At first, I want to sit here and laugh at the idea that Fremantle Media thinks they can develop a TV series with parkour. It's just people running and jumping across the landscape. How's that a sport? And most of the coolest videos feature the idiots who think they can do it and fail beautifully.But I also laughed at the idea of bringing poker to television; it's just people sitting around playing cards. The lesson I've learned is that people will watch anything. And parkour is something. And it can look cool when done right, and even cooler when done wrong.
But Fremantle Media (American Idol) is hooking up with Motion, Inc. thinking they can develop league competitions and turn it into a global entertainment brand. Which makes me think of wrestling or The X-Games. Hell, parkour would fit in very well there. I don't deny that it takes an incredible athleticism to perform parkour, but I can't see myself sitting down and enjoying a competition for an hour or more. But then again, I can't watch poker either, so it'll probably be as huge as they think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2009 @ 5:49PM
Scott K. said...
I love watching those parkour videos on youtube. I might give this a try, but I can't see watching it regularly. But I don't watch poker either.
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8-28-2009 @ 9:30PM
Jason said...
I'd watch every minute of every episode of this show, if it happens.
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9-02-2009 @ 10:39AM
Josh said...
I think this is a bad idea. Parkour was never meant to be a competition. Hell, freerunning wasn't supposed to either, but we all know how that turned out. This is just one more person trying to exploit a beautiful thing, trying to change it into a "money-thing." Money isn't everything you know. Not all competition is bad, but I just don't see this working out. Parkour was invented to help ourselves and others; not to see "Who's the best."
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