What are you currently watching? (May contain spoilers)

H from Steps is on Celebrity Masterchef this week and my wife was asking if he’s got the same name as the guy from Lost Prophets. I thought she’d remember the song about it but she didn’t and now I’ve fall down a youtube rabbithole of watching clips of Kunt & The Gang.

He really does have a knack for a writing a catchy tune.

Anyway, turns out H is a lovely bloke who broadly fine at cooking and Charlotte Crosby seems like a nightmare to be in the same room as.

If you haven't watched Freddie Flintoff's Field Of Dreams first series do it now.

Probably the best 'reality tv' I've ever seen though it's sort of a documentary too. It's really really good and you don't need to like cricket whatsoever.

Back for a second series as of last night.

You'd really be missing out if you skipped the first series.

The human side is what made the first series so good. Felt like a reasonably authentic representation of what happened when some troubled kids got a chance to be part of something they'd never previously considered. A genuine experiment with risk of failure.

None of them even knew or cared who Freddie was, most didn't really care about cricket at any point. It wasn't a fairytale yet watching some of them gain self esteem was so uplifting. Adnan's story is essential viewing.

Second season certainly seems a bit different due to the accident and the fact that they already have a team. Freddie was reclusive before travelling with them to India and is struggling.

It's a neat, yet clearly unintended consequence that the situation is somewhat inverted and this time Freddie needs the distraction of a project and the support of a team.

The fact that this has aired in the same week that Graham Thorpe's family bravely spoke out about mental health only makes the message more poignant.

I remember the tone being a bit off even back then tbh, and I loved Adam and Joe.

There’s definitely been a change from our generation to the newer ones where we looked up to America as the pinnacle of the modern world and saw places like Japan as oddball anomalies, and now America is seen as the old world to younger people and they look up to places like Japan and South Korea.

Not surprised Adam and Joe do Tokyo hasn’t aged well. They’d both probably admit they had some wilderness years in between the Adam and Joe Show and their eventual revival via XFM / Radio 6.

The first vending machine full of schoolgirls’ knickers joke was probably with the first five minutes. Which I know was a huge trope about Japan back then but it is a bit disappointing to hear Adam & Joe on that level.

Although like rawshark says, there’s a very strong chance they’d be embarrassed about it themselves these days. I know I’ve seen interviews where they talk about some stuff they did to try and keep up with the laddish side of culture in the late-90s and how it wasn’t their vibe and they hope their kids don’t see those bits now.

Progressed to S3 of my GoT rewatch, still absolutely steller TV.

The fall off will be jarring, or maybe its good now (as if).

There's still a slew of panel shows which were clearly filmed years ago in the pandemic times and they've only just decided to air them, so it's really weird to see it now.

On the flip side I remember watching the first series of Taskmaster as a repeat during the pandemic and being horrified by how close they were all sat together.

They really are shoulder to shoulder in that one.

Having nightmares of video call episodes of Have I Got News for You now.

Excellent, excellent television that.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1.

I hate how these later films look.

I was woken up at 6am today by my 19-month-old… apparently because he couldn’t live without Miss Rachel one moment longer.

I won’t lie - I’m trying to grow a kink for her just so it gives me anything to invest in.

Nothing yet but will keep trying. I blame her weird beta husband.