Hats off to the Brits

TV has been dismal this past summer. If not for So You Think You Can Dance, I might have considered selling our new HD TV. Recently, however, we've had the pleasure of watching a truly enjoyable movie, Hot Fuzz, and just the other night the BBC series Jekyll, currently being broadcast on Showcase. And it's all thanks to the Brits. (By the way, So You Think You Can Dance is produced by Nigel Lythgoe, a British television and film director and producer).

James Nesbitt plays the modern-day descendent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and he is truly at war with himself in a most diabolical way. I can't wait to see how Tom Jackman manages to protect his family from his alter ego and thwart the sinister designs of the mysterious agency watching his (and Hyde's) every move.

As for Hot Fuzz, picture the plight of a straight-laced policeman tossed out of his London precinct because he is too good at his job, who is transferred without his consent to the model British village of Sandford. The film reminded me of the Westerns I used to watch as a kid — imagine Simon Pegg as Officer Angel swaggering in Clint-Eastwood style and, come hell or high water, cleaning up Dodge City...that is, Sanford.