A Google Alert jump into my inbox just now for Little Britain USA, one of my favorite shows of the last 6 months. The alert linked to the story “As season ends, networks can learn from cable”, which I quickly clicked on, and was horrified to see the following:

HBO had a bigger hit-and-miss ratio with the superb animated series “The Life and Times of Tim,” and the woefully unfunny “Little Britain USA.”

Woefully unfunny?

Aside from two reoccurring characters on the show that I found to be unfunny, the rest was side splitting hilarious. Like “I was laughing so hard I was crying” funny. Now, to turn the tables, I found The Life and Times of Tim to be enjoyable but it lost steam by then end of the season.

Ok, let’s continue on:

…FX had an uncommon bomb of its own in “Testees”…

WHAT!?? A bomb?!?

I admit that the show did not bat 1000%, but a bomb it was not. The humor was crude, sometimes things were just plain creepy – which was part of the magic – but in no way was it a bomb.

HBO imported the comedy “Summer Heights High” from Australia and it was funnier than some of its originals.

Really? You are joking right?

After watching the imported version, I was annoyed. Fingernails on a chalkboard annoyed. Someone breaking wind on an elevator annoyed. Screaming kids running around breaking your fine china and crystal ware while the parents look on thinking its cute annoyed.

The imported version was just bad as compared to the original. HBO took a funny series and butchered it in the hopes of making a U.S. friendly version.

HBO’s one-note (and yes, that one note is pretty funny) “Eastbound & Down” split opinions on whether HBO’s programming was too inconsistent.

Well, at least we agree on Eastbound & Down.

All this makes me ask, what did I miss? Really. Is my sense of humor that warped that only equally warped programming is interesting to me but not to the rest of the world?

This news is even better than finding out Little Britain USA will be back for a second season – The Kids in the Hall will be back for an 8 episode miniseries, but the show will not be sketch comedy.  

“It’ll be an eight-episode arc with a narrative running through it and we will play all the characters but it won’t be sketch, it’ll be a single narrative miniseries. Probably the closest thing to it will probably be something like (the defunct cult British series) ‘League of Gentlemen,’ which I think was brilliant. So I hope it will be close to that.”says Dave Foley, Kids in the Hall member.

No word on when the show will be aired, but stilll…Rock on!

Good news, everybody! The Flight of the Conchords Season 2 premier will be online, available at Funny or Die.com starting 12/17/2008 at noon and will run through 12/21.

As cool as this is, I’m conflicted with the policies of HBO.

They go and cancel highly acclaimed, well followed shows, such as Deadwood, leaving fans in a lurch, yet they do something progressive like have a  premiers online or have shows available “On Demand” before they air on the network.

Regardless, I know what I will be doing come 12/17

“The whole idea of an ending as something being its source of meaning is something I find problematic,” says David Milch, creator/writer/director of the critically acclaimed HBO series “Deadwood”

The end of the Deadwood series caught everyone off guard – including Milch – and that is the problem.  One day the brain trust at HBO called David into their corporate offices and informed his the series was being canned.  Not because of poor ratings, no, but due to the costs surrounding the production series.  Each episode cost approximately $10 million, mainly due to the realistic sets and large numbers of extras used.

As of the fan of the show I was devastated when I found out Deadwood was no longer going to be a fixture on Sunday evenings, not because the show was gone, but because loyal viewers were left without any sense of closure, and that is why I believe Milch wrong. 

I’m not trying to argue the point with David; he has infinitely more experience in life and writing than I do, but the lack of closure impacts everyone, especially the viewers, the individuals who ended up emotionally invested in the story and characters.  These are the people who wanted to see an end because they were suffering from a break-up, one that wasn’t expected, and that took a small emotional toll.

While no closure can be expected any longer, the days of the promised 2 two-hour “Deadwood” movies are long since past, it is still sad to face the fact that one of the best TV dramas ever produced was cut with little to no warning and the fans are the ones left to suffer.

Just goes to show the HBO is a business and is not necessarily concerned with the people who view their products. It makes me ask why even bother get involved with other HBO shows?

By now you are aware, if you read this blog on any regular basis, that I tend to prefer the programming that HBO has to offer.  Sure, I don’t love everything they pump out but it seems that HBO is really the only pace you can find good programming for adults.

When Big Love first arrived I wasn’t a fan of the show in the slightest.  It’s not as if I had a problem with the content, the show just didn’t grab me.  I would attempt to watch it on occasion but, for some reason, I would always get distracted.  That all chanced last summer HBO has a mini marathon for Big Love.  It seemed that I had a connection to the characters all of a sudden – I cared about what was going to happen to them, and I wanted to know what was coming next.  

Suddenly I was a fan but, but the time I was involved in the show, the last season came to an end… But there is good news, everybody!  Big Love returns on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 and it sound as if this season is going to be based around excommunication…

Interesting.  

I may have to update my “Shows you are not watching list”.

Flight of the Conchords will be back this coming January. Take a look at the latest promo.

Network TV (NBC / ABC / CBS) station are limited in their ability to develop outstanding comedy for a number of reasons. Development deals are not usually given to “new” ideas that don’t fit a target audience; FCC regulations dictate what is “offensive”, and executives often listen to the person(s) paying the bill (advertiser) as to what they want their products align to.

While Cable TV stations depend on advertisements, in some cases, for income, DVD sales and digital distribution are becoming the large revenue generation methods. Tack on the fact that FCC does not carry a big stick due to the fact that people are paying a subscription fee and you have production companies will take more risk with their programming. The results – hilarious TV.

Ok, so what are the four shows you are not watching but should be?

Testees 

• The show is about two friends who work as human test subjects at product testing facility – who knew you could become a woman due to radiation exposure.

Little Britain USA

I would sit there with my eyes wide open, nothing but the dark to keep me company. No matter what I tried my ability to easy my mind was non-existent, my thoughts continued to race for no reason whatsoever.

Did I follow-up on my emails from work? Wow, it would be nice to have sea food right now? I wonder what the next BMW 7 Series will look like. I have to remember to call my aunt to wish her a happy anniversary. I don’t want to be here. Why won’t my mind shut down? What is the weather supposed to be like tomorrow?

Alert and aware of every thought, every emotion, the possibility of getting rest seemed remote so I decided to change my focus. “Let’s get out of bed and watch some TV” I thought to myself in a desperate attempt to find an activity that would allow me some peace of mind. What better than a “pointless” activity?

Tumble out of bed; turn the lights on low, so as to promote the notion of rest, I find myself watching cartoons – nothing intellectually stimulating in the slightest. After roughly an hour, no almost two, I begin to feel the need to sleep weighing on my eyes. Turn off the TV, flick off the lights and walk into the bedroom to put my head down on the pillow.

This time my mind is void of anything meaningful. No thoughts running ramped or dominant emotions trying to make themselves known, just a blank slate. Truly nothing.

I sit there with my eyes wide open, nothing but the dark to keep me company…. And still, I could not sleep.

This one is brought to you by the “because a TV show can really harm your citizens” category, there is an article saying Russia is trying to ban  Southpark for showing “signs of extremist activity”.

Nothing like freedom of speech, huh?