Tag Archives: BBC
Random Weirdness for the week of March 7, 2017
Maybe it’s because things are shaping up as a rerun of last year (devastating avalanche, dozens of people hastily forced to abandon their homes for good, Wiggo’s latest tourism scheme, etc.), but the BBC is bailing on a previously announced second season of “Svalbard; Life on the Edge.”
Rant: Yes, they’re really doing season two of that BBC docu-soap; that’s (gasp) a good thing
I have come not to praise, but to bury the show on many occasions during the past year. But since it’s clearly Not Dead Yet (sorry, I just discovered the existence of a Lego remake of “Monthy Python And The Quest For The Holy Grail”), I Assur (capital of Assyria, may Sir Robin rest in peace) you I will embrace the spawning of a second season with a shimmering soul.
Ranking the characters of ‘Svalbard: Life on the Edge’ from least to most interesting (sorta halftime edition)
Six down. Four to go. And it’s far from clear the current rankings will look anything like the final ones.
I’ve been at a loss as to how to rank the “stars” of the ten-episode BBC Earth docu-soap “Svalbard: Life on the Edge” (“Ice Town: Life on the Edge” outside Norway), mostly because I can’t figure out why the show is allocating scenes/storylines to everyone the way it is so far. But things have progressed far enough to say the initial rankings after the first “introductory” episodes were somewhat askew.
Show far, show good: Locals praise first two episodes of BBC ‘docu-soap,’ worry about the next showing avalanche
Many people said it was better than they expected. Nobody hated it – although some found the ending of Episode Two unsettling. And there is considerable anxiety about what the world will see in Episode Three.
Liveblog: ‘Svalbard: Life on the Edge,’ episode two (WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS)
9:15 p.m.: Welcome to the third liveblog about “Svalbard: Life on the Edge” in the past 26 hours (and first three of my life, so if they seem rough and not what’d you expect sorry about that). Definitely going to be another full house…in fact, seats are almost gone already.
9:18 p.m.: And, of course, the usual reminder from the headline this will contain spoilers, so if you don’t want to know details of the episode before it airs at 10 p.m. Sept. 5 on BBC Earth (day/time may be different outside Norway) smash in your computer/tablet/phone screen immediatly (or come up with some other way of not reading this before then).
Liveblog: ‘Svalbard: Life on the Edge,’ episode one (WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS)
(Editor’s note: this was written in real-time as the debut episode aired at a preview screening, then updated to fix inaccuracies and add essential details after viewing a recording of the show several times. Future liveblogs will follow a similar path.)
2:52 p.m.: Kulturhuset is nearly full for the advance screening of the debut episode, which airs in Norway at 10 p.m. Monday on BBC Earth. Those who don’t want specific details of the show revealed should read my previous cast-only liveblog of the first two episodes.
Liveblogging ‘Svalbard: Life on the Edge’: Spoiler-free cast-only preview
Many of the ten Longyearbyen residents cast as the “stars” of the BBC Earth reality TV series “Svalbard: Life on the Edge” (“Ice Town: Life on the Edge” outside Norway) are gathering at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kulturhuset for a preview screening of the debut episode. As one of the “characters” I’ll be liveblogging some general impressions and reactions from other locals without revealing the “plot.” I’ll also be liveblogging both public previews – with spoilers – at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday.
Random weirdness for the week of Aug. 9, 2016
While we’re getting a bit whacko about a certain upcoming reality TV show from the land that gave us Brexit, the Local Paper of Recaps is going to Olympic lengths when it comes to keeping it real.
Highlands hype: The first TV promos for the BBC docu-soap ‘Svalbard’ are out – here’s what they tell us to expect
The 30-second ad features a polar bear pelt as the main character, while the humans tend to flash by in one-second snippets. The main impressions are we’re quirky (a word used in the TV listing), cold and carry guns.
Want to BBC a star? Locals followed by film crews for eight months hoping reality is extreme enough for ‘docu-soap’
They continuously and openly shared intimate triumphs and some of their worst personal tragedies for the better part of a year. Now the drama is seeing the extremes others will go to in presenting their lives to the world.
