Essential bookmarksTell us about yourfavourite TV sites [email protected]^21 Aug - 3 Sept 2019^17BBC Genome
genome.ch.bbc.co.uk
Whatwas on BBC One on the dayyou wereborn? In this writer’s case,wecantell
you that itwasTop of the Pops(hosted byTonyBlackburn)followed byAreYou
Being Served?, whileover on BBCTwo later you could laughatDave Allenat Large.
Those are just some of the funfactsyou can discover atthe amazing Genome
archive,which provides BBC listings information from theRadio Timesfor theyears
1923 to2009.You can search the sitefor specific programmes, people and dates, or
just browsebymonth andyear,todiscover whatwas broadcast across all BBC TV
andradiostations. Genome is an invaluabletoolfor researchers andtelly addicts
alike,and users can edit entriestoadd missing details.
Frinkiac
frinkiac.comThe Simpsonsmay be long past its
prime as a TV show,but it’s possibly
the most popular sourceof GIFs and
memes on theweb,and most of them
nowcome from Frinkiac.This ingenious
site has captured three million
screenshots,complete with subtitles,
from the first 17 seasons of the animated
series (it’s abouttostart its 31st).This
meansyou can searchfor words that
werespoken during an episode, then
recreatea favourite scene or quoteby
clicking Make Meme or Make GIF, and
selecting therelevant pictures.You
can then share or savetheresult.
Frinkiac also offers a Random option
for instantSimpsonsfun.TVTropes
tvtropes.org
You probably know that ‘jumping
the shark’referstothe point where
a television series goes downhill, but
what about ‘yanking the dog’s chain’
(which is when a character suffers
unrelenting misery) or ‘lampshading’
(when writers drawattentiontoa
silly plot development).These and
thousands of othertelevisual
conventions are catalogued in
merciless detailbyTVTropes,a
sprawling wiki that analyses TV shows
(aswell as films, books, games and
more)toidentifycommon plot devices
and character types. It’s much more fun
than it sounds, and many tropes – such
asEastEnders’ frequent use of the
‘roaringrampage ofrevenge’ – will have
you noddingyour head inrecognition.JustWatch
One downside of having such a wide
choice of viewing these daysis that it
can be hardto tell which films and TV
programmes areavailable on which
streaming services.Tosave yourself
endlessly channel hopping, headto
JustWatch, which letsyou searchfor
TV series and filmstorent, buy and
watch for free across all the major
on-demand and catchup services.The
websitecovers more than 30 providers
including Netflix, Now TV, PrimeVideo,
iPlayer, All 4, Sky Go and UK TVPlay,
and letsyou searchbytitle, actor and
release date. You can createa watchlist
of showsyou’d liketoview later and
use JustWatch’s Android and iOS apps
toset up price-drop alertsfor specific
rentals and purchases.
ESSENTIAL BOOKMARKS THIS ISSUE: Terrific television sitesTV Cream
bit.ly/tvcream 482TV Cream has been aWeb User
favourite since the early daysof the
magazine, andfor the past twoyears
it’s been running afascinating
weekly series on the history of
Saturday nighttelevision in the UK
(revised and updated froma
previously publishedversion).This
impeccablyresearched, 100-part
piece traces the behind-the-scenes
development ofweekendtelly from
the 1960stothe 1990s (and
counting),covering such popular
showsasThe Generation Game,
Game For A LaughandBlind Date,
aswell asThe A-Team,Robinof
SherwoodandBaywatch. Perfect
for a trip down memory lane.DON’TMISS!