Category: Television

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Sorkin writes television about television pretty well

I recall a certain point in my life where I thought I was better than those who watched television on a regular basis. I’m not sure if would call it being elitist, but it’s just one of those things that results from the “you mean you’re not watching [insert name here]” craze of the 90’s, or at least how I remember things. I blame prime time sitcoms, reality TV, and the communication studies department at the University of Iowa.

No matter what anyone tells you, education and entertainment should not mix. Write enough papers about social ramifications of anything and your take on everything else in life can, and most likely will, change. If you’re really good, then you’ll find some way to enjoy some of the things you can see in this short life that we all have.

Rebecca already made a post about this the other day, but “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip”[imdb] is something we’ve been enjoying quite a bit. It’s another Aaron Sorkin creation that is probably too good for this era of over hype and the need for instant success. I was never impressed with the commercials that I saw for it, but someone said that if I loved Sports Night[imdb], which I do, then I would dig Studio 60.

Sports Night was one of those shows that I caught on Comedy Central while eating lunch between classes in college. At that point, it was in syndication, which is odd being that it had only been on the air for a short time. Actually, I was completely wrong, and the show ended after barely two seasons. It won a few Emmys, but the ratings never went where ABC wanted them. A quality show that never produced the quantity of viewers that the big guys calling the shots wanted. Such is the formula that makes up network television.

Needless to say, I fell in love with Sports Night and bought the entire series on DVD. I don’t care a whole lot about sports, asides from hockey, baseball, and some football, but the way the series was written, I liked it a lot.

Studio 60 is the same way. Sketch comedy is a love/hate genre in so many ways, so this show already had me saying nay. Like Sports Night, Sorkin brings the story of the characters to the forefront while putting the premise of the show into the background. It’s less about making a west coast version of SNL every week and more about the lives of the people making it happen. The interaction breeds drama for and about the show, but you get the picture that there is more to series than just execs, producers, and cast members.

Of course, and in true typical fashion, mentioning this is all in vain.

Here we go: despite receiving an order for three more episodes on Friday, the Aaron Sorkin NBC drama “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip” is about to be put out of its misery.

Cast members are already confiding in friends that the end is near. It’s likely NBC will pull the plug shortly I am told by insiders.

Last week, Studio 60 had 7.7 million viewers. Compare that with competing “CSI: Miami,” with 17.5 million. That gap cannot be closed.

But ‘Studio 60’ has trouble internally at NBC, forget its intramural rivals. According to ratings stats, the “Saturday Night Live” behind the scenes soap opera loses almost half the viewers delivered to it a few minutes earlier by another new show, “Heroes,” which has become a surprise cult hit. [foxnews]

I am almost betting that Sorkin has another Emmy on his hands with Studio 60. It’s smart, well produced, funny, and, most importantly, keeps me coming back to the story every week. Granted that the show has only been on the air for five weeks, but that is saying a couple things. For one thing, the show is highly under estimated by a lot of potential viewers. It might not have mass, wide appeal, but it stands a far better chance than some of the other junk that has come and gone.

The other aspect is the fact that there is no such thing as allowing buzz to grow for the television industry, unless it is in present tense. There’s no room for buzz to take effect outside of what the ratings say about what a select portion of television viewers watch, aka Nielsen ratings. No room for people spreading the word so people can set their VCRs, PVRs, DVRs, DVD-Rs, or whatever they use to record this thing that someone said they should check out because it might be an enjoyable program.

Hollywood always seems to know what’s good for you, and what is good is usually replaced with crap.

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Give me Canucks PPV in HD

Dear Ocra Bay,

In the last episode of The Crazy Canucks, I made mention about how nice it would be to have Canucks PPV games be broadcast in HD. I would believe that the reality of making this possible wouldn’t be too hard because, let’s face it, if we’re paying $11.95 per game(round about $150 if you buy all 17 games for the 2006-07 season), then we should really be getting our best bang for the buck.

Canucks TV PPVLet’s be honest. What’s the best thing about Canucks PPV? It’s the play-by-play by John Shorthouse. Notice that I’m not saying much about Tom Larscheid, but I guess it’s somewhat worth to hear the next, insane thing that the guy is going to loft out of his mouth. I kinda see why you guys keep him around, but I’ll restrain myself from saying anything more.

The fact that everything is in sync, in terms of no satellite delay from watching it on TV and turning on the radio, and Shorty being amazing on the call is great. I’m not going to dispute that at all.

Sure, you guys throw those neat segments in between periods and have no commercials, but after that, what’s the big deal? Not a whole lot. If, as fans, we are forced to head out to a pub because we can’t get ourselves to throw down the cash to watch it at home, these things don’t matter. And for the most part, these games are huge money makers for pubs all over the lower mainland, most of which have those fancy, wide-screen, plasma or LCD TVs anyway.

Let me give you guys a quick comparison of what this might be like because some people don’t get the fascination between the two technologies. Believe it or not, there are massive differences between the two technologies.

Canucks in HD

Now this is crude mock-up of a picture that we took at a pre-season game against the Ducks. The point is, you get to see more of the ice. On a break-away, watch the goalie get setup, pee his pants while he freaks out in anticipation, and take on the shot from the opposing player. Watch the spray of ice in amazing detail. See each and every stitch on Green’s face from the puck he took in Nashville. To me, that is all worth the extra effort of catching a PPV game in HD.

The biggest advantage to go HD is the fact that your tickets are steep in price. We do love the team, but there are just some folks who can’t afford to go to as many games as we’d like to. Combine the cost of food and beverages and it’s much easier for us to gather at our nearest, buddy’s house who has a sweet 42-inch DLP with 5.1 dolby digital surround sound. Give me that great picture and sound that I crave, and you present a true like-you-are-there experience.

So what to do Canucks fans have right now?

Canucks in NTSC

Dreary, dull, and not near the resolution that it could be, pay-per-view television. The worst part is that no matter how content you can be listening to the game on the radio instead, you’ll never get to see video highlights unless they are able to get footage from the broadcast of the opposing team. Then there are blackout restrictions and rules that local media has to follow or else you guys will do something mean.

Yeah, it’s a little picky, but I’m sure there are plenty of sponsors out there who would provide some funds to make this a reality. “Canucks TV, presented in High-Definition by Futureshop!” Best Buy. The Source. I don’t care who, but you guys are one of the biggest attractions in town.

“Canucks Pay-Per-View in HD” Come on! Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Thank about it, Orca Bay.

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Canucks 2006 broadcast schedule

J.J. over at the Canucks Hockey Blog posted an update to an older post about catching this season on TV. If you check out his post, you can get the full run down of when and where you can catch all the Canucks games this season. Well, not all of the games.

Bumping this up now that Sportsnet and the Canucks have agreed on a multi-year deal. I’ve updated the Canucks broadcast TV schedule above to include all Sportsnet and pay-per-view games this season.

80 of 82 games are going to be on TV this season, the first time in recent years that not all Canucks games will be shown. The two games not on TV are: the Oct. 21st game @ Nashville and the Apr. 7th game @ San Jose. [canuckshockeyblog]

Another intesting detail that many fans would be interested in that that the number of pay-per-view games appears to be 17. One would think that the two dates not being televised would get ear marked for PPV, but looks like we’ll be listening to Shorthouse on the radio for those games.

Lord knows that people would probably pay for it, but two more games would make buying all the PPV games in one package a tad more expensive. You can always get those special cable or satellite packages to catch games in other markets if those two games are that important.

This year’s regular season TV schedule once again includes 45 broadcasts on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, with 13 games on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, 17 on Canucks TV and five games on TSN. Jim Hughson and John Garrett will once again be calling games on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. [canucks.com]

I like Jim Hughson at the helm for play-by-play, and it’s hard to contest Shorthouse, be it on the radio or TV. It might just be me, but the color commentators often make me cringe, whoever they bring in for any game. “Roll up the rim to win!” is not the first thing that pops into my head when some one scores a goal, and “I like, I love it, I wanna see more of it” is just… well… need I say more?

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So long, Mr. Irwin

Weebls Stuff - Steve Irwin Memorial SoundboardEven if you liked him or you didn’t, there is something about the small number of people in the world who risk everything they have to bring television cameras closer to some of the most dangerous and deadly animals. Steve Irwin[wiki] was that type of guy.

Weebls Stuff has posted a soundboard in his memory. So many sayings of a brave man…

Update: According to a post on BlogCritics.org, Animal Planet will have an all day, Steve Irwin marathon on Sunday, September 10.  Check your local listings for times.

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The music of Rescue Me

Some of my posts about Rescue Me[wiki] bring in a lot of traffic, and if you are a fan of the show, then we both know why. Season three has been nuts this far, and we’ve been loving it. I don’t want to give too much away as it has yet to actually start airing in Canada. If that makes you wonder as to how I’m watching the new episodes, then you really need to explore the wonders of the interweb some more.

Some one who passed through a while back asked me about one of the songs in a recent episode. Upon my ventures for info on my post about Jericho, I stopped by the Wiki for Rescue Me, and there they are.

Season 3

[wikipedia]

Seasons one and two are there as well. I know that episode 306 is out and is not listed in the entry. The song in that one was “Numb” by Portishead. I did some digging but cannot come up for the song in 303 where Sheila was “cleaning” her son’s room. If it pains you that much to know, check out the RescueMeForum and post something in hopes of finding an answer.

I also found this news which should make all fans rejoice.

Cable channel FX has ordered a fourth season of Emmy-nominated actor Denis Leary’s firefighter drama Rescue Me.

The series will begin production early next year in anticipation of launching in second-quarter 2007. The order was for 13 episodes. [tv.com]

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The mentality of mobs in crisis

Jericho (CBS)We watched Jericho[wiki] the other night, the new series on CBS. The premise of the show captured my attention, always being a sucker for something along the apocolyptic plot lines. I’ve been alive long enough and watched enough TV to understand that this show has the ability to suck.

Anytime a network makes a push to launch a new series in the middle of the summer means that they are hoping it will pull you away from enjoying the warmer temps outside. At the same time, it means that CBS doesn’t really have enough faith to add it to the fall line-up where all the big bucks are made. The pilot somewhat reflects that thought.

Things are quiet and peaceful in small-town Jericho, Kansas, but when a baffling explosion occurs in the distance, Jericho’s residents are plunged into social, psychological and physical chaos. No one knows what to think, and fear of the unknown takes over the town, especially because its isolation cuts it off from outside help. When nearly everything they know seems gone, will the residents of JERICHO band together to face their unfamiliar and mysterious new world? Skeet Ulrich (“Scream,” “As Good as It Gets”) stars. [cbs]

The first few minutes of the show had me thinking that this is like Lost in the middle of Kansas. Add in the nuclear explosions, I’m assuming, to add that terrorist flavor, and one can actually start to see the writers sitting in a meeting with CBS execs as they pitched this series.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t like what I saw. I think that once you are able to understand all of the Hollywood crap that goes on in the really real world, you can voluntarily turn off that sensible part of your brain and allow yourself to be entertained. Don’t believe me? Go see Mission: Impossible 3. It’s a situation that demands such measures, and it makes me very glad that we had passes to see that one for free.

What makes me interested in Jericho, however, is the psychology of the characters. This is what I studied in college, so naturally I’m going to focus on aspect. They’ve already hinted at the people in town starting to fight over resources such as gasoline and food. The lack of information combined with slices of what they do know about what’s happened outside of their community is leading down a road of potential mass panic.

Has there ever been an instance of a majorly produced TV program or movie where these concepts haven’t been presented in this way? The isolation in which a group of people in a life threatening situation work together and survive in a mutual effort of succeeding? That’s too happy and unprofitable to be made for our viewing pleasure, but think about it.

If a situation like this in the real world were to happen, would there be a huge, mass panic of people drawing lines and not trusting each other, or would people work together in order to survive? Everything Hollywood teaches you makes you believe the first concept. Even if you are smart enough to see beyond that idea with your educated mind to say it won’t, then you have to be smart enough to understand the potential of people out there that take a lot of Hollywood as a method of education.

Which would you be? Some one who understands that working together is the only way to survive as a community, or would you stock pile, protect yourself, and defend those who attempt to take your resources? For the most part, Hollywood teaches us that in the event of natural disasters, apocolypses, or zombies, option number two is the popular choice.

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No one escapes the FCC inquisition

The FCC is pushing the pursuit of cleaning the airwaves even further. Going beyond live broadcasts of award ceremonies of the world’s rich and famous, sports programming is next.

In its continuing crackdown on on-air profanity, the FCC has requested numerous tapes from broadcasters that might include vulgar remarks from unruly spectators, coaches and athletes at live sporting events, industry sources said.

Tapes requested by the commission include live broadcasts of football games and NASCAR races where the participants or the crowds let loose with an expletive. While commission officials refused to talk about its requests, one broadcast company executive said the commission had asked for 30 tapes of live sports and news programs.

“It looks like they want to end live broadcast TV,” said one executive, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “We already know that they aren’t afraid to go after news.” [reuters]

The article goes on to say that live sports events will come under an almost, “no-slip” rule, meaning that accidents will come with consequences.

Indecent or not, how are broadcasters supposed to police ambiant noise from the crowd in a live event? Go to an Iowa Hawkeye football game some time and pay attention to what is coming from the student section. Sometimes, those chants can be so loud that the mics in the announcer booth can be pick it up, and that’s in an outdoors venue.

7-second(perhaps even more than that) delays or just not putting a mic on the crowd will be the only answer. Or else you have to have some one listening for “bad stuff” on the ambiant audio as well as another person listening to the main content for more “bad stuff.” That means seperate delays for each, costing more money for the broadcaster.

I might be pushing the idea, but the tighter things get about this, the more that will need to be done to stay out of hot water. Kinda makes having 5.1 dolby-digital surround sound not worth it if the FCC cracks down so hard that you can enjoy what you thought you were paying for.  Rediculous.

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TV execs want to disable fast-forward on DVRs

This is one of the most rediculous things that I have heard yet, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible.

ABC HAS HELD DISCUSSIONS ON the use of technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, according to ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw, with the primary goal to allow TV commercials to run as intended.

“I would love it if the MSOs, during the deployment of the new DVRs they’re putting out there, would disable the fast-forward [button],” Shaw said. […]

Shaw also threw cold water on the idea that neutering the fast-forward option would result in a consumer backlash. He suggested that consumers prefer DVRs for their ability to facilitate on-demand viewing and not ad-zapping–and consumers might warm to the idea that anytime viewing brings with it a tradeoff in the form of unavoidable commercial viewing.

“I’m not so sure that the whole issue really is one of commercial avoidance,” Shaw said. “It really is a matter of convenience–so you don’t miss your favorite show. And quite frankly, we’re just training a new generation of viewers to skip commercials because they can. I’m not sure that the driving reason to get a DVR in the first place is just to skip commercials. I don’t fundamentally believe that. People can understand in order to have convenience and on-demand (options), that you can’t skip commercials.” [mediapost]

Even if there is a large enough push from the TV industry to start shipping DVRs with fast-forward disabled, there will be a hack for it. However, it’s the last statement that gets me. This is another example of industry forcing new technology to work for itself rather than finding alternative ways to adapt to an ever changing medium.

You think HDTV is something we are doing for the good of humanity? There’s a reason that plasmas and LCDs cost so much. It’s all about profit. Now that TV execs aren’t getting the results the networks need, they want to do what they can to control it. Instead of spending the money to fight it, they should spend time finding new ways to generate revenue. They’ll just keep losing ground heading this direction.

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Rescue Me fifteen minute short

My post about the season three of Rescue Me is one of my more popular posts.  Since we are two episodes in, I thought I would give a brief update, minus any storyline.  Why?  Because season three won’t premiere in Canada until August 30th, according to a comment left by a reader.  Watch for that on Showcase.

Rebecca sent me this link of a fifteen minute short that, according to what she understands, they made in between the last two seasons of lighter material.  I just finished watching it, and it is just that.  It made me laugh.