The Bewitching Hour

‘BETWEEN 7:30 and 8:30 something odd happens to Channel 4.

‘I’m Randy’

It’s as if the broadcaster’s old programmers have wrestled free of their shackles and been allowed to produce some informative and, dare it not be said, entertaining television.

Sure, the night is full of trite repeats of Friends, the annoyingly self-reverential Will & Grace and Graham Norton talking about sex aids with all the guile of a gang of call centre employees on a hen night, but there is good among the dross.

At 7:30, Jon Ronson introduces The Art Show: I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman.

The laconic Ronson tonight pays tribute to the eponymous American singer-songwriter, a man so middle-of the road that he is in danger of being run over even while he sleeps.

This is a droll, well-executed piece of television. As is the show that follows: Unreported World: A Quick Fix.

The programme focuses on Thailand’s war on drugs. We see a side of Thailand few tourists see, and few want to.

Reporter/producer Zaiba Malik does an admirable job in relaying to us what it is to live in a state so keen to purge itself of drugs that it might be guilty of state-sanctioned executions.

It goes to show Channel 4 can make decent TV – just a shame that it does it so rarely…’

Posted: 21st, November 2003 | In: Big Brother TV Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink