Un-Eventful series, lost from the start

CHANNEL HOPPING
If The Event is outright confusion then this latest Lost-like show has done a magnificent job.

The Event is the new programme that has hit our screens from the United States of America. This show features a host of well-known faces and names and is filmed in the same style as most programmes coming at us from overseas these days. The pilot and first episode were screened together last week on a number of channels that included RTÉ.
Now, it has become common practice to screen pilots and first episodes together and the reason is completely obvious when you look at The Event which, by the way, has to be the worst title for a series ever.
The pilot of this current series is a jumpy piece of very confusing story telling. It relies almost exclusively on flashbacks and retro versions to weave what is a very complex series of stories with a seemingly endless cast.
If this had been the only episode shown there is no way in the world this would be a success. The pilot does little to set up the story and is so jarring that by the end you feel like your head has been stuffed in a washing machine the outside of which is being hit with hammers.
It’s disorientating, hard to follow, uninteresting and uninspiring. The dialogue was pretty weak and if felt more like the first half of an episode rather than an entire one.
The first episode, on the other hand, filled in some gaps and began to plant the seed of the idea in the viewer’s mind. However, there is a long way to go before we have a fully functioning series.
Right now there are too many storylines going on. The writers are tying more than four storylines together and while they editing is better in the first episode, it does beg the question – is this going anywhere? Judging it on the first episode it has potential but there needs to be some tightening up, if it is going to attract the huge audience numbers it is expected to.
The fact that it has alien life forms as its central plot line does push it down in my estimation and I know I am unlikely to stay with it as the next 20 episodes roll out.
However, I will let you the reader judge whether or not you would like to watch it with this brief description: shortly before the end of World War II, an unknown airplanes crashed in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska. It was carrying what seemed like human passengers but were actually aliens. Their DNA is slightly – less than one percent – different from humans and they age at a much slower rate. Most of the survivors were captured and detained by the United States of America’s government and held in a secret facility nearby run by intelligence agencies.
They won’t tell anyone where they are from, what they want or anything – in fact much like Monty Burns in one of my favourite Simpson’s episodes all they say is that they come in peace.
The aliens that weren’t captured are living among the normal residents of the United States and are waiting for the day that they are recognised.
Of course this day seems more likely because there is now a black president and things are going to change. Oh yes, art is imitating life here and they are not even trying to hide it. All that was missing was someone chanting “Yes we can!”
Anyway, this new president is just about to make all their alien dreams come true when an attack on his life is made by another group, who make it a habit of capturing pilot’s daughters and killing their wives. Of course, the only way you can do nay kind of terrorism in the States nowadays is to use a plane.
However, the daughter’s boyfriend has figured out what is going on and he tries to stop it only for the aliens to use their Harry Potter-like magic to vanish it from thin air and land it in the Arizona desert miles away from its point of departure in Florida.
Confused? Oh yes, most definitely! Check it out Fridays at 10pm on RTÉ TWO.
If one thing can ruin a perfectly good sketch it’s letting it go on too long and that unfortunately is the problem with the new extended version of Hardy Bucks. Born out of boredom in Mayo. The Hardy Bucks became and Internet sensation. Toastie, Eddie and their arch nemesis The Viper, cruised around all day with nothing better to do but pump iron, schmoke fags and plot. RTÉ saw the opportunity, gave the lads the budget and set them free.
However, the mainstream has not been kind to the boys and the censorship required to broadcast has taken a lot of the edge from the comedy. Leaving that aside, however, it is just too long. It would have been a lot better if it was done as a series of shorts and broadcast at the same time. Yes, there are some laugh out loud moments – the Garda cultural exchange with Africa is just fantastic, but a lot of it is bland. The second episode is better, as we become more familiar with the boys but unfortunately it might have been a case of best left alone.
Republic of Telly is back with a new presenter and if the first episode is anything to go by he’s not half bad. Comedian Dermot Whelan is at the helm this year ably assisted by one woman who is not afraid to ask the difficult questions, Jennifer Maguire. However, despite some very funny commentary and clips from the telly, the very best addition are The Rubber Bandits who are keeping it real Limerick style.
These two lads are just down right hilarious. Another product of Youtube one can only hope that RTE leave them alone and don’t give them their own show as it would take away from the wonder of them. Republic of Telly can be seen on Wednesday nights at 10.50pm on RTÉ TWO.