Kevin wrote:
> What, no mail in my box? says the mailman. Must be time to post something
> to get things rolling again.....
>
> Kevin's Ten Best Stories....
> #1 THE LAST WORD (both parts)
> #2 AT LAST A DRAGON
> #3 SOMETHING TERRIBLE (both parts)
> #4 THERE ARE CROCODILES
> #5 FRIENDLY FIRE
> #6 THE WEEK AND PIZZA
> #7 LOVE AND THE JUNIOR GAZETTE
> #8 A QUARTER TO MIDNIGHT
> #9 A NIGHT IN
> #10 BREAKFAST AT CZARS
No real objections to what *is* there, but how can you have a list of
top PG stories and miss out "Love and War," which is probably the
best ever half hour (or whatever) of television anywhere, ever? I
still cry whenever I watch it - the scene where Linda reads the note
from Spike is the killer moment.
Also, what about "Bad News" - okay, it's the other end of the scale,
but it's got some of the series' best humour - especially the
gorgeous in-jokes ("Don't worry, we'll get a genuine American to play
Spike...")
> Kevin's Ten Worst Stories
> #1 PICKING UP THE PIECES
> Completely unbelievable pairing of Frazz & Suzy Norton
> #2 CHANCE IS A FINE THING
> Didn't like the Clark subplot; Colin a little much to take
> #3 SHE'S GOT IT TAPED
> Nice, but not very memorable or interesting
> #4 DAY DREAMS
> Great idea wasted by a case of the stupids.
> #5 HEAD AND HEART
> Colin at his most annoying, Spike & Frazz unsympathetic
> #6 ONE EASY LESSON
> Mr. Knowles does not improve with viewing
> #7 WINDFALL
> Funny, but oh so bloody stupid.
> #8 YESTERDAY'S NEWS
> Great Spike & Lynda vehicle, but I don't buy the L.V. Gillespie bit
> #9 MONEY, LOVE, AND BIRDSEED
> Tell me you go about your business with a room full of pigeons??
> #10 FOOD, LOVE, AND INSECURITY
> No good reason, I just hate it. Must be Phillippa chasing Spike.
I'm probably more likely to disagree with the individual choices in
this list - my own opinion is that poor PG is still miles better than
good other programmes. I guess "received wisdom" (courtesy of the
episode guide book) is that "Picking up the Pieces" and "She's Got it
Taped" are the absolute stinkers...I think I'd agree about the
former, but my tendency is to be lenient towards the latter. I'm
just a terminally nice guy. Of the entire list, I think "Yesterday's
News" is the one I disagree with most strongly - sure, much of the
episode is a bit dumb, but that's more than made up for the scene in
the newsroom at the end - real tearjerk stuff.
One of my least favourite episodes (let's get a debate going) which
Kevin overlooked is "Shouldn't I Be Taller?" - the whole scenario of
an election to decide who should be Lynda's replacement was so stupid
- wouldn't Kerr and Sullivan have insisted on making the decision,
seeing as they appointed Lynda to the post in the first place, or at
least wouldn't they have come down hard on Colin after seeing "The
Gaz"? After all, if the paper enters the realm of scurilous
tabloidery (Look! I think I just made up a new word...), it's
*their* reputations that suffer. Also, after the wonderful "Monday -
Tuesday" it's such a major letdown.
> If any of you like any of those episodes, or hate any of the ones I
> liked, that's life as a critic for you. I'll defend my picks, and maybe
> you'll even argue me into changing my mind. It's happened before. I'm
> forgetting at the moment, but I think Natacha and I argued over DAY
> DREAMS before in these pages, but I still don't like it and she still
> does.
I *used* to really adore "Day Dreams" - in fact, I used to really
love all the last half of the fourth season, but these days it's only
"Love and War" that sticks. Still, it's not a bad episode.
David (definitely nice enough to be Kenny in disguise, but
unavailable on a pretty permanent sort of basis, and anyway based in
England which won't really do much for any nice young Australian
ladies looking for *their* Kenny-a-like).
--
T H E P R E S S G A N G M A I L I N G L I S T
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