16 Jul 2014

Top 7 politically incorrect children's TV shows

The revival of children's television shows of a bygone era continues with SuperTed set to join the club already populated by The Wombles, Dangermouse, Thunderbirds, and Teletubbies.

The story of a Welsh teddy bear with cosmic powers is heading back to the BBC after 30 years.

It is expected the less than politically correct cartoon, which featured a girl with bad skin called 'Blotch' as well as a host of other un-PC characters, will be given quite the overhaul for a modern audience.
advertisement

In honour of SuperTed's return we take a look at the top seven politically incorrent children's television shows...

With more great TV to watch than ever, how do you sift through the myriad options and find the show that’s worth your time? Join @MindTheGap_BBCA and @Anglophenia on Twitter today (Wednesday, July 9) at 2 pm ET for recommendations based on the shows you already love and shout about the streaming gems you’ve discovered. Tweet using the hashtag #MindTheChat for a chance to win BBC AMERICA’s Emmy-nominated third Luther miniseries on iTunes.

Check out Anglophenia’s Brit Binge guides to find movies and TV shows on the streaming services and iTunes:

In what is becoming something of a monthly ritual, yet another niche network is venturing in from the old film/documentary/reality fringe with a character-driven drama that executives hope will do what "Mad Men" did for AMC.

At least with "The Divide," which premieres Wednesday night on WE tv, there is no pretense. WE, which stands for Women's Entertainment, is owned by AMC Networks and it produced "The Divide."

Phoenix rockers Fayuca have written the theme song to "Matador," a new series by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez premiering Tuesday, July 15, on the El Rey TV Network.

The track is a Latin-tinged spy-rock instrumental titled "La Venganza," which will play over the opening and closing credits of Rodriguez's spy thriller starting next week. By the time Fayuca's track was chosen by John Houlihan, the series' music supervisor, it was too late to use in the series premiere.

Daniel Radcliffe is smart, rich, and has a good sense of humor—and all three qualities are evident in Horns, the festival movie based on Joe Hill’s supernatural mystery novel and directed by horror maestro Alexandre Aja.

He’s smart because he’s constantly trying new things, like playing a murder suspect who sprouts devilish horns out of his head. Rich, from all of his Harry Potter money, which allows him to take chances on right-field genre movies without having to check his bank account first. And funny, because Horns is full of clever references to playing The Boy Who Lived for half of his life.

Have you ever wondered how the Transformers movies came to be? Or how about the box office failure Battleship, the two G.I. Joe movies, or the upcoming Jem and the Holograms film adaptation? All of these films started as toys owned by the Hasbro toy company. Business Insider talked with Hasbro Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti to find out how these toys become movies and I think some of the details are fascinating and humorous. Find out how toys get made into movies, after the jump.

First off, how does Hasbro choose which toys they want to develop into a feature film? Hasbro Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti explains:

COBOURG - Owner Ken Prue's rent arrears on the Northumberland Mall Theatres have resulted in the movie house being closed.

"I arrived at the theatre 20 minutes ago and saw a bailiff's notice that the theatre is closed until further notice," Prue told Northumberland Today at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"The locks have been changed, and I have received notice that I will have five days to go in and remove my business and personal effects.

Additionally, Roberto Orci is joining the film as an executive producer and will develop the story with Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz.

The Power Rangers have found their creative team.

The upcoming movie being developed by Lionsgate and rights holder Saban Brands will be scripted by X-Men: First Class writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz.

Hollywood is used to catering to the young, white, male demographic. In this way Hollywood is not especially different from, say, every other industry on Earth. But lately they’ve been seeing diminishing returns on that investment. It appears the movies that have been raking in all the cash money this year are—gasp!—movies with female characters, female-centric stories and, wouldn’t you know it, predominately female audiences. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Many male-skewing summer tentpoles are luring fewer females. That’s an issue because the women demo is wielding more influence. Moms and girls helped turn Frozen into one of the biggest successes of all time ($1.27 billion)… Fox’s The Fault in Our Stars also mobilized younger girls (82 percent of the opening audience was female; 79 percent was under 25)…By contrast, females made up only 39 percent of Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s debut audience… The same trend applies to Transformers: This summer’s Age of Extinction skewed 64 percent male during its first weekend, more than the previous two films, and it played the oldest… it is destined to be the lowest-grossing Transformers in North America.

The critics who judge film are wildly left. That’s obvious from their glowing reviews for any leftist film with even the mildest touch of art; it’s glaringly obvious from their reviews of Dinesh D’Souza’s latest documentary, America. Here are just some of the reviews – and note that these pans are based entirely on the politics of the film:

You might never see Legos so big.

On July 26, The Lego Movie will be shown on Texas Motor Speedway’s Big Hoss TV, the world’s largest, high-definition LED video board.

The showing will be the first of two drive-in style movie nights this summer at TMS. The other showing Aug. 16 will be The Little Rascals (1994).

When Glu Mobile, the San Francisco based publisher of the app, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood makes its second quarter earnings announcement in a few weeks, CEO Niccolo de Masi will probably find it hard to resist mumbling a quiet ka-ching under his breath.

Analysts forecast that the app, a breakout hit for the developer, will probably rake in $200 million in revenue by the end of this year, according to reports by Bloomberg .

In his fascinating new hour-long documentary, "Stravinsky in Hollywood," made for European television and now released on DVD by C-Major, Marco Capalbo begins with the oft-quoted statistic that Igor Stravinsky lived in West Hollywood longer than he had anywhere else. The narrator says it with a betcha-didn't-know-that tone. Everybody always says it that way.

There are two reasons why this Stravinsky statistic never seems to take hold. One is that the music written in Europe remains at the top of the Stravinsky hit parade. The other is because official Los Angeles and its environs have done absolutely nothing to put Stravinsky on the local map. There is no Stravinsky street or theater or park or fountain, no Stravinsky anything.

Recent studies highlight the lack of roles for Hispanic actors and actresses
Previous installments in TheWrap's Hispanic moviegoing series have examined marketing and the growing power of Latino women at the box office. This installment spotlights casting.

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s staff, usually known for its social-media savvy, posted a YouTube video today that featured the unlikely combination of Hollywood-movie explosions and a governor talking pension reform.

And a few hours later, they pulled it down.

With the feel and dramatic score of an action-film trailer, the video clip by Christie’s press shop was meant to tease the governor’s plan to reform New Jersey’s troubled pension system, facing $40 billion in unfunded liabilities and growing, which Christie says he will unveil by summer’s end.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — The North Hollywood Metro station was closed for more than an hour Tuesday as police investigated a report of a threat.

The incident was reported at 12:36 p.m. at the station at Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, officials said.

The lofty ninth "ghost" floor of the London West Hollywood will soon be occupied for the first time since the posh hotel was completed in 1984.

Workers are constructing swanky suites that will rent for as much as $1,299 a night on the top floor, which was off-limits until recently because original developer Severyn Ashkenazy made the hotel taller than he was supposed to.

It’s been a while since Robert Griffin III was on a national magazine cover. That streak ends now, though, with Griffin’s appearance on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter.

The pull quote alongside his cover photo is kind of sexy — “There’s avenues to get to Hollywood for a quarterback in the NFL; a lot of guys naturally transition that way,” the quote reads. “But right now, my main focus is winning Super Bowls.”

Guess what? Turns out if you essentially ignore half the population, you're leaving money on the table. Apparently this is, like, an AP Calculus-level concept in Hollywood.

The Hollywood Reporter suggests that the industry's all-young-dudes-all-the-time summer blockbuster strategy is backfiring. For one thing, younger audiences are slipping away like sands through the hourglass: In 2013, as per the MPAA, the share of "frequent moviegoers" dropped 17 percent among the 18 to 25 demo and 15 percent in the 12 to 17 demo. Meanwhile, women are showing less interest in bald-faced dudebro crap spectacles like Transformers: Age of Extinction:

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Everton are hopeful of completing a £4m deal for Bosnia World Cup star Muhamed Besic, 21, after a breakthrough in talks with Hungary side Ferencvaros. Liverpool Echo
Monaco striker Emmanuel Riviere, 24, has arrived on Tyneside hoping to wrap up a £6m move to Newcastle United. Newcastle Chronicle

With the World Cup now firmly in the rearview mirror (sob) and the new domestic season still a number of weeks away, transfer speculation is beginning to move into top gear.

There appears to be good news for Louis van Gaal as he arrives at Carrington for his first official day as Manchester United manager, while there are also updates on Chelsea and Liverpool's transfer activity for the summer.

Liverpool FC are ready to step up their efforts to sign Swansea left-back Ben Davies after missing out on Alberto Moreno, ESPN reports.

The Reds have already had an £8m bid turned down but are ready to raise that offer in order to bring the 21-year-old to Anfield.

Swansea are said to be holding out for £12m and Tottenham are also said to hold an interest in the Welsh international.

Everton FC are considering a swoop for Columbian star Carlos Bacca, says the Daily Star .The forward netted an impressive 21 goals for Seville last term and may be seen as a possible alternative to Romelu Lukaku should that deal continue to stall.

They claim Bacca's representatives have already been in the UK for talks this summer and a previously reported £14m price tag is said to be negoitable.

Liverpool to bid big for Reus (maybe), Cavani wants Premier League switch, Vidal is 'packing his bags' for United and more

Liverpool may have used Southampton as their sole base for transfer targets this summer but, according to The Guardian at least, Brendan Rodgers is about to aim his sights a little higher. They report that Liverpool will make a 'sensational' (and it would be sensational) £45million offer for Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus.

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar`s much awaited release `It`s Entertainment` has now undergone a title change. Reports now suggest that the film has been rechristened as `Entertainment`.

After Akki`s last outing, `Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty` hit the bull`s eye at the Box Office, everyone is eagerly awaiting his upcoming film which even had teasers and songs released under the same title `It`s Entertainment`.

The grandstand and nightly entertainment at the Hancock County District Fair will be familiar to attendees this year but that's what draws them, said fair board member Randy Hiscocks.

"It's tough to get rid of entertainment when it fills the stands, whether it's Johnny Holm or the Night of Destruction," Hiscocks said. "With Johnny Holm, we talked about doing something different, but every year, he fills that arena."

Racing pigs and jumping dogs join dueling guitars and crushing biceps as part of the 2014 free grounds entertainment schedule. A mix of old and new acts will hit stages around the fair.

“We have scoured the country to find the nation’s best entertainers. Fair-goers will enjoy more than a dozen different performing groups of comedians, bands, stunts and so much more for free,” says Fair Director and Free Grounds Entertainment Manager Lori Neumeier.

KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The biggest lifestyle and entertainment hub in Malaysia is currently being developed in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and it is expected to open its doors in about six months.

Located on 2.8ha of land, the TREC, which stands for "Taste, Relish, Experience and Celebrate", will cover an area approximately equal to six football fields.

The Variety Entertainment and Technology Summit, produced in association with Digital Hollywood, will focus on the top business issues impacting technology in entertainment today.

In this digital age, technology is steering the future of entertainment, and the Variety Entertainment and Technology Summit will put you in the driver’s seat to succeed. Hear from leading innovators across TV, film, music, gaming and digital media. Stay ahead of the transformation, and come be a part of this critical conversation.

Investors developing a boutique hotel on Floyd Street south of Broadway on the edge of Smoketown have greatly expanded plans to include an “entertainment campus” with an upscale restaurant, a “Bluegrass Music Kitchen,” sports bar and other attractions.

The entertainment complex will be centered on land the developers bought last year for $600,000 from the Salvation Army, along Interstate 65 near the corner of Brook and Breckinridge streets just north of old Male High School.

Hell on Wheels: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray

Three seasons ago, Hell on Wheels was expected to be the next big thing on AMC, a historical drama that could make a bold statement at the network. Unfortunately, across its first three seasons, Hell on Wheels has not been a huge ratings bringer for AMC, and has had to deal with drama surrounding the loss of its showrunner. These obstacles have allowed the show to come out gritty and hardened, and seemingly ready to head into a new era.

Online newspaper The Huffington Post has called on HBO to dump comedian Chris Lilley's TV comedy series Jonah From Tonga because it's "racist".In an opinion piece entitled:"Will HBO Give Platform to Racist Australian Brownface 'Mockumentary'?", writer Cleo Paskal takes aim at Lilley for racial stereotyping, using derogatory terms and for donning "brownface".

Jonah From Tonga, aired on the ABC in Australia earlier this year and was a ratings failure, rarely attracting more than 250,000 viewers.

BEVERLY HILLS — Success raises its own quandaries for an African-American father on a new ABC comedy, Black-ish (Sept. 24).

Andre "Dre" Johnson (Anthony Anderson, Law & Order), a successful business executive, loving husband and proud father of four, worries that he may be giving his children too much and that his family may be losing touch with its cultural identity.

The second series of the Channel 4 comedy The Mimic, which was filmed in Bristol earlier this year, will hit TV screens tonight.

The production team from the heart-warming comedy was based at The Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove during its six week shoot across Bristol in January and February.

"We think Chicago has the greatest comedy scene in the country," said stand-up comic Stephanie Hasz at Township in Logan Square on Sunday night, "and we're going to be back the second weekend in July every year until we die." With those words, the Comedy Exposition of 2014, a standup festival locally produced by Matt Byrne, Goodrich Gevaart, Hasz, Katie McVay and Zach Peterson, came to a close. Over the course of three nights, 75 comics performed in two dozen shows spread out across three Chicago neighborhoods and containing all the thrills of a major festival. Every show I attended was packed, making the fest primed for a thrilling year two. Here's what you missed:

Head outside for Brian Babylon's seventh annual Bronzeville Comedy Showcase.Seven years ago, Bronzeville resident Brian Babylon was earning a good salary as a media director for a multimedia firm and working the stand-up open mic circuit—when he founded the Bronzeville Comedy Showcase. Hosted in the courtyard of a coffee house on his block, the showcase was Babylon's way to bridge the North Side-South Side comedy divide and gain more stage experience.

FOLLOWING the success of their CBBC show 'Little Howard's Big Question' — human Big Howard and animated six-year-old Little Howard are bringing their unique family comedy to the Lyric next week. Carmarthen

Little Howard is the world's only live interactive animation.

He's won so many awards and fantastic reviews and he's only just celebrated his 6th birthday (for the 10th year in a row)!

When Cristela Alonzo had to decide what her TV series debut would be, she had an immediate answer: "Cristela," a multi-camera comedy.

"To me, multi-cams are like live theater, if you do it well," Alonzo said during the 2014 Summer TV Press Tour on Tuesday (July 15). "I like the feeling you get from the audience. I loved watching multi-cams growing up and my favorite ones I can still watch today. It captures this essence of theater that not a lot of people like to see."

I have no idea why "Impress These Apes," the hugely funny comedy competition now in its eighth season, remains such a niche event that's known pretty much only within comedy nerd circles.

But that's fine. Really! Because bigger buzz would inevitably lead to slicker execution and a larger venue. That would not be good, not for a show like this, where so much of its appeal lies in the fact that it's still something of an underground phenomenon.

Tiger Woods draws the big names, and those who like to see them, in their droves to the Wirral

Tiger Woods’s presence has already brought throngs of celebrity watchers to Royal Liverpool and the VIP guest list at this year’s Open looks set to grow longer still.

George Clooney has already been spotted ordering crispy duck in a Hoylake eatery alongside pal Robbie Williams. Clooney famously called in on one of the seaside town’s homely hostelries in 2006, astonishing locals when he enjoyed a casual pint in the Ship Inn.

One of the appeals of sport is that in the stands and in the bleachers, all spectators may consider themselves equal. Sure, there are box seats close to the action, and there are nosebleed seats that may or may not require binoculars for some, but as far as witnessing the spirit of competition is concerned, all fans are on the same level. In modern society, many have come to look up to celebrities. Whether a celebrity be an actor or actress, a musician, a politician, or an athlete themselves, they are no exception to the rule that at the ballpark, stadium or arena, they, too, are fans.

We take a look at some of the top celebrity sports fans.

Actress Lindsay Lohan says if she had her way, she wouldn't be a "celebrity".

"People have certain perceptions of me. For a long time, people looked at me as kind of a celebrity, which is something I never wanted. That's not what I got into this industry for," she said in an interview to BBC, reports huffingtonpost.com.

With talons drawn, the media have descended upon Chelsea Clinton. Again.
Not for her frizzy hair, now smoothed with a killer blowout, or for that preteen metal mouth, now braces-free and pearly white.

This time, the attacks are over how much money she makes — for her network television fluff pieces and well-attended gigs on the lecture circuit — despite her stick-thin resume.

Lauren Goodger slammed rumours she had signed up for the new series of Celebrity Big Brother but has now admitted she’d love to appear on the show to show people the ‘real’ her.

And she might be in luck as it has emerged bosses of the Channel 5 reality show are in a state of panic as they try to fill the last female spot, with their only criteria now being that they’re ‘current’.

Rihanna found herself in the midst of a Twitterstorm on Monday after it appeared she had commented on the Middle Eastern conflict.

A tweet was sent out from the singer's account saying "#FreePalestine" - but after eight minutes, was quickly deleted, according to TMZ. The reason? It caused a bit of drama, with some of her 36.4million followers asking her why she was pro-Palestine.

Watching huge blocks of a given TV show all at once is becoming the new normal, and that could be beneficial to advertisers. Binge viewers pay more attention to advertisers than people watching TV in smaller increments, according to a new study.

New series By Any Means and Peaky Blinders among latest projects shot in the city, adding to long list of productions in region over decades

Why put up with the hassle and expense of filming in London when you can opt for Birmingham instead? That’s what producers thought when looking at locations for a new TV drama.

Film crews are set to finish work in the region in August on the new BBC1 drama By Any Means, set to be screened in November.

ABC has announced the Fall 2014 premiere dates for their new and returning shows. They include 20/20, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Black-ish, Castle, Cristela, Dancing with the Stars, Forever, The Goldbergs, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Last Man Standing, Manhattan Love Story, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, The Middle, Modern Family, Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, Revenge, Scandal, Selfie, and Shark Tank.

You can see our status list of recent/current/upcoming ABC shows.

Here are the network details:

Postman Pat comes second and Sooty and Sweep third in poll that attracts more than 41,000 votes

Shaun the Sheep has beaten Postman Pat and Sooty and Sweep to top a poll of favourite BBC children's TV characters from the last 70 years.

The Aardman creation, who made his debut in the 1995 Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave and was given his own series in 2007, triumphed in a poll of the best BBC children's characters, beating Postman Pat into second place.

The new Backpackers comedy revolves around a couple of friends who are on a search — not unlike how The CW is searching for ratings these days. Will either be successful? Will Backpackers be cancelled or will it be renewed for a second season instead? Stay tuned!

Backpackers follows Brandon (Dillon Casey) and Ryan (Noah Reid) as they travel through Europe looking for Ryan’s girlfriend girlfriend Beth (Meghan Heffern). Giacomo Gianniotti plays Andrew, Brandon’s slacker brother.

A comedy series, Seed is produced in Canada. It has been such a success there that the show has already been renewed for a second season. Will Seed’s ratings be high enough for The CW to want to air all of the episodes or, will they cancel it? Stay tuned.

On Seed, a single bartender and sperm donor (Adam Korson) meets offspring that he never knew he had and becomes involved in their lives. The rest of the cast includes Carrie-Lynn Neales, Amanda Brugel, Stephanie Anne Mills, Laura De Carteret, Matt Baram, Vanessa Matsui, Abby Ross, and William Ainscough.

Pages