Fab News Or Not?

Normally I would think it a wee bit harsh to celebrate the fact a show has just been cancelled, especially when said show hasn’t even made it past the pilot stage. But today’s news is different. Today was the day that FOX decided to send the US reimaging of Absolutely Fabulous packing! And I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that can only be good, no make that great, news!

Don’t get me wrong I’m not anti all and any US remakes of our very own sitcoms, I prefer the phrase pessimistic, but if ever there was a show that was not only of it’s time but fundamentally very, very British it was Absolutely Fabulous. The very idea of seeing a Sex and The City style make over for Edina and Patsy just sounds rather lazy and pointless to me. But hey that’s just me and my two cents for you.

But without sounding off the grumpy old man vibe to much, there surely has to come a time when you draw the line to just knocking out remake after remake? I mean heaven forbid someone was to discover a show like Fawlty Towers or Blackadder by actually sitting down and viewing them in all their retro glory?

So what do you make of this news then? Do you point in the direction of the pretty darn sweet Uncle Sam version of the Office and think to Hell with it, good comedy is good comedy and I couldn’t care less whether it’s a re hash of old material or not!

JJ Compares Writing Lost With The Work Of Charles Dickens

Far be it for me to knock the work of the hotter than hot right now J.J. Abrams but comparing your own work to that of literary God Charles Dickens is………. well taking the p i double s now really isn’t it.

According to J.J. the screenwriters for the hit TV show Lost, which he co-created, have never known from day one just where the mind boggling sci-fi story was heading. Which goes some way to explaining the numerous pain staking twists and turns the show throws up on a weekly basis I guess? And there was me thinking my brain was safe in the hands of a well organized, crack team of genetically created writers working round the clock in an elaborate studio. “Sigh”

"I'm sure when Charles Dickens was writing, he had a sense of where he was going - but he would make adjustments as he went along. You jump into it, knowing there's something great out there to find." J.J. has recently been quoted when speaking to The Guardian.

Ok, ok so I might be taking his comments a little bit too literally but still. I mean just because you got yourself a story with God knows how many characters that quite frankly you don’t have a clue what to do with, doesn’t quite make you Dickens my friend. Not by a long shot.

Dr Ross To The Emergency Room Please!!!!…………..

This week sees the return of a certain Mr Clooney heading on back to where it all started for him over a decade ago on hit TV show ER, (read that story here) but the bigger question in and amongst all the publicity hype machine has to be “does anyone actually care”

Truth be told I was never an avid watcher of the Emergency Room drama but if ever their was reason to check in on the show it always seemed to be gorgeous George and his cocksure swagger that kept me from grabbing the remote. So when the inevitable happened and Hollywood came calling it didn’t come as to much of a shock to see that it wasn’t just the audience figures that took a rather hefty nose dive.

That’s not to say George Clooney was ER, far from it, but, like any team losing its star player and never quite finding an adequate replacement, ER certainly seemed to struggle in keeping up the same level of hysteria and interest it once had.

So with the fat lady finally stretching her lungs in anticipation for the final curtain being raised on the long-running series, it’s hardly surprising that Doctor Ross himself has risen to the challenge of resuscitating the show that made him the man he is today! And whilst the cynic in us all will be sitting there thinking this is nothing more than an elaborate stunt set up into coaxing back it’s own time loyal viewers for one final hit of Clooney love (which it is), hands up those of you who aren’t even the tiniest bit intrigued in seeing how this one plays out.

And let’s not forget joining George in his crusade to give the show its war-cry finale is pretty much every other actor ever to step foot in the ER hot spot, from floppy-haired Noah Wyle to love-interest Juliana Margulies, Clooney won’t be alone in signaling the end of this revolutionary show.

So it’s on that note I’ll leave it up to you guys to further discuss whether or not your curiosity level has gone up a notch or two in eagerly anticipation, if only for curiosity’s sake I’ll be tuning in this Thursday to see whether if the big man has still got that Midas touch with the stethoscope… I’ll be sitting on the side of the fence that says “Hell Yes”, this is Clooney were talking about after all!