Various things I've been thinking about lately.
1. I don't know why I didn't notice this before, but the guy who plays Horn-Rimmed Glasses Man on Heroes, Jack Coleman, is the guy who played Steven Carrington on Dynasty in the 80s! I didn't recognize him at all. Not that I watched Dynasty. I was a Knot's Landing guy. Great hair though.
2. I can understand why the cable networks would cover a story like the death of Anna Nicole Smith. She died young, she was a blond bombshell, she was fighting for a half billion dollars, she was a Playboy playmate, drugs were involved, sex was involved, she had a son that died young, and there's a mystery involving the paternity of her baby. It was like every single TV movie of the week rolled into one. Of course it had to be covered. But I think there's a bigger problem here. The cable networks will tell you, "hey, people wanted to see the coverage, we got great ratings." But there used to be a time when TV news gave us what we needed, not just what we wanted. It's backwards now. Whatever happened to editorial decisions? (And I'd say the same thing about reality television.)
3. You know what we need on TV? A show filmed in black and white. Maybe a cool private eye show, or even a sitcom or drama sets in the 50s or 60s. Somebody has to do that.
4. What's the hold up with getting Ed released on DVD? Jeez, I don't want to have to dig my old videotape copies out of that damn trunk. Is it a music thing? Come on guys.
5. Have you ever gotten the urge to go back to a time when we only had 5 or 6 channels to choose from? I'm reading a book right now, The Paradox of Choice, about how the abundance of choices we now have in our lives (everything from food at the store to entertainment choices to insurance) might actually be a negative thing. And I'm going through a phase right now where I really don't want to surf around 130 channels to find something to entertain me.
Of course, ask me two weeks from now and I'll tell you how happy I was to find a rerun of 77 Sunset Strip on some cable network at 3am.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-15-2007 @ 9:23AM
LC said...
I was a Dynasty fan so I recognized Coleman right away. Glad to see he is having success once again.
I prefer the huge selection of channels over 5 or 6. Especially during summer and winter hiatus, where I can check out some shows on cable that I may not have otherwise watched.
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2-15-2007 @ 11:33AM
BobbyBuz said...
I just realized that Greg Grunberg, who plays Parkman on Heroes, was the pilot on Oceanic Flight 815 in LOST.
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2-15-2007 @ 10:30AM
Thomas said...
My main problem with the huge choice we have (in the UK) is that we have all these branded channels; paramount comedy, sky sports, sky movies etc but they all seem to mix and match content so it's very easy to miss something when it pops up on a channel you wouldn't normally watch. I think when they finally get internet assisted viewing right we'll have fewer actual channels and you'll literally select by genre and individual show. Channels would be more for general content and enable people to discover stuff by chance.
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2-15-2007 @ 4:05PM
SamMalone said...
#3 - Would be cool if they transitioned to color at some momentous point every episode (kinda like Pleasantville). Everyone would hold their breath until that moment.
#5 - Not really my DVR kind of helps me manage that all. But, I see the point, if there were fewer channels, there would be less crap on! Of course I've had to make a choice about Cellphone carrier recently, where we seem to have fewer and fewer choices.
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2-15-2007 @ 12:02PM
Alicia said...
Here here on No. 4. I can't wait for Ed. Does anyone know if there's a petition site or anything to push for this? I know those things aren't the most effective, but something must be done. I've saved some of the episodes on VHS, but VCRs are only going to be around for so much longer.
I need my bowling alley lawyer fix.
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2-15-2007 @ 4:17PM
Joe in LA said...
Monk had a recent episode that they broadcast twice -- once in color and once in black and white. There were a few "film noir" scenes that were very effective and fun to watch in the black and white version.
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2-15-2007 @ 3:33PM
t2b said...
I bet you Ed has music clearance issues. Remember in season two when they changed the theme song, because they found an unknown artist that was produced by the company? UGH!
As far as the guy who was on Dynasty, is also the same guy on Heros--- WHOA. Didn't recognize him at all. Completely different character. Well done!
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2-15-2007 @ 7:17PM
bgdc said...
When we watch Heroes and HRG shows up i always think, "Blake kicked your ass, boy. An old man whaled on you."
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2-15-2007 @ 2:58PM
bgdc said...
The B&W crime show is better for a movie. As a TV show that'd get old.
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2-15-2007 @ 3:44PM
Toby said...
I was just reading that last night's episode was the lowest rated of the series, which also happened last week as well.
Clearly, all the time off (which was major), coupled with the poor early story lines, and the new time zone has hurt the show.
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2-15-2007 @ 10:49PM
VSJ said...
RE #1 I had the biggest crush on Steven Carrington as a "tween".
RE #2 News is also about RATINGS. The higher the ratings the more dollars from advertisers. News is a business, not an information service.
RE #3 Bad idea...Break out the phonograph while you're at it...
RE #4 Not sure.
RE #5 What and miss all this great crap to choose from?!
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