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| carrobin |
 Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:49 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I caught the first fifteen minutes or so of "House," but the blood-in-the-urine theme was too close to home for me, and I switched channels. I'm no longer very committed to the characters, obviously. |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:56 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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carrobin wrote: I caught the first fifteen minutes or so of "House," but the blood-in-the-urine theme was too close to home for me, and I switched channels. I'm no longer very committed to the characters, obviously.
I stuck with it last night and I'll keep with it until the end of the season to see if it improves, but that was a mess. An episode that actually should have been jam-packed with drama and tension was surprisingly dull. There was one good scene, the one in which SPOILER for those who may have DVR'd it Cuddy figured out that House had used Vicodin and she broke up with him. I don't recall ever seeing House beg before then. |
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"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:05 am |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
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Location: Houston
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I continue to be charmed by Harry's Law even though I really shouldn't be. I think one of the things I enjoy the most is the character of Damien, the neighborhood protector. When he came around in the first episode asking Harriet for "protection money" my eyes were rolling because I thought, "What a cliche!" But it turns out he takes his job as neighborhood protector very seriously. He actually wants to help the people of that area because the police can't or won't.
Tommy Jefferson has to have at least a few strands of Denny Crane DNA in him while Harriet surely has some of Alan's. I just hope the show can continue to charm and not turn into the kind of place in which David E Kelley reaches into the back of his desk drawer to use some old ideas he never got to use on Boston Legal or The Practice. |
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"I have a suspicion that you are all mad," said Dr. Renard, smiling sociably; "but God forbid that madness should in any way interrupt friendship." |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:26 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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Earl wrote: I just hope the show can continue to charm and not turn into the kind of place in which David E Kelley reaches into the back of his desk drawer to use some old ideas he never got to use on Boston Legal or The Practice.
There are worse desk drawers to reach into.... |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:19 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| When was it that we were talking about plates o' shrimp? "Repo Man" is on TCM at 2:15 AM tonight (or Saturday morning to be precise). |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:34 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I was thinking about shrimp and then I saw "District 9" on the display shelf at the library.
OK, don't judge me too harshly, but I've taken to watching "V" every couple weeks. The show is just so spectacularly bad that I'm enjoying it the campy way you might enjoy an Ed Wood film. From "blue energy" to "sharing my bliss" (some kind of powerful euphoric trip that the hive queen can bestow on you by grabbing your head) to the disturbing discovery that humans have souls which you can't remove, the silliness has been ratched up to a point where you become certain that the writers are passing a bong around at work. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:33 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| A real benchmark during "Glee" tonight--Kurt's first kiss. Very sweet. Nice duets, too. It's kind of weird that Fox, with Glee and The Simpsons, takes some very interesting left turns, while its Fox News channel seems unable to turn any way but rightward. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:42 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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carrobin wrote: A real benchmark during "Glee" tonight--Kurt's first kiss. Very sweet. Nice duets, too. It's kind of weird that Fox, with Glee and The Simpsons, takes some very interesting left turns, while its Fox News channel seems unable to turn any way but rightward.
I guess ratings trump politics. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:18 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| "House, MD" with its approach to issues of medical ethics, the existence of God, drug use, etc. also seems to do its share of left turns. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:27 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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Nothing to do this afternoon, so I figured I'd check the website for "30 Rock" and see if that was Susan Sarandon last night as the ex-con schoolteacher. I didn't find the answer, but I found a "site" for KableTown, which cracked me up because yesterday I was proofreading a brochure for Comcast that sounded very similar. Loved these paragraphs in the "About Our Company" section--
This year, KableTown is delighted to join ranks with the NBC family. After competing with no one to buy this flagship network, we are happy to bring our tradition of commitment, service and family values to such popular shows as "Fat Camp," "Celebrity Urologist" and "Take My Wife, Please." These life-affirming reality programs have brought happiness to millions of households, and we hope to extend that effort with a new slate of scripted television, including some potential remakes. Like "Quantum Leap"! Who in their right mind doesn't want to see Scott Bakula return as Dr. Samuel Beckett, the handsome and charming time traveler? If you don't like this idea, blame Gary. Not only is he our slogan guy, he's also the head of development.
Here at KableTown, we believe everyone should have a part. Like KableTown CEO Hank Hooper says in his book "In the Hoop": "If you're not part of something, you're just not apart of anything, darn it. And that's really nothing. Ain't that something? Ha!" In keeping with that spirit, we welcome you to say hello in our comments section below. Unless you're racist or crazy. Or Gary's ex-wife. She's all three! Why do you think he's in the hospital? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:35 am |
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There is something about the comedy shows on TV that virtually everyone detests, CANNED LAUGHTER! Why in the hell do they keep using it. The only people who would not know the difference between CL and live laughter are the deaf. Woody Allen depicted the stupidity of this phoniness in Annie Hall. I know some people who can't even watch a show with the stupid laughter dubbed in, no matter how good the comedy is. My wife is one of them. It drives her crazy.
The real life TV producers (or whatever they are called) are just as non-talented as Woody's friend in Annie Hall. Cater to the lowest of the low denominators and make lots of money. Until you don't. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:27 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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It's also annoying on radio shows, most commonly where you have the guys-joking-over-coffee format and whenever any of them is supposed to laugh, they just punch in a recorded loop of their most hyena-like laugh.
I don't mind live studio audience laughter too much. Seinfeld did okay with that. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:13 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Seinfeld's laughter must have sounded genuine to me, because I don't even remember it. But I can't watch "The Big Bang Theory" or "Hot in Cleveland," regardless of how many people praise them, because the laughter sounds canned to me. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:45 pm |
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When a show say, "Before a live audience," that's what you get. Unless of course they cheat, but I don't think they do. There are more than one take on many scenes so they would be sure to broadcast the funniest, unless the bloopered take was funnier.  |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:49 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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I'm afraid that "before a live audience" is only a label that doesn't preclude "sweetening." The sound guys can turn it up or down, cut it on or off, whatever they think works.
Our film professor once told us that the laugh tracks that were used for decades were recorded during the Red Skelton show, when he did his mime bits. "Those people you hear laughing have been dead for years," he added. |
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