Happy Birthday EastEnders | All Along the Watchtower

They said it couldn't be done! They said there could never be a soap opera more grimly addictive than Coronation Street. They were wrong, after fifteen years EastEnders is still going strong. I'll be honest with you folks, I just can't get into EastEnders. It's not that I don't like British Soaps, I used to watch Emmerdale on PBS and had friends ship me absurd numbers of Brookside and Corrie tapes but try as I might I just can't get into EastEnders. EastEnders episodes come in three different flavors; grim, grimmer and omnibus. During Omnibus episodes (basically a week's worth of shows boiled down into one extra-depressing episode ) suicide hotline activity spike up at an alarming rate. Now I know I'm in the minority here, and these are soap operas not  happy happy kiddie shows but life is grim enough without watching a bunch of actors slumming it in a small screen kitchen sink drama.

 Luckily for the BBC most folk find EastEnders engrossing and rewarding entertainment and  they've been doing just fine  for the last fifteen years. In recognition of this milestone BBC America is letting viewers choose their two favorite EastEnders' episodes of all time. Just visit www.bbcamerica.com and vote for one of these cheerful examples of EastEnders' magic: 1986's "Den and Angie Split", 1989's "Den Gets Shot", 1996's "Arthur Collapses" and the ever popular  "Tiffany's Death" from 1998, to name but a few. The two winning entries will be shown Saturday, February 19th.  BBC America is also giving away some goodies to clever fans. Play the EastEnders edition of "Who Said It? to win a jacket autographed by Barbara Windsor  (Peggy Mitchell) and when you submit your EastEnders fantasy moment .(I don't even want to know<g>) you have a chance to win one of dozens of EastEnders' cast photos. Good luck!

While EastEnder's leaves me cold I've already become addicted to BBC America's Mastermind quiz show. Mastermind is about pure knowledge, there are no buzzers to buzz, no smarmy hosts cracking wise, no hooting and hollering' audiences, just two minutes, one comfy black chair and Magnus Magnusson rapid-fire delivery of questions ranging from the deceptively simple to the deviously difficult. Each episode pits four brain boxes against the clock, the questions and each other. The first round features question tailored to each contestants expert field of knowledge which can include everything from the Jack the Ripper Murders to the life of Beethoven to Woman Members of Parliament. A second round of general knowledge questions follows and eventually one genius triumphs above the rest and moves on to the next round. Riveting viewing that might just teach

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