A Round-Up Of My TV Show Recommendations

A Round-Up Of My TV Show Recommendations

So the newest season of Game of thrones has started off as expected – John Snow has been brought back to life which was pretty much anticipated and eagerly awaited for, the only question being how he would he resurrected from the dead. Episode 2 has revealed that his spirit had escaped into his direwolf Snow as his body was being stabbed multiple times and from there it returned back to his human body when the Red Woman, Melisandre the sorceress of the Light-cult, worked her magic on his wounds. The other character, the only other character we sympathize with and hope to see survive the Game Of Thrones, Daenerys is well on her way to acquiring her promised bridal gift- the entire dothraki nation to rally behind her cause. Just to recall, Khal Drogo, he who was prophesied to be the father of the stallion which rules the world and hence always fucked daenerys from behind (like a stallion?), had promised the use of the dothraki hordes against the westeros as a marriage gift to daenerys to regain her throne, but as he unfortunately dropped off dead and daenerys couldn't hold on to what was left of the khals army she had to go and recruit eunuch warriors and mercenaries who all proved inadequate to the upcoming campaign against the might of the seven kingdoms across the dothraki sea to finally put a targaryen on the throne.

Another interesting show I regularly watch, the latest season (season 3) of Penny Dreadful has got off to a kick-ass beginning as well. Count Dracula, the main villain is back on the show after disappearing for most of last season leaving the field open to minor witches and monsters and he has finally hooked up with Renfield, his future nemesis Dr. Seward's confidential secretary. And Adam, the Frankenstein's monster at last lives up to his name by twisting off the head of a ten year old child before walking back to england all the way from the arctic where he was marooned on a sunken ship bound in the ice field, at the end of last season. And the protagonist of the show Miss. Ives played by the delectable Eva Green, has at last got out of the stupor of a broken heart and is out and about, ready to face up all the evils of the night which haunt 1880's London, most of whom she has had sex with in the previous two seasons. All in all the show promises to send more than a few heartbeats racing (and i dont mean just in the horror sense) this season as well.

I have also finished watching the entire season 1 of the latest BBC adaptation of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and I have to admit that I can't wait too long for season 2 to start. The TV show has added a new interpretation to the traditional story by making sure that although played by the same character, Robert Jekyll’s alter ego Hyde is shown in a delightful new avatar of understated villainy instead of the usual over the top villainous antics we are used to seeing in previous adaptations. The show again has ended in a flaming season finale and we can't wait long enough to see Robert Jekyll get up and show his other side in season 2.

Dickensian season 1 has ended in BBC one, leaving a half hour void in my night time TV schedule. For those not familiar with the series it is an adaptation of all the Charles dickens novels in an amalgamation where all the various characters interact with one another in un-looked for ways. We are shown the beginnings of Miss. Havisham's hatred for men with the love affair which caused it ( from Great Expectations) along with the death of Jacob Marley and the coming into fortune of his sole partner Ebenezer Scrooge ( from A Christmas Carol) and Fagin and gang, the likes of the Artful Dodger, Bill Sikes and Nancy (of Oliver Twist) who are suspected of killing Marley on behalf of Scrooge – all in all an interesting mish mash of characters and situations all intertwined together.

So to fill up my half an hour nostalgia tv show slot I have recently started binge-watching Blanding's, the show based on the P.G. Wodehouse novels of the same name. The antics of the Earl of Emsworth and his prize pig the Empress of Blandings have been hilariously brought alive on TV for the first time. Throw in Aunt Connie, Emsworth's sister and Freddie Threepwood his son and an assortment of wodehousian favorite characters like Sir Roderick Glossop, who keep dropping in and out of the show, you have a crackerjack of a comedy masterpiece crammed inside half an hour. Highly recommended for a last show before bed night time slot to leave you with a pleasant smile on your face as you sleep.

The last show i want to talk about is the BBC adaptation of the sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice novel -Death Comes To Pemberley. The book which was a gripping whodunit murder mystery solved by Elizabeth Bennet of the Pride book had me salivating at the opportunity of watching a TV adaptation. And it didn't disappoint as it stuck pretty much to the template of the book. But if there was one thing which soured my pleasure of the TV adaptation it was the casting. Every character was aptly cast except for the lead one, the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. If you remember reading Pride and Prejudice you would remember that Miss Elizabeth Bennet was a saucy little beauty who made not only the proud Mr.Darcy fall madly in love, but also carries on a brief fling with the much experienced ( in a ladies way) man about town – George Wickham the eventual villain of the novel. But the tv show has erred erroneously in casting an ugly old hag has elizabeth bennet. Granted it's been a few years since her wedding and she is now the mother of a five year old child, but i cant help thinking that elizabeth would still be a milf oozing sexuality and not such an ugly old has been especially after remembering Keira Knightley in the film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. God only knows what the makers were thinking when they cast the characters. Maybe they were looking to make it on a low budget and this waas all they could afford to hire? I leave it to you dear readers.

One Day At a TV Serial....

December is here upon us and here in Chennai December is famous for its cool mornings and hot music season. December is also the time when my assistants insist that I stay off work and finally spend all the leave- a long list of off-duty's and accumulated vacation time I am entitled to, but have not taken till now and which are in danger of lapsing with the year end. I sympathize with their desire to be free of my hands on management at least for a few days and try to accommodate their wishes as much as I could by taking a leave here and an off there, whenever possible. And that’s how I found myself with a holiday on a Tuesday morning with nothing to do but stay home and watch TV. And utterly bored of the reality shows on music TV channels, and music shows on news channels, I decided to try and renew my acquaintance with some old friends I had not been in contact with much. The person who suddenly popped into my mind was my old friend Rajesh, an area-friend I grew up with. He had drifted into the world of television and the last time we had talked to each other, had boasted that he had by then directed at least 300 episodes of Tamil mega serials. And when I expressed my astonishment at his still remaining so sane and cheery after that impossible feat, he had invited me to go visit his shooting spot one day to see in person what goes on in the making of a TV soap serial. So that morning utterly fed up on with what was on TV I picked up the phone, made the call and invited myself to the shooting spot. 

As Rajesh had told me they were shooting their latest episode of a mega serial at a place called Tinnanur or Thirunindravur, at a distance of around 40kms from Chennai, I opted to skip breakfast and make an early start to beat the ever present traffic and be there in time. I need not have bothered for it was fine drizzling weather and I enjoyed the journey as much as reaching the destination. The reason, according to my friend Rajesh, for the popularity of this particular little town as a base for shooting all mega serials was because it is an up and coming vacation spot for Chennai’s rich and famous. For those who have an estate or two in the hills but find it difficult to travel all the way up there but are looking for a nearby vacation home, a garden house to spend the weekend communing with nature, places like Tinnanur were now becoming popular due to its proximity to the city. What at first glance looks like just another small town on the highway, something you pass by on your way to somewhere else, has garden houses and bungalows built on massive scales of 10-12 grounds and lavishly furnished all over, but closed all week until the owners come over to host their weekend parties. And these savvy millionaires also rent out their bungalows during their weekdays to Television production houses for shooting their mega serials and making enough pennies from the rent to pay their watchman, gardener and assorted housekeeping staff. You don’t become a millionaire without knowing a trick or two on money management right? 

Anyway, after I reached the shooting spot and after being warmly welcomed by my friend Rajesh, who at last showed off in front of me that he really was this big shot serial director, something for which he had waited a long time I suspect, we had breakfast with all the technicians. They were a cheerful bunch and looked to be having a lot of fun, which Rajesh explained was due to the absence of anyone from the production house that day to oversee the shoot. So when the cat is away mice are at play concept applies here too, was what to mind. Anyway, it was getting on to noon and I was still waiting to see my first scene canned, the reason I had traveled all the way on my vacation day. When I asked Rajesh about the absence of any actors on his set, he said mildly that his stars had already arrived (in fact, before me) and were in the make-up room getting ready. “What the?” I spluttered incoherently. But Rajesh patiently explained that their TV serial featured a big bunch of actresses who all vie with each other to look their bestest in front of the camera even when a scene calls for them to cry their eyes out. And as per protocol the junior most artiste will be the one to walk out of the makeup room first and to be followed by others in order of seniority. And as even the junior most actress took a minimum of at least two hours to get her face pancaked, none of the serial shoots started before noon. And right on cue, one by one of the actresses sauntered in, with their faces heavily made up and the makeup standing at least a couple of inches off their faces, unsupported. I took the time to reflect on my own television experience a few years ago when I had conned my way into a compeering job, for a breakfast show on a newly launched channel and the makeup guys after a cursory powdering of my face had sent me in front of the cameras after assuring me that I was a natural beauty and didn’t need much in the way of make-up. God, how naïve I was back then. And to think that I could have demanded and got at least an hour’s worth of makeup, if only I had known the secrets of the trade.

The shooting of the scenes for the day was a surprisingly fast job, for either the actresses were very good or my friend the director was easily satisfied as most scenes were canned with the first take itself. When they had shot up to a dozen related scenes in one smooth flow, a break for lunch was called and my friend insisted that I accompany him to the actors side of the dining room where he introduced me to the television actresses there as an up and coming film actor waiting for my big break. This was in reference to an old in-joke among us, where we had once promised each over endless cups of tea in our local tea shop, the Diamond tea bar in Mint Street, that when and if my friend Rajesh directed his first movie, he would launch me as his first hero. I was glad to find that he had not forgotten his old promise even after ten years or so and after life had taken us both in entirely different paths. He was now firmly ensconced as a TV serial director, making a good living with a steady income from it and unable (or even unwilling) to make the jump into the whirlpool of film direction, while I had long since given up on the idea of being in films and had gone away into a completely different career.

Anyway, after a post lunch cozy chit-chatting with the actresses, all of whom looked almost the same to me with their heavy makeup’s and identical sarees, I told my friend I now had a clear idea of what goes on behind the scenes at a TV serial shoot and so I would no longer disturb him at work but take my leave. He protested at this and wanted me to stay on as he shot a few more heavily emotional scenes but I declined the offer and told him I had to leave then to be in time for my evening practice. As he walked me back to my car, he enquired whether I would be willing to do a role for him, a doctor’s role in his serial. I stopped and told him in a careful voice that I would be damned if I ever acted the role of a doctor in a TV serial. That would be the end of my professional career. For any patient who came to see me after that, would always assume that I was just an actor masquerading as a doctor and would never believe that I am a real doctor. I also told my friend petty firmly that I would not do any itsy bitsy character role and would only play the protagonist's central role in a serial.

My friend told me that the protagonist's role is usually decided only when a new serial is launched and never added midway, at which I volunteered that I am perfectly willing to wait for a new serial to be launched, however long it took. He then told me that they were in the story discussions of a probable idea involving a historical serial, to be launched in the next few months, but it would require horse riding and sword fighting skills from the central character. I assured him that my horse riding was second to none and my sword fighting skills are to be seen to be believed. As I took my leave from him, in a solemn voice I asked him to remember that he had promised to launch me in films with his first film and because of that promise I had sentimentally declined so many other famous directors who had asked me to do their films. And then I laughingly told him that this was my audition scene to show off that I could still act convincingly and then I drove away from the shooting spot with a satisfied feeling that this was a vacation day well spent.

Now to start practicing sword fights and learn horse riding. Any tips anyone?