October. OCTOBER, PEOPLE.
- The Cube (6:45, Sunday, ITV1) – this week, someone attempts to win £250,000 by attempting to draw a picture of a mouse using a stylus – BLINDFOLDED.
- The Amazing Race (Sunday, CBS) – New season. Apparently something happens with a watermelon, I don’t think they’ve suggested what.
- Only Connect (8:30pm, Monday. BBC4) – That was sarcasm by the way. Anyway, after last week’s videogaming and Cole Porter special edition, this week it’s the Brit Poppers (some people in the music business) vs The Geocachers (people who use GPS to treasure hunt).
- 71 Degrees North (9pm, Tuesday, ITV1) – actually very much enjoying the “celebrities do an adventure” aspect, actually think the voting out feels a bit tacked on and tacky (I also thought Diarmud Gavin would have been more likely to be an interesting contestant than the sorts who you’d expect to be good at this sort of thing) . I’d like to see this return with a slightly different slant on the competition I think so people don’t need to go home. Some sort of points system maybe?
- Survivor: Nicaragua (Wednesday, CBS): But here’s a show where the voting off very much isn’t tacked-on and tacky, and very much absolutely hilarious if last week’s Tribal Council is anything to go by. I wish Jeff Probst would stop referring to it just as “Tribal” though, use the noun not the adjective. Similarly I had a friend who referred to “Texas Hold ’em” as “Texas”. Note the past tense.
- The X Factor (Saturday and Sunday evenings, ITV1) – it’s Judge’s Pretend Houses (ooh we’re in Dublin, I wonder who our mentor is going to be!!!!) weekend. That means the live shows begin the following week, if my X Factor calender is correct, and that means (much more importantly) Fantasy X Factor IS BACK! next Sunday when we know who the final acts are.
So what excites you, punters? Let me know and I’ll add it later, if I remember.
Others wish to add:
- University Challenge (8pm, Monday, BBC2): University of the Arts vs Imperial
- Masterchef: The Professionals (8:30pm, Monday to Wednesday, BBC2): Bad luck Only Connect 🙁 Bodie and Doyle start a new competition to find someone who can cook.
- Genius with Dave Gorman (10pm, Monday, BBC2): First there was the radio show, then there was the TV version of it, and now there is another series of that this week featuring the unlikely combination of Russell Howard and Hazel Irvine as judges.
Blimey, Mondays are packed, aren’t they? I feel a spin-off of Saturday Night’s Alright for Writing coming on.
A London derby in the penultimate first-round match on Uni Chal this week: University of the Arts v Imperial.
University of the Arts is making its UC debut, having only been in existence since 1986, and taking its current name in 2004. Sir John Tusa – pre-Paxman Newsnight host as well as former MD of the World Service – has been its chairman since 2007.
Imperial, on the other hand, is no stranger in the Paxman Era – winning the 1995/6 and 2000/1 series, finishing second in 2001/2, and reaching the semi-finals last year. This is its seventh appearance in all PE.
“The Geocachers (people who use GPS to treasure hunt).”
Fancy that, an entire sport based on cheating! GPS, well I ask you.
Other than that, this week’s excitement: MasterChef Da Profs (Monica’s back!) and Genius (which I was slightly surprised to see get a second TV series after the entire nation spake as one, saying “it was better on the radio”, but I liked it so Yay!).