Terra Nova - Pilot (Genesis Part 1 & 2)

FINALLY! Someone on television gets it right.

When obnoxious know-it-all teenagers rebel and head off into the prehistoric bush to drink purple fruit mampoer and do whatever other suspect things teenagers do, what happens to them?

They get hunted, mauled, terrorised and eaten.

Please can we see more of this!



Terra Nova roars onto M-Net on Wednesdays at 20h30.

(If you missed the two part pilot, there is a repeat on Saturday 28 January 2012 at 17h00.)

ARE YOU WATCHING: Work of Art: The Next Great Artist

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist might present a reality talent competition in the same format as Top Chef and Project Runway but the subject matter is so vibrant and so unique that it succeeds as a true work of art in its own right.

Last week, in a double elimination, John Parot got eliminated first because he misspelt fellatio on his lacklustre attempt at shock art.  Second to pack her brushes was Nao Bustamante, who got the boot, not just because her bizarre performance art lacked any real purpose, but because her simulation of pulsating excrement did not smell like the real thing.  You just cannot make this up.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist airs on Vuzu on Mondays at 19h30

THE SATURDAY NIGHT MOVIE GUIDE

January normally means Saturday nights in.  So, what's on the box tonight?

Hardus Vogel (Albert de Villiers), Blapsie's six pack on the side from the comedy series Molly en Wors (currently on kykNET), permanently loses his shirt and gets his own movie, Stoute Boudjies. 

Never mind what it's about - with clothes, good taste and plot glaringly absent, you can just sit back, laugh and immerse yourself in a joyous common more virulent than flesh eating bacteria.

Stoute Boudjies airs on M-Net tonight at 20h30.

  

More subtle and certainly more satisfying is the sweet quirky drama Stranger than Fiction.

Will Ferrel makes a dramatic turn as Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent obsessed with numbers, who suddenly realises that his life is being narrated by someone that sounds exactly like Emma Thompson.  The only problem is that the narrator is a real author. And she has a knack for killing her main characters.

Also staring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah, Stranger than Fiction is a rare gem of a movie and definitely the best thing on the box tonight.

Stranger than Fiction airs on e.tv tonight at 22h10.

Why would you watch kykNET on a Friday?

A good reason not to

Scraping the very bottom of reality television and plastering it on the faces of contestants is the master of motley makeovers and self titled Glam Guru, Hannon Bothma.

Courageous Hannon pumps his own face full of snake venom and openly wears make up.  Each week he lures shy and frumpy middle aged women into his den of depravity with promises of facial rejuvenation and fashion revival.

As if mesmerised by his dead forehead, perfectly plucked and pencilled eyebrows and patronising demeanour, the poor dears allow this plastic monstrosity and his curling and teasing team of drones to inflict heinous crimes of fashion on their limp hair and sagging bodies, transforming them from conservatively awful to positively laughable.

Complete nonsense that can not be tolerated by any right thinking human being - the lasting popularity of this show clearly illustrates why democracy is not a good idea.

Currently in its umpteenth season Glam Guru continues to fester on kykNET on Fridays at 18h00

But why you probably should

Time travel to 1976 and watch the birth of the comedic genius that is Tobie Cronje in the title role of Willem, a bumbling fool private detective with a heart of gold, who is unwillingly dragged into outrageous situations by his desperate to be paid secretary, Pennie (Katinka Heyns).

Apart from terrible sound quality in parts (that could easily be rectified by the addition of sub titles), this 35 year old series has aged remarkably well, with the outdated vehicles and ridiculous outfits adding to the hilarity.

Willem airs on kykNET on Fridays at 20h00.

COMING SOON: Kim's Fairytale Wedding

Witness a real life fairytale wedding with a not so happy ever after.

Yes, it might be mindless television, but no less mindless than the endless  parade of formulaic CSI and NCIS clones that crowd prime time television.  And certainly no less mindless than the scores of "I have never watched them, but I hate them" drones.

Guess what: it's glamorous, scandalous, hilariously funny and very entertaining.

Yes, Kim probably had surgical buttock augmentation.  Yes, Khloe looks like a drag queen. And yes, it is all totally and utterly fake. So is most of reality television.  They have arranged weddings in India too. Get over it.

Part 1 of Kim's Fairytale Wedding airs on E! Entertainment Television on Sunday 15 January 2012 at 22h00

Why 2012 will be positively porntastic

What does television have in store for us in 2012? Porn, porn and more porn. Yes, there’s a new season of Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl and the half Lost, half Avatar, half Jurassic Park and complete mess that is Terra Nova, but honestly who cares when we can have porn. And not the limp fumbling late night e.tv nonsense variety. Real porn. 

Top TV plans on rolling out a Playboy TV hardcore porn package by end January 2012.  But those evil people at ICASA are apparently trying to stop them. They would probably ban the internet if they could. We say stand up for your rights and order your dish right now.

Happy New Year!!

In case in anyone missed it, guess what was the very first movie aired by M-Net in the early hours of the 1^st of January 2012? 

Why, 2012, of course, that over the top CGI fest disaster movie where microwaves from the sun boils the Earth's core, the Northern Hemisphere falls into a giant sink hole and the most resilient and annoying American survivors set sail for the Drakensburg.

A truly inspiring vision of the future.  Happy New Year to you too, M-Net.

The Graham Norton Show - Season 10 Episode 8

The ageing Mr Norton and his zany chat show is an acquired taste.  Rude, hilarious, completely over the top and never to be out done, he invites a frequently mismatched group of guests and celebrities onto his red couch each week, feeds them alcohol and orchestrates the chaos that ensues.

Lined up on the couch this week is Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, promoting the Sherlock Holmes sequel with some scary bromance moves.  Joining them is tranny turned dramatic actor, Eddie Izzard and Strictly Comes Dancing UK judge, Alesha Dixon. 

Mr Norton dredges up embarrassing tidbits from their pasts, spews suggestive one liners and ejects audience members from a big red chair when he gets bored.

Quality television that never gets old, The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC Entertainment on Friday nights at 20h30

Find OntheBoxSA on Twitter for a video link.

Terriers - Episode 3

Must see TV, the Terriers are down and out but lovable ex cop Hank (Donal Logue) and ex-thief Britt (Michael Raymond-James), who run an unlicensed PI business from a beat up old truck to get by. 

In episode 3 less than honest Hank gets so desperate to secure a loan to buy his ex-wife's house that he takes on work from a loan officer, promising him a loan in return for proof of his wife's infidelity.  Poor Hank quickly realises that the wife is actually faking her affair in an attempt to satisfy her deeply troubled and masochistic husband, and he ends up helping her by concocting photos of a phoney motel interlude.  But when he ends up sleeping with her himself later, things go terribly wrong.  Meanwhile, Britt has to cope with a blast from the past when one of his criminal buddies comes knocking. 

Whilst the subject matter is a bit heavy, the approach is refreshing and light and the characters are warm and believable.  Clever, rich and engaging, Terriers is marvel in this day of hypnotic paint by numbers crime dramas and cop shows.

Terriers stakes out M-Net Series on Thursdays at 21h30.

Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Has 2011 been a very hard year for you?  Are you worried that 2012 might really be the end of the world?  And are you sitting at home on New Year's Eve?

Watch Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall on SABC3 on Saturday 31 December 2011 at 21h30.  And end it all.