Monthly Archives: May 2007

May 24, 2007 · 7:33 am

Where Does ‘Lost’ Go From Here: Debating the Structure of Season Four

So, Lost went “Through the Looking Glass” [Full Review of Last Night’s Episode] to tremendous effect: the show hasn’t had this much buzz since the first season, and the contrary voices are suddenly few and far between (Even Matt over at Be Something has seen the light again). One of the things that Lost has always thrived on is questions: questions of its future, questions of the island. And, well, we’re now left with a fairly big one to ponder.

Where do we go from here?

The largest source of disagreement that I’ve seen is over what structure the show takes in the coming years. Here’s the two most plausible, in my view, options:

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Filed under ABC, Lost, Television

May 23, 2007 · 11:00 pm

Reviewing the Finales: Lost – “Through the Looking Glass”

Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass” tells the story of young Alice traveling through a mirror into a world much like her own. She describes her vision of this room as follows:

‘Now, if you’ll only attend, Kitty, and not talk so much, I’ll tell you all my ideas about Looking-glass House. First, there’s the room you can see through the glass–that’s just the same as our drawing room, only the things go the other way. I can see all of it when I get upon a chair–all but the bit behind the fireplace. Oh! I do so wish I could see THAT bit! I want so much to know whether they’ve a fire in the winter: you never CAN tell, you know, unless our fire smokes, and then smoke comes up in that room too–but that may be only pretence, just to make it look as if they had a fire. Well then, the books are something like our books, only the words go the wrong way; I know that, because I’ve held up one of our books to the glass, and then they hold up one in the other room.

‘How would you like to live in Looking-glass House, Kitty?’

Tonight, after the season finale of Lost, we’ve glimpsed “Through the Looking Glass”. It is like the world we knew, but yet it is different. The words go the wrong way, and a fire burns brightly but at more strength than ever before. Everything is going the wrong way, and we cannot see what is behind the fireplace…but we want to know.

We would like to live in the Looking-glass house very much, Alice. Very much indeed.

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Filed under ABC, Lost, Television

Tagged as Reviewing the Finales

May 23, 2007 · 8:48 pm

‘Save Jericho’: Much Ado About Peanuts [UPDATED]

UPDATE: Well, according to CBS, it appears that the peanuts are being given in a way quite similar to what was suggested here. Jericho fans = Smart, it seems, and CBS appears to be routing the peanuts for a good cause. This is a positive development, and considering that another 4000 pounds are on their way today [Maybe with media as well]…things aren’t done yet.

WCBSTV.com – ‘Jericho’ Fans to CBS: ‘Nuts!’

“CBS spokesman Chris Ender estimated Wednesday that about 300 boxes of nuts ranging in size from three pounds to 10 pounds had arrived.

“We’ve made arrangements for the bulk of the boxes to be picked up by Staten Island Project Home Front, an organization that focuses on fundraising and supporting military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Ender told wcbstv.com. “We’ve also made contact with the Bronx Zoo to see if they’d like some of these, as well as local homeless shelters and food banks.””

Sounds like they’re headed to a good cause. Let’s hope that CBS, in the process of this, understands what is going on here on a larger level.

And now back to regularly scheduled analysis.

Okay, so over the past few days I’ve been delving into this Jericho question, and the more I discuss it the more I sympathize with the show’s fans. Much of this has to do with their level of argument within the two past threads (To be found Here and Here), but I have to admit: a lot of it has to do with the peanuts.

That peanut side of the story is quite simple: Skeet Ulrich’s Jake said “Nuts” in the season finale (As part of some form of surrender: I need to watch this finale at some point, eh?), and fans have used it as their battlecry. “Nuts to CBS” is a common statement amongst the show’s fans, but they didn’t stop there. As opposed to just sending their thoughts, they decided that they should send something more tangible: peanuts. Hundreds, if not thousands, of peanut orders started flying off from various online peanut delivery companies…however, one took notice.

NutsOnline.com – Nuts for Jericho

It was NutsOnline that did so, and they’re now sending mass shipments to CBS, the first of which should have arrived recently (There is to be video confirmation later).

In the meantime however, I figure that there’s a question that should be answered:

What should CBS do with all of these roasted peanuts?

My personal suggestion is to provide them to the writing staffs for their new fall shows, but to then refuse to provide them water, holding them hostage until they put out scripts which are good enough to meet their approval.

So, does anyone else have any suggestions on what they should do with the nuts? Perhaps Ms. Tassler should make a honey-nut glaze humble pie? Got another recipe in mind? Have some fun with it, I’m sure that there’s plenty of imaginative minds out there.

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Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as CBS, Peanuts, Save Jericho

May 23, 2007 · 1:37 pm

‘Save Jericho’: The ‘CBS’ Viral Conspiracy Theory

This will be a brief update, but it is something to consider. On the Official Jericho Boards, “colsteve” posted with news that someone apparently from CBS (Through StatTracker, this information was discovered) had arrived at their blog after searching for the following phrase:

“SAVE JERICHO CAMPAIGN FAILS”

That’s how it reads. First, let’s make this clear: there has been no official word as to the campaign’s success, and as a statement this is not true: the fight goes on.

Now, the theory is of course that CBS is trying to downplay the movement by spreading doubt as to its success. I think this is a little bit tenuous, however; that IP address could have been a mistake, the person could have been a low-level intern, and I don’t think there is any real justification in claiming that CBS is virally attempting to stop the movement.

That being said, I think it raises the interesting question: how ARE people reacting at CBS? It’s hard for us to imagine as non-executives, but for them this likely presents a huge public relations and media challenge, not to mention actually dealing with their coming development cycle. I almost can see why they would be interested in trying to start things in a viral fashion, because the traditional methods of damage control only work against much smaller “problems”.

Because the ‘Save Jericho’ campaign is a problem for CBS. Are these viral searches part of a vast conspiracy to undermine the NUTS drive? Theoretically. But, without actual proof, all we can do is wonder whether or not CBS is planning something substantial in response to it all. Perhaps we’ll see in the coming days.

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Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as CBS, Save Jericho

May 23, 2007 · 8:58 am

Wednesday Night War: The Season Finales of ‘Lost’ and ‘American Idol’

Tonight, tens of millions of Americans will sit in front of their televisions in suspense for two very different reasons. For fans of American Idol, they will sit waiting for two hours while the show parades out its past contestants and waits until its final moment to reveal its winner. For fans of Lost, meanwhile, they will spend two hours waiting to see whether the much touted finale can live up to its hype. Will fans be satisfied with either conclusion? Only time will tell. But, who needs time when we’ve got meaningful speculation?

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Reviewing the Series Finale: ‘Veronica Mars’ Walks Away Under Stormy Skies

When Gilmore Girls ended its run last week, it was supposed to be an unsatisfying end to a series that had been stagnating for the previous year. It was supposed to be an unplanned, thrown together finale that failed to address the show’s main issues. And, somehow, it managed to be just about as good as it could have been considering the circumstances. It is therefore unfortunate that I can’t say the same for Veronica Mars’ solution to a similar circumstance. While these two episodes combined represent perhaps the best the show has managed all season, the conflict and issues presented were not that of resolution but of upheaval. We left our heroine walking through the rain to the melancholy tones of “It Never Rains in Southern California.” In her there is sadness, frustration, guilt…but there is no happiness. There is no finale. I said earlier today that I was all set to say goodbye to Veronica Mars…but I take it all back. I’m not ready at all.

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Filed under Television, The CW, Veronica Mars

Tagged as Reviewing the Finales

May 22, 2007 · 7:47 pm

‘Save Jericho’: Addressing the Hiatus Hernia, The Idol Factor and Promoting the Unpromotable

In an ongoing attempt to provide some analysis of the fall of Jericho and the subsequent rise of its fans, I’ve been fielding a wide range of questions, comments, criticisms, and attempting to provide a perspective for them. I’ve dealt with CBS’ logic for the cancellation, along with documenting the rise of the ‘Save Jericho’ campaign; however, as many have rightly pointed out, I have yet to properly address the claim very succinctly stated in a comment on this very blog by James Denison:

“Jericho was an excellent drama that suffered from the 3 month hiatus, going up against [American Idol], and poor promotion by CBS.”

In doing so, I might have to defend certain decisions CBS made, and I think that this is just: the network is not entirely at fault here. But, by investigating these issues further, I believe that was can increase CBS’s accountability for their own role in this problem. What I want to investigate are the following series of questions:

– Why do shows go on hiatus, and what other options are available?

– If CBS had shifted the show’s timeslot to avoid Idol, what would the effect have been?

– Is Jericho an easily promotable show?

In answering these questions, I believe that we can further understand the series of events that took place, and delve yet further into the questions of New Media, New Advertising, and just about everything in between.

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Filed under American Idol, Jericho, Ratings, Television

Tagged as CBS, Save Jericho

May 22, 2007 · 8:57 am

The End of Veronica Mars: Looking Back Before the Series Finale

I started watching Veronica Mars after hearing good things about it, and after about five episodes had already aired. I watched those episodes out of order, and yet I couldn’t help but be sucked in. The show stands as perhaps the most compelling young drama to emerge since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and stands as a testament to strong dramatic television. And yet, as is becoming more and more common these days, the show will not be remembered for its pedigree or quality in the annals of television history. Instead of awards and accolades for its stars and creators, Veronica Mars will be remembered as a show that never found an audience even through changes to its cast, its structure, its timeslot and even its network. And that is the real tragedy, because the end of Veronica Mars should be a celebration of its quality, not a lament for its failure.

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Filed under Television, The CW, Veronica Mars

Tagged as Series Finale

May 21, 2007 · 9:04 pm

Reviewing the Finales: Heroes – “How to Stop an Exploding Man”

Heroes’ first season has been a rollercoaster ride for fans as it reaches its season finale. For me personally, it has been at its best when it deals with either awesome comic book action (The overrated but exhilarating ‘Five Years Gone’), or investigations of the personal sacrifice of these individuals (the stunning ‘Company Man’). However, there are other episodes which fail to be either of these things. These episodes are instead complicated hours of television which follow traditional drama plotting, losing sight of the show’s comic book ties in favour of clichéd resolutions right out of, well, a lesser TV show. “How to Stop an Exploding Man”, unfortunately, falls into this latter category. The episode was supposed to be an epic conclusion with ramifications for future seasons, but instead felt like a feel good story of redemption with nothing but teases at what the future holds. And, for this unsatisfying season finale, I place the blame on series creator Tim Kring.

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Tagged as Reviewing the Finales

May 21, 2007 · 1:17 pm

The End of ‘The Apprentice’: Trump Goes Out His Own Way

Donald Trump, it seems, does not get cancelled. No, instead Donald Trump is the Canceller. And always will be. After NBC revealed its fall schedule a week ago, there was one show that wasn’t mentioned and yet was left open to discussion. That show was Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, and after series-low ratings and struggles, it was clear that NBC wasn’t going to bring back the series. When even a high-profile feud with Rosie O’Donnell can’t save you, I don’t know what could. As a result, things looked bleak for Trump…so he has emerged to get the final word.

Yahoo News – Donald Trump to NBC: “You can’t fire me, I quit!”

“Donald Trump, whose low-rated reality show “The Apprentice” was left off the new prime-time schedule unveiled this week by NBC, says the network can’t fire him — he quits.

The real estate mogul issued a statement on Friday saying he has informed the U.S. television network he is “moving on from ‘The Apprentice’ to a major new TV venture,” though he declined to elaborate.”

So, with this Trump gets to end things his way. Mind you, no one is actually going to think he wasn’t forced out (If he really wanted to pull this off he would have done this before last week’s upfront presentation and not a week after), but still Trump gets the last word. And, of course, hypes his upcoming television venture (I figure he’s going to try to launch a take-off of America’s Next Top Model looking for some new recruits for Trump Modeling).

It is funny, however, that Trump is the one to put the final nail in the coffin of The Apprentice, because I would argue that it is he who ended the show’s quality as well. The show began with a fairly reputable structure that was actually quite compelling. The show’s tasks weren’t laden with sponsorships, the board rooms were civil and intriguing, and the winner actually seemed like they could work for a major corporation.