So we are back for the final term of our first year. I cant believe that time has passed so quickly. When I first arrived at the academy it felt as though we would be here forever, but now I feel that if our first two terms are anything to go by, the rest of my time at the RSAMD will simply fly by. And that is a little bit scary.
However we still have a term to go before the long summer holidays. I am really excited about getting back to the academy as it feels like I have been away for ages. I am really looking forward to going out on shoots again, and after the holidays my brain seems to be brimming with ideas.
However I did manage to watch quite a bit of TV over the holidays. The third series of Outnumbered aired last week which I was really excited about. I had been looking forward to new episodes of this program for ages and I am thrilled to see it back on television. I cant get over how good the three children within the show are. They are so natural on screen and their fresh comedic talent and quick wit displayed through improvisation makes them instantly humorous and loveable. One of Outnumbered’s merits is that it is a programme that the whole family can watch and enjoy. The young can watch it and relate to the children and find their situations funny. It is also suitable for younger children as there is no swearing or inappropriate innuendo’s that would deter parents from showing it to their children. However I think that that the show has huge appeal for adults. I think that everyone can relate to some of the situations that the program features.
When watching other family sitcoms it becomes obviously apparent just how good Outnumbered is in comparison with many other texts belonging to the same genre. When me and my mum were watching TV the other evening we came across a programme called ‘The Life of Riley’. Although this programme was intended to be a sitcom I did not find it funny at all. The format felt so overused and the comedy was stale and fell a little flat. I was quite surprised that a program of this standard was given a better timeslot than Outnumbered. To me it seems a shame that the BBC are wasting their primetime slots on programmes like The Life of Riley rather than investing in newer, fresher and more interesting programming that would expand the British publics taste in television, rather than simply pumping out the endless programs with the same format and simply playing o0n the safe side.
I recently watched several episodes from my box-set of Greenwing. I had forgotten just how good this programme is. It simply stands out from most of the other shows that have been on TV recently. I really wish that they didn’t decide to stop after only two seasons, but I suppose it is better to quit while your ahead and end on a high rather than dragging out a programme for longer than it should and watching the quality of the show decrease. I applaud people that can give up making a programme whilst it is still making money and the public are still interested in it. It must be a really hard thing to do, to give up the money, the success and take a risk by launching a totally new television programme. Many showrunners are not brave enough to give up on a hit show, for example I think ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’ was originally a good programme but it just went on for too long, the actors grew older and the last couple of series just felt as though they were trying to hard to be funny.
However the two series of Greenwing manage to remain fresh, funny and different. I think the editing is very interesting within the programme; slow motion and fast motion are often used for coming effect. These effects also represent and add to the quirky nature of the programme. Yet undoubtedly the best part of the programme has to be the strength and variety of characters. They are all so different and so funny in their own way. Its great to watch a programme set in a hospital that is not a drama and surprisingly enough when my brother was in hospital one of the surgeons told him that Greenwing was the most like life in a real hospital. If he wasn’t joking this is a very very scary thought!
