TV

On House

Posted on August 31, 2009 by movieguyjon TV 0

Season 1 and 2 of House M.D. were great and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was just the right balance of procedural and character development to make it perhaps the best doctor show of it’s time. And then seasons 3-5 happened and what we got was essentially a parody of itself and some rather infuriating plot arcs. Big things would happen, only to be cancelled out later for the sake of keeping the “hit” formula alive. Well, this preview makes me think that that will be changing in the new season.

All I can say is, “About damn time!”

A major flaw that a lot of these procedural shows have is that eventually they get boring. The well of ideas gets tapped out, if you will. For whatever reason, the characters become stale and we just stop caring. One way that shows can prevent this is by breaking from the formula and evolving, something that the premium cable shows do very well. Here’s hoping that this show can find a new set of legs this season and give us a deeper look into the characters we’ve all drifted away from.

On Premium Television and Cable

Posted on August 24, 2009 by movieguyjon Blather TV 5

Have you seen True Blood? Have you seen Weeds? How about Dexter? Hung? Sopranos? Dead Like Me? Six Feet Under? Really, have you had the pleasure of watching anything on the premium channels? Unless you’ve been living under or rock or lack an internet connection, you probably have. Chances are, you’ve raved about at least one of these shows to your friends. Makes sense. Want to know why? These shows all share one thing in common: they know how to create damn good stories. Can you say that about regular cable?

Let’s do some comparison between shows on the premium networks and your basic cable.

Hit or Miss Factor

On your basic cable channels (including ABC, NBC, and CBS) there’s a higher chance of “miss” versus “hit.” Granted, these channels produce a lot more content than the premium channels, but most of them are just garbage. NBC and TNT are great examples of this as they surround their flagship shows with forgettable tripe. Really, what show was worth staying to see after Chuck on Mondays? Heroes? Maybe back in season one. How about The Office? Does anyone recall what shows surrounded that hit?

With TNT, were ANY of their “originals” any good? It seems like every week they put out ads for some new, bland show that rocks a tired premise. HawthoRNe? Gimme a break. I think we had enough of the nurse with a heart of gold story line. ER, anyone? A few shows had some promise, but then faded due to lack of viewership, which brings up an issue I talked about awhile back with the way that TNT advertises their shows versus USA. Point being that these channels flop way more often than they succeed.

And then there’s TBS. The only show worth watching on that channel is the syndicated episodes of The Office and Family Guy that they air.

With the premium channels, the chance for hit or miss is skewed more toward hit as they put more “oomf” into their marketing and have much better storylines in general. It’s almost worth the infrequency of new shows when each season of their flagship shows are continually solid and entertaining. Dexter’s second season, although not my favorite, is still leaps and bounds superior to a lot of the regular cable fare.

Freedom of Subject Matter

The basic cable networks are limited out of the gate in what they can put into their shows in terms of adult content and graphic violence. If you know me at all, you’ll know that those are the two things I’m a huge fan of. I like that my shows are gritty, and I like it when my favorite television characters swear like real adults do. I like when two characters cut the flirtatious bullshit and get to the sex. Witty, flirtatious dialogue and camera suggestion are all that the basic cable channels have (to protect THE CHILDREN) which oftentimes leads to some HORRIBLE exchanges.

GUY: Hey there.

GIRL: Hey.

GUY: Are you a thief? Because you stole my heart!

GIRL: I have an apartment.

Next Day

GUY: OH YEAH!!!!

Granted, the more successful basic cable shows can work around these limits and still produce engaging content (see: anything Joss Whedon does). But oftentimes I find myself wishing that the characters in a show weren’t so damn bound to the rules of basic cable. With premium channels, anything goes. Kind of liberating, ain’t it?

Story Arcs

Premium cable shows have the benefit of having a better handle on their story arcs than that of their regular cable counterparts. You ever find yourself wishing that something more significant would happen to the characters of The Office ala Jim’s transfer? Ever wish that someone in Heroes would JUST FREAKIN’ DIE ALREADY? *cough*claire*cough*sylar*cough*peter*cough* Again, the point is that a majority of these regular cable shows need to keep going if they’re successful, so any major changes that get rid of favorite characters or dramatically alters the formula just can’t happen. It’s not really the writer’s fault for this, since it’s a mandate from above, but it really hurts the show’s ability to grow and evolve with the characters. The only shows that I know of that can escape this issue are the procedurals, which aren’t necessarily about the characters themselves.

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts on the matter. Agree? Disagree?

On the Differences Between TNT and USA

Posted on August 12, 2009 by movieguyjon Blather TV 0

TNT and USA have a distinct way of marketing their television shows. When I watch these television spots, I feel a very distinct way about each and I wonder if anyone else feels the same way. For the TNT ads, I feel dismissive and jaded when the ads cross the screen. This “meh” reaction turns to scorn and then I end up making some kind of insulting quip to the television show. Case in point, HawthoRNe. We see sweeps and zooms of Jada Pinkett-Smith standing all dramatically with voiceover about how she’s the nurse who’s got EVERYTHING and stands up for the little guys. The commercials just bleed stupid and I hate them.

And then there are the USA ads, which feature similar sweeps and zooms, but have the opposite effect on me. I think “aw damn. I gotta see that!” or “Ooooh, this is kind of cool. I gotta see that!” or even “OH SNAP I GOTTA SEE THAT!” It might be that the production value on these commercials are much better and feature the characters doing interesting things. It could also help that they really work at teasing you as opposed to hitting you over the head with how awesome the show is.

Anyone else notice this?

On Crossovers (Hint: They’re Bad)

Posted on August 11, 2009 by movieguyjon Blather Screenwriting TV 12

The short answer: Crossovers in television are bad news.

The lengthier answer: Crossovers in television are generally bad news.

I was directed to an article about the future season of Fox’s flagship series BONES and how they were considering a crossover from LIE TO ME, another procedural detective show. After reading the article, I thought about it for all of a minute and came to the conclusion you see above. Seriously, there’s a reason why we don’t get many crossovers in this day and age of television: they DON’T WORK. First, the writers from one show would need to co-ordinate with the writers from the other show and they would need to come up with a logical explanation for why the two heroes would meet. And then you would have to deal with the problem that arises that the two shows share the same universe. What this does, from a logical standpoint, is require that future crossovers happen and that Brennan and Lightman eventually become a team.

Really, who wouldn’t want to see Lightman and Brennan solve cases? Brennan could accuse the bad guys and Lightman could call their bluffs. You could probably cut the show down to a half an hour, since their team-up would be quite epic. And hey, Booth could shack up with Lightman’s spunky protege and calamity could ensue!

Oh, what am I talking about. This shit is retarded. Fox, don’t do it. The end.

Filed Under Moronic

Posted on June 15, 2009 by movieguyjon Blather TV 5

Jonathan Wright writes via The Guardian:

There was time when episodic science fiction television was exactly that, episodic. Though there might be a few recurring plotlines in your favourite shows, you could dip in and out of a series without being seriously inconvenienced.

Not today. In the era of the story arc, it increasingly takes serious commitment to watch sci-fi telly. The new series of Torchwood is a case in point. Torchwood: Children of Earth, to give the latest series of the Doctor Who spin-off its newly expanded moniker, is “one epic story told over five nights”.

I’m sorry, but what’s so bad about five not-so-epic-but-nevertheless-carefully-crafted-individual stories shown over five weeks –or possibly even six if you need to re-jig the schedules because of a major sporting event? How did telly get so complicated?

Excuse me? Complicated? As someone who absolutely loves serialized television, this blog post has me scratching my head. What’s got me scratching my head even more is that this guy goes on to blame Babylon 5 for the downfall of the episodic Sci-Fi. What’s even worse is that he states that these ongoing arcs are “inconvenient,” and that one cannot simply jump into a show from the 3rd season and enjoy it like all the other shows out there.

Uh-huh. Whatever. The guy doesn’t seem to understand story arcs all that well, or that story is perhaps one of the most important aspects to television and film. Would you have really stuck with BSG had there not been a mission to find Earth? Would you have enjoyed Buffy quite the same way if there hadn’t been a “Big Bad” every season? And what’s that crap about story arcs excluding episodic content? Hello? Pushing Daisies? Dead Like Me? Must I list every other television show in existence?

This ranty-pants post is brought to you via J Michael Straczynski, who rocks. :)

Jonathan is a VJ, Part 4

Posted on February 3, 2009 by movieguyjon Internets Music TV 2

It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these posts, and for that I apologize. School ended, and then I went on the big bad job hunt. In fact, I’m still on the big bad job hunt and have been bouncing around from contract job to contract job to help with the bills. But that’s beside the point. I’ve been lax in making a music video mix for you and for that I apologize. Let’s start February off on the right foot and get this show on the road!

RJD2 |MTV Music

Trust Me, Give It a Chance

Posted on December 29, 2008 by movieguyjon Blather TV 0

The extent of my advertising knowledge comes from a focus group I participated in around a month ago. They placed a plethora of ad campaign trials in front of us and asked us what we thought about them, if they worked and what we got from the “slogans” presented. I gave my input, participated in the discussion, and took my pay as soon as I left the office room. That was it. Minimal effort for minimal gain. In short, kind of a hollow experience. When I was given a screener copy of a new TNT series called TRUST ME, I pretty much expected the same sort of thing.

If you don’t know, TRUST ME is a new contemporary drama series airing on TNT in January. It’s about two ad men, Mason (Eric McCormack of Will and Grace) and Connor (Tom Cavanagh of Ed), and their partnership in an ad agency based out of Chicago. Throughout the series, the two work together to maintain their contracts with “unreasonable” clients while dealing with their ever-complicated personal lives.

The screener DVD I received had the pilot episode as well as an unfinished cut of the second episode “All Hell the Victors.” The first episode introduced me to all of the characters by telling me their names, and what they do for the company. The gimmick played out in a glib manner, labeling the CEO as “The Boss of Everyone” and the others as the boss of somebody else. One guy got the unfortunate monicker “The Suit.” In my mind, I was ready to check out. Here was a show that promised edgy and ended up using tired gimmicks to help me distinguish the characters that weren’t the leads. Not a good start.

But that changed with the introduction of the two main characters, Mason and Connor. They are the strength of the two episodes I saw, being the most realized out of everyone else and given the most life thanks to McCormack and Cavanagh. Some of their interactions bordered on over-the-top, but not obnoxiously so. And when it comes down to it, the two were just fun to watch onscreen.

But like I said, the rest of the cast bordered on forgettable. I have a feeling, however, that this complaint will fade away as the series progresses. There was a particular scene between Mason and a new copywriter (Monica Potter) in the second episode that was particularly telling of the idea behind TRUST ME. Simply put, it’s about the characters.

Perhaps the weakest aspect this show, and the thing I have the biggest complaint about is that the series is set in Chicago but not truly “set” in Chicago. We get the usual cut-aways to the Chicago skyline or some piece of dialogue telling us that we’re in Chicago, ala MY BOYS, but not much more. If you squint in the first episode you can kind of see a RED EYE dispenser and the elevated tracks along Lake. I had to re-watch the scene a couple of times to tell that it was actually shot in the city proper. The show was created by Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny, who have over 20 years of experience in the advertising world having worked for J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett Advertising in Chicago. Considering all this experience and time in the city, one would think that they could have infused more of it’s personality into the show as well. No joke, one of the characters looks out the window of his office and exclaims, “Aahh, Chicago!” like he’s lived there his whole life. Don’t buy it for a bit. Here’s hoping that this changes in future episodes.

So, I suppose you’re wondering if the show is worth watching or not. Apart from a few issues like location and weak side characters, TRUST ME is actually a rather compelling drama. It’s fast paced, energetic, and the leads are extremely likable. That’s enough to get me hooked for more episodes at least! If you can, be sure and check out the premiere on Monday, Jan. 26th at 10pm (ET/PT). You won’t be bored, trust me.

Jonathan is a VJ, Part 2

Posted on November 19, 2008 by movieguyjon Internets Music My Life TV 0

Here we are again, folks. It’s time for another edition of “Jonathan is a VJ.” This time around, I’m thinking that I’ll take you on a journey of old school MTV / VH1 delights, stuff that I watched over and over again as a kid. Without further delay, let’s get started with probably the first music video I ever watched. Incidentally, it’s the first music video I watched on MTV’s New Site.

The Buggles |MTV Music

A Lengthy Rambling About Television

Posted on September 25, 2008 by movieguyjon TV 9

Television for me has always been one of those love / hate things. There are shows I really really adore, and then there are shows that I really really hate. Everything in the middle stays there and eventually becomes forgotten as I move on to newer shows. Lately, I’ve been trying to deconstruct the way in which I “grade” these programs in the hopes that I might learn a little bit more about what makes me tick and to perhaps get an idea how we go about dismissing certain programming and then worshipping others in the same breath.