It's Dragons Den... but not as we know it (or like it)

Dragons Den is a top Program.  The combination of straight talking, frankly arrogant millionaires with sweaty cheap suited northern monkeys making a fool of themselves with terrible inventions is hard to beat.  You know what they say... If it aint broke don't fix it. 

Well the BBC have tried to fix it, ok so they haven't taken Dragons off the TV and a new series will be returning soon with exactly the same formula, but they have created a online only spin off which is as dull as four day old dishwater. 

I watched about 15 minutes of the first episode and i knew exactly what i was dealing with, the dragons den formula with rotten production values and a couple of complete no marks as "Dragons." 

It's kind of hard to explain why i don't like this show, its the same as the one i do like, but it had a CBBC feel, especially the grainy establishing shot of the "pitchers" in a lift. It was kind of like they were being held captive by a terrorist. 

The first pitcher was a complete moron; his invention was a couple of wheels stuck to the bottom of a chair, so people with disabilities could "tuck themselves" under the table after sitting down.  The only thing going for this was the word "disabled," everything else about the "invention" was a joke. 

I would happily have paid the guy the full amount just to get out of my sight! 

I guess if you've got half an hour spare, or your at a loose end this is a decent pithy filler, but otherwise its drab, and theres "bonus" content from Dominic Byrne (who the F is that?!) He looks and sounds like a bald Rufus Hound (that rhymes!) and he's even less funny (i know, hard to believe right.) 

One to avoid... mainly. 

6/10

Highlight of the Past Week (BBC Breakfast)

Open your ears and enjoy the moment the BBC 'mistakenly' played Christian Bale's now infamous rant unedited in the early hours of the morning. 

The reaction of the flabbergasted 'news readers' is hilarious. The clip is followed by a groveling apology, clearly designed to ensure the Daily Mail and its pompous middle class twin set and pearl morons didn't start a virulent hate campaign, as they have done with Jonathan Ross and Carole Thatcher.

Posiedon (2006) BBC1 22:40, 02/01/09

I couldn't help but right about a film on this occasion that is shown on BBC1. Whilst watching it the thought came to me once a film or TV show has been made on a subject, where it is able to be the definitive portrayal of a subject or genre should there ever be another made?

If you look at 2006's Poseidon, as boats sinking in films go there are two that stand out the original Poseidon and James Cameron's Titanic. Hence the motive behind the makers of this film must be purely money, because as far as recognition can go it was never going to beat a record 11 academy award wins that Titanic achieved when it matched the 11 by Ben Hur.  However when you think that Titanic made over a billion dollars the the box office can you expect to match that commercial success. It barely made back its budget of $150 million at the worldwide box office. The only shining light being the work of ILM as they received an Oscar for their work on Visual Effects.

The overriding point being should they have ever gone near this topic. On the release of Poseidon, Titanic would be very much in peoples mind's being only nine years old. So as risks go investing in a film of this genre and subject seems foolhardy.  Remakes are of course popular but the adage must surely be do not touch a specific topic/subject that has already been done to such commercial and critical success. Taking Titanic out of the equation then a remake of  The Poseidon adventure still doesn't seem sensible. A huge box office success in 1972 off of a budget of $5 million it was the second highest grossing film of that year behind The Godfather Part 2. The film was the second in a trend of disaster movies in the 70's which were a success at the box office. The thinking perhaps behind the remake was that it was following the same suit after the release of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004. However bring in the overreaching shadow of the at sea disaster movie and the comparison was always going to hinder the success of Poseidon. All this is not even taking into account any reviews professional or fan based of the film itself, though the relative lack of world wide commercial success and lack of core critical response then chances of success is slim. 

If we now draw the issue of remaking specific genre or subjects to a wider view, can we ever envisage anyone with any sense whatsoever of remaking either Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's list or making films specific to the content of these films. There is of course always space for films from this period to be made but to attempt the topics that the aforementioned films seems ludicrous, so why in the disaster film genre should there be any difference. The Day After Tomorrow proved that disaster films are still a viable form of entertainment and critical success, but the decisions made on a less sensitive subject than WW2 and the holocaust seem out of alignment with the thinking given to films such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. As far as D Day landing films, could any film ever compare to the opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan? The short answer is no, however this does not mean there are not still many stories and subjects to explore in WW2 For instance the British on D DAY as not specifically been looked at for many a year and outside The Longest Day many peoples consciousness may not be aware of the actions taken by the British and other Allied forces on D-Day.