Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

BBC America has been one of the bigger disappointments of my cable-surfing life. I signed up hoping to watch a lot of older dramas and documentaries. (I think what I was really hoping to find was the David Attenborough Channel.) Instead, BBC America's programming execs think that what Americans want is larky new sitcoms, smashing new talk shows, and brilliant new mystery dramas. As though keeping up with my own culture's brash and flashy popular culture isn't already too much ...

A small exception to my general displeasure has been the sitcom "Coupling." The Wife hates -- hates -- the show. But the couple of episodes of "Coupling" that I tried made me laugh more than "Friends" ever did. Granted that I only watched "Friends" twice, and that I didn't make it all the way through either show.

Watching one episode of "Coupling," I had a wonderful time getting intrigued by a talented and beautiful actress named Emilia Fox, who did an amusingly Gen-Y version of that poised-yet-daring, proper-yet-sensual thing English actresses often specialize in. Emilia Fox is a slim strawberry blonde. She's one of -- or was she playing one of? -- those smoothed-down women who looks like she never has to battle her weight or her mood, and who emerges from every restless night's sleep perfectly groomed. Yet she has a devil in her too. It comes out in her calmly assertive body language, and in the wry mischief in her aristocratic eyes and slender mouth.

How amazing is the Web? I managed to find images from the very episode of "Coupling" that I watched.

Emilia Fox seemed to me to radiate "princess who can romp with the people"; she seemed like everything that spoiled, clueless Gwynnie ought to be. Alfred Hitchcock would have known how to make shrewd use of Emilia. Hitchcock of course was famous for his love of cool-looking blondes, at least the ones who seem to have banked-up fires behind their reserve. He once said that voluptuous Latin actresses didn't interest him because their sensuality is already out on the surface; he couldn't figure out where else he might help them take it. A hot-ice blonde, on the other hand, holds out promise. She might spend dinner buttoned-up and serene -- and then unzip your pants in the back of the cab on the way home.

Or so Hitchcock enjoyed imagining. By the way, and as far as I've been able to tell, Grace Kelly (who Hitchcock used a number of times) really was such a creature -- a charming Main Line pet who enjoyed nothing more than being smooched-up by a hunky guy. She loved being loved, to put it mildly; Grace was legendary in the movie business for the number of affairs she had with co-actors. But the gossip-tidbit about her that I've found most endearing was told by a guy who was her lover before she became a star. (This Mr. Lucky was -- wouldn't you know it? -- the adolescent Grace's acting teacher.) Evidently, young Grace's preferred form of foreplay involved dressing up in a grass skirt and dancing the hula. Sigh: Grace was such a lusciously self-pleased piece of amoral fluff that it's easy to picture her getting lost in the silliness, the swaying rhythms, her own beauty -- and then bursting into giggles when her fella tackles her.

Are there movie directors today who know how to make use of sexily-reserved actresses? Paul Verhoeven is the only one I can think of. He worked to memorable effect with Renee Soutendijk in "The Fourth Man" (a wickedly effective movie all around), and hit the note perfectly with Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct." Verhoeven is more lurid than Hitchcock, and his vision is frankly pornographic. But he has his own slyness, and he's as fascinated as Hitchcock was by the way these women mix control and sexuality. (In Verhoeven's hands, they come across not as serenely naughty debutantes but as dominatrixes.) But our all-out-there, on-all-the-time electronic-media era doesn't seem to be conducive to the creation of reserved and contained (yet secretly ready-to-romp) female screen images. Instead, we seem to be trapped inside a glass-fiber maze, mouse-clicking our way between the overly-pumpy and the completely-frazzled.

Enjoying a pleasant "I just discovered an actress I can be fascinated by" haze, I surfed around trying to learn a bit about Emilia Fox. She plays piano and cello; she has many superstitions; she speaks several languages; she has done a lot of TV and stage-work; and she has acted in a number of small movies that haven't come to these shores.

On Amazon UK, I learned that Emilia is the reader on a lot of audiobooks too. She specializes in Jane Austen, Anita Shreve, and Dodie Smith -- but I was tickled to see that she has also read a version of "Lady Chatterley." I might be treating myself to a copy of that performance. Interesting to learn too that Emilia is a child of a prominent acting family. Her father is Edward Fox, her mother is Joanna David, and her uncle is James Fox. I didn't notice the resemblance to Edward or Joanna before learning that Emilia is their daughter. But now that I do know, the family features fairly leap out.

Joanna (Mater), Edward (Pater): Family resemblances

I owe it to BBC America that I've made the acquaintance of Emilia Fox. But what other pleasures do I owe them? So far, very few. Do you guys have any BBC America faves? Do any of our visitors? Come to think of it, is there anything at all on the network that's not young, multicultural, and Cool-Brittania? Graham Norton fatigues me. And though I found "The Office" brilliant the one time I tried it, I've had no desire to watch the show again. But I guess I haven't given up BBC-America hope quite yet.

Best,

Michael

BBC America = B grade tripe. From a business perspective I think the reason is that if the BBC makes a good show, it can sell it to PBS or the mainstream channels – so you don’t need the BBC to see it. Result is that the schedule is packed with middling to weak shows interspersed with gems you’ve already seen a hundred times elsewhere.
From a cultural perspective the BBC has simply become so wrapped up in itself that it is incapable of distinguishing good from bad or even what its purpose is – public service broadcasters or profiteer. As a result they put out these middling sitcoms which they think are really good and project the progressive image that the government is so keen to foster. But their not and I think they never really get the feedback since they mainly relly on the media for feedback. Problem is that the media suffers the same problem.
I think the office is a case in point:- it was a good satire on office life and well acted but what stopped it ever becoming a great show is that it never moved on from the slightly neotic theme of the boss as an oafish idiot/stupid co worker. Unfortunately a lot of the papers really whooped it up, probably because most of them have very little experience of working in a normal office. They therefore thought it was a stunningly revealing satire on cubicle life when in fact it was more a satire on the image of office life. And as a result the BBC editors never seem to have put any pressure on the writer to move the show along.

Posted by: Giles on February 19, 2005 1:48 PM

In general, I agree about the channel. It seems like every time I tune in they're showing Changing Rooms, What Not To Wear, and other DIY-type shows. Since we already have American versions of all of them, it seems a bit redundant.

However, I think The Office is about the best comedy of at least the past 20 years. Only The Simpsons at its peak (which feels like a loooooong time ago) was any better.

Speaking of which, Ricky Gervais is writing an episode of The Simpsons so maybe it'll be funny again.

Posted by: Bryan on February 19, 2005 1:49 PM

Oh, and I agree with The Wife -- I can't stand Coupling.

Posted by: Bryan on February 19, 2005 1:50 PM

Giles -- That makes a lot of sense, tks for the explanation.

Bryan -- I know I should be ashamed of myself for giggling a few times at "Coupling." I don't normally go for that kind of thing. But a few of the moments where the guys are caught out and the girls glare at them did make me laugh, I don't know why. A little more snappy and risque and flat-out satirical than American versions of such moments, maybe? Or maybe I just have bad taste.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on February 19, 2005 2:38 PM

Oh and I forgot to add that the Controller of Programing at the BBC - Loraine Heggersey - resigned the week before last - ostensibly over this "dumbing down" and the new controller promised more documentarys etc. So rest assured you weren't the only ones suffering 24/7 changing rooms and things might get better.

Posted by: Giles on February 19, 2005 3:59 PM

I've always found it a damn shame no one's been able to do more with Uma Thurman. She absolutely fits the gorgeous cool blonde image Hitchcock would have loved. I read years ago that she was supposed to star as Marlene Dietrich for Louis Malle, but then he died and the film was never made. Unfortunately, I read recently that Paltrow was going to star as Marlene and I wanted to cry.

Posted by: lindenen on February 19, 2005 4:20 PM

Here's a picture of her looking the spitting image of Marlene.

Posted by: lindenen on February 19, 2005 4:24 PM

ah having lived in england for a year my friends tried to get me to watch all of their shows...

most of them weren't very good..
the office is brilliant, michael you should give it a whirr, the characters really build on you.

hte bbc seems to create some randomly great series, "Teachers" was reaaally good... Black books was a sitcommy series about a bitter alcoholic bookstore owner, amusing though.

oh there was this very strange soap operaesque series about fashion Hairstylers called "cutting it" in which everyone was somehow involved with each other, Mother in law's brother's half sister's daughter, would hook up with etc... a diagram of the hookups in the show would be astounding. as near incestual as you could get. the writers must have had a hoot.

dont let anyone convince you to watch Neighbors, its australian and it's pure drivel.

Posted by: azad on February 19, 2005 8:01 PM

i've watched all seasons ("series") of coupling. luckily they stopped at series 4 because it kind of went downhill after "jeff" left, but they'll do a xmas reunion.

anyway, watch it all via netflix! it's a totally different type of comedy than "friends," the writer talks about how he consciously is doing "farce."

Posted by: razib on February 19, 2005 8:34 PM

1. Keeping Up Appearances is one of my favorite shows, but the commercials ruin the momentum. Likewise Blackadder.

2. Did you know there's a Bryan and a Brian on this blog?

3. Cate Blanchett is cold-but-hot if you ask me. Yes indeed.

Posted by: Brian on February 20, 2005 12:49 PM

Grace Kelly's father and brother were Olympic rowers -- her father John a two-time champion. John Kelly revolutionized rowing by using a shorter choppier stroke which maximized power at the expense of grace. He also had to fight a lawsuit to get admitted to the Olympics, either because he was accused of having competed professionally, or else (some say) because he was a working man (bricklayer).

I never liked Grace much before I knew that.

Posted by: John Emerson on February 20, 2005 8:46 PM

Lindenen -- And that Dietrich picture had a script by John Guare! A pity it was never made. A pity too, as far as I'm concerned, because I've kinda lost interest in Uma. I thought she was a wonderfully erotic and moody camera subject when she was very young. But as she's grown up and taken charge of her own image, she's become less and less appealing to me. Do you still find her interesting?

Thanks for suggestions to all.

Brian -- Do you find Cate cold-hot? I love her but find her so high-strung that I can't see the cold side. But you've got me thinking of Kristin Scott-Thomas too, who certainly qualifies. As far as I'm concerned, anyway. Very proper, very erotic. Do you get fascinated by her?

John -- There was a lot of spunky Irish blood in that pampered girl.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on February 21, 2005 1:01 AM

Lindenen -- And that Dietrich picture had a script by John Guare! A pity it was never made. A pity too, as far as I'm concerned, because I've kinda lost interest in Uma. I thought she was a wonderfully erotic and moody camera subject when she was very young. But as she's grown up and taken charge of her own image, she's become less and less appealing to me. Do you still find her interesting?

Thanks for suggestions to all.

Brian -- Do you find Cate cold-hot? I love her but find her so high-strung that I can't see the cold side. But you've got me thinking of Kristin Scott-Thomas too, who certainly qualifies. As far as I'm concerned, anyway. Very proper, very erotic. Do you get fascinated by her?

John -- There was a lot of spunky Irish blood in that pampered girl.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on February 21, 2005 1:01 AM

Lindenen -- And that Dietrich picture had a script by John Guare! A pity it was never made. A pity too, as far as I'm concerned, because I've kinda lost interest in Uma. I thought she was a wonderfully erotic and moody camera subject when she was very young. But as she's grown up and taken charge of her own image, she's become less and less appealing to me. Do you still find her interesting?

Thanks for suggestions to all.

Brian -- Do you find Cate cold-hot? I love her but find her so high-strung that I can't see the cold side. But you've got me thinking of Kristin Scott-Thomas too, who certainly qualifies. As far as I'm concerned, anyway. Very proper, very erotic. Do you get fascinated by her?

John -- There was a lot of spunky Irish blood in that pampered girl.

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on February 21, 2005 1:01 AM

"Coupling" doesn't aim for the sociological heights of "The Office" but it's funnier than any dozen American sitcoms and there's at least a couple of episodes that are just brilliantly structured. The fact that it's all from the head of one man, Steven Moffatt, deserves some praise, I say.

Posted by: Scott D on February 21, 2005 11:13 AM

BBC America used to be worth watching. But for months, they've shown only the same four episodes of each show over and over again. Event complaints on the BBCA America message boards don't get a response.

Posted by: beloml on February 21, 2005 11:25 AM

Kitty, a fair but frozen maid
Kindled a flame I yet deplore...

Posted by: Tatyana on February 21, 2005 9:53 PM

I hated "The Office" after just one episode. Doesn't observing idiots make total annoying fools of themselves make you uncomfortable? The show stinks of smug condescension. Satire, even harsh satire, is more than that.

Posted by: JT on February 22, 2005 11:58 AM






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