Tom
Baker, the fourth actor to play the Doctor, wants to be in the new Who series
as the Master.
SFX is showing off reader’s submissions for re-imagining
the Daleks.
The Science Fiction Museum
and Hall of Fame makes no mention of Doctor Who!
The Anglican Church has jumped the shark.
Anglican Church agrees to reality-TV program ‘Priest Idol’
The Anglican Church in England has jumped into the fray of reality TV in the hopes of reviving a dying church.
The Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Lundwood in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, has a congregation of only nine, mainly aging, regular worshippers. It hopes that by participating in a new reality TV program on Channel 4, called Priest Idol, it will be able to attract a new vicar who can fill up the church pews.
Who are the most popular screen scientists according to a
recent UK poll? Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker. 🙂 The Muppets
rule! Spock came in second and my idol, the Doctor (from Doctor Who), came in third.
I find the Doctor’s rank a bit surprising given Doctor Who’s popularity in the UK.
Maybe he’ll go up in people’s esteem when the new show airs in 2005.
There's been a lot of debate over the years about the possible adverse effects of television on children. A recent study suggests that viewing lots of sexual activity on TV prods sexual exploration in children. The study jives with common sense and my intuitions, but Ill hold off on using it as a rallying cry for less must on TV because I haven't yet read the study for myself to see if the statistics are trustworthy.
The Olympics bore me. I haven’t been excited about them since I was a kid. A lot
of that has to do with the detritus that grows every four years – the list of sports
nobody really cares about. I think IOC should wipe the slate clean and start from
scratch. Do we really need synchronized swimming, for instance? That may be an art
form to someone, but it’s not a sport. Neither is ballroom dancing. There’s talk
of making “dance sport” an Olympic event. I’ve done ballroom dancing before.
It’s art, not sport. Anyhow, room should be made for popular competitive sports,
such as ultimate frisbee. The sad thing is, with the number of events currently
bloating the Games, if ultimate was added, it’d probably be broadcast at 4 AM. *sigh*
One more thing: Ban professionals from the Games!!! “Amateur” comes
from Latin for “lover”, i.e. an amateur one who plays for the love of
the game. That’s who should be competing in the Games, not a bunch of spoiled millionaires.
All of that ranting was actually a digression. My original gripe started with this
BoingBoing article. The basic gist is that the Olympics were a huge ratings
and advertising success, so you’d think the networks would jump at the chance to
put on a similar spectacle. You’d be wrong. The Paralympics will not be aired on
American television. No offense to Olympic athletes, but I think handicapped athletes
are far more impressive and worth my viewing time and applause. It’s a shame that
Americans won’t get to see some real winners. I’m not talking about winning gold
medals. I’m talking about overcoming adversity and thriving in the face of it.