So, I watched the No News clip and went exploring. I found this:

Time Trumpet was a six-episode television comedy series which aired on BBC Two during Summer 2006. The satirical series "looked back" on events of the first 30 years of the 21st century from the perspective of a nostalgia show in the year 2031 ...

Other sketches included were a look back on the program "Rape an Ape", the time Charlotte Church vomited herself inside out, and ...

The controversial third episode, which featured a mock look-back at a jumbo jet crashing into the British Houses of Parliament and an assassinated Tony Blair, was due to be screened on 17 August 2006, but was canceled in the wake of security threats in London airports and substituted by another episode. The canceled episode was subsequently shown a week later, without the footage of an assassinated Blair.

Clips are linked here, but I recommend viewing them through the Flash application.

Adam Buxton explains the "no news" clip:

For the time being here’s a compilation of a few bits along the theme of ‘No News’ that I did for Time Trumpet last year. People tend to think that it’s all footage I’ve got from the BBC of newsreaders before they go on air (which I did have access to), but I made these from transmitted footage, which I tinkered with to make it look as if they weren’t saying anything. It’s not funny as such but it’s pleasingly odd I think. Enjoy!

Time Trumpet

I've posted this not because it's a must-see, but because it was mentioned in a recent article in The New Yorker.

Segment 1: Actor Kiefer Sutherland talks about the new season of "24".

Skip to 4:00 to get things underway; the comments referenced below start around 22:00. The segment ends around 36:40.

From the magazine article:

Sutherland declined to answer questions for this article, but, in a recent television interview with Charlie Rose, his ambivalence about his character’s methods was palpable. He condemned the abuse of U.S.-held detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, in Iraq, as “absolutely criminal,” particularly for a country that tells others that “democracy and freedom” are the “way to go.” He also said, “You can torture someone and they’ll basically tell you exactly what you want to hear. . . . Torture is not a way of procuring information.” But things operate differently, he said, on television: “24,” he said, is “a fantastical show. . . . Torture is a dramatic device.”

Kiefer Sutherland on the Charlie Rose Show - Jan 12, 2007

Sarah Silverman has a new TV show.

NYT: Much like Sacha Baron Cohen, you specialize in a kind of shock comedy that seems designed to give offense. What do you think of him?

Silverman: “Borat” was the most retarded yet most important movie I’ve seen in many years.

Funny Girl: Questions for Sarah Silverman

When I saw this headline, I just had to recommend this article.

For those familiar only with Ms. Heaton’s light comedy or political profile, her gale-force performance and her gleeful way with the obscenity-packed dialogue may come as a surprise. This is, after all, the same woman who walked out of the 2003 American Music Awards telecast, before her scheduled appearance, in disgust over the language and behavior of some presenters.

Not Everybody Loves Patricia Heaton

Readers of the FBI can't hack thread might find this worthwhile.

"Where is God's Paradise?" is a question asked of all who would be mujahedeen, and you'll soon know the answer by heart: "Under the shadow of the swords."

If only the FBI had such snappy code phrases.

Have you seen this show?

"Sleeper Cell" proves itself to be one of the most compelling programs on television.

Under the Shadow of Swords

Someday, there will be an article about television in which no executive uses the word "relatable," industry jargon for something with which viewers are supposed to identify or connect. Alas, this is not that article.

That was funny, actually.

Does this statement make any sense to you?

Branding a network is becoming increasingly important, because of the growing ability of consumers to watch shows "in more than one place."

What they seem to be saying is

"As a network, we are a middleman in this world, and an increasingly irrelevant one, at that. So, 'branding' is an important way for us to confuse people into believing we still matter."

These people don't seem to understand the difference between ESPN and CBS, or between MTV and NBC. They think that because those funny ESPN ads are "successful", they can get a broad, young demographic to watch all of the same programming.

Can you say Long Tail?

Free to Gain Traction for About $50 Million

% Night comes around, and the kids sit around the fire.

Terri: I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's!
Lisa: Oh my gosh!
Nelson: That *is* hungry.
Lisa: *Really* hungry...

-- "Das Bus"

Das Bus | Episode 5F11 | The Simpsons

Although Westerns have evolved, the conventions are still often glaring, making even Westerns that have gray, shadowy moral areas a tough sell to some people. There’s just too much dust, leather, whinnying, shooting, and mud—too much brown—and not enough talking, understanding, humor, and complexity. The trappings of Westerns make them seem fake and message-y, even as they strain to be realistic.

David Milch’s “Deadwood,” which begins its third season on HBO on Sunday, is the exception to the rule; in what I’d assumed was very poor soil, he’s produced a gorgeously living thing.

... you don’t really notice the casting per se, because you’re too engrossed in the characters, listening to what they say, and trying to get inside their heads and hearts.

Deadwood rocks. Tune in on Sunday.

I was disappointed to hear this:

“Deadwood” has not been renewed for a fourth season ...

Dead On | The New Yorker

If you liked City of God, check this out.

Premiering this month on Sundance Channel is the hit Brazilian television series CITY OF MEN. A comedy/drama about two teenage boys growing up in a dangerous Rio De Janeiro slum, CITY OF MEN was created by the team behind the Academy Award-nominated feature CITY OF GOD, including that film's directors Fernando Meirelles (THE CONSTANT GARDNER) and Kátia Lund. The series stars Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva, who were also featured in CITY OF GOD. The first season airs starting in April, but watch for seasons two and three to follow shortly thereafter.

Set in the present day, the series mixes comedy and drama as it follows the struggles, schemes, and dreams of Acerelo (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha), thirteen year-old best friends trying to lead normal lives in an impoverished favela. In many respects, Acerelo and Laranjinha are ordinary teenagers, interested in videogames, the latest sneakers, and girls. But they live in a place where violence is an everyday occurrence and outsiders rightly fear to tread; a neighborhood where drug barons impose their own kind of moral code and serve as community authorities, hearing complaints, providing aid, and imposing punishment.

It is only now coming to the US, but it aired on BBC 4 in 2004. There are some exclusive interviews at the BBC site that may be of interest.

City of Men | Sundance Channel

Don't click through if you're avoiding first-episode spoilers.

I mean, did you see it coming?

Metaphysical Mobsters - The new, ruminative season of The Sopranos