TV with MeeVee

Colin Firth, Unlikely Hottie

Colin Firth, who played Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in the BBC's mid-90s adaptation of "Pride And Prejudice," says he's got a surprising number of female admirers. Most of them, he says, are getting on in years. In fact, one fan, aged 103, has been ordered by her doctor not to watch any more "Pride And Prejudice" because Mr. Darcy gets her blood pressure up!

Digital Spy quotes him as saying "It's so utterly bizarre to think of myself as a sex symbol at this age. I have no objection to being what Americans call 'a hottie' but it certainly isn't what I'm going for at this stage of my career."

While he's best known for playing Mr. Darcy, he's still got plenty of other work, including a romantic comedy called "The Accidental Husband," starring Uma Thurman and scheduled for release this summar.

"Top Gear" Returns To BBC America On Monday

"Top Gear" returns to BBC America next week with guest star Helen Mirren (left) hitting the track in a reasonably priced sedan. Now, the three hosts also head out in supercars on a very twisty bit of very old British roadway, and there's a review of the latest VW Golf, but you and I know what the best part will be.

To be honest, I can hardly think of a better diversion on a Monday night than watching Helen Mirren take to a racetrack and drive like mad in a bone-stock everyday normal car.

You might not believe that a car show can be that good, and I feel like I keep harping on this show being awesome. But it's really great. If you don't believe me, here's a video in which the boys make limousines out of rather small and inappropriate European cars. Clarkson builds his from a Fiat Panda, which he says is powered by "a small field mouse named Gerald" rather than a gasoline engine.

After the jump, even more of what may be my favorite bit of mechanical tomfoolery ever. Don't drink anything while watching this, because you will choke and/or spray it on your screen.

BBC 3's Latest Talk Show Tanks

BBC 3 has been trying to attract a more youthful audience, says Hot Momma Gossip, but it's not having much luck: A new talk show hosted by popstress Lily Allen did terribly, with up to a third of the audience walking out during the taping.

That audience was pulled from online fans of the singer, so they had every incentive to sit tight through dull spots. But apparently, while Allen is a plenty-good-enough singer (and cute as a button), she's not much of a talk-show host.

Oh well.

"Doctor Who" Visits "Top Gear"

"Doctor Who" star David Tennant visited "Top Gear" to take a few test laps on the test-track in a mid-priced sedan. If you're a fan of either show (or both!), this is a great clip to watch. He's the second "Doctor Who" actor on the show, and he's got a bit of a bone to pick with the hosts about the fairness of co-star Billie Piper's track time. Does he beat her? Well, no.

Meanwhile, the jet-powered drag car in which host Richard Hammond had a near-fatal crash at over 200 mph is now for sale. Of course, it's pretty banged up and doesn't actually start at this point, but it does come with brand-new spare parts for most of the most important bits.

"Dr. Who" Crossover With "Top Gear"

Two great UK imports are having a magnificent crossover: The Daily Mail reports that "Doctor Who" star David Tennant will be visiting BBC2's "Top Gear" this weekend to see how fast he can make it around the test track in the show's moderately-priced car, a Chevrolet Lacetti (sold in the US as the Suzuki Forenza). US viewers won't get Tennant for awhile yet, they can watch Michael Gambon and Ewan McGregor attempt the same feat this week on BBC America.

Tennant will be the second "Doctor Who" star on the track. He be hot to beat his co-star, Billie Piper. Piper, with a time of one minute and 48 seconds, placed 12th out of 27 drivers, only three seconds behind the leader, Simon Cowell, and well ahead of the last-ranked driver, British comedian Jimmy Carr, who managed only a poky 2:08.

I didn't find either of those two, but here's a clip of Hugh Grant in the same car on the same track, going a tiny bit wide on the last turn.

Thanksving Week Television

Thanksgiving week TV in the US really is a wasteland. Football, if you like that, of course, but otherwise it's an awful lot of reruns. Fortunately there's the BBC. BBC America is showing an awful lot of "Top Gear," and I particularly enjoyed one episode tonight, in which the lads made stretch limos out of European cars. A Fiat Panda stretched to the moon. The front half of a Saab combined with the front half of an Alfa Romeo, turned backwards. A 2-seater MG-F. It's something you could find on any jackass-oriented American show, but with Jeremy Clarkson and company, it becomes hilarious.

Here's the middle third of the show, where they actually drive the monstrosities on an airfield. You can find part 1 and part 3 and the rest online as well.

Very clever.

"Top Gear" Becomes One Of The Funniest Shows In The UK

The "Top Gear" lads investigate small cars... no, smaller. One of those old postwar British thingies with a 49cc engine. It fits in an elevator, so of course Ian Clarkson (all 6'3" of him) is going to drive it around inside his office:

"Spaced" Director Furious At US Adaptation

Edgar Wright, the director of UK Channel 4 hit "Spaced," is furious. Normally, it's great news when you hear your show's being adapted for foreign audiences, but Wright only found out when he read it in the news. He didn't even get a call or an invitation to consult.

Not only that, but the adaptation looks like it's going to destroy everything that Wright, along with series creators Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (formerly Jessica Stevenson), love about the series. In other words, the British original is about a few people who share an apartment and run into surreal situations involving drugs and guns, but the new version is on Fox and will probably be a tired rehash of "Friends."

Anyone think Fox is headed for a new "Viva Laughlin?"

Look at the original on YouTube and tell us if you think this could be translated into a popular American sitcom:

British TV Abandones People In Garbage Dumps

No, really. The UK's Channel 4 (thanks to the commenter who points out it's not the same thing as the BBC) has got a show where they put people in a garbage dump and see if they can survive on the trash that other people throw away for a few weeks. It's something like the successful BBC show "Castaway," in which groups of people are left in remote places in the wilderness. Only for this show, they're living in a landfill.

In other parts of the world, garbage-picking is a way of life: the Patayas landfill outside Manila is legendary for the number and organization of the people who make a living from it. This show should serve to demonstrate both the wastefulness of the contemporary UK lifestyle, and the kinds of hardships that some third-world residents go through on a daily basis. It should also serve up some laughs as people get completely grossed out by living in, on, and from trash.

We can only hope that the concept will reach the US. My suggestion: Paris Hilton, no time limit, and no cameras.

"Top Gear" On BBC America

It's been around in the UK for eight years, and now "Top Gear" is finally arriving in the US on BBC America. With any luck, we'll see a dramatic improvement in domestic car shows as they try to improve enough to match the humor, insight, and driving skills of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and the masked racer known only as The Stig.

What makes this show so great? Well they mix the usual car talk - testing the new Lamborghini Gallardo and racing luxury SUVs - with stunts like beating up used trucks to test their durability and getting celebrities to race family sedans, and really flogging the hell out of subcompacts in all kinds of torture tests. And then there's the funny news segments, which are something like a "Daily Show" for automotive enthusiasts.

Still, the central appeal is a raw, childlike fascination with very expensive cars. Check out this amazing clip where they take the 1001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron up to its 250+mph top speed: