Better_TV

This was fine. The filmmaker, a Muslim himself, makes no bones about the fact that he has a specific perspective on the fallout from the Salman Rushdie "Satanic Verses" fatwa affair - he has the stones to put that right in the documentary itself. You don't need to agree with him.

He speaks to a woman from the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, a former National Front guy, former jihadis, a guy who burned Rushdie's books during protests in Britain decades ago. There's some man-on-the-street interviews in Parliament Square as well. He gets some mild responses and some angry ones, which I think is what he was fishing for (better television, I guess).

Far, far stronger than this is the analogous BBC radio podcast "Fatwa," 10 episodes of 10 minutes each. It deals more with the history surrounding the Satanic Verses controversy, with the Muslim immigrant experience in Britain, radicalization, cultural isolation, racism, politics etc. It's far more interesting than this, which was produced by Vice Media - and, unfortunately, feels too much like one of their faux edgy shaky-cam YouTube videos.

I'm not from Australia, but this show is one my favorite all-time television satires. It does a better job showing the venality, cynicism and amorality of the broadcast news business than anything I've ever seen. It's also wickedly dark, and it succeeds in one crucial aspect that sinks many lesser comedies: it's got great characters, acted with impressive naturalism by a fantastic cast.

From ignorant airhead anchor Mike Moore (Rob Sitch) to the perpetually harried line producer Emma (Alison Whyte), to the cruel yet resourceful reporter Brooke (Jane Kennedy) and the apathetic senior reporter Marty (Tiriel Mora), there's a great cast of characters here who start out by conforming to type and then, as the series goes on, actually reveal a surprising amount of nuance. Like many comedies (Seinfeld, Always Sunny, Archer etc.) the characters are essentially jerkoffs, but you come to like them and - sometimes! - even see things from their point of view. Each of the three seasons also features a different executive producer character, from the sage Bruno Lawrence to the ratings-driven Kevin J. Wilson to the gleefully boorish Steve Bisley.

The naturalistic acting and cinéma vérité-style camerawork makes it all feel like a real newsroom. It's a great example of how (what was obviously) a low budget can still yield something special when you have great acting and writing.

And the writing really is that good here, with plenty storylines following our amoral news team as they report on such sensitive issues as immigration, hostage situations, sexual harassment, Nazis, little kids getting open heart surgery and more. There's plenty of references to Australian news events and media scandals, and some fun cameos from the likes of Harry Shearer and real-life Aussie politicians.

Overall this is a phenomenal comedy, and clips from it should be shown in journalism, media literacy and ethics classes around the world.

Squidbillies' first half-hour episode is a comedic triumph. Chock full of musical numbers and nonstop jokes that almost all land (a distinction that can't always be said of the more recent episodes or the later episodes of sister program "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"), it's one I find myself returning to again and again.

The plot takes us from kid Squidbilly Rusty's induction into an al-Qaeda cell to the the Cuyler family defending their land against an all out assault from the dimwitted terrorists. There's plenty of musical guests like Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Prince Billy, Split Lip Rayfield, Jackyl and the Drive-By Truckers.

It's an awesome half-hour of manic, well-written animated comedy.