Category Archives: Television

August 13, 2007 · 9:25 pm

Canadian Idol – August 13th – Top 6 Haikus

[Due to various time constraints, and the satellite running out, it was a strange night to try to fully recap Canadian Idol. So, in the spirit of embracing more traditional forms of communication, I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down some haikus for each contestant. And thus, I present Cultural Learnings’ recap of Canadian Idol’s Top 6…in Haiku.]

Eulogy for Greg,

Pop/Rock is the Theme This Week,

The Judges are here.

Idols have Arrived,

Dwight is Wearing Ugly Coat,

Maroon 5 “Mentor”.

Tara Oram – “Walking on Sunshine” (Katrina and the Waves)

Cliched song choice much?

Vocal is as you’d expect,

Downgrade from last week.

Judges are not pleased,

Zack thought it was just awful,

Newfies will save her.

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Weekend Wrapup: CBS Edition – August 13th, 2007

So, as you may have noticed, Cultural Learnings basically went black over the weekend. This was thanks to a camping trip to Kejimkujik National Park in Southwestern Nova Scotia, which was beautiful and wonderful. If you are interested (Testing my level of consistent readers here), there should be some Flickr photos on the right sidebar below. However, for those more inclined to learn what went on in TV Land over the Weekend, let’s take a gander at what CBS was up to over the three day period.

CBS’ Weekend To-Do List

Preempt “Jericho” without Informing Rabid Fanbase

So, CBS, let’s have a chat here. Because, really, I know that you’re trying your best to deal with this whole Jericho situation, but you need to learn a serious lesson in communication. Because preseason football preempting Jericho? It’s normal. In fact, it happens to every show every year. But you need to make that fact clear to the people who you clearly promised that you would air the show’s first season [almost] in its entirety this summer.

Because you’re really not doing it: you’re just pretending that a large portion of the country didn’t see last week’s episode, and you’re just going to mosey on to the next one. First off, people are clearly going to notice: you already learned that these people are smart and savvy and more than capable of realizing that their show is being messed with. And second, you’re trying to convince people to watch a serial drama: unless you’re packing that preseason football game with commercials for your online viewing service, you’re getting in the way of that goal.

So I’m off camping, missing this week’s episode, and it turns out that millions more are likely missing it too. If you’re seriously committed to the show, you should be doubling up on the reruns next week to make up for it, and continuing to do so to make sure these episodes are aired. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, personally, especially since some of us (I’m referring to me, eh?) are Canadian and can’t watch Innertube episodes.

Embrace Jericho’s Blog Potential

Admittedly, CBS didn’t do all wrong with Jericho: they’ve officially embraced their Fan Central portion of their website in an attempt to spread the word about blog posts about the series. I’m a little bit late in grabbing this news, but since they linked here to Cultural Learnings I took a peak at the site. Basically, they’re centralizing the “Diggnation” and other such initiatives that fans have been trying to move forward.

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Filed under Criminal Minds, Jericho, Television

Tagged as CBS

August 12, 2007 · 10:40 pm

Entourage – “The Young and the Stoned” Review

Entourage Review

“The Young and the Stoned”

August 12th, 2007

Eric was out spending time searching for another palatial mansion for the entourage to live in when he was rear-ended by Anna Faris [IMDB]. Honestly, I wish that Entourage would get rear-ended. It’s the right kind of accident for the show: it wakes you up from your current state without damaging the internal organs that make you, well, operate.

This episode did a lot of things right, and maybe the series did get rear-ended after all. Anna Faris’ guest appearance was perhaps one of the most seamless of the series recently, and the episode-ending twist was perhaps my favourite of the season thus far. It promises that the series is finally heading in a new direction that creates real drama and real conflict.

It’s unfortunate, though, that the remainder of the episode wasn’t up to the same challenge. Ari as possessive and jealous fits his character, but it doesn’t really do anything new. Also, I know Perrey Reeves was added as a full time cast member, and the Young and the Restless involvement was great, but her character feels really off as of late and I don’t know why. She just seems really shrill and floaty; she always seemed to be above that kind of stuff, but now it’s all she does as if Ari is the sane one in some ways.

Also, unfortunately, there continues to be not a stitch of advancement in either the Clouds script that Walsh is writing or Medellin at Cannes or, well, anything. Vince, Turtle and Drama just sat around and smoked some weed; while not a terrible storyline by any means, it was basically a complete waste of time. While I know Vince is out milking his advance, it wasn’t until sitting with E at the bar at the end of the episode that he actually mattered. It wasn’t a bad filler plotline, but it was nonetheless filler.
Still, the fact that E is becoming Anna Faris’ manager is an ideal situation for the series; it creates tension between the Entourage, it creates tension between Vince and E specifically, and it creates real life drama. Faris’ acting is right on par with the series’ sense of reality, and on the whole things are looking up. I just wish they’d look a little more in the direction of the storylines the series dropped.

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Tagged as HBO

August 10, 2007 · 6:30 am

Summer TV Wrapup: Most Watchable Reruns – “Jericho”

It is my view that summer reruns are an underutilized tool in promoting a series; however, I see where the concerns lie. There is little reason for people to turn into reruns: they’ve likely already seen the episode, and even if they haven’t they’re unlikely to choose a repeat over new programming on another network. However, some reruns are more watchable than others, and there is one distinct reason why: because people have a reason to watch.

When Jericho was renewed by CBS in June after a month-long fan campaign to save the show, there was a promise made that the show would be rerunning over the summer. Immediately, fans began to get people excited about this prospect. Jericho is the perfect series for reruns: it lost a portion of its original audience thanks to a hiatus, and it created buzz that made people curious enough to tune in.

And there’s where I think comes the show’s watchability: you feel like you’re watching something that has been earned, that has been warranted, and that has some sort of meaning. This isn’t just CBS filling the schedule: this is the work of thousands of devoted fans beaming into your television set Fridays at 9pm. I, personally, find that somewhat inspiring.

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Filed under Jericho, Television

Tagged as CBS, Rerun Report, Summer TV, Summer Wrapup

August 9, 2007 · 9:00 am

Summer TV Wrapup: Best Show About Karaoke – “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!”

Okay, let’s be honest: we don’t really need two shows about lyrics, or karaoke, or whatever we want to call this particular brand of programming. NBC’s The Singing Bee and FOX’s Don’t Forget the Lyrics should, by all logic, cancel one another out from my cultural consciousness. However, in the end, I think that it’s important to declare a winner in this epic showdown. And, contrary to my initial opinion, I think that Don’t Forget the Lyrics is the clear winner.

Originally, my inclination moved to The Singing Bee a more traditional game show which is a genre that I have a soft spot for. However, in its second episode, it was clear that NBC’s series was far too rushed to be worth my time. The show had no momentum, no groove if you will: each episode was as personality-less as the last, and the various different gimmicky lyric challenges showed their inability to feel comfortable with their formula.

And really, while I might like to sit down with a predictable and simplistic game show when flipping through the channels, I don’t really see it as primetime viewing. And I think that’s the problem: the show just doesn’t feel like something is taking place. It lacks any weight, any drama, any comedy. It lacks, well, everything.

While I originally plastered it for being derivative, over time it has become clear that Don’t Forget the Lyrics has managed to stabilize into about as good as it could possibly become. The contestants have personality, the amount of singing feels better and more entertaining, and “playing along” feels much more natural. People make choices, and therefore we can relate to their decisions and make our own at home.

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Summer TV Wrapup: Most Mistreated Show – “Traveler”

In a perfect world, Traveler would be airing its 11th episode tonight on ABC.

However, ironically, ABC is instead airing one of the shelved episodes of another drama it ended before its time, The Nine, in the timeslot. Traveler, meanwhile, concluded its season after its eight episode. This was a shortened order from its original 13 episodes, and the series ended on a ridiculous cliffhanger having resolved none of its storylines.

And the show didn’t deserve that kind of treatment: it was summer popcorn fun, a constantly moving show that was never quite great but also declined the invitation to fall into ridiculousness. And yet, ABC refused to give it a decent shot at succeeding, and its failure is entirely the fault of the network. Traveler was not the best new show of the summer, but it is without question the most mistreated show of the season.

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Filed under ABC, Television, Traveler

Tagged as Summer TV, Summer Wrapup

August 8, 2007 · 9:00 am

Summer TV Wrapup: The Show I Should Have Watched Sooner – “Damages”

While it doesn’t seem like it should be the case, there was actually so much new TV this summer that I didn’t actually get around to watching it all when it premiered. One of such shows is the Glenn Close vehicle, Damages, which debuted on FX just a few weeks back. After Jane over at Jericho Monster reminded me that I hadn’t actually gotten around to watching the pilot, I decided to give it a try. After watching the first two episodes (Last night’s will have to wait), I’m ready to deem it the show I should have started watching sooner.

The show deals with Patty Hewes, a high-powered New York Attorney (Portrayed by Close), and her new associate Ellen (Rose Byrne). More specifically, however, it deals with a specific time frame. Over the span of six months, Ellen goes from a fresh-faced newcomer to a blood-stained and traumatized woman. We know her fate, and that of her loved ones, but we don’t know how she got there. And therein lies the appeal of Damages.

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Tagged as FX, Summer TV, Summer Wrapup

August 7, 2007 · 10:01 pm

Canadian Idol – August 7th – Results – Another One Bites the Dust…

Welcome, everyone, to what becomes fateful moment for Canadian Idol. After a theme night that divided the contestants, and after three consecutive females being kicked off the show it’s time to see whether or not a male is finally sent packing.

But first, it’s time for the filler: let’s run it down.

First, we have the Idols taking in We Will Rock You, where Brian May has some opinion changing words for the Idols. He apparently wasn’t all that big on the whole process before, but now he’s really into their singer-songwriter vibe. I have to ask: which ones apply to that? Just sayin’: I’d argue Season Two had more of that vibe, but that’s just me.

Second, we’ve got the show’s two big performances before we get to the results: well, not really. We’re only getting a taped version of their performance during the We Will Rock You show. Greg gets all excited, Carly Rae is hyped, and Matt says Oh my gosh.

Third, it’s time for the Idols to perform some of the hits of Queen. This group is NOT designed for group sings; Jaydee basically kills a song dead every time he touches it when it’s part of a group. It’s just way too awkward, and they’re much better when he basically stops singing at certain points. It happens: you can’t even hear his voice at certain points. They bring out the star of We Will Rock You for…”We Will Rock You,” which concludes the group sing. Well, they didn’t butcher anything, so that proves me wrong.

I wonder how much the box office for We Will Rock You will go up as a result of this…because honestly, they’re selling this show pretty damn hard at this point.

Finally, we get some results.

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Filed under Canadian Idol, CTV, Reality TV, Television

Tagged as Summer TV

August 7, 2007 · 5:29 pm

Summer TV Wrapup: The Biggest Flop(s) – Pirate Master and On the Lot

It is no coincidence that the two shows that have tied for the Summer TV Wrapup recognition of The Biggest Flop have something in common. Mark Burnett created Survivor and The Apprentice, and immediately rocketed into the upper echelon of reality TV producers. He’s the only one who is a personality, a character in his own way. While this usually helps him, it has actually made his fall from grace this summer all the more damaging. Pirate Master (CBS) and On the Lot (FOX), two sure-fire hits, flopped this summer, and Mark Burnett is the man to hold accountable for that fact.

Pirate Master suffered from the very beginning from both poor ratings and a lack of cultural buzz. While the show was not terrible, it was criminally derivative: it didn’t deviate far enough from the Survivor formula to bring in new viewers, and its failure proves that people aren’t watching Survivor because of its quality but rather because it’s Survivor.

The show was cancelled 2/3rds of the way through its run, and will spend the remainder of its time on CBS.com. The show never had the personality, never had the host, and never had the magic touch we’re used to seeing from Mark “Midas” Burnett. In failing to live up to that pedigree, it was by far one of the summer’s biggest flops.

Cultural Learnings’ Summer “Pirate Master” Coverage

On the Lot, meanwhile, had all the pedigree you’d usually need: Burnett was not only attached as producer, but so was legendary director Steven Spielberg. It was supposed to be FOX’s buzzworthy summer hit, but they forgot something very important: the summer viewing audience aren’t movie geeks.

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Filed under FOX, On The Lot, Pirate Master, Reality TV, Television

Tagged as CBS, Summer TV, Summer Wrapup

August 7, 2007 · 9:00 am

Summer TV Wrapup: Most Disappointing Show – “Entourage”

One of the hazards of being a television critic of sorts (If I am able to call myself that, which seems doubtful) is that some people believe that certain shows aren’t “allowed” to be criticized. They are above criticism, something that is just supposed to be fun or meaningful without being prodded, questioned, or subjected to any form of analysis outside of funny or not funny, good or bad. It’s not that they always love the show, but rather that they believe that things like character development, character consistency and storylines aren’t qualities that make the series what it is.

One of these shows is Entourage, a show that I’ve been quite literally attacked for criticizing at any level above “Meh, that episode was okay, I guess.” And don’t get me wrong: I think that things can be over-analyzed, and I guarantee you I do it quite often. However, I want to make a case that Entourage is not only capable of being criticized, but that it is also deserving of my criticism.

Why? Because Entourage, without a doubt, is the Most Disappointing Show of the 2007 Summer TV Season.

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Filed under Entourage, Television

Tagged as HBO, Summer TV, Summer Wrapup