Friday 31 October 2008

in spiked October 31, 2008

Patrick West

How the soap kills the murder plot


Murder mysteries are titillating and intriguing in literary and cinematic forms, but TV just can’t seem to pull them off.

Friday 24 October 2008

in Culture Wars, October 23, 2008


Slaves to fame

The Fame Formula, How Hollywood's Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Created The Celebrity Industry, by Mark Borkowski (Sidgwick & Jackson)


It is a cliché that today we live in a culture obsessed by ‘celebrity’, with the lumpen proletariat forever fawning over the minutiae of talentless non-entities who are famous merely for being famous. The popularity and power wielded by Hello! magazine, the profusion of famous nobodies spawned from and spewed out by Channel Four’s Big Brother and other reality television programmes, are often cited as proof of this cultural phenomenon. Perhaps the most visible evidence of our celebrity culture can be witnessed at local newsagents, which now sell a cornucopia of cheap magazine titles devoted entirely to the inexplicably famous.

in spiked October 23, 2008

Patrick West

Your spin-off for 10…


From The Colbys to Joey, TV is known for its dodgy spin-offs. Now even a quiz show is spawning new versions.

in spiked October 17, 2008

Patrick West

Apollo 13: a triumph over adversity


A TV doc reminds us that even failed space missions can be inspiring. Surely it’s time we returned to the moon?

in spiked October 10, 2008

Patrick West

Unhappy birthday 
to This Morning


Trite, inconsequential, and aimed at bored women: why celebrate this show?

in spiked September 26, 2008

Patrick West

Why I’ve changed my mind about Piers Morgan


He used to be a sleazy hack, but the formerMirror editor’s honest interviewing style is a breath of fresh air.

in spiked September 19, 2008

Patrick West

In praise of the ‘Nazi Channel’


UKTV History shows that commercial channels can provide enlightening programming, too.

in spiked September 12, 2008

Patrick West

The 9/11 faker: suffering as celebrity


Tania Head, who achieved fame posing as a survivor of 9/11, grasped the source of modern celebrity: victimhood.

in spiked September 5, 2008

Patrick West

Why Metallica should never have cut their hair


Forget indie and punk and their conformist ‘anti-establishment’ views. Heavy metal is the real music of rebellion.



in spiked August 28, 2008

Thursday 28 August 2008

Patrick West

Who does Jerry Springer think he is?


It was a bit much to watch the creator of hundreds of TV victims posing as an ersatz ‘Holocaust victim’ on BBC1.

in spiked August 22, 2008

Patrick West

Forget the Games, here 
come the gee-gees


With no nationalism, and sportsmen too tired to blab in interviews, horse-racing beats Beijing hands down.