Fatso's Top 20 Biggest TV Shows of 2014

2014 has been a pretty amazing year for TV. There was no shortage of quality series to watch, and more often than not, it sometimes became a bit overwhelming to keep up with all the great shows being churned out. In case you missed anything, here's a list of the Top 20 most rented TV shows on Fatso in 2014 -- once again, and unsurprisingly, the mighty Game of Thrones towered above them all...

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1. Game of Thrones - Season 3

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2. True Detective - Season 1

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3. House of Cards (US) - Season 1

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4. Homeland - Season 3

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5. The Bridge - Series 2

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6. Broadchurch - Series 1

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7. Sherlock - Series 3

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8. House of Cards (US) - Season 2

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9. Orange Is the New Black - Season 1

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10. Orphan Black - Series 1

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11. Justified - Season 3

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12. Borgen - Season 3

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13. The Returned - Season 1

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14. True Blood - Season 6

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15. The Americans - Season 1

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16. Elementary - Season 1

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17. The Tunnel

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18. Sons of Anarchy - Season 5

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19. Boardwalk Empire - Season 4

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20. The Walking Dead - Season 4

Skyler White vs. The Haters

Other than Game of Thrones' pint-sized sadist Joffrey, I can't think of another character on TV now who has received more hate than Breaking Bad's Skyler White. I have friends who regularly take to twitter and facebook to share how much they despise her. Anna Gunn, who plays Skyler -- a difficult role which she does wonders with -- is well-aware of the mounting hate-campaign against the character too, and has contributed a thoughtful op-ed piece to New York Times discussing this. It's distressing to read how the hate bleeds into real life, with fans conflating Gunn with Skyler to the point where death threats are being made. Ugh. I've never understood it: Skyler's not the most likeable character, but she's as complex and flawed you'd want the long-suffering wife of a sociopathic meth-dealer to be. The final season of Breaking Bad is currently screening on Soho.

The Return of Brent

For those who have missed David Brent, Ricky Gervais has reprised his iconic role from the original UK series of The Office in the 10-minute online short The Office Revisited. It's a bit of tease that leaves you wanting more, but I guess this will be as close as we'll come seeing more of the show, which wrapped up over a decade ago. Catch up with Brent below and see what he's been up to:

Veronica Mars Movie Gets a Kickstart... How About a 24 Movie?

Ever since high school detective show Veronica Mars went off air in 2007, its ardent fans have been clamouring for a movie. Now it's likely their wish may come true with a Kickstarter campaign launched by creator Rob Thomas to raise $2 million to get the project off the ground. Within four hours, it has raised $1 million, and the number is climbing as I write this. Check out this interview with the guy who pledged $10K for a speaking part in the film.

Great to see it doing well - and so quickly - and it makes me wonder if other similar TV projects could do the same. More specifically... 24!

The movie's been on the back-burner since the show was cancelled 3 years ago, with plenty of negotiation setbacks between star Kiefer Sutherland and Fox delaying progress (not to mention a certain lame show he's committed to). But recent word from Antoine Fuqua, who was in talks to do the movie, has all but confirmed the worst: it's dead. Strangely enough, Fuqua's new film, Olympus Has Fallen, has a very 24-feel to it, and pretty much swipes the White House siege subplot from the seventh season of the show. Anywho if anyone does end up doing a 24 Kickstarter, I'd definitely chuck in $20 towards it...

Breaking Bad as a '90s Family Drama

Through the powers of shrewd song-and-font selection, the great Breaking Bad is transformed into something that looks more like um, Party of Five. Awesome. Prefer this one to the previous sitcom remix of the show.
Reminder: Season 4 is out in April on DVD and Blu-ray!

Breaking Out the TV Baby

It's a hard life for us TV fans. Deciding what to watch, when to watch, and who to watch it with. Sometime it's just too daunting to dive into a massive series - it's a HUGE commitment, and you gotta find the right time. If you know what I'm talking about, then this funny, well-acted sketch from College Humor, which smartly uses Breaking Bad as an example, will play like the gospel for you:

Meanwhile, because the Internet is great here's a cat dressed as Walter White:

Oh, also: Breaking Bad - Season 4 has just been confirmed for release on DVD and Blu-ray on 3rd April!

Mad Drunk

Dang, that's a lot of drinking. I don't recommend driving after watching this.
PS: Mad Men - Season 5 is coming to DVD and Blu-ray in November. Add it to your queue here.

A Titanic Month Ahead

This April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and those smart people in the entertainment world are making sure there's no shortage of viewing options for you to coincide with this occasion. Perhaps the biggest and most publicised is the 3D re-release of James Cameron's Titanic, but there are also a few home viewing alternatives from our local distros...

Often considered to be most historically accurate telling of the tragedy, Roy Ward Baker's 1958 classic A Night to Remember is getting a long-overdue remastered DVD and Blu-ray from Roadshow. Click here for the trailer.

More recently, ITV produced a four-part mini-series which Shock will release on April 9th. Here's a sneak peek:
And if you want something less dramatised, Madman's got a National Geographic double feature coming too.

Not enough? Try Asylum's shlocky Titanic II - you'll definitely have your fill of the sinking ship by then to last another 100 years.

Breaking Bad: Extended Title Sequence

A true fan-made labour of love...

"Payback's a nag, ain't it?"

If you've ever wanted to make your TV viewing more family-friendly and clean up all the potty-mouthed language that goes on in today's home entertainment, TV Guardian is here for you! Check out this demo video (the substitute words are ridiculous, thus absolutely - unintentionally - hilarious): Visit Badassdigest for more on the contraption.

Depp vs Gervais

Ricky Gervais (whose mouth seems to land him in trouble every now and then) has a new BBC sitcom coming out called Life's Too Short, starring dwarf actor Warwick Davis (Willow) as the head of a talent agency for actors under five feet tall. Here's an amusing preview clip featuring Johnny Depp taking Gervais to task for some stuff he said at the Golden Globes. I love watching actors be arseholes to each other.

Liquid Television is Online!

Not sure how many of you out there remember MTV's Liquid Television from the '90s, but it's one of my fondest adolescent TV memories and I've just discovered that a sizable collection of shorts from the show are now available to watch online! Featuring heaps of wild, seriously screwed-up cartoons (some like Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux would later achieve cult status), it's a one-of-a-kind programme that I'd religiously set the VCR to record weekly when it aired on TV3 late at night. I've never seen anything like it, with that kind of anarchic creative freedom, on TV again. Browse the archives here.

Breaking Bad as a Sitcom

To quote one of the youtube comments, this turns "one of the most badass TV shows into an episode of Mr Bean". Or Full House... Worth it just for the opening credits, too funny. (Maybe slightly spoilerish for those who haven't seen this episode - "The Fly" - but it doesn't reveal major plot details in the grand scheme of things)

Secret LOST Video: "The Marbled Rye" (SPOILERS)

This one's strictly for fans of LOST who've seen all 6 seasons of the show, i.e. it's very spoilery so stop here if you've haven't finished the series. A little background on the video: showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse appeared to be engaged in a verbal spat on twitter last week over evidence that the show had been planned all along, but it was just a little tease leading up to their presentation of this jokey clip at Comic Con 2011. Shot on Disney's back lot a few weeks ago by regular LOST director Jack Bender, it shows Jacob (Mark Pellgrino) and Man-in-Black (Titus Welliver) overwatching Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) having a deep moment in the first season finale "Exodus", then bursting into an amusing argument takes potshots at the show's mythology. More proof that it's really the show that'll never die; dang, I miss it.

Fatso's Top Rentals of 2010

Here are our top 10 most popular rentals of last year!

Top 10 Films
1. Boy, 7090 requests
2. The Hurt Locker, 5606 requests
3. Avatar, 5345 requests
4. The Hangover, 4719 requests
5. Up, 4631 requests
6. The Reader, 4552 requests
7. The Blind Side, 4528 requests
8. Where the Wild Things Are, 4487 requests
9. Up in the Air, 4317 requests
10. Julie & Julia, 4254 requests

Top 10 New Zealand Films
1. Boy, 7090 requests
2. The Vintner's Luck, 1859 requests
3. The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, 1387 requests
4. Under the Mountain, 1294 requests
5. Second Hand Wedding, 1272 requests
6. Dean Spanley, 1017 requests
7. Separation City, 952 requests
8. Eagle vs Shark, 906 requests
9. The Strength of Water, 819 requests
10. Home By Christmas, 765 requests

Top 10 TV Titles
1. True Blood - Season 2, 813 requests
2. True Blood - Season 1, 801 requests
3. Glee - Season 1 Volume 1, 728 requests
4. Heroes - Season 3, 647 requests
5. The Wire - Season 1, 622 requests
6. Mad Men - Season 1, 608 requests
7. Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side, 537 requests
8. Flight of the Conchords, The - Season 2, 530 requests
9. Flight of the Conchords, The - Season 1, 525 requests
10. Torchwood – Series 3: Children of Earth, 508 requests

Step Into My Office, Baby

A moment for The Office fans to cherish: when Michael Scott (Steve Carell, US boss) and David Brent (Ricky Gervais, UK boss) meet. Expectations were really high for this, and I don't think it quite hits the spot - it's more amusing than laugh-out-loud funny - but still pretty damn neat.



Meanwhile, as Carell wraps up his final season, currently airing now in the US, Will Ferrell will drop in to fill in for four episodes, though he's NOT replacing Michael Scott. Whoever's doing that will have some pretty big shoes to fill...

Creepy Spanish Simpsons

In honour of today's release of The Simpsons - Season 13 on DVD and Blu-ray, check out this truly creepy clip of a live-action Spanish version of the show. I have no idea what its origins are but yeah... don't let the kids near it.

Don Draper Says "What?"

Time to clean out your ears, Don!

The Battle for The Hobbit

If you haven't been watching the news and need a quick catch-up on the whole The Hobbit saga, here's a clip from Close-Up of Mark Sainsbury interviewing the main players - director Peter Jackson, producer Phillipa Boyens, Minister of Economic Development, Gerry Bronwlee and President of the NZ Council of Trade Unions Helen Kelly:



And if you're wondering how heated things can get (note: not comfortable viewing)...

South Park Skewers Inception

It was only a matter of time...