TV Diary
1. "Scarred"
When I heard that MTV had a new series about injuries incurred by people while skateboarding or playing other unconventional sports, I thought it was a great idea: finally, the network that's been glorifying 'extreme sports' for 15 years showing the downside of shit like snowboarding off a cliff. I thought it might be one of those "MTV Docs"-type serious shows, but nope, it's just as obnoxiously scored and edited as MTV Sports was back in the, except instead of Dan Cortese screaming at you, it's the singer from Papa Roach who used to call himself "Coby Dick" until he realized that his real name, Jacoby Shaddix, was actually weirder and cooler. It's also fitting that he's an MTV host now, since he basically looks like Chris Hardwick from Singled Out with guyliner. The actual parts where people talk about their injuries are pretty cool, though; usually the incident is caught on camera, and they show the footage over and over and slow it down to point out the exact moment where you can see or hear a bone crack or a limb bend back in some painfully unnatural position. It's kind of greusome and awesome, although the show would be ten times better with less IN YOUR FACE-type editing.
2. "On The Lot"
I was kind of interested in this show before it debuted, but then I missed the first couple weeks and didn't see it at all until the other night. Just as well, though, since the word of the mouth's been uniformly negative, the ratings have been terrible, and the first host has already been fired. The new host is even kind of incompetent. It's a shame, too, I would've liked for a reality show about aspiring filmmakers with this format to work well in prime time. Of the small number of short films I've seen on it so far, most were pretty lightweight, although I liked "Dough: The Musical." I kind of wish there weren't so many directors aiming for comedy, though; obviously humor is one of the best ways to pull in an audience in a film that's too short for much plot or emotional development. But I think I'd be more impressed by someone with a good visual sense than just someone who has only really proven that they can write and shoot a comedy skit.
3. "Saul of the Mole Men"
I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I'll take what I like from Adult Swim ("Venture Bros.," "Home Movies," etc.) and leave the aggravatingly nonsensical shit to the weed smokers. But now and then at night I'll flip over to check out some unfamiliar show and see bullshit like this. This doesn't seem as outright horrible as, say, "Tom Goes To The Mayor," but I kind of have a huge pet peeve about the Cartoon Network airing anything that isn't straight up animation, even if there's puppetry or some combination of live action and animation. It's Cartoon Network, motherfuckers! There's enough cartoons out there for you to show just that 24 hours a day, you don't need "Saved By The Bell" and "Pee Wee's Playhouse" to pad out the schedule, and you don't need puppetry bullshit like this.
4. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
Maybe it's because I'm feelingly sentimentally pro-Sorkin after Netflixing "The West Wing," but I've kinda opted to stick with this show 'til the end, now that NBC's cancelled it and is burning off the last few episodes during the Summer season. I'm mostly relieved that they put this show out of its misery, because if it'd been renewed, I might keep holding out hope that it'd improve, when it was mostly getting worse, but at least now there's an endpoint. The last couple episodes have been better than some of the truly dire midseason ones, if not great. Also, much in the same way I was annoyed by the subtle 4th-wall busting in Knocked Up, that episode where Allison Janney was the guest host really irritated me. It had the same problem as the pilot where Felicity Huffman was the post, but at she's better known for a show other than the one she did with Sorkin, whereas they had to acknowledge that Janney is known primarily for "The West Wing," and had her interact with the actor who played her love interest on that show, Timothy Busfield. They may as well have had Jennifer Aniston walk in and tell Matthew Perry's character he looked like Chandler.
When I heard that MTV had a new series about injuries incurred by people while skateboarding or playing other unconventional sports, I thought it was a great idea: finally, the network that's been glorifying 'extreme sports' for 15 years showing the downside of shit like snowboarding off a cliff. I thought it might be one of those "MTV Docs"-type serious shows, but nope, it's just as obnoxiously scored and edited as MTV Sports was back in the, except instead of Dan Cortese screaming at you, it's the singer from Papa Roach who used to call himself "Coby Dick" until he realized that his real name, Jacoby Shaddix, was actually weirder and cooler. It's also fitting that he's an MTV host now, since he basically looks like Chris Hardwick from Singled Out with guyliner. The actual parts where people talk about their injuries are pretty cool, though; usually the incident is caught on camera, and they show the footage over and over and slow it down to point out the exact moment where you can see or hear a bone crack or a limb bend back in some painfully unnatural position. It's kind of greusome and awesome, although the show would be ten times better with less IN YOUR FACE-type editing.
2. "On The Lot"
I was kind of interested in this show before it debuted, but then I missed the first couple weeks and didn't see it at all until the other night. Just as well, though, since the word of the mouth's been uniformly negative, the ratings have been terrible, and the first host has already been fired. The new host is even kind of incompetent. It's a shame, too, I would've liked for a reality show about aspiring filmmakers with this format to work well in prime time. Of the small number of short films I've seen on it so far, most were pretty lightweight, although I liked "Dough: The Musical." I kind of wish there weren't so many directors aiming for comedy, though; obviously humor is one of the best ways to pull in an audience in a film that's too short for much plot or emotional development. But I think I'd be more impressed by someone with a good visual sense than just someone who has only really proven that they can write and shoot a comedy skit.
3. "Saul of the Mole Men"
I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I'll take what I like from Adult Swim ("Venture Bros.," "Home Movies," etc.) and leave the aggravatingly nonsensical shit to the weed smokers. But now and then at night I'll flip over to check out some unfamiliar show and see bullshit like this. This doesn't seem as outright horrible as, say, "Tom Goes To The Mayor," but I kind of have a huge pet peeve about the Cartoon Network airing anything that isn't straight up animation, even if there's puppetry or some combination of live action and animation. It's Cartoon Network, motherfuckers! There's enough cartoons out there for you to show just that 24 hours a day, you don't need "Saved By The Bell" and "Pee Wee's Playhouse" to pad out the schedule, and you don't need puppetry bullshit like this.
4. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
Maybe it's because I'm feelingly sentimentally pro-Sorkin after Netflixing "The West Wing," but I've kinda opted to stick with this show 'til the end, now that NBC's cancelled it and is burning off the last few episodes during the Summer season. I'm mostly relieved that they put this show out of its misery, because if it'd been renewed, I might keep holding out hope that it'd improve, when it was mostly getting worse, but at least now there's an endpoint. The last couple episodes have been better than some of the truly dire midseason ones, if not great. Also, much in the same way I was annoyed by the subtle 4th-wall busting in Knocked Up, that episode where Allison Janney was the guest host really irritated me. It had the same problem as the pilot where Felicity Huffman was the post, but at she's better known for a show other than the one she did with Sorkin, whereas they had to acknowledge that Janney is known primarily for "The West Wing," and had her interact with the actor who played her love interest on that show, Timothy Busfield. They may as well have had Jennifer Aniston walk in and tell Matthew Perry's character he looked like Chandler.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 9:47 PM.
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DRAG