There are literally thousands of ads on our TVs which just coast along fulfilling their marketing function while adding very little to our TV watching experience. However, every now and then an ad pops up which really captures the public’s attention, goes viral and generates a huge amount of buzz. In great advertising the product doesn’t really matter, it could be an ad for credit cards or salmon; the ads which really set themselves apart tend to be those where the producers are more concerned with entertaining the audience or creating a miniature work of televisual art.

While ads which focus heavily on the product can be very effective in fulfilling their primary function, but they tend to be extremely forgettable. The unforgettable ones are usually born in a situation where the producers are allowed to break out of the box, showcase their creative talent and give the audience something of value. These ads tend to use humour, drama, art and insight to say something about the brand rather than directly extolling the virtues of a product.

For me, the key idea behind building a brand through advertising is to give the audience something of value. I’m a great believer that audiences can build up goodwill towards brands if their advertising enhances the TV viewing experience rather than hindering it.

That feeling of goodwill can be a powerful factor when it comes to making a purchase decision and can also heavily influence things like a consumer’s level of loyalty to a brand. In essence, this type of advertising can help a brand to be likeable and emotion plays a stronger part in decision making than most consumers would like to believe.

Keeping this concept of enriching the TV watching experience in mind, I’ve pulled together a little playlist of some of my favourite ads of the past few years. From my perspective these ads have transcended their basic function; they’ve made me laugh, inspired me, sparked my imagination or had me marvelling at their beauty. And without exception they’ve had a strong positive impact on my attitude towards their respective brands.

What have been your favourite ads of the last few years? Let us know in the comments section below.

Zack Morris – Saved By the Bell

Not only was Zack Morris the star of his basketball team, but he also played lead guitar and sang lead vocals in his band Zack Attack! And remember when he would look at the camera, say ‘Time Out’ and talk directly to you – as if you were the only two people in the universe? What a dreamboat.

Image via Nineties-Nickelodeon.tumblr.com

Shawn Hunter – Boy Meets World

A rebel without a cause, Shawn Hunter was the perfect yin to clean-cut Cory Matthews’ yang. He was a bad boy with a dark past and a winning smile. Shawn was such a badass that he even lived in a trailer park – edgy stuff for a teen sitcom on network TV!

Image via Pattygopez-WhateverHappenedTo.buzznet.com

Jordan Catalano – My So-Called Life

Oh Jordan. So distant and mysterious. Despite not being able to read, Jordan was wise beyond his years. After all, he did so eloquently coin the phrase ‘whatever happens, happens‘. Do you remember the name of his band? Give yourself a point if you guessed ‘Frozen Embryos’ and give yourself an extra point if you knew that they later changed the name to ‘Residue.’

Image via Amparo-Ortiz.blogspot.co.uk

Theo Huxtable – The Cosby Show

OK, so the Cosby Show primarily aired in the 80s, but it had a few seasons in the early 90s and therefore Theo Huxtable qualifies as a 90s hunk. I mean, that sweatshirt says everything you need to know about how cutting-edge and cool Theo was.

Image via FuturetheArtist.tumblr.com

Randy Taylor – Home Improvement

For a brief time in the mid/late 90s, JTT ruled the world. He was the voice of lion king, he starred opposite Rachel Leigh Cook in ‘Tom and Huck’ and his role as Randy Taylor in Home Improvement  was embraced by tweens everywhere.

Image via ReggieRiley.tumblr.com

Harvey Kinkle – Sabrina the Teenage Witch

I’m so jealous that Melissa Joan ‘lazy eye’ Hart got to wrap her arms around this lovable doofus. Harvey was always so reliable and refreshingly straightforward. Despite witnessing all kinds of craziness (notably, Salem the talking cat) it still took him FOREVER to realise his girlfriend was a witch.

Image by: Bob D'Amico/ABC via SitcomsOnline.com

 Cody Lambert- Step by Step

…or as he’s most commonly known, ‘the Code-man’. The nephew of Frank (the Dad in the show), Cody lived in the driveway in his van . He also said ‘Ch-yeah’ whenever he was really agreeing with you. He was goofy and a bit thick at times, but you just couldn’t help loving the guy.

Image via QuarterlifeWellness.wordpress.com

Steve Hale – Full House

Donna Jo Tanner’s BF Steve loved football and sandwiches- talk about the all-American hunk. He was such a reliable chap- so strong and brave. Kind of like Indiana Jones…

P.S. Did I mention that the actor who played Steve was also the voice of Disney’s Aladdin? Crazy!

Image via PopCultureLoveSong.tumblr.com

Joey Russo – Blossum

Woah! Nobody rocks the sweatshirt-tied-around-the-waist look quite like Joey Russo of Blossum fame. Joey was a bit of a ladies man, but let’s not hate the playa. With those pouty lips and that lion-like mane, he couldn’t help it that the ladies flocked to him.

Image via TenThingsILike.com

Who’s your favourite of these 90s TV hunks? Is there anyone we missed? Tell us about your 90s crush in the comments section below. Or if you need some inspiration, check out this brilliant post at TenThingsILike.com.

Image via tvseries-in-a-box.blogspot.co.uk

TV shows often face a period of uncertainty when they first air. They put a pilot together and put it out into the TV universe for the audience to judge, hate or love and producers to decipher whether that reaction means they should invest significant amounts of money into the project or not.

Once the TV show makes it past the pilot, it then has to deliver a stellar first season- establishing characters that will captivate the audience and develop over time. The longest-standing shows know the importance of keeping the audience on their toes, creating major plot twists and if necessary, reviving the cast with a death of a major character or the introduction of a new one.

Whatever the reason, the following list of shows made it work for their target audiences. Sadly for loyal fans, these shows are facing their final episode this season. (Warning: these videos may contain spoilers!)

Chuck
Chuck was a quick hit among young adults who loved/believed this dorky, awkward young man could somehow be embedded with CIA secrets and just as miraculously, keep them safe. The show faced cancellation after its second season ended, but a fan-fuelled campaign to keep the show on the air was ultimately the reason behind the next three seasons. The show ended in the US in January 2012.

One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill premièred in 2003 and was an instant hit for the teenage-young adult (mostly female) demographic. The dreamy male co-stars definitely had something to do with this. The show is still touted as the first to do the “One Tree Hill Jump” where they ended a season with the main cast in high school and picked up the season in the fall with the cast having just finished university. The jump was pretty appropriate seeing as how most of the cast were at least 5 years older then their characters anyway. Fans have grown to love the characters beyond their good looks and are sad to say goodbye to the show this season.

House
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a mostly unrealistic medical show where they have to figure out what is wrong with the patient before they die, and House delivers. The main title character, though, has always been a bit of a handful and for the last few seasons he’s been outright absurd in his behaviour. While we know the show is unrealistic already, it goes far beyond any real medical ethics. House has been arrested, addicted to painkillers AND drove his car into his ex-girlfriend/boss’s house and still was allowed special privileges to practice medicine. The medical mysteries are interesting, but it’s about time this show acknowledged its absurdity and ended it.

Desperate Housewives
How many life-altering, earth-shattering, heart-breaking things can happen to a group of 4 friends on one street in 8 years? If you watched every season of Desperate Housewives, you’d know the answer is: a lot. I have a secret/not-so-secret affection for Desperate Housewives and am sad/happy to see the series end. Sad that the drama won’t continue to unfold and happy that they are ending the series on their own terms. The show wasn’t cancelled or rejected; writer/producer Marc Cherry and his team just decided it was time to close the show before it jumped the shark.

This final season has had a series of twists, turns and tying up of loose ends, leaving just enough to get their whole fan base watching the final, 2-hour episode (airing Sunday night, 13 May in the US). Rumour (and spoilers) have it that old/dead characters will make an appearance in some way  and people will be watching to see if Nicolette Sheridan will appear following her in-court feud with producer Marc Cherry over her unfair dismissal when she was killed off the show at the end of the 5th season. (Seeing as how the series finale was filmed before the court appearance and the relationship between the two has been damaged for a few years, I don’t foresee Edie Britt (Sheridan) making an appearance on Wisteria Lane.

Which shows have ended this year that you will miss the most? Let us know in the comments below.

Sun, sea, the Australian sunshine and some decent COMEDY of course! There are some pretty big names making an appearance at this year’s Sydney comedy festival, so if you’re in town over the next couple of days, here’s who we think you should take the time to see:

Ross Noble

This clip was filmed in Australia back in 2008, but needless to say the Geordie comedian has gone from strength to strength. The Australians love a bit of Ross Noble, mainly because he’s a genuinely happy chappy (no angst-ridden comedy here, thank you very much) and his improvised patter is some of the best in town (see above).

Find out more about one of Newcastle’s most popular exports by reading his interview over at The Brag.

Axis of Awesome

This Australian band hit the big time when their 4 Chord Song (above) went viral on Youtube. Now, the trio have over 40 million video views under their belt, and have been doing their victory lap around the world to the USA, UK, Europe and Asia.

Their homecoming tour is bound to be something special, certainly not one to be missed.

Glenn Wool

Glenn Wool is no stranger to the Sydney Comedy Festival. He played in Sydney for the first time in 2011, and managed to sell out his entire show. Glenn travels the world with his razor-sharp comedy, leaving sellout theatres and glowing five star reviews in his wake. If you didn’t see him last year, then definitely try to catch him this time around.

If you’re not already in Oz, it might be a bit late to catch this year’s action. However, now is the time to plan next year’s trip, because there’s no doubt the line up will be just as awesome. Airlines like Etihad run flights from Manchester to Sydney regularly, but accomodation can book up pretty quickly in Sydney during the festival, so be sure to plan ahead!

Have you managed to see anybody at the Sydney Comedy Festival this year? Were they any good? Tell us about them in the comment section below!

The difficulties in bringing the series to life are becoming more obvious as the show deviates from the books in increasingly noticeable ways. For me this really came to a head at the end of the Game of Thrones S02E06: The Old Gods and the New, when Daenerys returned to Xaro’s home to find many of her Dothraki slain and her dragons stolen; a completely new plot development which didn’t happen in the books.

Image via BestWeekEver.TV

I found myself feeling rather conflicted about latest piece of tinkering with the story. My initial thoughts were along the lines of: “Woah, I can understand large chunks of story having to be chopped, but adding in completely new plot developments? That’s taking it a bit far.” However, after having a little time to digest this new twist I’ve started to come around and here’s why:

• I was getting a little bored of Daenerys’ storyline. There’s only so much wandering around the in desert and begging for armies you can watch before it starts to get boring. It might be considered heresy by many hardcore fans of the books, but I’m still going to point out that George R.R. Martin has a habit of putting a pin in characters; he shoves them off to the side somewhere, doesn’t really move their story along and checks in with them occasionally.
• Throwing up the odd surprise is adding an extra dimension to the show. For me, it’s helping to keep it fresh, interesting and engaging.
• At the end of the day it’s a TV show and most of the viewers aren’t going to have read the books or be as dedicated as ASIF fans. As such the producers need to end the shows on cliff-hangers and keep each of the main character’s stories fresh; if they don’t there is a serious danger of large swathes of the mainstream audience losing track of the story or simply losing interest in the show. If the show is to survive and justify its budget the mainstream audience is essential.

I love the show and have massive respect for HBO for taking it on, so I’m willing to forgive quite a lot in terms of story adaptation. There was one aspect of this episode I wasn’t too happy about though; the taking of Winterfell. For such a major development I would have at least expected to see a few grappling hooks being slung and a couple of guards being stealthily slain. Instead we got the Ironborn popping up in Winterfell like they’d just wandered in through the front gate. What came after, however, was exceptionally powerful TV as Ser Rodderick Cassell was rather ineptly beheaded by the insipid Theon.

As usual there was a hell of a lot more going on in this episode than I can fit in one post: the King’s Landing riot, developments north of The Wall, Arya in Harrenhal.  Although my difficulties trying to do an episode justice in one blog post must pale in comparison to the enormity of the task facing the show’s writers. They’re doing a great job and I’ll be very interested to see how things pan out in future seasons as the books just keep getting longer and longer.

What were your thoughts on this week’s episode? Are the writers taking liberties with the story? Do they have any other choice?

Image via TheMarySue

This week Game of Thrones wants us to see how the balance of power works in Westeros, and jeezo it pulls no punches. In the opening minutes it seems that the lovable if somewhat rash King Renly is moments away from sealing a powerful alliance with Robb Stark with reasonably few strings – loyalty in exchange for being the King in the North. All is smiles and hugs until Melisandre’s horrifying shadowbaby breaks in and stabs Renly through the heart. Bam. One less king. Kudos to Gwendoline Christie in this scene, she goes through grief, rage and confusion in the space of seconds, and I am firmly on team Brienne. Anyway, Cat persuades her to flee as she will be the key suspect and cannot avenge Renly if she is dead. The two have an awesome scene later in the episode where Brienne pledges loyalty to Cat and her ‘woman’s kind of courage’, one of the most interesting lines in the show.

Meanwhile, Margaery and Loras Tyrell have plots of their own, and prove to be the only ones of Renly’s bannermen who don’t decamp to the murderous Stannis, who has PR trouble of his own. Davos warns him not to attack King’s Landing with Melisandre in tow – that any victory with her involvement will not be seen as Stannis’ own. He encourages Stannis to remember who he will rule after he wins, that victory is not worth it if it comes at the cost of his people’s loyalty. This hard truth is heeded, but also rewarded with Davos being placed at the head of the armada, something that will both piss off Stannis’ existing captains and put him in a kind of danger he has no experience with. A smaller example of ill-gotten power harming the getter.

Image via TheMarySue

Theon Greyjoy is finding controlling even a single boat difficult, until his upstart first mate gives him the bright idea to attack Torrhen Square, draw an attack from Winterfell and leave the castle open. Again, Theon draws unflattering comparisons to his sea-hardy sister, but it seems like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In King’s Landing, Joffrey is completely beyond Cersei’s control, Tyrion discovers that – for all his manoeuvring - the people believe it is he who is pulling the strings in the Red Keep. He also commissions a huge quantity of Wildfire, a kind of semi-magic napalm that Bronn points out might kill your enemy but is just as like to burn you.

In Harrenhal, Tywin’s new cupbearer, the incognito Arya Stark, is privy to the general’s frustration at Robb’s unexpected skill in the field. Charles Dance is perfect again. He pitches Tywin as the perfect rationalist – he is no more or less willing to admit his failings than he is to punish the stupidity of his close relatives, or solicit the advice of a simple Northern girl on the topic of the Starks. Later, Arya discovers Jaqen H’ghar, alive and well and working for the Lannister guard. For saving him and his friends (or stealing them from the Red god), he promises three lives, at Arya’s discretion. Suddenly she has power of life and death, which is proven when she asks for the murder of one of the torturers, and gets it.

Bran’s scene in Winterfell is great as usual, and the more interaction between him and Osha the better. Bran recognises that Maester Luwin doesn’t quite know everything, that there are other sources of authority, and that his own identity is not necessarily clear cut.

Beyond the wall – and gosh we do a lot of travelling this episode – things are still delightfully comedy relief with Sam and Grenn, and Qhorin Halfhand recruits Jon to go assassinate Mance Rayder, head of a new, better-trained army of Wildlings. To do so they’ll have to adopt the wildlings’ own tactics of stealth, not to mention provide an uneasy mirror of Stannis’ scheme earlier in the show. Bit of ends/means going down here.

Image via io9

Finally, Daenerys (and that is the first time I’ve spelled it right without looking it up) has decisions of her own to make in Qarth. Will she gain massive wealth (and massive armies) by marrying Daxos, or take Jorah Mormont’s advice and rely on the love of the Westerosi? Mormont’s speech about her potential not only to be a strong but a fair ruler is pretty bloody moving, even if his faith in the popularity of the Targaryens is based on debatable logic. His statement that to win Westeros you must be of Westeros could be the key line in the episode. Who are you, why do you want to rule, and how will you do it?

Game of Thrones.

So, five episodes in, and folk are still getting into position, but somehow it feels more exciting than the relatively slow movement of its myriad parts. Yet again, we’re left thinking about how things are starting to move together, but everything is pushing along with such purpose I’m tempted to believe that somehow all of this will eventually fit together. How that will happen, and who will come out on top, only the gods know.

How did you find this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments.

Film

The Avengers – Out Now

We have just recently reviewed this film and you can read it all about it here. If you like superhero films, this is an absolute must, it is an epic film!

American Pie – The Reunion- 2nd May

It’s back!! The story is that all your favourite characters get back together for their 13-year high school reunion with all the usual antics you would expect from them.

The Reunion via Eva Rinaldi

Safe – 4th May

Jason Statham returns in another classic Statham film! If you have seen ANY of Jason’s previous films then you will know exactly what to expect and won’t be dissopointed. But the man himself is well aware of what he is good at. In interview today with the BBC he said that: ”Doing something different is for great character actors. I don’t see myself as a great character actor… That’s not what my strength is.” But to be honest, we love him for what he does, being the rough tough guy!

Dark Shadows – 11th May

Johnny Depp, Tim Burton & Helena Bonham Carter as well as Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer join together to create this gothic comedy. Barnabas (Johnny Depp) breaks the heart of a witch (Eva Green) who turns him into a vampire and has him buried alive. Fast forward to 1972 and the vampire is awoken into a new world to find his family home in ruin and his descendants harbouring their own dark secrets. Sounds great, a typical Burton film!!

Men in Black III – 25th May

Will Smith returns in Men in Black III which sees ‘J’ being forced to time travel back to the 60′s to meet young ‘K’ and ultimately save the world! Should be quite a fun movie.

Want to see any of these trailers, check out our YouTube Playlist for these top trailers and a couple of additional extras. Also, we have made a bundle of upcoming films and reviews and posts discussing them.

TV

War Hero in my Family – 1st May

A new programme to Channel 5 this May. This programme looks at celebrities tracing their family history to find long lost relatives and their contributions to during the World War. The first episode sees Chris Tarrant and Lisa Faulkner tracing their family trees.

Flashpoint – 1st May

Back for a second series, the first episode features a criminal shoots two police officers and takes a teenager hostage but Ed discovers that his brother Roy may be responsible for one of the officers being shot.

The Killing – 2nd May

A new series for this programme, starring Mireille Enos, Billy Campbell and Joel Kinnaman. The first episode sees Detective Linden cancelling her plans to relocate to California on hold so she can investigate a teenager’s murder. During her investigations she discovers a conspiracy attempt to keep the truth hidden.

Awake – 4th May

A brand new series for Sky Atlantic stars Jason Isaacs and Laura Allen. The first episode sees detective Michael Britten traumatised after his family are involved in a car crash. The rest of the episode sees him flipping between two realities with him dreaming one reality and when he awakes, he lives another. This is a brand new series so we will be interested to hear what you think of it.

Want to know what else is coming up this month? Check out your TV guide which can tell you all you need to know!

What are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comment section…

Okay, so there are the obvious benefits for the winner – to the uninitiated, or those who haven’t really bothered with the telly over the last few years, the winner of the show gets to become the business partner of Lord Alan Sugar (formerly of Amstrad and erm, chairman of Tottenham Hotspur fame) as well as receiving an investment in a business of their own creation to the tune of £250,000 and having him join you as a partner.

Not bad going indeed. But what about those that don’t win?

Well, there aren’t a whole load of benefits for them. Sure, you get the chance to flaunt your skillset in front of a national audience, but let’s face it, those that don’t win probably don’t have the sort of skillset to shout about on national TV in the first place.

While everyone gets the chance to make a mess of things in their own workplace – come on, who hasn’t from time to time – doing so in front of a national audience is a whole other ball game. Because of the nature of The Apprentice, it’s probably watched by more, well, business types than any other prime time programme on the box. As such, if you make a bit of a fool of yourself during a certain task (or perhaps more importantly, if the people editing the show make you look like a tool) you’ve pretty much ruined your chances of gaining employment with a fair percentage of the more reputable businesses out there. Indeed, people who do so can be fairly certain that business broadband systems will probably be chock full of videos featuring them proving themselves inept most Thursday lunchtimes (the show airs on Wednesday nights).

While the premise of the show is that it’s aimed at would be “entrepreneurs”, the chances are that most of the contestants that don’t win will have to seek gainful employment at one point in their lives. The job market is competitive enough at the moment without having to shake off the stigma of having already came across like a real life David Brent in front of everyone on the panel (and a few million others).

Of course, there are positives as well, but a lot of these aren’t necessarily tied back to the contestants themselves. Arguably the biggest success story of the entire show has been Lord Sugar himself. Despite the fact that he was obviously a highly-successful businessman before the show kicked off back in 2005, the amount of mainstream coverage he’s received over the last few years has obviously been higher than it would have without the show. Come to think of it, he probably wouldn’t have been appointed “business tsar” of the then-government in 2009 if it weren’t for his mainstream popularity off the back of the Apprentice.

Not that you’d blame him of course – he’s a smart man.

Similarly, as alluded to earlier on, many former contestants have also complained that the show was edited in a way that made for better entertainment than a factitious account of what really happened in tasks would have. But then that’s the point – the people editing the show have more of a responsibility to their viewership than they do to the people running the show. It’s entertainment dahling.

And I guess that’s the point – The Apprentice provides great Wednesday evening entertainment. However, if you’re thinking about applying for it, I wouldn’t bother. Unless you’re confident that you’ll win, it could be the worst career move you’ll ever make.

Image via Starpulse

That said, the show could well be criticised for laying it on a bit thick. We’ll talk about that later. First off, the bones of the show, if you’ll forgive the turn of phrase, and needless to say there are spoilers ahead. In the opener we get a good long look at Robb and the kind of King he’ll become should his plans come to fruition. Judging by the heroic poses he cracks while launching a night attack on Lannister forces, he is a skilled tactician on the battlefield; judging by his rather unconvincing explanation of his motivations to field doctor Talisa, he has the political dexterity of his late father. Bee tee dubs, sports fans, the Robb/Talisa cutemeet happens over the amputation of a young man’s leg. Love in Westeros. At the very least we know he, like Ned, is not afraid to do his own dirty work. Unlike…

Pretty much everyone else. In the court of the Increasingly Mad/Dickish King, Joffrey is relating stories of torture and cannibalism after his forces’ latest defeat, and has his knight beat Sansa for her brother’s treachery. Tyrion eventually stops him, serves up a hot plate of Remember That One Time I Slapped Your Face, backed up by Bronn, who continues to be the merriest hired sword in the Seven Kingdoms. He’s having a whale of a time. He also suggests sending prostitutes to Joffrey’s room to calm him down a little. For some reason Tyrion agrees, though I kind of presume that’s just because it’s the solution to most problems in Westeros.

Anyhoo, it leads to the most horrific scene in the series thus far, as the recently traumatised Ros is forced at crossbow-point to abuse her friend and colleague. This is one point where I’d like to step out of the recap and look at this seriously. What was this scene for? Ros is a peripheral character, and we aren’t given any fresh insight into Joffrey’s psychology – it seems like it was done primarily for shock value, secondarily to advance the plot. Maybe we now think Joffrey is capable of playing political games or rebutting Tyrion, but that was already well-established. Game of Thrones has never exactly been coy about violence or even sexual violence, but it usually falls well within the needs of the plot. When that isn’t the case, it feels like the show is enjoying the spectacle almost as much as Joffrey is. Troublesome.

Image via TheMarySue

Elsewhere, Littlefinger is on a jaunt to Renly’s camp, ostensibly to broker a treaty, but actually to see Catelyn Stark. Both Aiden Gillen and Michelle Fairley do some incredible work conveying some intense feelings in a tight, compact burst of hecka acting. You really get the sense that Littlefinger is deeply moved to see his childhood crush, even as he tries to manipulate her into freeing Jaime Lannister in exchange for her daughters, one of whom is not actually under his protection. And it took some delivery to make me even consider that Baelish might genuinely want to return Ned’s bones to his family. In the same part of the world, Stannis and Renly have a brotherly spat over who has the right to be King, and who has the capacity for it. It ends with Stannis giving his little brother an ultimatum: declare his allegiance or go to war.

Out in the desert, Daenerys looks for refuge in the fabled city of Qarth, and is greeted by the thirteen hipsters who govern it. They are ready to send her on her way because she doesn’t want to show off her dragons or pay for the CGI, when Xaro Xhoan Daxos, the show’s second black character and the first to talk for more than thirty seconds without disclosing his preference for white women, claims responsibility for them under a kind of Qarthian blood pact. The doors open and so does a new chapter in the Dothraki storyline. Qarth looks pretty awesome, tbh.

Arya, Gendry and Hot Pies are not enjoying their stay at Centre Parks Harrenhal, where a pretty grim form of torture is going on courtesy of the Mountain and his lackeys involving a bucket, a rat, some fire and a little bit of special stardust I mean horrific death. Gendry is saved at the last minute by Tywin Lannister, who rides in, calls out everyone on their crap, makes Gendry a smith and hires Arya (who he instantly recognises as a girl, because he has, you know, eyes) as his cupbearer. Developments! Also, Ayra has already missed part of the point of Yoren’s charming tale of misery by picking up his murder-prayer meditation technique.

Image via Huffington Post

Finally, Stannis’ right hand man (ho ho) Davos Seaworth is sent on a mission to help Melisandre deliver her monstrous shadow-baby. I did not see any of this coming and it was startling – the birth itself is creepy as heck and fairly graphic, and Carice van Houten’s performance deeply unsettling. As for the scene itself, Davos is one of the most grounded characters in the show – one imagines he and Bronn would get along famously – and for him to be witness to another physical proof of supernatural power in the world is a bold statement. Things are going to get awfully weird in Westeros.

So a pretty brutal episode from top to bottom, without Jon/Sam, Arya/Gendry, Bran/Luwin/Hodor/Osha or even much Tyrion to lighten the mood. That said, while there is still a lot of manoeuvring and hot air around the battle for the Iron Throne, we seem to be gradually getting to the pointy end.

Wow, long post. What’s your take on happenings at the heart of the Seven Kingdoms? Let us know in the comments, or check out The Mary Sue for more insights.

Image via Splitsider

What it does have is a couple of little narrative innovations that suggest at the very least that Parker, Stone and the gang weren’t going to let the whole episode go down the pipes with its somewhat shaky premise. First things first though, here’s the plot.

After a week of promos promising a hellish adventure and death-defiance, it turns out that the boys’ ziplining afternoon was just super boring. Which is a good idea on paper – it sends up the reality shows as being in reality pretty dull themselves and having to pad out a boring story with pseudo-science – but in execution boring things aren’t all that funny. There’s not even much dynamism between the boys. The presence of the tour group has the same effect on them as it does on the audience: we want them to be their usual free-swearing adventurous selves, but there’s just no room. All the comedy falls on the deep-voiced narrator and the lengths the show has to go to distract you from the boredom. Which sucks.

Eventually the boys escape the ziplines and find some horses which turn out to be on a pony trek, then a boat which can only go extremely slowly. The show signals that the following is a re-enactment that many will find disturbing, and sure enough, the boys have been replaced by adult human actors. Cartman succumbs to Mountain Dew-induced (inDewced?) diarrhoea, everyone pukes, everyone gets Kenny’s cold sores and Kenny dies of boredom before they are saved by Mr Hanky’s Helicraptor, Seven-Turdy-Seven and Poo-Choo Express. This whole segment sounds great on paper and related over the course of a minute or so, but the execution is kind of slack and feels like it could have done with a few solicitous edits. The salient impression is that South Park does not translate well to real-world restrictions.

And maybe there’s something in that: the show usually benefits from something ridiculous being in play, like the “Pandemic” multi-part episode with the guinea pigs and guinea bees and guinea pirates and its comment on found-footage movies. This episode lacked that right up to the photo-montage ending, which seemed somewhat tacked-on, but maybe it’s just how I Shouldn’t Be Alive usually ends. Shrug.

Next week is the mid-season finale before South Park goes away til the autumn,  and the very least we can take out of this week’s offering is that the team is not afraid to toy with the format. To put it pithily, nothing is sacred in South Park, least of all South Park. Come the autumn there’ll be a President to elect, which is to the show what an open flame is to a hydrogen balloon.

How’d you find this week’s show? Let us know in the comments.