As much as I love George, and I do, don't get me wrong, I don't know how I feel about some of the changes in this new season. I mean, the guests are still top notch but the show is trying some new things and generally, I don't like new things.
First of all, now they tend to show more of the audience or behind the scenes type shots. Which really isn't too bad except when I see the guy telling the audience to clap. That just doesn't seem classy. And they do these different camera angles before he does Mile a Minute which I don't care for. Or the new woman who does the voice-over for the bios. Or the "Tomorrow's Headlines Tonight." I miss when George would end the show with "And that's time." I much preferred that.
But those are all little things that I suppose aren't a big detail. What I dislike is how George now insists on playing games with the guests. I mean, true or false with Drew Barrymore is one thing but I don't really care what type of music Richard Dawkins listens to. For me, I find it takes away from the seriousness of the show. It always had the fun/cool edge but was still a credible show. Now it feels like it's gone down a few pegs.
...excuse me now, I have to go spend some quality time with George.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Cheaters
So last night was the closest I had ever come to cheating since I started this. And why was I so close to cheating? Peer pressure. It's just no good. My friend, Sabrina, had baked an apple crisp and thought it would be nice if she brought it over and we watched America's Next Top Model. Then she remembered. She told me that I could just watch it and not tell anybody. And I was so close to watching it. So close. But then we didn't and instead went on facebook.
But here's the thing, I totally would have confessed that I had cheated. Some people were convinced that I would end up cheating and not tell anyone. But that would ruin the whole integrity of this project. If it gets to the point that I do cheat and watch an American show, I want to know why it was that time and what lured me over to the side of evil. It's all part of the challenge and the experience. So if I cheat, I will let you know. Rest assured.
The moral of this story: Peer Pressure? Just say no.
But here's the thing, I totally would have confessed that I had cheated. Some people were convinced that I would end up cheating and not tell anyone. But that would ruin the whole integrity of this project. If it gets to the point that I do cheat and watch an American show, I want to know why it was that time and what lured me over to the side of evil. It's all part of the challenge and the experience. So if I cheat, I will let you know. Rest assured.
The moral of this story: Peer Pressure? Just say no.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Way of the Future?
We have all gotten used to product placement in our shows. I mean, in SYTYCD-C, Tylenol sponors the after the dance section, Canon shows the dancers getting ready and somebody else probably does the recap of all the dances. For the most part, it's not something you notice any more. But last night on Little Mosque, I was a little surprised with the TD placement. First you got it in the background of a bunch of shots (and Thorne's car oddly matched the TD colours). Then a scene actually took place inside. Okay, scenes take place in banks all the time but I can't really recall if they ever actually state which bank it is. But here, the teller kindly does her "Welcome to TD, how can I help you?" And then I thought, "Hm, I think TD might be giving the CBC some funding."
Now, I've always been okay with product placement as long as it doesn't play an active role in the show (unless it's like in Josie and the Pussycats where it almost becomes another character). I mean, the money for these shows has to come from somewhere so if there occassionally has to be Snapples in the shot, I can deal. Of course there is an intersection of art and business, the problem becomes when you notice the business more than the art. But it's a fine line when it becomes distracting. Little Mosque was walking the line because I think anything more would have been too much.
But am I more likely to go to TD now??? Not really. I hate their commercials with the old men.
Now, I've always been okay with product placement as long as it doesn't play an active role in the show (unless it's like in Josie and the Pussycats where it almost becomes another character). I mean, the money for these shows has to come from somewhere so if there occassionally has to be Snapples in the shot, I can deal. Of course there is an intersection of art and business, the problem becomes when you notice the business more than the art. But it's a fine line when it becomes distracting. Little Mosque was walking the line because I think anything more would have been too much.
But am I more likely to go to TD now??? Not really. I hate their commercials with the old men.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Battle of the Blades
One of the reasons I was looking forward to this show so much was because you can see how it probably came into being:
"Hm, I think we should do a Canadian Dancing with the Stars."
"But Canada doesn't have any stars (especially b-list stars)."
"What do we have?"
"Hockey players."
"I know! It'll be Dancing with the Stars...on ice!"
Overall, I enjoyed it though. I do enjoy figure skating and am glad to see Kurt Browning again. What I noticed and expected though, is that it is mostly the women skating around the men who occasionally throw them in the air. But I know that as they improve, the performances will get a lot better. And I'm looking forward to it.
The one thing I notice though, that makes me smile is that when the men make a mistake, they all shrug their shoulders and shake their heads. It's just such a change from professional skaters where they just keep on going without even a facial expression. It does draw a lot more attention to it even though I know I would probably do the same thing. And the men are so out of breathe when they finish.
The part that made me a little was the technical errors that kept occurring. The judges' monitors weren't working (which I thought worked out better since they had to say their scores aloud which I liked). Kurt messed up at one point. But it all just made it fall into the Canadian stereotype of poor production quality. At least there was no boom mikes.
(sidenote that probably only my family will appreciate: While I was watching it, the hockey players kept having problems with the toe picks. And I thought to myself: "Toe picks? This all sounds vaguely familiar. OH MY GOD! It's the Cutting Edge!" And then suddenly I enjoyed the show so much more).
"Hm, I think we should do a Canadian Dancing with the Stars."
"But Canada doesn't have any stars (especially b-list stars)."
"What do we have?"
"Hockey players."
"I know! It'll be Dancing with the Stars...on ice!"
Overall, I enjoyed it though. I do enjoy figure skating and am glad to see Kurt Browning again. What I noticed and expected though, is that it is mostly the women skating around the men who occasionally throw them in the air. But I know that as they improve, the performances will get a lot better. And I'm looking forward to it.
The one thing I notice though, that makes me smile is that when the men make a mistake, they all shrug their shoulders and shake their heads. It's just such a change from professional skaters where they just keep on going without even a facial expression. It does draw a lot more attention to it even though I know I would probably do the same thing. And the men are so out of breathe when they finish.
The part that made me a little was the technical errors that kept occurring. The judges' monitors weren't working (which I thought worked out better since they had to say their scores aloud which I liked). Kurt messed up at one point. But it all just made it fall into the Canadian stereotype of poor production quality. At least there was no boom mikes.
(sidenote that probably only my family will appreciate: While I was watching it, the hockey players kept having problems with the toe picks. And I thought to myself: "Toe picks? This all sounds vaguely familiar. OH MY GOD! It's the Cutting Edge!" And then suddenly I enjoyed the show so much more).
Sunday, October 4, 2009
2 Boos and 1 Yay
Boos:
(1) I was quite mistaken that DG would be posted on Space. At least not yet anyways. I'll check back in a few days but for now there are just episode previews posted. This makes me more sad since I dislike leaving things incomplete.
(2) I tried to be all cool and watch some of the Battle of the Blades stuff online since I thought it would be funny. But for some reason, all the clips are skipping and stuff which makes them unwatchable. This makes me sad.
Yay:
(1) Battle of the Blades start tonight. Since I saw Domi and Probert on The Hour, I'm all excited. As a former figure skating star, I've been looking forward to this for a while. I'll let you know how it goes.
(1) I was quite mistaken that DG would be posted on Space. At least not yet anyways. I'll check back in a few days but for now there are just episode previews posted. This makes me more sad since I dislike leaving things incomplete.
(2) I tried to be all cool and watch some of the Battle of the Blades stuff online since I thought it would be funny. But for some reason, all the clips are skipping and stuff which makes them unwatchable. This makes me sad.
Yay:
(1) Battle of the Blades start tonight. Since I saw Domi and Probert on The Hour, I'm all excited. As a former figure skating star, I've been looking forward to this for a while. I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The Mysterious Disappearance of Defying Gravity
Last week (I believe, as I have permanently lost all track of time), Defying Gravity was not on. Originally it had started on Sunday nights and then was moved to Fridays. Then instead of DG, Flashpoint premiered. I thought, okay, where are they going to shove DG now? And why does everyone (meaning CTV and Global) shove the Canadian shows to Friday and Saturday nights when everybody with lives are out doing other things? Anyway, I looked around for it and realized it wasn't there. So I checked the next week. Not there either. I then had to go to wikipedia in order to find out what happened to it (I know that I really need to stop getting all my information from wikipedia but it's just so handy!).
So here's the deal: Apparently now the rest of the shows (episodes 10-13) are only being aired on Space. Which means that both CTV and ABC have dropped the show from their line-ups. This is a similar story to The Listener which NBC pulled mid-season due to low ratings. What a sad day for co-pros. After all the hope and optimism of Flashpoint, we all believed in a new era. I just hope that Americans don't give up on Canadian TV after this. Especially since Canadians have given up on so long ago.
The only silver lining in all this is that Space will be posting the remaining episodes of DG online so I can actually watch them. Even though I didn't care for the show, I still need to know what happens!
So here's the deal: Apparently now the rest of the shows (episodes 10-13) are only being aired on Space. Which means that both CTV and ABC have dropped the show from their line-ups. This is a similar story to The Listener which NBC pulled mid-season due to low ratings. What a sad day for co-pros. After all the hope and optimism of Flashpoint, we all believed in a new era. I just hope that Americans don't give up on Canadian TV after this. Especially since Canadians have given up on so long ago.
The only silver lining in all this is that Space will be posting the remaining episodes of DG online so I can actually watch them. Even though I didn't care for the show, I still need to know what happens!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Shows I wish I were watching
When I started going through the schedules to find shows to watch, I found a whole bunch that I really wished I could watch. And the worst part is, that most of them have a Canadian connection which make them so close to being watchable! Here are the top of the list:
(1) Flash Forward: A mysterious global event causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds (137 seconds), during which people worldwide see what may be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future, April 29, 2010. The event results in deaths from accidents and leaves the survivors wondering whether what they saw will happen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlashForward_(2009_TV_series)
-It's based on a Canadian novel and stars Joseph Fiennes. That's pretty much all I needed to know to start with but it just sounds so fascinating.
(2) Eastwick: The show follows the lives of three strangers, Roxanne, Joanna and Kat, who meet at a wishing fountain and soon become friends. A mysterious man named Darryl Van Horne has moved to Eastwick and has sinister plans for the women, but befriends them. Even more dangerous, he unleashes their supernatural powers. By igniting their hearts' desires, he might just be opening Pandora's box. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastwick_(TV_series).
-And who plays that mysterious man??? None other than Mr. Paul Gross. Despite never having been interested in the book or the movie, having Mr. Gross involved definitely piqued my interest in the show.
(3) Glee: Really, it looks like a TV version of High School Musical. That's all I needed. I think everybody needs a little more HSM and even better if it's in a weekly dose! Though when I put it in perspective, watching a bunch of teenagers sing isn't exactly what I would call a good time. But then again, for a while I was watching HSM 3 once a week. Sometimes I question my own judgement.
And of course, there is the old favourite America's Next Top Model. I just got addicted to it last year. It's a shame to have to say good-bye so soon. At least I had Canada's Next Top Model throughout the summer.
But please, if you watch any of these shows. Let me know how they are. My fingers are crossed that they are terrible so I'm not missing anything.
Just think of how nice Thursday would have been with Flash Foward and Grey's...sigh.
(1) Flash Forward: A mysterious global event causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds (137 seconds), during which people worldwide see what may be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future, April 29, 2010. The event results in deaths from accidents and leaves the survivors wondering whether what they saw will happen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlashForward_(2009_TV_series)
-It's based on a Canadian novel and stars Joseph Fiennes. That's pretty much all I needed to know to start with but it just sounds so fascinating.
(2) Eastwick: The show follows the lives of three strangers, Roxanne, Joanna and Kat, who meet at a wishing fountain and soon become friends. A mysterious man named Darryl Van Horne has moved to Eastwick and has sinister plans for the women, but befriends them. Even more dangerous, he unleashes their supernatural powers. By igniting their hearts' desires, he might just be opening Pandora's box. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastwick_(TV_series).
-And who plays that mysterious man??? None other than Mr. Paul Gross. Despite never having been interested in the book or the movie, having Mr. Gross involved definitely piqued my interest in the show.
(3) Glee: Really, it looks like a TV version of High School Musical. That's all I needed. I think everybody needs a little more HSM and even better if it's in a weekly dose! Though when I put it in perspective, watching a bunch of teenagers sing isn't exactly what I would call a good time. But then again, for a while I was watching HSM 3 once a week. Sometimes I question my own judgement.
And of course, there is the old favourite America's Next Top Model. I just got addicted to it last year. It's a shame to have to say good-bye so soon. At least I had Canada's Next Top Model throughout the summer.
But please, if you watch any of these shows. Let me know how they are. My fingers are crossed that they are terrible so I'm not missing anything.
Just think of how nice Thursday would have been with Flash Foward and Grey's...sigh.
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