Sideswipe Aug 18: The daily update, helmet protection, clinking glasses

Our very own short-form TV series the "1pm Daily Update" has had a fan page created on IMDb — a website with information and trivia about movies and TV shows — and the reviews are in:

"This has to be the best reality show of 2020," declares one fan. "I find myself glued to the TV every day at 1pm to see what new drama has unfolded! Season 1 was great and had a fantastic finale. Season 2 has just been released and I have heard their may be a new character called "The Mask" so I am looking forward to seeing how that will fit into the narrative!"

There is much praise for the original ensemble cast with Jacinda and Ashley being described as the "best duo since Mulder and Scully" and thumbs up for the casting changes: "Thankfully Clark, occasionally seen in Season 1, has been cut….Rumours of comedic actor Todd Muller joining the show were very short-lived, with the producers taking a completely different route in introducing super-villain Judith 'Crusher' Collins instead."

The hate-watching of the journalists is still a great hook for this season: "In the hiatus between seasons, Tova O'Brien got to flex her comedic muscles as the director of the surprise hit 'Todd and Nikki's First Day'. It's disappointing to see her now, once again, relegated to a role where all she gets to do is ask inane questions".

The added addition of the conspiracy theory narrative, while unnerving for some viewers has added some dark humour for others. "Season One got better as it went along. Probably because I started watching on my own, then halfway through I could eat pizza while watching and then at the end I was watching on my phone in a packed pub. However, I feel they've jumped the shark early in Season Two with the introduction of this Gerry Brownlee character... the whole show felt quite real up until he was added. Whoever writes his lines needs sacking…"

But our show holds up well compared to other versions. "I think some of the commenters here should definitely check out the American version, which is way darker but does suffer from randomly binning some of its better characters and is starting to drag on a bit."

But not everyone is a fan… "1pm Daily Update was innovative, I admit. It was the TV series that first introduced sign language experts to provide movement on the screen during the main characters' lengthy wooden monologues. Without this many smart TVs would have turned themselves off to save power."

See more: The Daily Update show

The helmet of virus protection

At Lim Chhour Supermarket Karangahape Rd on Wednesday.

Clinking glasses

Trevor Smith writes: "Here's the real reason why we clink glasses. In drinking liquid from a container we first of all use our sense of TOUCH to hold and grip the container whether it be tumbler, wine glass, etc., we then use the sense of SIGHT to observe the clarity and hue of the liquid, then the sense of SMELL to determine the odour or in the case of wine, the bouquet, then the sense of TASTE to evaluate the liquid. So the only sense not used is SOUND – so we clink the glass to complete the use of all our senses.