TV Scoop

RIP Frank Carson. It was the way he told them

shinychris — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:47:53 +0000

Frank Carson, who has died, aged 85. Image: PA

Much loved comedian Frank Carson died today, aged 85, his agent has announced.

The Belfast-born stand up, famous for his catchphrase ‘It’s the way I tell them’ had been battling stomach cancer for some time. He passed away this morning at home near Blackpool, Lancs.

The Irish comic rose to fame in the 1960s after winning talent show Opportunity Knocks three times.

A spokesman said: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Frank Carson.

“Frank will be remembered for being a wonderful stand-up comedian from the golden era of light entertainment on television shows such as The Comedians, Tiswas, Opportunity Knocks and many, many more.”

He added: “His audience and friends alike will remember him as a genuine, kind-hearted and generous man who was also very funny because of ‘the way he told ‘em’.

“We will remember him as one of the nicest people in showbiz, a gentleman and a friend.”

Plans are being made for a funeral in his home town of Belfast.

Via Daily Mirror

Frank Carson RIP

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File photo dated 26/06/2007 Jim Bowen and Frank Carson (right) arrive for the funeral of Bernard Manning at Blackley Crematorium, Manchester.

Brit Awards 2012: ITV1, 8pm

shinychris — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:04:35 +0000

James Corden (right) returns to London’s O2 to host the annual music ceremony, featuring performances from Ed Sheeran, Adele, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Rihanna, Florence and the Machine, Noel Gallagher and Olly Murs.

Ed Sheeran leads the way with four nominations, including best British Male Artist and best British Single for The A Team, while Adele and Jessie J are each in the running for three titles.

Meanwhile vying for best International Female Solo Artist are Beyonce, Bjork, Feist, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

Emeli Sande picks up the Critics’ Choice award, and the Outstanding Contribution to Music goes to Britpop band Blur, who perform a selection of their hits. To see full list of Brit award nominations go to http://www.itv.com/thebritawards2012/nominations/

And if you want to remind yourselves of the days when the Brits were both fun and interesting then look at this clip on YouTube from ITN news in 1996 when Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker invaded the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance of Earthsong.

Seems amazing that it provoked so much reaction at the time.

Sky Go now available for Android smart phone users

shinychris — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:25:31 +0000

Sky Go, the on-the-go mobile, laptop and tablet TV service available to Sky customers, can now be downloaded from the Android Market to most smartphones running Google’s OS.

Users will now be able to access all of the Sky Sports channels, ESPN, Sky News, a range of Sky Entertainment channels and 11 Sky Movies channels via the Sky Go app all from the palm of their hand.

Of course you have to be paying for Sky’s (sometimes pricey) TV package in the first place, but Sky Go is a great addition and makes the hefty price tag seem even more reasonable.

Visit the Android Market to get your hands on the Sky Go app now.

More Mums are Shopping Online than Ever Before.

shinychris — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:13:24 +0000

Sponsored post

Shopping trips with young children have to be planned like a military operation. You need a list of what to buy, where to buy it, snacks and toys to keep the children entertained and then march around the shops like a woman on a mission.

There’s just not the time for browsing at a leisurely pace. Online shopping lets you avoid all of that stress. No wonder more and more mums are using online shopping to avoid nightmare trips to the shops with the children.

New research shows that 61% of mums who have internet access now do their grocery shopping online. 72% of mums surf the internet while watching TV or use their smart phone to access the internet daily.

With online shopping, you can sit back, relax and do your shopping at a time that is convenient to you. Popular browsing times for mums are 6am, lunchtime and from 8-9pm.

It’s cheaper to shop online as competition is high so prices are lower. Also online retailers don’t have to pay expensive rent on high street premises, which means they can pass on the savings to the customers.

If your local high street doesn’t have what you are looking for then online shopping is ideal for you as there are many top businesses selling products you can’t otherwise get, giving you a huge variety of choice.

When online shopping look for sites such as Littlewoods.com that offer free delivery and free returns to save on the cost of delivery and returns if the item is not suitable.

Simon Cowell angers Ant and Dec by having a bath!

shinychris — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:01:01 +0000

Simon Cowell: X-Factor for chefs?

Ant and Dec were fuming when Britain’s Got Talent auditions were held up because Simon Cowell was having a bath. The presenting duo, along with judges David Walliams and Alesha Dixon, arrived at the Cardiff leg of the auditions on time at 2pm but at 4pm were still waiting for the 52-year-old media mogul.

Dec wrote on twitter: “If you’re outside in the Q in Cardiff, tweet @SimonCowell and tell him to hurry up.”

A source told the Sun: “Simon’s a law unto himself. He never gets up before noon and is happy working late at night.

“The problem is the thousands of people who turned up for the show – as well as Ant and Dec and his fellow judges David and Alesha – were on time. They had to sit twiddling their thumbs for a couple of hours while he pampered himself in his suite.”

The ‘X Factor’ boss is believed to have further angered the Geordie duo when he hopped in the bath tub in the middle of the auditions.

The source added: “It’s not uncommon for Simon to get up and go for a bath during the show. He comes back smelling really lemony.”

Meanwhile, Simon has hired Sharon Mills – the producer of E4 reality show ‘Made in Chelsea’ – to film backstage scenes in order to catch the bickering and flirting between the contestants.

A source told the Daily Star: “Out of all of Simon’s shows, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has the most variety from animals to circus acts and fire-eaters.

“He wants to give viewers a bigger insight into what happens backstage with them all. With Sharon’s track record in reality TV, she’s perfect for the job. With such a wide range of people there’s always lots going on – fireworks and tantrums and maybe even romance.”

Simon Gregson: Coronation Street’s Steve will never be happy

shinychris — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:57:03 +0000

Steve Mc Donald with Tracy Barlow and Stella Price

Simon Gregson doesn’t think his Coronation Street alter-ego will ever be happy. The 36-year-old actor – who portrays unlucky-in-love Steve McDonald in the ITV1 soap – believes the show’s writers love “dumping a bucket of s**t” on his character, and enjoy watching seeing the hapless barman suffer at the hands of his various girlfriends.

He told the Daily Star newspaper: “There’s a great line where Steve says that he collects ex-wives like his brother collected stamps. That sums Steve up.

“Each woman comes along and it’s just a different way of making him suffer. But do you know what? I love that about him. I love that the writers will never let him be happy.”

Steve has suffered a tough few weeks in Weatherfield after his scorned ex-wife Becky (Katherine Kelly) turned up on his wedding day to conniving Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) and revealed she had not been the cause of Tracy’s tragic miscarriage.

After realising Tracy had been lying to him all along, Steve attempted to get their union annulled, only to discover he would have to wait an entire year to divorce the scheming temptress.

However, Kate has previously warned her alter-ego won’t give up on romance with Steve that easily.

She said: “She’s really messed it up, hasn’t she? She’s spent 20 years trying to get him, and then she’s messed it up at the last hurdle! She’s not going to give in – ever.”

CNN puts London in Norwich. But how many of us could place Washington DC on a US map?

shinychris — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:48:13 +0000

Of course it’s inexcusable for a major news network like CNN to put London in Norwich and put Cornwall on a map as if it’s a city rather than a county – see map on the right.

They used this graphic to illustrate a feature on phone hacking and I’m sure the graphics department have – quite rightly – got a real roasting as a result.

But it did get me thinking. How many of us could put Washington DC on a map of the US correctly? I could get the right sort of area – but would probably place it several hundred miles to the north (like they have put London in Norwich).

Does this map really show that all Americans are stupid and have no understanding of UK, or world, geography? No, probably not, but it is worrying nevertheless. And it isn’t the first time it’s happened.

During the football World Cup an American network managed to put South Africa in the wrong continent! In fact someone in the graphics department of Chicago-based WGN TV seemed to confuse South America and South Africa completely so the country in the southerly part of Africa became the whole of the continent located just underneath the United States!

Now that really is stupid.

South Africa? South America? Easily confused!

Alison King ‘proud’ of Coronation Street rape storyline

shinychris — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:24:01 +0000

Alison King is “proud” of Coronation Street’s rape storyline.

The actress – who plays factory boss Carla Connor in the ITV1 soap – was sexually assaulted by her former fiance Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel) when she called off their wedding and with the trial set to begin tonight (30.01.12), Alison is pleased it has led people who have been raped to seek help.

She told The Sun newspaper: “The reaction from fans has been immense. I have had a lot of letters from women who have come forward since that episode.

“There was an 800 per cent increase in the number of people reporting rapes after we did the story, mainly those who had been raped by someone they knew.

“It shows how hard it is to go and report rape to somebody because people are so scared of their whole life being ripped away publicly on the stand.”

Carla is set for a tough week where she will give evidence during Frank’s trial and Alison admitted the factory owner – who is currently conducting an affair with married bookie Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) – will be devastated if Frank is found not guilty.

She said: “Carla will be absolutely devastated if Frank gets off because she was raped. And no matter what the consequences with Peter, it’s got nothing to do with what happened to her.”

Get ready for a Safari Park Adventure in 3D!

Elisabeth Edvardsen — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:39:17 +0000

If you love animals you will love this new show which comes to Sky 3D this February.

Safari Park Adventure will take you behind the scenes at Woburn Safari Park, giving you an insight into the lives of the six hundred animals that live there which is only surpassed by an actual visit to the park.

The ten part series takes viewers behind the scenes to follow some of the surprising aspects of the lives of the creatures and keepers at the world famous safari park.

TV Scoop were among a selected few to have a sneak peek at the first episode, in which we were introduced to rhinos, mischief causing squirrel monkeys (but cute as a button!), a pride of hungry lions and Raja the elephant who enjoys a regular pedicure and scrub. Who said life was easy as an elephant?

The Duke of Bedford, owner of Woburn Safari Park said: “We are proud to have the opportunity to showcase the precious collection of wild animals; including many critically endangered and threatened species cared for at Woburn. It’s a fantastic chance for everyone to go behind the scenes and see the hard work and dedication of our team of keepers, including the special care taken to provide a fun and educational day out.”

Safari Park Adventure 3D premieres on the Sky 3D Channel on February 4^th at 9pm. You can also catch it on Animal Planet.

For more information about Woburn Safari Park visit www.woburn.co.uk/safari.

Doctor Who stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan win at NTAs

shinychris — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:54:18 +0000

Doctor Who stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were both big winners at the National Television Awards last night (25.01.12).

The pair took home the prizes for Male Drama Performance and Female Drama Performance for their roles as the Doctor and Amy Pond in the BBC One sci-fi series.

Matt beat Shameless star David Threlfall, John Barrowman – who was nominated for his performance in Doctor Who spin-off ‘Torchwood’ – and Doc Martin actor Martin Clunes to the honour and paid tribute to everyone who works on the programme as he collected his statuette.

He said: “Thank you very much. What a massive honour. I’d like to thank everyone in Cardiff who make the show … Most of all I want to thank everyone who watched, who voted and who makes the show what it is.”

Karen was equally thrilled with her win at the ceremony – which was held at London’s The 02 arena – and was quick to pay tribute to her co-stars and showrunner Steven Moffat as she shared her success with them.

She said: “Oh my good God! Thank you so much. This means so much to me. I’d like to thank my co-stars Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill for making ‘Doctor Who’ so fun. I’d like to thank Steven Moffat for his writing and generally being ‘The Moff’. And my mum and dad.”

Other winners at the NTAs – which are voted for by the public – included Ant and Dec, who received the Entertainment Presenter accolade, beating host Dermot O’Leary in the process, David Walliams, who was presented with the Landmark Award for his gruelling Sports Relief charity swim, and ‘Downton Abbey which scooped the Drama gong.

Ant and Dec opened the ceremony by performing Nat King Cole’s ‘Let There Be Love’ with Sir Bruce Forsyth.

‘Coronation Street’ beat rivals ‘EastEnders’ and ‘Emmerdale’ to win the highly coveted Serial Drama gong.

Afterwards, the ITV1 soap’s producer Phil Collinson praised departing cast member Katherine Kelly – who hadn’t been on hand to collect her Serial Drama Performance prize earlier in the evening – insisting the accolade was a testament to her work as Becky McDonald.

Phil told TV Scoop: “It’s amazing to get an award. I feel so proud for all the cast who have worked so hard in Manchester. It’s a great way to start the next 50 years of the show. It’s the best leaving present Katherine could have asked for and this award and the ratings we’ve got are a real testament to her performance.”