TV (Producers) on the Radio

Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were on WBUR's OnPoint program yesterday with some interesting insight into the past and future of the show. You can listen to the entire interview here.

What I found most interesting in the conversation was the discussion of the producers' negotiations with ABC to define an end date for the series and the viability of Lost-type shows (i.e. serialized dramas based on a story with a defined end) in the future. Cuse and Lindelof seem to think the networks might be willing to move in that direction (however slowly) as they become more comfortable with alternate forms of viewing (iPods, Internet, DVR, etc.). This would be a huge shift in the television business model, which basically develops shows to go on indefinitely so the networks can squeeze out as much revenue as possible. After decades of operating in such a manner, I'm sure it seems scary to turn around and start saying a series is only going to last so many episodes or seasons. And while the network suits are always loathe to slaughter a cash cow, what's better: huge ratings for a few years, or slowly eroding ratings coupled with an exodus of viewers to other networks?

Adding a few series with specific ends to their stories, and thus limited runs, would go along way to keeping what's on a given network fresh, building some credibility with viewers, and ensuring that they keep watching what that network puts in front of them. It's a gutsy move, but the payoff in the long term seems worth it, almost like creating a brand loyalty for a network.

I've written about this before in these posts, but imagine how awesome Smallville could have been if the creators and network agreed it would only be a four year run culminating with Clark's graduation. It would have meant less filler, less unresolved story threads, less instances of the characters turning into caricatures, and probably higher ratings since it would have been a less frustrating show.

Lost is my favorite show right now, and frankly I can't wait to hear when it will end.

Gossip at 11

After watching yet another lackluster episode of 24 last night, we caught the beginning of the local Fox affiliate's (WTIC - Hartford) 10 pm newscast, and it finally hit me why I can't stand to watch local TV news. I believe it was maybe the the 5th story or so last night and it was about one dog attacking another in a Hartford suburb. This makes the first segment before commercial? Seriously, do you think the "Courant" would print a story like that except maybe in one of those neighborhood sidebars? How can these people consider themselves journalists when they have the audacity to tell me a dog fight is news. I bet if I had kept watching I might have seen them cover a cock fight during the sportscast.

The scary thing is there is a market for this crap, otherwise the locals wouldn't be competing so hard with one another for our viewership. Apparently, this is the only place these stations make any money, because it is all they are focused on. Notice how many affiliates have the word news in their name nowadays. It's not channel 22 or channel 40 anymore, it's 22 News, or ABC News40. What's even more sad is that these newscasts rarely actually impart any news of note. It is usually a run down of the local police blotter, with the addition of at least one crime that happened in another state, but gets included because they have security camera video or something like that which makes it good TV.

None of what is broadcast is news, it's gossip; and worse it's all headline driven. That's why they have all those stupid teasers during prime time. "What local community voted against something important? Find out at 11." I used to think it was just a really lame way to entice viewers, but when you actually tune in, there's no story, just an answer to the headline, and maybe some quote from a local dolt who's got nothing better to do than talk to an idiot with a microphone. Then it's on to the story about the Australian Siamese twins joined at the left nostril. That's really some late-breaking news that effects me.

The only thing local TV news is good for is providing the weather. Other than that they could have a mute orangutan reading the news and it would provide me without about the same level of knowledge I can get from these correspondence course dropouts who call themselves reporters.

Suckers!!

That's what I have to say to all those people who gave up on Lost. Last night's episode, "The Man From Tallahassee", was the best this season and ranks up there with the last third of season two's run, which in my opinion was just brilliant television. If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading and go to abc.com to watch it.

We finally found out how Locke got into the wheelchair, and though the manner in which it occurred was shocking, we hardly even cared by the time they got to it because so much other stuff happened. Jack and Juliet were set to leave the island pronto, Sayid and Kate get captured, and Locke squares off against Ben/Henry Gale in some of the best back and forth I've seen on any show (obvious exception being The Office) in a long time. By the way, I was dead-on with my destroying the sub theory, though I'll admit I was a little off with my views on Jack - seeing how he was scheduled to leave at dawn - but I'm not convinced I'm entirely off-base, especially since he isn't going home anymore. It was pretty significant that Tom let him in to see Kate and that he warned him about the bugs in the room. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about read my recent post "Theories, Theories".)

Not only that but how awesome was Sayid's exchange with Alex? "How do you know my name?" "Because you look like your mother." That's ranks up there with last year's "..but I still did not believe you, so I dug up that grave". And then Jack's stare at Locke after he blew up the sub, priceless.

I have to admit I wasn't quite surprised Locke's dad was there on the island at the end though. Right near the end when Ben looked in on Locke I thought to myself "where is this man from talla...oh, I bet it's gonna be his father". Other bloggers picked up on it quicker than that, but like I said there was so much going it was easy to miss the telegraphing. Anyway it should be interesting to see how he got there. My guess is there is more to it than just the Locke connection, because I'm pretty sure he is the "real" Sawyer. According to some other blogs, I'm not the only one. Some people complained about the possibility of him being pulled out of Ben's "magical box", but I think that is more a metaphor for something else going on. If it was supposed to be literal, then Locke's joke about conjuring a new sub would have been a realistic possibility in Ben's mind.

Though I had no problems with the eps that aired in November, I do believe ABC erred in airing this season broken up the way they did. Unfortunately, those not patient enough to stick around are missing out on a show that is still thoroughly in its prime.

For some other reaction to last night's ep check out:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20015692,00.html

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2007/03/lost_its_my_loc.html

http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/blog/index.jsp?uuid=fe204412-831d-486a-969d-a109b222758a

Andy Barker, P.I.

If you missed the pilot this past Thursday, check out Andy Barker, P.I. for free at nbc.com. This show has some promise and a laundry list of reasons to give it a chance. Not the least of which is that is stars Andy Richter and Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development). Add to that the fact that Conan O'Brien is a co-creator and executive producer and the show is worth watching for the pedigree alone. The series also has an interesting premise: an accountant moves into a new office and is mistaken for the old tenant, a private investigator. Without too many clients, Andy is tempted to take on the case and thus embarks on a crossover career of catching crooks and deductible expenses.

I found the pilot pretty entertaining, chock full of jokes you might miss if you aren't paying close attention. I also thought it was a nice touch how the pilot had no credits and the title wasn't even shown until the end at the geekily-coolest possible moment. Definitely worth further watching.

Theories, Theories

So I have some theories about what we saw transpire on this past week's episode of Lost. If you havent' seen it yet, go watch it on abc.com. First off, I thought it was pretty creepy how Patchy knew all about "the list" and also was about to spill the beans in front of everyone about Locke's paralysis before he was interrupted by Rousseau. That being said, I have a feeling Locke has some ulterior motives to finding The Others' base camp. As we saw in the preview for this week, Locke confronts Henry Gale and says, "I'm not looking for Jack..." Interesting enough, but a preview for Canadian television (available here) has him finish that sentence with, "I'm looking for the submarine." Could it be that Locke feels so grateful to the island for changing his life that he will try to destroy any way of returning to the real world? He blew up the transmission station (and lied about knowing it was rigged with C4), he killed Patchy (in my opinion) to keep him from blowing his secret, and now he is probably looking for the sub so he can destroy it-hence the extra chunk of C4 he has stashed in his bag.

As for Jack getting along so well with The Others - and how awesome was that football spike to end the ep? - I think it is part of his master plan to get everyone off the island. I can't believe he would abandon everyone - there is definitely something to his tattoos and the Thai chick's saying he is a leader and the fact that his name is Shephard (even though they don't spell it right). There is also something major at work in the fact that his father shows up in some way in almost everyone elses flashbacks and his name is Christian Shephard. I think Jack is going to make nice with The Others just long enough to gain some advantage that will help him get everyone home. Check out the last thing he whispers to Kate in this clip.

This show is as good as ever.

What is...?

The Washington Post today ran a story lamenting that quiz shows just aren't as smart as they used to be. As you might expect, according to the author viewers are to blame, and while I usually bemoan television's attempts to attract the lowest common denominator, in this case I think there might be more to the current trend in trivia shows than just appealing to the intellectually lazy.

For instance, the author takes Jeopardy! - a weeknight staple in our household - to task for having become lighter fare since it's original run in the 1960s.

Nowadays...the categories are narrower -- fewer foreign phrases, more pop culture
categories -- and the questions are often written to point toward an answer.

I think that's part of the trick of Jeopardy!. It obviously helps if you know the answer outright, but part of what makes it fun to watch/play along with is the fact that you often can use the clue to retrieve some subconscious knowledge you wouldn't necessarily know you knew, but which is brought to the front of your brain simply by some random association.

To a similar extent, the same can be said of 1 vs. 100, a show I find myself enjoying, surprisingly enough. The questions are relatively easy for the most part, but I'm not sure the game is necessarily about being well-read the way Jeopardy! might be. The trick again is in paying attention to the right part of the question.

My feeling isn't so much that quiz shows are being dumbed down, but rather that the format has evolved into something different. What may be happening is a shift from celebrating intelligence to demeaning the lack thereof. The author quotes a broadcast scholar who claims viewers won't watch something that doesn't make them feel good about themselves, and since we live in a world of low expectations...

"We have accepted a degree of mediocrity in education. We don't really want to
work too hard to achieve success."

I don't think we accept mediocrity, i think we demand it, as evidenced by the second part of that quote. Regardless, I'm not sure that has anything to do with game shows being dumbed down. Case in point: the show really at the center of the piece is Fox's new Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? I have to admit that I haven't seen it yet, but my guess is that is probably supposed to be more a form of satire than a typical quiz show. I think people like to see other people humiliated, a far bigger problem in my opinion than the intellectual ennui we've been suffering through for much of this decade.

Return of "The Ricker"

At long last The Ricker has made it to CTU's HQ, replacing the recently departed Curtis as head of field ops. While he didn't reprise the Brooklyn accent he affected on NYPD Blue (which for some reason I expected), The Ricker was all business, barking orders and strangling employees who didn't immediately do as told. It was good to see Jack again, even if it wasn't really him, and I have to wonder, as EW did in it's profile of 24 a few issues ago if we aren't seeing the the beginning of a torch hand-off. Will Bauer bite it before this day ends?

Anyway, back to The Ricker - who I will probably never refer to by his character's actual name. He must be made of Kevlar since he was the only member of the SWAT team not wearing any protective gear. Though I suppose Jack usually does the same thing. Apparently, being leader doesn't include leading by example in the safety department.

Other than the new blood at CTU the most memorable moment of last night's episode was Martha Logan stabbing her husband in the chest, and then later asking why she was in handcuffs. All this however pales in comparison to what I thought, quite frankly, was the best line of the night: Aaron Pierce answering the phone and saying the words, "Martha Logan's Bungalow". Maybe it was because it was so late, or perhaps it was the juxtaposition of such a phrase in the midst of a rather intense episode, but that line was "gold Jerry, gold!"

Revisionist Office History

Not that I need incentive to watch reruns of The Office (I've already watched seasons one and two multiple times on DVD), but NBC will be airing deleted scenes of the show's previously original episodes during their subsequent rerunning in the coming weeks.

The whole story can be found here. Sounds like we might be getting some updates on how Andy's anger management courses are going. Sweet!

Mr. Buchanan, Can I Go Home Early Today?

Check out Ken Tucker's review of this week's ep of 24 and tell me if you don't kind of agree with him that this season is a little spotty. My major gripe this week concerns how we are expected to believe in these characters when they do stupid things. For example, Jack knows that everyone in the consulate is waiting outside the doors, he spoke with them for goodness sake. Regardless, after he gets his info he walks right into their waiting arms, no gun drawn, no thought of maybe going out the back. The good news is he was able to convince one of the Russians to call CTU. Inexplicably however, this guy has to change rooms to make the phone call on his cell phone, thereby leaving himself open to be killed by a co-conspirator of the ambassador. Seriously?! These techniques they are using to stretch out the plot are getting a little thin. Maybe we could make this season a half day.


Other News

Newsweek recently ran an article making the argument that TV is better than the movies. I can't necessarily disagree, though one comment by NBC President Kevin Reilly made me laugh. He made the comment that "desperation breeds inspiration" as if most of what is on TV right now is inspired. While I grant him that there are some really unique shows on now, probably more than in the past, the grim reality is that there are vastly more relying on outdated, tired formulas; and for every unique, creative show that succeeds, there is an exponential amount of copycats. He should have said desperation breeds imitation.

It's probably more coincidence than anything, but I like to think the producers of Smallville read my post that lambasted the creative direction of the show. The last two or three episodes have actually gotten me back into rooting for the series. Lana's realization that Clark has powers was a breath of fresh air, and I can't wait to see what Chloe's meteor freak ability is.