KEEP IT IN THE 'FAMILY GUY'!

It's Griffin time!  FAMILY GUY Season Ten is here! Images: FOX.

One of the few US import shows to escape the wrath of dreaded BBC TV cuts, the tenth series of the Seth MacFarlane created hit comedy series FAMILY GUY arrives with the full force of one of Peter Griffins farts for its exclusive first UK transmissions weekly double bills from tonight on BBC 3. (But what happened to the BBC HD screenings? Beeb, if you're going to pay a lot of money for a new series you might as well show it in the best picture quality possible!) Its creator may have intimated to overseas press that the show has gone on five seasons too long, but, let's face it, FG is still miles funnier than pretty much any other show on TV at the moment (how anyone thinks "comedy" like THE BIG BANG THEORY is funny is beyond me!).

Quagmire, Peter and Joe try to bring down the government in Tea Peter.

Meg is kidnapped in Europe in Leggo-My-Meg-O.

Stewie and Brian don their French disguises in Leggo-My Meg-O.

A nightmare ride for Brian, Quagmire, Joe and Peter in The Forget-Me-Knot.

Delighting children everywhere! Peter creates his own kid's TV show in You Can't Do That on Television, Peter.

New season highlights include Peter winning a $150 million lottery, being an absolute scrooge and incurring the wrath of his friends in the process, then befriending a dolphin (voiced by Ricky Gervais) and developing a children's TV show from hell!, precocious and put upon Meg falling for an Amish boy and then turning 18 (much to the delight of pervy Quagmire)!, Lois cooking a Thanksgiving Dinner that goes pear-shaped and later having to find a new care home for her bitter millionaire daddy, chubby teenage son Chris having to go to fat camp and unexpectedly taking on a serial killer, sophisticated alcoholic dog Brian gets a Blind girlfriend (who's unaware she's dating a canine!), and so too does dear sweet megalomaniac psycho-baby Stewie in the form of Penelope, who's just as corrupted and in to high-tech weaponry as he is (in an excellent guest spot from movie actress Cate Blanchett). There's also some anthology story-esque tributes including an upcoming episode where Peter, Joe, Brian and Quagmire wake up one day with amnesia in a deserted Quahog, whilst the film parodies continue to delight with a dead funny homage to the Liam Neeson European action hit Taken, which sees Meg kidnapped whilst travelling abroad, with Brian and Stewie to the rescue!

Love is in the air for Stewie and new friend Penelope (Cate Blanchett) in Mr. and Mrs. Stewie.

Other great voice guests in what looks to be a very fine season return to form include Ryan Reynolds (as himself!), Juno's Ellen Page, Jon Cryer, Marlee Maitlin and the always funny James Woods.

And, oh yes, that Chicken is back for one more epic fight!

GALACTIC LEGENDS! THE RETURN OF 'STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION' ON BLU-RAY

High definition adventure for the Season One cast of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Images: CBS PARAMOUNT.

Going ever boldly where no man has gone before, and at high warp speed into the new crystal clarity picture and sound quality of Blu-ray, the well-deserved first (of seven) digitally remastered seasons of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, created by Gene Roddenberry and starring Patrick Stewart as iconic explorer/hero Captain Jean-Luc Picard, blasts on to plasma screens across the world from July 24th, and we here at KOOL TV can't wait to see more after the spectacular and highly successful preview disc of three "taster" episodes from earlier in the year.

Here's a few sneak peek images that have been released by CBS PARAMOUNT from the six-disc first season release (check out more at: Star Trek TNG: The First Season Blu-ray Arrives On July 24), which, I'm sure you'll agree, looks superb!

ILM's original effects work shine on Blu-ray.

Danger for our Away Team heroes in Too Short a Season.

The Enterprise arrives for repairs at a Star Fleet Star Base.

Geordi (LeVar Burton) takes command against a deadly opponent in The Arsenal of Freedom.

Data (Brent Spiner) gets to shows off his artistic bent to Geordi and Riker (Jonathan Frakes)

Alien ambassadors look more colourful than ever in the new digital re-masterings.

And check out this lovely colourful clip from Episode 6 and a preview here: 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' coming to Blu-ray | Inside TV | EW.com

Blu-ray release trailer: Star Trek - The Next Generation Blu-ray Trailer - Season 1 - YouTube

The cover for the Season One Blu-ray release.

Look out for more on THE NEXT GENERATION releases on KOOL TV soon.


UPDATE 16/5/2012: US fans will be able to see two popular episodes of the newly remastered Season One on the big screen in July. More info here: Star Trek: The Next Generation Promotional HD Screenings To Be Held In July | TrekMovie.com.

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. REMEMBERING 'SHØGUN'

In the New World: Richard Chamberlain and Yoko Shimada in the classic SHØGUN. Image: PARAMOUNT.

Truly caught between two worlds, noble and passionate seamen adventurer John Blackthorne, looking to discover the sea trading routes of China, instead finds himself shipwrecked alongside the remains of his crew within the deep wiles of beauty and brutality that is feudal Japan, quickly adapting to the culture and caught in a power struggle between its ambitious enemy warlords, once of whom, the mighty Lord Yoshi Toranaga (as played by legendary actor Toshiro Mifune), recognises that he can use the clever Englishman to aid his plans, in the epic 1980 US mini-series from PARAMOUNT: SHØGUN, based on the legendary seventies bestseller by respected author James Clavell. Beating strongly vocal opposition against him from the acclaimed novelist, who was heavily involved in the early stages of its TV translation, and after ex-007's Sean Connery and Roger Moore, as well as Albert Finney, had both turned down the role, Richard Chamberlain, recognising one of the best parts in Hollywood at the time, would fight tooth and nail to get the lead role of Blackthorne (later Anjin-san) and quickly proves well-cast, in what is probably his best screen role to date, in a costly (but well worth the price) mini-series that would be totally filmed in Japan and utilise its top talents, both in front of and behind the camera, resulting in both the Japanese and US crews each having to adapt and adjust to the others way of life and filming techniques, as well as surmounting the language barrier obstacles and translation problems that needed to be sorted out in an exhausting, but ultimately rewarding, daily basis. SHØGUN has a visceral, fairy-tale like beauty to it at times, helped with a memorable score from legendary film composer Maurice Jarre and lovely cinematography from Andrew Laszlo, mixed in with some noted violence and cruelty that amazingly got past the TV censors of the time-though perhaps this time such bosses were wise enough to realise that such unsettling deeds, was all truly part of the historical story of the period, what with its legendary Samurai and Ninja warriors/assassins. Right from the shows opening minutes, we as viewers unsettlingly realise that TV history will never be the same again when a shocked Blackthorne sees a Japanese Warlord quickly decapitate one of his servants in front of his (and our) eyes for not looking at him incorrectly, a powerful sequence and a stark visual reminder that this is all a whole 'nother world that our hero has now found himself entangled in.

Trailer: Shogun trailer - YouTube

Backed up with excellent guest star support from a pre-RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK John Rhys-Davies (playing a Falstaff-like Portuguese pirate, Vasco Rodriguez, captain of the Black Ship, who becomes hero/enemy to Chamberlain over the course of the series), the beautiful Yoko Shimada as Blackthorne's love interest, Lady Todo Buntaro-Mariko (the actress to be commended for her learning the English language specifically for the production, of which she also shows great dignity and fragile warmth in her role), Damien Thomas and Alan Baddiel, as the leaders of the Spanish Christian church struggling to maintain their order's power base and position against the ever-changing Japanese power plays that are intensified with the arrival of the "heretic" Blackthorne, and UFO's Vladek Sheybal who once again gives a uniquely memorable and villainous performance as the pirate Captain Ferriera. And let's also not forget the rest of the great Japanese cast, either, like Hideo Takamatsu as the dangerous and jealous Lord Buntaro or Frankie Sakai as Yabu.

Directed with verve by Jerry London and adapted lovingly by Clavell with Eric Bercovici, the soon acclaimed SHØGUN would be one of the true jewels of the PARAMOUNT TV crown, and an inspiring mini-series masterpiece, quickly proving itself as addictive viewing not only in the US (where it was hugely responsible for broadening friendly relationships and understanding between American and Japan in a way that had not been previously possible, due to the prior lingering ghosts of World War II) but worldwide, also (In the UK it was shown to very good ratings on the BBC). The five-part (sometimes shown as six) production has aged very well in its subsequent repeats and releases on DVD, and if you've never seen it before it's well worth a look.

EXECUTIVE STRESS! JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS IS 'VEEP'

Politically challenged? Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in VEEP. Image: HBO.

One of the writing/producing pioneers of modern British comedy, with such notable BBC examples as ALAN PARTRIDGE and THE THICK OF IT under his recent belt, it was no surprise to me that American film and TV chiefs would snap up the talented Armando Iannucci for projects their side of the pond. With a flair for satire and subtle but often belly-aching observational humour and believable farce, and a finger firmly on the pulse of today’s finicky viewers tastes, HBO are surely hoping that the Brit will bring the same kind of kudos and audience success with his transatlantic debut: VEEP, the ambitious and hopefully promising new series set within the upper echelons of the White House, and a look at the life and career of the first female Vice-President, Selina Meyer, as played by the popular ex-SEINFELD actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, swapping the divorcee/household madness of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE for pearls, power dressing and stilettos whilst treading the powerful and majestic corridors of the American political system, in a showcase that will hopefully be a lot more interesting and for the popular actress/comedienne, playing a role that, in real-life, has so far eluded the likes and grip of the clever and tough Hillary Clinton!

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnAbwaDYr0

http://skyatlantic.sky.com/veep/armando-ianuccis-veep-teaser-trailer

The overall selection of an American Vice-President has often been portrayed in a contentious and ignorant way within TV drama: the key selectee seemingly and unwillingly chosen as part of the overall winning ticket in key electoral territory battles that the President himself can’t emerge victorious from without the additional support. How this modern scenario is factored into the fly on the wall documentary-esque style of VEEP, and what comedy problems will arise when Meyers enters office and liaises with her new staff should prove intriguing and, hopefully, often very amusing. With the exception of some of Aaron Sorkin’s mild comedy mixed into the drama of THE WEST WING, as well as the often real life black comedy that was the George Bush Jr. political reign, there hasn’t been a true US TV comedy series set in the White House that I can recall (I am a Brit, though, and I’m probably wrong!), so this has lots of potential, carrying on the clever and sophisticated, often edgy US comedy seen with the likes of 30 ROCK, SEINFELD and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, as well as British inspirations/re-works like THE OFFICE. Backing Iannucci in his comedy work is a fine pedigree of UK and US talent including FOUR LIONS controversial but always funny writer/director Chris Morris and fellow director Tristram Shapeero (a helmer on COMMUNITY), as well as THE THICK OF IT co-writers Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, Sean Gray, Roger Drew, Ian Martin and Jesse Armstrong.

In a modern America of spin doctors, big business over humanity and a rootin’ tootin’ Sarah Palin who has more than proved that anything can happen at the right time and place, it will be interesting to see how long VEEP survives both the unexpected and surely awkward situations she finds herself in, and the dictates of the viewers cruising the TV airwaves.

VEEP comes to the UK’s SKY ATLANTIC in June.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED. 'HELL ON WHEELS' SEASON ONE

Frontier spirit? The cast of HELL ON WHEELS gather. Images: AMC.

Continuing in the dark, dangerous and manure trodden, twisted re-invention of the western genre previously set forth by the fine and gritty DEADWOOD, AMC's new series HELL ON WHEELS, starring Anson Mount, the always great Colm Meaney, rapper turned actor Common, and Dominique McElligott, is coming exclusively to the UK's TCM channel later in the month, and looks set to capitulate further on the seedy and shaky foundations of 1880's American West: a world of corruption, extreme violence, slavery, religious frenzy, revenge seeking gunslingers and trapped women trying to make a difference in a difficult world, where everyone and everything is up for grabs within the new frontier continent, and where no one will escape its history turning wheels unscathed. A Hell on Wheels where blood will be spilt.

Check out our early preview for the anticipated series here: ALL ABOARD THE "HELL ON WHEELS"

Trailer: Hell on Wheels - First Trailer [Telestrekoza.com] - YouTube

And here's a few great images from the pilot and upcoming episodes:

The last outpost? Anson Williams as gunslinger Cullen Bohannan arrives at Hell on Wheels.

Frontier woman: Dominique McElligott as Lily Bell.  

Colm Meaney as the morally bankrupt Thomas 'Doc' Durant.

Rap star Common as railroad worker/slave Elam.

A horse-backed Ted Levine as Daniel Johnson joins Cullen at the railroad dig, from the pilot episode.

Fear the Preacher Man? The always creepy but excellent Tom Noonan as Reverend Cole, alongside Eddie Spears as Joseph Black Moon. 

Trouble with the resident American Indians in the pilot episode.

LAST OF THE MOHICAN's memorable baddie Wes Studi appears later in the series as Chief Many Horses.

Cullen and Elam lock fists in the episode Bread and Circuses.

Look out for more on HELL ON WHEELS in the not too distant future...

KOOL TV CLASSIC IMAGE: 'SAPPHIRE AND STEEL' HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED...

Into the unknown: Joanna Lumley and David McCallum are SAPPHIRE AND STEEL. Images: ATV/ITV/NETWORK DVD.

Making a striking and attractive duo, Joanna Lumley and David McCallum excelled as the inter-dimensonal detectives investigating time break-ins, within the inspired ATV sci-fi/supernatural/horror drama serial/series created by the late P.J. Hammond: SAPPHIRE AND STEEL, which originally ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV channel, and is still very much beloved and remembered by those who watched its premiere transmissions.

I never quite understood what the series opening titles narration actually meant but I do remember often being scared out of my wits by the shows tea-time horrors and generally all-consuming and prevailing creepy atmosphere- apparently a format born out of the need by the ITV network to quickly and suddenly fill an unexpected gaping hole in the TV schedules of the time-which captivated me and my family on a twice-a-week basis, where the concept of time, and the things created from it, would emerge as a dark and corrupting power when it went into imbalance through accidental causality from an unwitting human race, and creating highly dangerous scenarios that had to be put right by our dependable, if not always totally victorious, Time Agents-the beautiful and comforting Sapphire, possessing telepathic and sensory abilities as well as being able to take current time back minutes or seconds, played by the always charming ex-NEW AVENGER Joanna Lumley, and the intimidating and resourceful Steel, played by ex-MAN FROM UNCLE star and current NCIS'er David McCallum. Here was a true combination of mystery, beauty, brawn and intelligence as they found themselves caught up in numerous dangerous environments within the six stories that spanned their excellent run. The first saw a house of clocks being a target for time infiltration, with two young children caught in the crossfire, the second-my favourite-a disused railways station which saw one of its dark patches feeding on the suffering of the dead from the first two world wars, the third within a futuristic time capsule invaded by a time-possessed animal hybrid, the fourth a photographers studio flat, where a deadly creature manages to hide within photographs and literally send its victims into them, the fifth set within an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery mansion linked to a virulent, genetically engineered disease outbreak, and finally a seemingly no-win scenario for our heroes where, within a time-trapped garage/layover cafe. they fight rival time agents who have decided that the duo have become too powerful and influential for their own good, and need to be removed once and for all...

Title sequence: Sapphire and Steel - TV intro HQ (1979-82) - YouTube

Lumley and McCallum pose for a first season publicity image.

Despite the mostly all-studio shot nature of the series, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL, always played with conviction, well-written by the likes of Hammond, Don Houghton and Anthony Read, and produced with verve by Shaun O'Riordan (who also directed, along with David Foster), would be acclaimed for its terrific atmosphere (helped my Cyril Ornadel's music that was sparingly and effectively used to build on the scares), backed up with very good for their time special effects and excellent classic DOCTOR WHO-esque cliff-hangers. Not all the stories ended happily, either, which was a rare thing for the TV drama of the time, and some had terrible consequences-with Steel often proving himself a ruthless, often cruel bastard, not only in his dealings with corrupted Time but Humanity as well (much to the occasional disappointment and anger of Sapphire)- indeed the conclusion of story two is an absolute shocker and darkly morbid, adding to the overall quite adult sequences in the series that belay its family timeslot.

The classic UK TVTIMES magazine cover heralding the shows arrival in 1979. Image: TVTIMES.

Spawning a novel, a one-off children's annual and a very popular colour comic strip spread within the  bright and breezy pages of LOOK-IN magazine, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL ended on a brilliant cliffhanger that was sadly never resolved (due to escalating production costs, the reorganising and re-sttructuring of the ATV company, and the growing inability to get the popular actors together for specific filming time-frames), though it status as one of the UK's best ever cult sci-fi/horror series lives on in its numerous satellite screenings over the years, as well as releases on VHS and DVD...


The series is currently available on DVD from NETWORK.

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE - MEMORIES OF STAR TREK AND A LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD', BY NICHOLAS MEYER

To Boldly Go. Nicholas Meyer recalls his continuing work and life related to STAR TREK and Hollywood in THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Images: PARAMOUNT.

THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: MEMORIES OF STAR TREK AND A LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD


By Nicholas Meyer

Published by PLUME books

Reviewed by Scott Weller


The last person you'd expect to save the STAR TREK movie franchise from extinction back in the early eighties would be a film director with only one previous and middling successful film behind him, possessing very little interest in the science fiction genre or even STAR TREK, but ex-publicist, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author and passionate film-maker Nicholas Meyer would ultimately be that man, not only saving it but also creating an enduring and populist Box Office legacy that continues to sustain itself to this day-his writing/directorial work on STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, still unsurpassed in my book, guaranteeing him his deserved place in both sci-fi and movie history. Going on from his Horatio Hornblower inspired re-vamp of the format to co-write the ever popular family favourite time-travel epic featuring those beloved whales George and Gracie: STAR TREK IV : THE VOYAGE HOME (then the most successful movie of the franchise in 1986 and whose popularity would see in the TV launch of a new TREK series: THE NEXT GENERATION), and co-conceiving, writing and directing the final adventure for the original classic starship Enterprise team led by Captain James T. Kirk and Mister Spock: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, giving the ageing but no less inspiring cast the triumphant adventure/lump in the throat goodbye send-off they deserved, Meyer's enthusiasm, dedication, all-round talent and ingenuity have firmly left their mark alongside the name of the series original creator, Gene Roddenberry, and four time movie producer Harve Bennett.

Writer/director Nicholas Meyer. Image: ULIKE.

Recalling the best of times, and also the occasional worst of times within his career, both TREK and outside of it, Meyer recently penned a charming, intelligent and very amusing look back at his life and work in the ever-changing fortunes of war that is the movie industry. THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is a lovely look back at a Hollywood that sadly no longer exists, as Meyer, a talented visualist from childhood and a long time lover, nay absorber, of movies and literature, makes his first naive but successful steps as a movie publicist, then bringing his love of Sherlock Holmes to literary life with two best selling original adventures in the early to mid-seventies-The Seven Per Cent Solution (made a year or so later into a film with Nicol Williamson and Robert Duvall) and The West End Horror-both excellent books I heartily recommend-then finally making the big gamble, leaping in to film-making, with the critically acclaimed and highly enjoyable cult H.G. Wells in modern days thriller: TIME AFTER TIME, a  movie directing spring board which, by luck (which Meyer would fortunately be blessed with a lot over the years (as well as knowing the right people at the right time)) led him to the famed gates of PARAMOUNT STUDIOS and onto the bridge of the equally legendary starship Enterprise. Along the way, Meyer fondly recalls the trials and tribulations, privileges and sacrifices large and small that he has made in his life and career path-the good friends he would establish a long-time bond with and the worldwide destinations he has visited, loved and occasionally loathed in both his work and reality.

Meyer directing William Shatner in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

With a make-up disfigured Ricardo Montalban on the STAR TREK II set.

Conferring with Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner on STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.

Refreshingly not a bitching piece, Meyer's prose is funny, warm-hearted and nostalgic, yet also combined with a realist and practical sensibility about life in the movie industry-a place not for the feint-hearted, but a career avenue which can, occasionally- when the rights chemicals combine, produce emotionally satisfying artistic endeavours and monetary reward. Containing the occasional surprise, this film autobiography is highly informative and a page turner that you won't be disappointed with. Backed up with a lovely section of B/W career and occasional life/family photos, including lots of nice behind the scenes images from his three STAR TREK movies, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is a solid and entertaining book I heartily recommend, and one that TREK fans in particular will find an essential purchase.


KOOL TV RATING: 4 out of 5


Meyer talks about his work here: FORA.tv - Nicholas Meyer: Memories of a Life in Hollywood


Check out the book: View from the Bridge, The: Amazon.co.uk: Nicholas Meyer: Books

Great Fan Trailer for Meyer's STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN: The Wrath of Khan HD Blu-Ray Trailer - YouTube