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This is a fantastic BBC Two ident, the execution of the idea is really well done, and the burning BBC Two logo in the corner at the end is a nice touch too. This is the ident that ran before last weeks Top Gear and the opening sequence of that has been included.
And for those of us in Australia, Top Gear starts tonight on SBS so hopefully this will pique your interest for it.
Just thought I’d remind everyone Top Gear starts tonight on SBS, give it a go, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
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With Monica Attard being named the new host of Media Watch for 2006 I thought it was about time I uploaded the opener of this season which was brought to us by Liz Jackson. I really liked Liz, but she’s not disappearing altogether as she is returning to Four Corners.
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I also thought I’d finally add Spicks and Specks which has a very cool opening with the theme done by The Dissociatives, it was one of my favourite new shows of this year and I’m glad its coming back.
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Along with the new idents, SBS has started to stray away from the subway theme when it comes to their promotions. I really like the addition of the mosquito, and the general layout and design of them is excellent.
I was hoping to upload a promo for Top Gear, which starts on SBS next Monday at 7.30pm but haven’t seen one with the mosquito so far. If you haven’t watched Top Gear before please don’t be turned off just because you’re not that into cars, its so much more then that. It’s a gloriously shot, eloquently produced, witty and engaging show with some of the best filming I’ve seen on TV. The hosts (Jeremy, Richard and James) have an really good dynamic and the elaborate races and set ups they do are amazing. And I don’t just mean races around the track, I mean a Renault Clio vs. a mountain bike through Lisbon, a Mercedes SLK vs. a boat to Oslo and an Ashton Martin vs. the bullet train to Monaco and a plane vs. a Ferrari to Switzerland.
Oh, and please whatever you do, don’t watch Drive TV on Ten, it’s a horrible attempt to copy Top Gear, instead of the Stig, they have the Chip, instead the magnetic leader board on Top Gear, they have the Shell Optimax Hot Lap, and instead of witty intelligent hosts they have some Fairfax hacks.
I like Top Gear for the same reasons I like idents, I hope you get a chance to appreciate the show too, and I hope any of that made sense.
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More4 is a new digital channel from Channel 4, its intended (as I understand it) to compete for the viewership of the BBC Four crowd. It launched on October 10th this year and has the rights to such programs as The Daily Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The West Wing from which this ident is from… segway…
Speaking of The West Wing it was revealed last month that Channel Nine had sold the rights to air the show in Australia to the ABC. This kind of thing happens all the time, but usually between commercial networks such as Nine selling Smallville and The O.C. to Network Ten. Whats so exciting about this is that as far as I can tell this will be the first US drama originally broadcast on a commercial network to get a new life on the ad-free ABC.
Like many shows Channel Nine dumped The West Wing from its schedule mid season, thanks to BitTorrent overly commited fans like myself get to stay up to date with the show, but I’m so glad the ABC has picked it up and I can’t wait to watch it on our public broadcaster. I hope this isn’t a one off because there are some badly abused shows on commercial TV that I would love to see on the ABC or SBS, starting with;
1: Arrested Development
I know the show has been basically cancelled with its third season run being cut from 22 to 13 episodes but I would love the ABC or SBS to prove that good promotion of this brilliant show can get an audience, it doesn’t seem to of really taken off anywhere in the world and thats no doubt due to it not rating well in the US and therefore every other network in the world assuming it can’t rate well.
2: Gilmore Girls
Say what you want about my masculinity but this is stand out show (with a stand out cast.. Lauren Graham), its pathetic that Channel Nine run it only in summer, and to make it worse it is the non-ratings period replacement for Funniest Home Videos. When was the last time Norman Mailer or Madeline Albright guest starred on Funniest Home Videos?
3: Six Feet Under
The final season finished months ago in the US, and thankfully I’ve been able to see it, but when will the rest of Australia get a chance Nine? Its a brillant show and a 9.30 slot on ABC would rock opposed to the fluctuating 11-12 slot it gets on Nine (thats if it ever gets an airing).
The list could go on (Scrubs, Family Guy..), but I think my rantish point has been made.
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Ten are still running their usual idents but I saw this one tonight and thought it wasn’t too bad. Its only really a pseudo ident, but I liked the simple font and colour combination. The promo includes two short videos, the first one has a girl with super-blue eyes which looks cool, but the second one has a girl twirling on the beach and it just looks badly filmed and more spray-tan commercial then ident.
I wonder how long they will stick with this ‘seriously’ thing.
The new season of Little Britain started last Thursday and instead of its usual debut on BBC Three it got the big seal of approval with a BBC One premiere. To celebrate Red Bee (formerly BBC Broadcast before Australia’s Macquarie Bank bought it) got Tom Baker to be the continuity announcer for the night. The script for the evenings idents were written by Matt Lucas and David Walliams.
I think its brilliant that they went to the trouble to do something different, they draw attention to the idents, and I just love how ingrained idents and continuity announcments seem to be in British pop culture.
Do the boom shack a lack.
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Finally another BBC3 ident for you, and I think it was worth the wait, this one actually got an audible laugh out of me. I really love the concept of the BBC3 idents, and initially the whole ‘blobs’ thing didn’t appeal to me, but its totally grown on me. (Thanks Graham).
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SBS just celebrated their highest ratings ever with a total of 4.5 million tuning in to watch Australia beat Uruguay in the World Cup qualifying match. So what better time to show off their new idents, although I’m probably still too in love with their old ones to give a balanced opinion on these.
They kind of remind me of the iPod ads (especially the new one), but apart from that they are once again better then anything else on Australian TV (next to maybe ABC2), and at least SBS change them before you get a chance to get sick of them.
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The pilot for Lost was the most expensive TV pilot ever, so it seems only fair that Channel 4 go and make the most expensive UK commercial ever to promote it. According to Wikipedia, these two David LaChapelle directed promos for Lost cost over £1 million.
I think they are fantastic and love that Channel 4 went to the trouble of actually doing something with the cast and not just using footage from the show, I love the theme and love that they actually created a story for the promo beyond just “this is the show.. watch it!”. I actually saw a print ad version of it in RadioTimes while I was in the UK but didn’t realise it was based on this.
More networks should use the cast to create original promos, its no doubt more expensive but damn it looks good.