Charlie's Comedians - B - Brigstocke, Marcus

All hail, the King!

Marcus looked especially good in Spamalot though he had a beard when I saw him in it last Summer. I was pleasantly surprised to see him act and hear him sing so well. Another annoyingly multi-talented person.

I first saw him in Edinburgh (when I saw The Early Edition in 2007 http://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=9091849463703342279&searchType=ALL&page=1). I knew him vaguely at that point from The Late Edition which I'd watched a few times with R. I liked him but I was too bothered until I saw this - it was great!

At some point I bought R MB's DVD Planet Corduroy and that was good - funny, clever but not life-changingly special.

In 2009 I saw him host another Early Edition (in which he gave us free shortbread and Buck's fizz as it was the last show; he bemoaned being an tee totaller allergic to sugar). Like the time before we eneded up seeing the final show of the run so the guests were numerous and there was an end-of-term feel to the proceedings. I liked it but the first one remains the best.

However, on our first Edinburgh night of 2009 we saw his solo show Dog Collar which I loved. It was meaningful, brilliant and very funny (especially when the lights kept going off - as if he'd angered God with his agnostic show). It was a show that made fun of us atheists as much as any religion. It had a lot of sadness in too as it was about the recent death of his best friend who he missed.

And finally, back to Spamalot - brilliant! He really impressed me as did the musical on the whole - and I was skeptical as I love Holy Grail (it's my favourite Python film) but he did everything wonderfully. Speaking of Arthurs, it still makes me sad that I'll never meet Graham Chapman.

Breaking Up With The Good Wife

It's not you, it's me. I just don't have enough time to give you what you need (me watching you). I do want to see other people, yes. I think I'm going to miss you. But, at least for now, it's over.

I have no time! And loads of TV to watch. Grey's Anatomy is amazing (my current favourite), House is good too. I've got into Boardwalk Empire, I love The Big C. How I Met Your Mother and The Office are two of the best sitcoms of our times. 30 Rock and The Big Bang Theory are great! Modern Family and The Middle are fun and make me cry (what doesn't?). Being Human is the best British drama until Doctor Who or Sherlock return. Charlie Brooker's How TV Ruined Your Life is just perfect. 10 O'Clock Live isn't perfect but I like it - CB and DM in one progamme (dreamy). True Blood is exciting, Glee is wonderful. Skins is mad but when it's good, it's very very good! And then there's thirtysomething which I missed first time around due to my being three and having more in common with little Janie than the sexy, sexy Hope and her friends. Unfortunately, Sky Atlantic are airing this daily. Too many shows! Big Love has returned. I watche the first season on Channel 5 about five years ago; they didn't buy the rest (how silly). I'm eager for more.

So I have to give up something. Brothers and Sisters is a likely candidate. It is a show that is populated by a wonderful cast given awful lines to say. Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths and Sally Field deserve better. The scary Uncle Saul (who terrifies me as he reminds me too much of Joel Grey as Doc in Buffy) is the attractive star of thirtysomething which makes me confused. Rob Lowe was brilliant but is now gone. B&S is soapy and silly in the extreme. I may drop it but I haven't yet. I know it's an insult to all that has gone before but it's easy and sometimes has moments where brilliance is hinted at. (I miss Six Feet Under and Brenda so much!)

So The Good Wife will be the first to be dropped. I haven't watched it very long and it's not my sort of thing genre-wise. Some of the legal stuff is depressing (not the good cathartic kind of depressing) and I'm not bothered about the main character. Poor Julianna Margulies (I gave up on ER too, sorry). I won't miss her or the children. But I will miss Christine Baranski who I grew up watching in Cybill but fell for entirely as Leonard's mother in BBT. Then there is Chris Noth (the reason I started watching the show - lovely Big). Josh Charles (from Sports Night and In Treatment), Matt Czuchry (who amused Jam in that episode of Young Americans and who annoyed everyone other than Jam, for some reason, in Gilmore Girls), Mary Beth Peil (Grams from Dawson's Creek) and the brilliant, inspiring, talented Alan Cumming (who I adore). I will miss them all. But what is clear is that you can't take people I love from things that have changed my life and lump them together and have an instant hit. But those elements have kept me hanging on for so long, hoping something would change, hoping for that perfect TV moment where you say the rare words: "This could be it. This could be the new Buffy."

Anyone else, I'm sure could come back to this show for meaningless hook-ups. But for me, once it's over I won't watch it for a second. All or nothing. It's the only way I know.

Not good enough