TV or Not TV
I realize that while others here are busy saving the world, my own preoccupations with TV shows, bookshelves, and scantily clad women are in the eternal scheme of things unbearably trivial. However, I have just returned from a dental exam where I have been told that I need a second complex and painful oral surgery in the hospital at a cost of a mid-sized Cadillac (a procedure, BTW, that isn't offered in Canada and Europe or covered by insurance). So while I'm still feeling the Xanax, I would like to give a few brief mentions to a trio of summer shows that I've been attempting to follow.
A B goes to SpikeTV's "The Factory". A low-key cross between the late, lamented "Knights of prosperity" and "The Office", this mostly improv-ed (the dash is there for a reason) comedy is often pedestrian and predictable but every now and then rises to the sublime. All three of these shows waste a great cast--but "The Factory" gets the most by far out its own, a quartet of young standup comedians, at least one or two of whom seem destined for future fame. The conceit of this very truncated 20-minutes-per-show comedy series is that it's about 4 buddies working a shift in a factory--we haven't a clue what's manufactured there and, judging from their chronic slacking, neither do they. The most magical moments come, naturally enough, when they're discussing their women.
A disappointed D for "Swingtown". Mike Kelly's ode to the '70s and "Ice-Storm" style suburban swingers took off like (as well as in) a Boeing 747 in its first episode, but has basically been grounded on the runway ever since. I love Jack Davenport of the Brit-hit "Coupling". I love Mark Vallee of "Keen Eddie". I love the '70s details--the TV sets, the custom kitchens, the old cars, and in HD the show is like a visual time machine at moments. Unfortunately, it comes with a sound track, including songs that *nobody* listened to the 70s, songs that were written especially for the series that didn't exist in the 70s, and scarcely a single piece of accurate slang that we actually USED in the 70s. Plenty of anachronisms though (none of us said 'whatever!'), and Playboy Clubs were considered the absolute height of uncoolness, few indeed of the 'Bunnies' going on to become lawyers as depicted herein. As for the 'swinging', which is treated as a serious and healthy life-style choice; there was some in episode one, some chaste adult mass 'skinny-dipping' in episode 4 and a hell of a lot of Masters & Johnson psychobabble instead of sex ("I feel I'm growing--but I want us to grow together") in between. I'm at a loss as to why this series was actually made. Does it disapprove of what it purports to portray? Does it approve? And most importantly, when does it start to portray it..?
And an astonished F to the BBC's "Bonekickers". Initially, I was excited by the advance praise for this show: a smart, big-budget action series about archaeologists, starring old favorites like Hugh Bonneville and Julie Graham--what could possibly go wrong? Answer: everything. Its first episode, which featured the sort of bad continuity and internal lack of script logic that makes your 8-year-old squirm beside you and say "Daddy, why didn't she just run?" or "--close the window?' or "--pick up the gun?" achieved the near-impossible--it managed to outrage both Muslim and Christian viewers: (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1034512/BBC-Bonekickers-drama-bl...) I should like to point out that the beheaded Muslim from the article was depicted as a sort of cross between Jesus and Gandhi, so Muslim viewers had only his violent end to complain about, but the rest of the show treated Christians basically as deluded Nazis. Normally, the Brits do 'procedural" CSI-type shows quite well, with believable science and forensics, but this gang of so-called archaelogists crashed around violating every single rule of excavation, and when at last they tracked down an underground vault containing the "True Cross" (you know, the one that Jesus dude was nailed up on), their negligence during an inspidly choreographed battle with the "New Templars" (two pimply teenagers and a TV evangelist--never mind that modern Templars are called "Freemasons") caused it to catch on fire and burn up. Which was OK, because the splinter of it they'd earlier found was causing cancer patients to think they were cured. Can't have that!
Bear in mind this was Christianity's greatest symbol the Beeb burned up without even an 'oops, sorry'. Imagine if the Rock of Qaba in Mecca had been given similar cinematic treatment. Next week, BTW, the team saves a Barack Obama candidate from being killed by the evil American government. Something to do with a secret they unearth on a slave ship. Where's Hermann Goering when you really need him?
Guesting on 'The Factory", most likely.
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References -
I saw the pilot and that 's it. Didn't really think it had anywhere else to go, really.
Anyway.....as far as the music goes, I did catch a commercial spot for it and I was shocked (seriously shocked!) to hear a snipit of "Disco Fever" off of the 1976 Bruton Library album Light My Fire (link goes to my music blog)....which is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, Library Music album out there.
--~At times like these I am reminded of the immortal words of Socrates when he said...."I drank what?"
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)The cable went in 2003 or 2002, IIRC. No antenna. I just buy or rent DVDs and pick up some junk off YouTube.
Never looked back. Have more time, less need to buy crap. It's all thanks to broadband, of course. I can be connected but not to the idiot box. When I travel I get to see what I'm "missing", since every hotel in the planet has cable, or so it seems. TV seems to be getting louder, dumber, yellower, and faster. One might even say epileptic. Production values are higher though. I guess that's something. Obviously the equipment has improved and there is plenty of technical skill to go around.
Still, the eye candy is not enough. I've decided TV is just not worth the time. Scantily clad women and bookshelves are though. If anything, I appreciate the value of both more highly now. Could be an age thing. Cut the noise, stick with the essentials.
--Of course not!
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)of me tossing my Sony Wega out of a second-story window if only you'll tell me where that library is!
--Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
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| parent )I'm all for a nice big flat TV on the wall.
Just not actually hooked up to any kind of broadcast network, cable, satellite, or plain old air.
I'll probably get an Apple TV at some point as well.
It's about control; me controlling it, rather than it controlling me.
--Of course not!
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| parent )You know you want to keep up with today's young Republicans!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Montag
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| parent )I know it's hard to believe, but I just can't spare the neurons. I have fewer every day, and they don't work as well as they used to, so I have to preserve them as best I can.
--Of course not!
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| parent )One of the favorite examples of Rome's decline and fall offered up by history teachers through the ages is that of the 'vomitorium'--where Romans stuffed themselves at meals, then staggered off to vomit so they could eat the next course. There is little evidence, of course, that this ever happened--it's based on a famous passage in the 'Satyricon' of Petronius, which may have simply been satire, and on a mistranslation of the word 'vomitoria', which were merely public exits at stadia. But tonight, America's decadence reaches this high-water mark with the debut of the game show "Hurl!" on the G4 Channel, where contestants over-eat yucky foods and then go off on roller-coaster rides and stuff. The winner is whoever pukes last--but of course, it's really all about the fun of participating.
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)The vomitoriums were the set of lobbies and stairways leading out of the Colosseum. Whoever did the capacity planning for the Colosseum was a genius. The whole place could be emptied out in a few minutes.
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| parent )The Middleman!
How can you not love a show with genetically engineered, super intelligent gorillas bent on taking over the Mafia, a gang of revenge-hungry luchadores in a a battle to the death with the most dangerous man in world -- the only man alive who has mastered the wu-han thumb of death -- and a fashion agency run by reformed succubi?
Anyone who ever read and enjoyed comic books or campy SF has to watch this show.
--Guard, protect and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out as Heaven.
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)I used to like TV a lot more.
Now all I watch (aside from rented Netflix) is Antiques Roadshow, the local news for weather forecasts (Tom Skilling!) and maybe a documentary from time to time on PBS. I liked Project Runway for a while, but couldn't get into it this last season.
I don't get HBO. And I mean I really don't get it. I've tried watching the Sopranos on borrowed DVDs and some other shows along those lines. But I just can't bring myself to give a rat's ass after a few hours. I have no desire to delve into a string of seven seasons of hour long dramas. It becomes a writers' wank-fest (sorry, Harley) once they sell the first few episodes and it proves popular, they need to vamp for the next 5-8 years to keep selling subscriptions to the channel. No story arc, just make it up as you go along.
I stick to movies, mostly.
Just wanted to add, the original British 'Coupling' was great... at least when "Jeff" was on the show.
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). . .The Tudors and Dexter (both on Showtime), in spite of the massive historical liberties taken by the former and the creepy feeling that can occur during the latter when you realize for the first time that you're rooting for a serial killer to succeed.
Of course, if you get Showtime you also get to watch "Penn and Teller's Bulls**t!", which is deeply, deeply fun on many levels.
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| parent )Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry the Eighth? Really? I mean...really really? Even still, I had high hopes and so I gave it a few episodes, but then I gave up. It has the feel of a modern soap opera dressed up in period costume. I can't say I'm real interested in that.
Dexter is, of course, simply brilliant. I thank the writers strike for encouraging me to get the DVDs from Netflix.
The Penn & Teller show is a fun half hour, but it often seems lazy. Sometimes they pick an easy target and go at it hammer and tong, which is amusing. It's not unlike hunting dairy cows with hand grenades...flashy and entertaining, but not very sporting. Other times they pick a more serious topic and gloss over the hard stuff so they can make fun of the people they disagree with with. Hey, it's their show. They can do what they like and it's usually worth the half hour. But still, it's lazy.
--Guard, protect and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out as Heaven.
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| parent )Yep, that's a favorite of mine. Season 3 should be...interesting.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )Season 2 ain't on DVD yet.
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )Two pilots to write. And the pilot for FX has Kierk's preoccupations firmly in mind.
A Manhattan sex therapy clinic. Run by father/daughter partners.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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)The first episode was pretty good. Not quite enough going on, in my opinion, and I'm not quite convinced the scope (grunt's-eye view of the first month of the invasion) is broad enough to encompass the import of the story of those days. Political bickering back home is a distant, though naggingly important, consideration to these guys.
And of course the sweep into Baghdad was the military equivalent of one of those early Tyson KOs...months of buildup, 30 seconds and it's over. Maybe there's a lot the news coverage missed in those days, but I can't help thinking the next year or two would offer more essential material.
Be that as it may, excellent production values and an interesting cast of unknowns make GK very compelling. I'll stick around long enough for things to get going.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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)to HBO, so I watched a recording my in-laws were generous enough to make for me.
I was pleasantly surprised, because I've a very critical eye & ear when it comes to dramatizations of life in the Marines. This show did quite a good job. Many writers fall down on the details...most especially the dialogue. The language of Marines is very distinctive, and the terminology and cadence have to be just right or it won't have a shred of credibility. In this case, it was very good.
With any luck, the remaining episodes will track as well.
And my in-laws will remain generous.
--Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
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| parent )The attention to little details seems promising to me. I'm picking up on some of the little things for later like; no batteries for night vision, no turret shields for gunners, first time shooting live ammunition on crew-served weapons was just prior to going over the berm. There are other things to that may become significant facts later on.
The show definitely got the love of pr0n, chew and stupid rumors dead on.
--It's not only redundant, it's also repetitive
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| parent )Lot of fun stuff, from the Rolling Stone reporter who forgets to spit his copenhagen during a gas alert to the poor gunner who tries to get that turret shield Fed Exed before the war starts. The PX limits supplies soldiers can buy, but in its infinite wisdom will empty the shelves for any civilian with money to pay. If Saddam knew better, he'd just send some guys to buy up the stock.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )TV raised me.
I'm still grateful.
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)Especially for 'Then Came Bronson.'
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )here's the ultimate TV cult favorite from that era--and you're the only one here I can trust to recognize it: "Nichols"...
BTW, if you need any rush dialogue for your pilots, I'm the king. And I'm free.
Speaking of F/X, shame about season 2 of "Dirt". Season 1 rocked.
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| parent )Garner. So cool.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )That show sold a lot of Sportsters.
And black Watch Caps.
--Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
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| parent )My dad has fond memories of the episode in which Keenan Wynn plays second banana to a 1930's "Rudge"*
*As far as my dad is concerned the Rudge IS and always will be the "star" of that episode.
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )to realize that the chronological gap between the air date of that episode and the "old-timer" Rudge's era is less than that original broadcast and now.
With that thought in mind, I'm off to soak my teeth...
--Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
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| parent )