Just Rosie

Just Rosie is the new spin-off series from Coronation Street, starring none other than the increasingly irritating Rosie Webster, following her dreams of becoming a model. The idea is a good one; draw in younger viewers by giving them a stronger character of their own age to relate to. The spin off series has it's own website, with pictures, videos, a blog etc., all of which help the concept appeal to the younger audience. So far, so good.

Image from website (link above)

The reality, however, is painful. The website is somewhat tacky, and unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of 14.  Click 'play' and you are greeted with a bizarre mixture of over the top special effects, split scenes and pointless layover animations, as if somebody got trigger happy with the special effects buttons.

Bizarre special effects (screenshot from first episode)

 You can tell that the thought was to recreate the ditzy, pink, self-centred world of this wannabe-model, but it's just too much. The show steps away from the usual Corrie formula as well, with strange time jumps and flashbacks, and perhaps most bizarre of all, the character of Rosie directly addressing the camera. And this was just the first episode, I'm not sure I can bring myself to watch the rest.

Directly addressing the camera doesn't fit the Corrie format (screenshot from first episode)

A further thing that confuses me; why are they releasing several episodes at once? Three episodes have been put on the website this morning, and they have all been widely publicised on Twitter etc. If all were being released at once, why not put them together to make one decent length episode, rather than bitty and disjointed 10 minute pieces?

Conclusion? A good idea, badly realised. I can see what they were going for. Had they stuck to the traditional Corriestyle, this show could have been a lot more successful, and appealed to older, more traditional audiences too. A more interesting character would have helped as well; a spin off with Sean Tully? Yes!  Norris Cole? Genius! But Rosie is just flat, flat, flat. I can't help thinking this might damage the career of Helen Flanagan, who plays Rosie. Perhaps this is just me, growing old grumpily. Anyone else agree?

Glee Season 1 Episode 1

Out of boredom, and admittedly a little curiosity as to what all the fuss is about, I have finally succumbed to the world of Glee. As expected, it is decidedly average-like a dull High School Musical, without the Disney je ne sais quoi.

By the end of the first episode, only a couple of the characters had actually gained my interest. Rachel (Lea Michelle) seems quite central, I can imagine her undergoing some sort of Mia Thermopolis style transformation from geek to chic.

I can tell that several of the characters, including Sue Slyvester, are going to annoy me a lot if I continue watching the show.

Despite the ungripping storylines, the final song of the episode, Journey's "Don't stop believing" picked it up a bit.Overall though, I am struggling to see what all the fuss about this show is. I will carry on watching this series later so watch this space...

Desperate Housewives-Season 1

So I finally jumped on the Desperate Housewives bandwagon (a few years too late, I know)-and I'm hooked! I've just watched all 23 episodes of the first series within 3 days and can't wait to get my hands on the second series.

To be honest, the show is not entirely what I expected (a group of attractive middle aged women sitting round drinking coffee, doing yoga and gossiping). Whilst this does occur, the show is so much more than this, as shown with a suicide in the first episode, with a body count to rival the sleepy English village of Midsomer.

What's so brilliant about this show is that most women will be able to identify with at least one of the main women of Wisteria Lane. I personally think there's a bit of Susan (Teri Hatcher) in me, in that I tend to panic, fluff things up and generally act hysterical. Pleased to say I've never stalked a boyfriend though :-). I love the way the dramas of each of the families are entwined with each other, and as the mysteries unravelled  as the series came to an end, I was utterly gripped.

There's also a lot of eye candy for male and female viewers too. Gabrielle and John make a very attractive couple. If the baby's his, it'll be a little stunner!

I've just shot myself in the foot a little whilst writing this-I looked up Teri Hatcher on imdb.com, where her character is named as Susan Mayer/Susan Delfino. I'm guessing wedding bells are on the cards in a forthcoming series then.

Apologies

Apologies for the break in posts. Among exams and other things going on in my life I haven't had time to write anything recently. Doesn't mean I haven't still been watching the soaps though. Normal service will resume shortly....watch this space...

Eastenders, Friday 15th April, 20:00

Some of the best acting for a very long time in tonight's episode, with Ronnie finally giving Tommy back to Kat and coming clean.

Samantha Womack, who plays Ronnie, has portrayed her torment brilliantly over the past weeks and months, but never more so than in this episode, which saw Ronnie making the decision to do the right thing after visiting the maternity ward where James and Tommy were born.

Also brilliant acting on the part of Scott Maslen, who plays Ronnie's long-suffering husband Jack Branning, and Jessie Wallace, who plays Kat Slater.

As well as this storyline, we saw the aftermath of Abi and Max's crash on the way to Tanya's wedding. You would be surprised how many people don't even bat an eyelid at the sight of a bride rushing into A & E dressed head to toe in white on her wedding day. But is married life over before it's really started for Tanya and Greg? Whilst viewers have seen no real chemistry between these two, and no reason to believe in them as a couple, it would probably be a massive mistake for Tanya to go back to Max, and she knows it.

Waterloo Road Series 6-Series Review

A surprisingly happy ending to this series, considering previous runs have ended with fires in the school and a digger destroying the front entrance to name but a couple. No fires, no heavy vehicles, only one pupil injured.

Of course, the main story of the series has been Chesca and Jonah's illicit relationship. This seems to be a marmite one; some people love them together, others think it's completely wrong. Teacher-pupil relationship aside, they do make a very cute couple, but not sure some of the content was entirely appropriate considering the age group of many of the audience of this show.

It was good to see a positive side to Finn Sharky as well. This character used to be the bad guy of the school until George Sampson made an appearance as Kyle Stack, making him look, well, a bit weedy in comparison. The ongoing battle between them came to a head in the final episode, with Denzel Kelly risking his life on a railway bridge to impress Kyle, and Finn valiantly hurried up to rescue him, more to impress Sam than save Denzel we suspect, and injuring himself badly in the process. Appearing in a wheelchair in the next series? Perhaps, it's something they've not done before.

There have been Fisher family dramas along the way. It seems that everyone has forgotten Harry's bulimia, and he has moved on to getting involved with the stunts and dares of Denzel Kelly and the other boys-what would mummy say? Can't help going a bit "aww" over his friendship with Ruth Kirby-I'm hoping we'll see her back in the next series, and maybe a bit more happening between them, but following her brother Jonah's, ahem, misendeavours, it looks unlikely that she will be setting foot anywhere near Waterloo Road again. And just as she was beginning to grow on us...

And let us not forget the Fisher sister's brush with a paedophile.

Cannot help finding Ruby's novel publishing a tad unbelievable-a couple of hours working on a novel and suddenly she's being published. Good to see an ongoing friendship developing between her and Grantley though, despite them both being quite prickly characters.

Good news...according to digitalspy.co.uk, the show is due to return for a 7th series on week beginning 30th April. Exact date and time yet to be confirmed. Watch this space.

Predictions for the next series?
A blossoming friendship between Finn and Kyle? Another Fisher offspring arriving from somewhere now that Bex is off to uni? Denzel Kelly going the same way as his older brother Earl and ending up suspended or in prison?

Big Corrie news-Michelle Collins and John Michie to join cast.

Over on Twitter there have been rumblings for days about some big Corrie news. It was finally revealed this morning that Michelle Collins and John Michie are set to play new characters taking over the helm of the Rovers following Liz's recent departure.

Michelle Collins' character, Stella is employed by Steve to take over the Rovers "after a series of bust-ups with wife Becky leaves the pub's future in serious jeopardy" according to the Coronation Street website, and her husband Karl soon follows

Can we expect a Cindy Beale-esque character from Michelle? Karl and Stella's marriage is apparently set to be one of the biggest storylines of 2011 for the soap, but just what this means remains to be seen.

So what next for Steve and Becky? Rumours are that Katherine Kelly, who plays Becky, is happy on the show and has no plans to leave. But it will be nice to see someone else involved in the behind-the-scenes drama at the Rovers for a change, following Becky and Steve's child buying, adoption fail and near attempt at kidnapping both Amy and Max and sailing off into the sunset with them. We know they will never have a quiet life with Tracey and Kylie on the street, but hopefully this will give some other characters a chance in the limelight for a while.