Jack Davenport as Derek Wills in NBC's "Smash"

The “Smash” pilot is currently available on youtube, alas only for the people in the US. Ah, country restrictions – so sensible on the WORLDWIDE web.

THE PILOT

You can also support the Apple Core of Evil and download the pilot on iTunes, here.

And just in case you’d like some feedback on “Smash” before watching, we’d recommend that you read Amerally’s review:

SMASH BASH

The show is a lot funnier and light-hearted than I expected, and the characters were all developed quite nicely just within the 45 minutes or so of the pilot. I think it has the potential to be one of those shows in which all of the characters and their storylines are intriguing.

So who is that Derek Wills, the man we’ll love to hate? Jack Davenport will tell you; just click the cap below to watch the video:

“Good Boy, Sparky!”

Disclaimer: the following statement represents the personal views of the webmaster only.

Maybe some of you have heard of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), a bill backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, Macmillan US, Viacom and many other. However, it wouldn’t stop online piracy at all, but instead devastate the economy and social texture of the internet, implement a system of censorship and give big businesses a powerful and dangerous tool to influence the internet and its users.

In short, SOPA is a thorn in the side of anybody who’s doing more on the internet than checking the weather.

What would SOPA do?

Let’s assume one of you guys posts a video of a news clip you’ve recorded off CNN and uploaded to Youtube to your wall on Facebook, to your Livejournal, posts a link to it on Twitter or embeds it in a comment here. So far, if the copyright holder felt that you infringed their copyright, they’d have come after you. With SOPA, they’ll come after the website. So Youtube, Facebook, Livejournal, Twitter or, hey, goodboysparky.net could be blacklisted or taken down because somebody linked to a movie clip or a music video. Or a picture. Or anything else considered “copyrighted”. In a nutshell: you couldn’t link to websites anymore, unless you were 100% certain that nobody had posted any material or a link to material that infringes copyright there before.

Sites like Youtube, Vimeo, Reddit, Wikipedia, Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Etsy, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook etc. could all be held responsible for the content posted by their customers and, as a consequence, very likely cease to exist. This would mean the end of the internet as we know it, because the “net” part is linking, and most sites couldn’t exist under SOPA. Creativity, expression of free thought and criticism would be silenced.

To protest SOPA and the attempted censorship of the internet behind it, I’ll join in Reddit, Boing Boing, Wikipedia and many others in their Stop SOPA & PIPA Day tomorrow. All websites that I maintain will go dark on 18th January.

For those busy and with little time: WATCH THE VIDEO

WHAT IS SOPA? @ Reddit

BOING BOING WILL GO DARK

With the première of “Smash” just around the corner, you have now the chance to enjoy a great number of interviews, public appearances, videos and pictures of Jack Davenport and the “Smash” cast. There’s a big buzz around the show, and when Jack spoke at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour for NBC Universal in Pasadena, California yesterday, he even managed to become a trending topic on Twitter – world-domination is just a few episodes away.

I wonder if he got an electrostatic carpet sweeper for Christmas…

Frank will update the website during the holidays, so if you should encounter a broken link, no worries – it will all be fixed within a few days.

Woof! And now for Sparky’s charity of choice:

The Trust’s primary objective is to respect and preserve the treasured relationship between owners and their pets. To this end it works in partnership with owners to overcome any difficulties that might arise. A national network of over 15,000 community service volunteers has been established to provide practical help when any aspect of day to day care poses a problem – for example, walking the dog for a housebound owner.

A national fostering service is provided for pets whose owners face a spell in hospital – volunteers take pets into their own homes and supply love and care in abundance until owner and pet can be reunited.

The Cinnamon Trust also provides long term care for pets whose owners have died or moved to residential accommodation which will not accept pets. Arrangements are made between owners and the Trust well in advance, so owners do have peace of mind in the knowledge that their beloved companion will have a safe and happy future.

Usual disclaimer: donations and support for the following organisations are suggested by Sparky who’s running this website, not by Jack Davenport.

“SMASH” IS GOING UK

We’ll update some of the galleries next week, so please stay tuned. For now, have a wee bit of SmashSpam (Spash?), and don’t forget to check out the videos on the official website. There’s also a MockBlog, and just in case you want to meet Derek Wills… “nominated for a Tony and a Drama Desk award for ‘The Full Monty.” – heh!

Jack Davenport and Anjelica Houston

Jack Davenport and Anjelica Houston

Jack Davenport

Smash cast

Various pictures

Good Boy!

As we’re talking about Andrew Lincoln: try to get your hands on “afterlife”, a tv series featuring the fantastic Lesley Sharp and Andrew Lincoln; it’s one of the best things ITV has ever created.

But back to “This Life” – because it will be back!

STARTING ON 26 OCTOBER, 2011, 9PM, ALL EPISODES OF “THIS LIFE” WILL BE AIRED ON SONY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION, SKY CHANNEL 157

This Life, cast series 1, © 1996 BBC

“This Life” centres on the lives of five law graduates in their twenties, embarking upon their careers while sharing a house in South London. It’s great, wild drama, featuring a cast of talented actors and lots of nekkid bums. Come ON, don’t pretend you’ve skipped that scene in the shower. Or the one where Miles was chained to the bed, and wooof, Tony Curran in a kilt! And out of it! And then there was that one time when- ehm. Ahem. Yes. You get the picture.

So, if you’ve missed “This Life” first time round (which makes you a lot younger than me – the pox on you!) this is your chance to catch up with this cult classic.

“There have been nights when I’ve lost it. I always seem to find it again in the morning.” – Anna

Watch the trailer!

Have a look at the gallery on “Good Boy, Sparky!”

The very lovely Amerally was lucky and crossed his path, had her picture taken with the man and generously shares with us both her snapshot and story:

I happened to be in NYC this weekend, and Jack’s mother’s play, “Man and Boy,” opened tonight on Broadway. I’ve never seen Jack in person before, so I figured this would probably be a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of him. Lucky for me, there wasn’t much of a crowd at the premiere, so I was able to get right up to the barricade. It was simply a matter of speaking to him and asking if he’d pose for a photo with me. What a nice guy! (And patient — the camera didn’t cooperate at first!)

Of course, he’s as gorgeous in real life as he is on the screen. Also as on screen, the most striking things about him in person are his EYES and that VOICE! In real life, he’s a lot thinner than I expected. I think he’s probably trimmed down for his Smash role. He’s also not quite as tall as I thought he’d be. (Not sure if the 6 foot 2 is entirely truthful — maybe closer to 6 even — but, really, who cares?).

It was over in the blink of an eye (his gorgeous green eyes!), but what a thrill!!!

Thanks a lot for sharing, Amerally! And if you you guys would like to see “Man and Boy”, please click here for more information.

If you’ve met Jack, you’re very welcome to share your picture with us, as long as it was taken at an official do (a première, for example), and not while lurking under a table at your local pizzeria. (Or from behind the coffee machine while preparing a coffee. Bad barista. No cookie.)

TO FLY. TO SERVE.

I’m glad he’s promoting BA. Had he given his voice to Ryanair, I’d have been terribly tempted to turn this website into a fanpage for Hello Kitty.

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Part 4