Screenwipe Review of the Year (2009)

As promised at the end of my last post the last show I watched was Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe Review of the Year on the BBC's iplayer. It was a hilarious round up of the weird and weirder bits of telly that have mostly found their way into Charlie's Screenburn column this year. Most of the shows I've never seen, and for good reason - a lot were either from ITV1/2 or the depths of the digital channels, and I'm a snob when it comes to both. I think ITV puts out some truly awful programming, which the 'general public' seems to love, eg Britain's Got Talent, The X-Factor, I'm a Non-Entity Get Me Out Of Here. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than sit through these. There's only a small number of watchable ITV shows, with Harry Hill's TV Burp at the top of the list. Anyway, Charlie has a great way of deconstructing these shows with a healthy dose of cynicism that I can appreciate. 

Rather than review a review show, I thought I'd take the chance to think about what I look for and like in the TV shows, movies, etc that I've experienced this year. I've thought about it, and in writing these reviews for my blog I keep returning to familiar touchstones. 

So these are the things that most of the cultural stimulus I observe/experience share:

1. Humour - hard to define but integral to most of my viewing pleasure
2. Heart - I want to care for characters, to feel something while I watch
3. Intelligence - I don't like to be insulted, I want to be made to think
4. Involvement - linked to heart and intelligence, I don't like to be a passive viewer, hence the blog I suppose
5. Hotties - I appreciate an attractive guy or two to satisfy my shallower side
6. Homos - gay themes and characters intrigue me and I like it when they're part of the experience

Those factors are often what drive me when I'm finding something new to watch (or read), whether it be a comedy or a drama, science fiction or animation. Not everything I experience involves the above aspects, but the more a show/movie has, the more I like it. For example: Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives are massive favourites of mine, and they easily fit into every single category above. 

I'm thinking about doing my own review of 2009, but I always think it's a bit premature to do one in December, after all, the year's not over yet and, judging by the Radio Times, there should be a few gems to come over the Xmas period.