Newswipe

hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
Anyone watching this new Charlie Brooker series on BBC4? It's a really intelligent sort of media studies programme, in effect. I suppose the idea comes from on an episode of Screenwipe he did about tv news, which was utterly fantastic.

The one this week was about citizen journalism and then Jade Goody, so obviously contains a certain amount of naval gazing, but really high quality nonetheless. And watching someone on the BBC really putting the boot in to BBC news is always good - it's genuinely one of the things that makes me love the beeb.
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
saw it Wednesday - really good insightful stuff with just the right amount of swaery silliness. His take on the news being the ultimate Reality TV show was good, as was his unsentimental and fair discussion of Jade Goody.

will be watching again next week - and i don't say that too often!
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
Yeah, the Jade bit was very impressive, difficult to tackle but very well done.

And yes, Hucks, the show from Screenwipe that inspired it was the highlight of the series, especially the bit on the McCanns - "this isn't news, it's looking at stuff".

Brilliant, Brooker's so obviously good at the more heavyweight stuff it's a shame he spends half his time on fluff.
 
hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
crackerjack said:
Brilliant, Brooker's so obviously good at the more heavyweight stuff it's a shame he spends half his time on fluff.
Click to expand...

It is rather. This series is, by nature, more heavyweight than screenwipe, and that suits. Without proper things to discuss, he can come across as a sneering cynic, but he does actually have a heart.
 
mixed_biscuits

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
hucks said:
he can come across as a sneering cynic, but he does actually have a heart.
Click to expand...

One of my friends is a tv journo and has spent a couple of days in his company. He said that Brooker is essentially quite shy and retiring. All that suppressed energy must go into his famous rants.
 
M

mms

sometimes
Having Adam Curtis on there was a good move, one of the funniest things on the series so far was him saying the news when it comes to word affairs is like a 'depressed hippy.'
 
Jonesy

Jonesy

Wild Horses
I've got a lot of time for Brooker. A smart bloke whose humanity shines through in his ranting at the right targets. His viewers likely share his sentiments but he still manages to avoid just feeding our opinions back to us, giving us something else to think about or another angle.

Just watched the first two episodes and my only complaint is the music. I find it a bit distracting and would rather he left it off or put it lower in the mix. Also one could uncharitably accuse him of using music to amp up our feelings as do the news channels.
 
mixed_biscuits

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Vaguely entertaining prog, but:

- the points that he makes are not original nor insightful
- his satirical targets have been taken down far more inventively and effectively by Chris Morris' stuff
- the swearing is gratuitous, but not so much as to create its own aesthetic impetus (a la TV Go Home)
- too much ad hominem caricature of easy targets
- not all of the clips used come across as the products of his own personal journey through the medium (eg. the famous clip of the American anchorman losing it)

Newswipe = Chris Tarrant's clip show of TV inanity + ranting

As with Screenwipe, the interesting bits are the titbits from behind the scenes - but we don't need Charlie to tell us these.
 
you

you

Well-known member
Hehe - seems like gratuitous and explicit and creative put downs are becoming more and more prevalent on UK TV.... ( thick of it etc..... apprentice )

Has anyone mentioned Gordon Burn yet?? He wrote an article about the Jade fad.....
 
M

muser

Well-known member
Only caught this recently but some very entertaining rants and I think some thought provoking observations (for me anyway). I liked his little peice about how the media covered the G20. As in they had a feild day doing lots of stories about people getting smacked and some window smashing but they didnt bother to show any of the speeches people made about why they were actually there.
 
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D

droid

Guest
It was actually OK despite the fact that it shouldve been shit.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
It was okay but Brooker doesn't look particularly comfortable in that studio audience environment. The best bits are exactly like screenwipe but with the unwelcome addition of audience laughter.
 
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