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Post by Ace on May 10, 2007 17:18:34 GMT -5
The non applause for Steele seemed very UK. Strangely it's the country it was least popular and played in. Hopefully the DVDs have changed that. In the US it's always applauded and in many countries he's still thought of as Steele before he's Bond -- like Mexico. As a "freeman" of Navan not only does he get the key but the right to graze his sheep on the common ground. I guess he didn't know about that perk or he'd have used it straight away.
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Post by sparklingblue on May 10, 2007 17:38:15 GMT -5
The non applause for Steele seemed very UK. Strangely it's the country it was least popular and played in. Hopefully the DVDs have changed that. In the US it's always applauded and in many countries he's still thought of as Steele before he's Bond -- like Mexico. I wonder what their problem is with Mr Steele (people on this board excepted, of course!). I think they should be flattered. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D I bet he would have!
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Post by farouhkina on May 10, 2007 19:08:17 GMT -5
The same happens here in Spain. The show was very popular in the 80's and I think people still remember it.
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Post by Lauryn on May 10, 2007 19:55:01 GMT -5
The non applause for Steele seemed very UK. Strangely it's the country it was least popular and played in. Hopefully the DVDs have changed that. In the US it's always applauded and in many countries he's still thought of as Steele before he's Bond -- like Mexico. Don't know how the lay of the land is post-DVD release, but from the rumblings I've run across in print (and from what is the conventional wisdom of UK fans I know who watched it originally) detective heroes like RS would have been the odd men out on 70's or 80's UK TV: dreadfully old hat, too soft, too smooth, too quaint, too much like some old Hollywood movie relic of what a crime solver with a British accent should be. Never really bothered me; it's a glaringly obvious point that Steele is a gentleman archetype, but UK audiences appeared almost annoyed that one would resurrect him at a time when they fancied (and still do) more hard-nosed "realistic" police dramas and such. On the other hand, Gleason and Co. didn't exactly counter the perception that Steele was a wee bit out of context in modern day London by trotting out all the bloomin' cor blimey nonsense in both parts of Steele Searchin' for Urchins. (Yes, I know, it's part of its charm.) Maybe the DVD nostalgia effect will help in the UK and it can just be considered as kind of camp, like the rest of the 80's, LOL! One more thing regarding reaction at the time -- you might want to factor in that Brosnan was simply too good looking -- which, with some actors, tends to annoy the harpies of the British press no end. That seemed to be a common theme with some writers who took a scalpel to the show.
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Post by Ace on May 10, 2007 20:34:00 GMT -5
Yes it's pity the Brits couldn't warm up to Steele -- but how could it compare to such hard hitting stuff like Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard which I believe they lapped up at the time. Or Diagnosis Murder and Baywatch afterwards. ;D But maybe those were allowable since none of the leads spoke with a Brit (or thereabouts) accent and they wanted all their Brits like the guys from The Professionals (not exactly hard hitting stuff either but the guys were more "modern") As for part of it being looksist -- no doubt. Those are invariable the same people that toss around that unfathomable acronym of PGL -- as if good looks could ever be pointless. Tsk. For a culture that almost revers Dr. Who and actually thinks some of it is serious stuff it's a bit hard to take that Steele is considered campy.
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Post by Lauryn on May 10, 2007 21:56:55 GMT -5
Right. Horse of a different color, in a way, because it's alright Jack, to be cultishly fond of American TV excess, and its, ahem, icons. Nowadays since the Dukes are off the air (or are they still in re-runs over there?) I would bet even money that Brits love Jeff Foxworthy. But, take shots from your side of the pond at their own TV heroes (no matter how clunky and campy like Dr. Who) and that's a different thing entirely. I think what may have rankled with Steele was, as you say, he spoke with a Brit accent, (well, approximately, LOL!) and he was a stereotypic American conception of a Brit, and so, not cool. Had he been a homegrown product, those old school qualities might have been "endearing."
You can overstate the degree to which Brits prefer a bit of grime over glamour when it comes to detective shows, but in making the argument I was thinking of shows like "The Professionals" and "The Sweeney," gritty by then current standards. Surprisingly enough, I think Starsky and Hutch was thought to be fairly hard hitting drama, too, in the minds of Brit audiences, maybe because they were less clued-in to what American streets and cops were really like. That's actually a little scary, LOL!
Yiikes, can it really be true that they like "Diagnosis Murder"? Is it the "Love Boat" factor? Seeing what "has beens" show up in the guest star list each week? And I always thought they held a grudge against Dick Van Dyke for that arful Cockney accent in Mary Poppins. I would.
Well, if they feel that way, then, to put it in their vernacular, there's more rampant tottie out there for the rest of us!
If you think the good Doctor is camp, you should try "Blake's Seven." How many uses are there for spray painted styrofoam? LOL! My brother has all the episodes downloaded to his computer, and I have to say I'm finding them strangely addictive. More for the characters, as you get involved with them, than for the amateur set dressing.
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Post by Ace on May 10, 2007 23:24:47 GMT -5
Well Starsky and Hutch was probably gritty compared to say the Professionals, Huggy Bear and all. But in the era of Hill Street Blues -- nah. I like Dr Who and I especially like the new Whos but the po faced seriousness in which they talk about how genuinely scary The Dalek's are well come now. The local PBS channel was airing a behind the scenes making of for the new show and I couldn't believe they thought that floating washing machine was truly menacing. I haven't had the pleasure of Blake's Seven but I'm always up for new painted styrofoam tips.
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Post by Lauryn on May 11, 2007 11:51:24 GMT -5
Well Starsky and Hutch was probably gritty compared to say the Professionals, Huggy Bear and all. But in the era of Hill Street Blues -- nah. I like Dr Who and I especially like the new Whos but the po faced seriousness in which they talk about how genuinely scary The Dalek's are well come now. The local PBS channel was airing a behind the scenes making of for the new show and I couldn't believe they thought that floating washing machine was truly menacing. I haven't had the pleasure of Blake's Seven but I'm always up for new painted styrofoam tips. Tips aside, what's most refreshing about Blake's 7, esp. for the time is that, despite the fact that they are the usual rag-tag rebel force, there's a healthy dose of skepticism mixed in with all that saving the world from oppression business. They aren't always on board with the plan, and one character, Avon, is such a supreme and cynical pragmatist you're wondering for a couple of seasons what compromises he might make to save his own skin. It gives the plots an agreeable tension and he's a great anti-hero: fluent, opportunistic, subtle, and mistrustful, but who, despite himself, must eventually be driven to rescue the alliance. Individualists always find tyranny a bit of a bitch, LOL! The toy Dalek that we got last Christmas doesn't scare my cat. She promptly knocked it over and broke off one of its eye stalks. Shame they're so overly attached to them on the show when some of the better new Who episodes, like "The Empty Child" (where nanobots "cure" people in the image of the first human they encounter - the young boy with the gas mask in WWI London) can morph into something genuinely scary. I've been too busy lately to keep up with David Tennant as the new Doctor but I liked Christopher Eccleston. With all the incarnations of the character PB could have easily played him in his post-Steele years. It's not like he wasn't used to pairing up with a reasonably attractive female companion but never having any sex. <wink> I suspect David Tennant, being more of a looker than his predecessors, might be the one who gets lucky, if only to get it on with the ragingly bi-sexual Capt. Jack. ""Excuse me, Martha, there's a booty call coming over the comm-link."
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Post by Ace on May 16, 2007 15:06:27 GMT -5
Tennant's Who makes Steele look somber, super macho and reserved. He's very animated; he bounces and he almost chirps. I enjoy him very much but he's pretty much a 180 from Ecclestone who I grew to like quite a lot. Pierce would have made smashing Dr Who, but then he'd also have made a smashing Saint and probably a very good Batman -- all roles he was offered or up for post Steele. In honor of the SMA 's birthday a video upload: American Ballet Theater: The Dream Intro (2003) (1:19 min/ 2.3 mb) www.4shared.com/file/16084751/4eadb911/ABT-The_Dream-Brosnan_Intro-2003.html
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Post by Ace on May 20, 2007 19:50:24 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on May 25, 2007 12:40:21 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on May 28, 2007 9:22:37 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jun 10, 2007 17:04:55 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 4, 2007 23:10:42 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 5, 2007 15:43:15 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 17, 2007 14:50:41 GMT -5
Irish (Suwya) has uploaded the very fun Jon Stewart interview with Pierce promoting The Matador from Jan 6, 2006. It's 23mb and HERE
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Post by Ace on Jul 17, 2007 22:56:54 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Aug 2, 2007 14:33:37 GMT -5
Thanks to Kelly for the alert. Here's the Dennis Pennis "glued to my seat" interview of Pierce at the premiere of Goldeneye. He comes in about the 3rd minute with Keely (before him is Famke Jansen)
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Post by Ace on Aug 23, 2007 20:12:04 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Aug 27, 2007 7:56:14 GMT -5
Charlie Rose: Pierce & Rene Interviews (August 1999) is up on Youtube.
It's the entire hour. When I try to play it locks up part way though and won't fully download either but then I've been having that problem with You tube a lot lately with much smaller files.
It's a fantastic interview and Pierce gets the first 1/2 hour and Rene the second. (I've had just the audio of Pierce's section on my site for some time)
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