More 4 Launch Night (part 4)
2230: Rory Bremner. Well, I suppose he embodies the ethos of this channel. I remember when Rory Bremner was just a straightforward impressionist. That was the 1980s. Then impressionism came to be seen as a bit end-of-the-pier, and Bremner repositioned himself as a satirist. This is a mockumentary (Sky One pop documentary style) about, er, political scandals, because we've only had an hour and a half of that so far.
The formula is familiar by now - very good impressions, rather earnest satire, slightly lame jokes. Good when it hits the nail on the head, flat when it misses the mark. I'll let you know if there's any change from the norm.
2240: Nothing says cutting edge satire like Jeffrey Archer jokes.
2245: "Hey, Rory, we're launching this new channel. Could you do us half an hour of library footage with slightly funny voiceovers?" Wilting now. Then again, interesting point about what would have happened if John Major's affair had come out just before the 1992 general elections. The Conservatives lose, Neil Kinnock becomes PM, Tony Blair never becomes leader... Hmm.
Adverts. Mark Dolan does a slightly stilted piece to camera plugging The Last Word at 11pm, which we'll come to shortly. I have much to say about The Last Word, and I haven't even seen it yet.
Another horrific Microsoft advert. "I don't send pictures. I send stories..." Yes, now you can make your tedious bloody holiday videos interactive. I can see Bill Gates now, silencing everyone at a dinner party so that he can show them a presentation about his holiday. In Powerpoint.
2250: Completely lose interest and see what's in LITG this week.
2255: Good god, this really is phoned in. BBC3 could do better than this. Bremner's basic point is that resignations have become something which is done for PR purposes rather than out of genuine regret, but has anyone really not noticed that?
One more to come... oh no, hold on, wait! Adverts, and it's the results of Lulu's cholestorol test. We were all on the edge of our seats waiting for that, weren't we? She's feeling much better. Well done, Lulu.
The formula is familiar by now - very good impressions, rather earnest satire, slightly lame jokes. Good when it hits the nail on the head, flat when it misses the mark. I'll let you know if there's any change from the norm.
2240: Nothing says cutting edge satire like Jeffrey Archer jokes.
2245: "Hey, Rory, we're launching this new channel. Could you do us half an hour of library footage with slightly funny voiceovers?" Wilting now. Then again, interesting point about what would have happened if John Major's affair had come out just before the 1992 general elections. The Conservatives lose, Neil Kinnock becomes PM, Tony Blair never becomes leader... Hmm.
Adverts. Mark Dolan does a slightly stilted piece to camera plugging The Last Word at 11pm, which we'll come to shortly. I have much to say about The Last Word, and I haven't even seen it yet.
Another horrific Microsoft advert. "I don't send pictures. I send stories..." Yes, now you can make your tedious bloody holiday videos interactive. I can see Bill Gates now, silencing everyone at a dinner party so that he can show them a presentation about his holiday. In Powerpoint.
2250: Completely lose interest and see what's in LITG this week.
2255: Good god, this really is phoned in. BBC3 could do better than this. Bremner's basic point is that resignations have become something which is done for PR purposes rather than out of genuine regret, but has anyone really not noticed that?
One more to come... oh no, hold on, wait! Adverts, and it's the results of Lulu's cholestorol test. We were all on the edge of our seats waiting for that, weren't we? She's feeling much better. Well done, Lulu.
posted by Paul O'Brien at 10:33 pm
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