walk-on here, a bit part there. But he was in Taxi… it was […]Archive
June 15, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast: Episode 68 – Colin Hogg
Welcome to episode 68 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat. This conversation is me chatting with the journalist, TV producer, critic and an early writing hero of mine, Colin Hogg.Archive
April 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Radio on the TV: My Top 10 All-Time Favourite TV Themes
The other day I was listening to Carl Stalling for the first time in a while – his bonkers-brilliant cartoon music puts you right there. You no longer need the images. The same is true of any great soundtrack composer, for film or TV. I regularly give Danny Elfman’s Music For A Darkened Theatre a spin […]Archive
October 10, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Clive James: Play All – A Bingewatcher’s Notebook
Play All: A Bingewatcher’s Notebook Clive James Yale University Press Writing about television isn’t easy – it’s easier now because TV is better: more people are invested in shows that have our attention in a way the movies used to. It’s easier now too because of Clive James. He’s left his mark on poetry and […]Archive
September 27, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Narcos – Season One: DVD
Narcos: Season One Director: Jose Padilha Netflix/Madman As with House of Cards, Bloodline and just one or two others from the Netflix-commissioned shows there’s a demand for Narcos, one of the brand’s go-to/must-see shows. And so here, now, Season One is available on DVD. If you’ve waited this long (Season Two is up on the […]Archive
May 8, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Norman Lear – Just Another Version of You: Film
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Loki Films/Thirteen/WNET He’s 93 and sharp as anything – and what a life of impact – Norman Lear is one of the greatest minds to have ever worked in television. A showrunner for so many big-deal TV shows in America in the […]Archive
April 10, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Best of Enemies: DVD
Best of Enemies – Buckley vs. Vidal. Directors: Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon Magnolia Pictures/Madman A nice idea, this documentary, but it doesn’t quite work. First of all, we probably got what we needed from the recent United States of Amnesia documentary about Gore Vidal. And though this aims to look, specifically, at the ten […]Archive
February 15, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
V/A: VINYL (Music from the HBO Original Series, Vol. 1)
Various Artists: VINYL (Music from the HBO Original Series, Vol. 1) Atlantic Recording Corporation & Warner Bros. Records, Inc/WEA International Inc. The much-hyped Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger-executive produced VINYL has debuted – bringing with it a first volume of soundtrack recordings. The plan – for a show called VINYL – is to have digital-only releases popping […]Archive
May 19, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Auckland Writers Festival: The Media Revolution – Ken Auletta
The Media Revolution: Ken Auletta ASB Theatre/Aotea Centre Saturday, March 16 (4.30pm) For this Auckland Writers Festival event Shayne Currie, editor of The New Zealand Herald was the chair/interviewer – though he never introduced himself. I assume people do that out of modesty, thinking they’re not the important person on stage, but it smacks of […]Archive
April 13, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 11 – Good Morning
I got this message one day at work – someone had called up The Dominion Post looking for me (I have never worked “at” The Dominion Post, I write some reviews for them, so people assume I work there). They said they wanted to talk to me about being a music reviewer for the Good […]Archive
April 12, 2015 by Simon Sweetman