December 2006


Well here I am in the mid season slump, everything is in repeat mode and I really have nothing crazy on DVD. Sure I have a few discs of various seasons of Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, but these shows are very much my ongoing filler. I am wrapping Season 8 of SG1 now (watched the whole series so far start to finish starting about 4 or 5 months ago).

So as I await the early to mid-January series startups (restarts) I figured I would comment about one area of TV that drives me nuts. Game Shows…

Not only are they a waste of time, they play down on the most basic of intelligence. We have Regis to thank for all of this. His performances and attraction as the host of the “Millionaire” series drove every half-wit producer to come up with a concept they could dump a half a million into and turn out 30 episodes of time filler.

Some examples this year that I am sure you have all seen. Deal or No Deal, with Howie Mandel… he should have stuck to being a “Little Monster” and stayed away from the swash-buckling pirate appearence on this piece of Junk. Lets see, they take the general public add lights and crazy sound effects and have them randomly pick boxes until they gamble on a basic average and decide which way to risk it. At least in the original gameshow “Lets make a Deal” there was some level of realistic risk… Take the “Small Box” or “Behind the Curtain” and then it was mixed up and a different everytime. This mindless random choice process repeating itself over and over is just insane.

Next up on my list of late 2006 nightmares… 1 vs. 100, now given this has a little better twist (but again just spinning off the “Match Game” series). Bob Saget is a good host here, my favorite of the worst so to speak, but the show again plays on some boob who has to answer all of about 10 questions in an entire HOUR ! Speed this game up get 40 questions in and 5 contestants in that same hour and you have a game show again. As it stands they hand out about 100-400k in an episode pay the namebrand host and tah-dah we have another hour of TV time down the Tube.

OK to the culmination of total crap for 2006 game shows. “Show me the Money”, should have been called “Beam me the hell outta here Scotty”. William Shatner acts like a feminine 70’s disco DJ commanding half naked girls to shake around for no reason in cage like cublicles. This show is by far one of the worst things to hit network gameshows EVER. Answer simple trivia by choosing from three topics, oh the topic you choose is too hard, no problem take the next one, still hard, take the last one… talk about eliminating any element or randomness or actual quizical format… let the ask the question and answer it, sounds like a premise right. Now pick the girl from her booth that holds a money sign… add it up and cash out ! But dont get SIX (6) wrong answers before you get 6 right, or the dramatic Shatner FemBot will force the girls to dance around and go to commercial every 6 minutes !… This is the sum total of crap for Fall 06. But did I mention that Captain Kirk hosts it, we gotta watch people, we gotta.

To counter the whole set of gameshow crap they put out this year, One show that showed serious potential as a longer standing series. “The Rich List”. Take some unknown british guy as a host, toss 2 partner groups in soundproof bubbles, and play the old game of “BullS–t”. A topic is choosen like “Tom Cruise Movies” or “Stephen King Books” and team 1 says they can name 10, team 2 says 20, team 1 says “Go for it”… They try to hit the 20 they claim and if they do, win the round if not (in the classic family feud style) the point goes to the other team, three rounds later… winning team goes to bonus round. Providing answers to the final list, each answer getting cash in their pot… they can walk when they want and return the next day keeping those winnings and facing the new players (like Jeopardy winners). So as this game show makes us think, doesn’t ask us just to provide some random trivia tidbit, you have to know the subject matter, and provides a way for those that are good to continue on. Staying power right. WRONG… CANCELLED after ONE episode. What is wrong with these people, (or us, as ratings mean it all to them). A no name host from britian instead of trying to dig up an 80’s relic. I mean come on.

What the hell happened to our ability to produce contest style television for primetime. Look way back at the golden days of TV game shows, even the Dating Game had a premise you could actually say was creative and conceptual.

Well, I guess that type of show is no longer in demand, as long as we see some skin and flashy lights with sounds, some dinosaur from historic sitcoms can come in and pass off dribble for an hour… Oh I cant wait for the 2 hour super special event nights.

Please bring back real TV and shoot the people that pitch this crap to begin with. Ugggh.

I just finished HBO’s `Big Love` Season 1 last night !!! Netflix sent me over the last two discs for Season 1, 2 episodes each… So i was gonna just watch one, wrap some presents for the kids and then hit the DVR !

Didn’t Happen. I got rehooked, it has been a few weeks since I had watched previous episodes (I mix up multiple series discs in my queue, so i never know what shows are coming next).  Well after one episode wrapped i couldnt stop, had to finish the season up

(… 4 hours later …)

Man… HBO did good yet again, I dropped my premium stations about 2 years ago. (no time for the movies, they are already old since i rent everything release day) HBO series programming is pretty solid. I followed OZ every week and thought the writing, character development, and premise were unique and a perfect fit (outside the box of the re-churned network blah).

So back to ‘Big Love’, if any of you havent seen it or dont have a clue about what I am talking about. Bill Paxton plays a hard working owner of two (Home Depot like) hardware stores outside Salt Lake City Utah. And of course the premise “he has to hide that he and his family are polygamous”.  With his three wives and seven kids they live in three houses next door to each other in the suburbs. The show started like most shows, primary characters and lots of introductions to the backstory. But each episode dug me in deeper, they open just enough new questions and answer the right amount of previous asked ones.

After the last episode, they really set us up for a ‘What’s Next’. I havent blogged long enough to start letting out the secrets of the shows i watch, but that ending is a story changing event and cant stand the pause between seasons. Today i begin my hunt into the blogs and newsgroups to find the dirt on season 2…

Anyone interested in a good drama, well carved characters, and a storyline that continues to move along. Check it out. Comment back if you have the same/different outtake on `Big Love`.

 

Welcome. This is the first time I have ever posted to a blog, been to lots of messageboards and newsgroups (i am a computer programmer), but never thought about just blurting out whatever pops in my head.

So. If you are reading this, then you found me somehow. And if the title of my blog is not clear, I am going to tell you what i think of stuff that clogs up my brain… literally dozens of hours of movies and television a week !!!

I am not planning on being a nitpicker, or crazy critic, i am passionate about some shows, and could care less about others. With my 8-DVDs-at-a-time Netflix, I constantly cycle current and past television series and movies.

You may see some flare for the 80s. I love em, movies, music, all of it. I am not really into the classics and I cant really comment on much early than 1975, maybe some old Sci-Fi, but even that’s spotty.

Well, I am just getting up and running, so let me get some stuff worked out, sit in my recliner, and start to fry my brain for your pleasure… once i get rolling, posting should be pretty regular.

Thanks for stopping by!