What Have You To Be Merry About?

Sure, I cribbed the title of this post from A Christmas Carol, and sure, in the scene Scrooge was talking specifically about wealth, but it’s still a valid question to ponder on this Christmas Eve. More to the point, what is it that makes Christmas seem like Christmas?

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit over the past few weeks. As we’ve crept ever closer to Christmas day, I keep waiting for that familiar feeling, the one that I’ve gotten every year for as long as I can remember. It’s the feeling of warmth, safety, anticipation and excitement all bundled up into one, but this year it has yet to arrive.

The weather’s certainly not been helping. It’s been unseasonably warm in my home town, with a lack of substantial snow. I think that’s probably part of it, since the last time I was lacking the spirit was when I was working in Austin. Upon returning to the cold north, however, I was soon feeling much more like Christmas, but I don’t think that’s the whole story. You don’t need snow to be in the Christmas spirit. In fact, you don’t even need to be happy. I’ve long felt that Christmas, though a predominantly happy time, is also always touched with a little sadness. Think about the best Christmas movies and TV specials. Charlie Brown, Rudolph, It’s A Wonderful Life, though they all end happily, they all focus on incredibly sad characters. Think of the most popular Christmas carols. The vast majority of them are written in minor keys, automatically lending them a sad or melancholy feel. No, I think some sadness is inherent in the season, and it needn’t be something to run from.

So why haven’t I been swept up in Christmas feelings? I’ve done all the decorating, wrapped the presents, listened to the music. What’s missing? The answer can be found by going back and examining that Austin Christmas. The snow wasn’t the only thing that was missing. I was there by myself. All my family and friends were still back home. Forgive me as I get as saccharine as the worst of those Christmas specials, but that’s really what the holiday is all about. It’s the warmth and safety of spending time with those close to you, the anticipation and excitement of those times. Without the people, Christmas is just a day like any other. This year I just haven’t done a good job of spending time with people. Some of it was unavoidable; people move away or travel, which understandably means you can’t spend that time together. A lot of it, though, was just me not making enough of an effort. Work, taking care of the new puppy, sleep, they all get in the way, and they all make convenient excuses. In the end, though they are all too often an afterthought, it’s the people and relationships that count. They are what makes Christmas feel like Christmas.

As I’ve written this post, we’ve moved from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. I hope you have someone close to you who you can spend the day with, and I hope you take advantage of that opportunity; I know I intend to.

Merry Christmas!

Sleep well,

DTE

… Is Paved With Good Intentions

I’ll start today with a quick welcome to the blog proper to all my regular Facebook readers. As you are no doubt completely (un)aware, in mid-November Facebook removed the auto-import option for their Notes feature. As such, if you intend to continue reading, you’ll have to follow a link from Facebook over here to Blogger (as it would seem you already did – good for you!) as I post each new blog, or, if you’re feeling in a really commitment-y mood, you can just click on that little “Follow” button over to the right and then you will forever be notified of my ramblings.

Now that that is out of the way, we’ll move on to something equally as interesting – a progress check. As an avid reader, you doubtless remember the list of four goals/routines that I intended to start back in August. Since it’s almost the end of the year and I’ve had nearly five months to implement these new habits, I figured it was only fair that I come clean with my current progress.

A primer for the uninitiated and hyperlink-averse: having recently moved into a new house, in August I decided that it was an ideal time to begin establishing new, healthier, more beneficial routines. The four specific areas I wanted to focus on were eating healthier, being more active, reading regularly, and writing (specifically here) more frequently. Now, all these weeks later, I think I can safely say that I’ve accomplished one and a half of these four.

Let’s start with the most obvious one, the one you’ve no doubt already figured out for yourself. I’ve failed pretty miserably at writing more often. On the surface, the numbers look not bad; after all, I’ve made 12 posts since I wrote my goals, which is more than the total posts for several previous years. Looking a little closer, however, you can see that it doesn’t quite work. Sure I came out strong with three more that first month, and then a whopping seven in September, but all the September posts occurred in a single week and were all devoted to the same subject, so they’re a bit of a cheat. My last post before this one was in mid-October, two months ago. Clearly the frequency hasn’t really increased. I could make all sorts of excuses for this, but the fact of the matter is that it’s just a combination of not having/making time. I actually have a whole list of topics that I’d like to bore you with my thoughts on, but I know that they’re all likely to be lengthy, so carving out a chunk of time for each has been difficult. I had said that one of the ways I intended to increase my output was to fill in the gaps between posts with smaller, faster entries. This is still something that I would like to do, and I already have some ideas for quick, recurring formats that I could do. I’m a little hesitant to commit to a hard and fast schedule, but that may be what it takes for me to keep up with this. Come mid-January, hopefully you’ll start seeing something along those lines pop up. First, however, I’ll have to get my annual Best Of list for this year’s films up, since it’s always my most popular entry of the year.

I failed even more completely on the next goal: becoming more active. I made zero progress here, and in fact may have even moved backwards. I didn’t join a gym. I haven’t gotten out more to walk or play any sports. About the closest I came was on my 10 business trip/vacation to Florida where a combination of 14 days in theme parks and very little food resulted in increased stamina and an unintentional 10 lb. weight loss. Clearly this is an area that requires more attention, but one for which I don’t have a good game plan. Since winter is now upon us, I’ll hopefully get out snowboarding, which can be good exercise, especially when you’re as bad at it as I am, but that will still likely be infrequent. I’m probably going to have to bite the bullet and join a gym. And then force myself to actually go.

The goal I have arbitrarily given myself half a point for is the healthy eating. It’s not that my diet is really particularly healthy, it has improved somewhat in recent months, mostly by cutting down on junk food and the addition of more vegetables. Right now my biggest challenge is the meat portion of each meal. What I need is some good recipes for preparing meat dishes that are suitable for one without too many leftovers. As it is, the meat tends to be pre-prepared frozen food simply because it’s easy, requires little preparation, and I don’t have to eat leftovers for the next four days. It’s also probably not the healthiest option, so that’s where I’m focusing at the moment, so if you’ve got suggestions, pass them on.

The final goal was the only one I’ve actually been successful at. I have been reading almost every night, which has been great. Not only does it help to stave off my insomnia, it’s also just something I really enjoy doing. Since August I’ve managed to read:

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived by Paul S Kemp	Star Wars: Fate Of The Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston	Star Wars: Fate Of The Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden
Star Wars: Choices of One by Timothy Zahn	Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire	A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Yeah, it was a lot of trivial books, but I was behind on the Star Wars novels, which I’ve read since I was in grade 4. Besides, they can’t all be classics. The daily reading is something I definitely intend to keep up with.

And so now you’re all caught up. My progress has been slow and miniscule, but at least it’s something. Hopefully it will increase going forward. Or maybe I’ll get distracted by something else and forget all about it.

Oh look, a pile of videogames…

Sleep well,

DTE

...Shall Be Visited Upon The Children

I had originally planned not to post this, I was going to write it just to get it out of my system.Upon completing it, however, I felt a deep need to put it out there, not necessarily for anyone to read, but just because I wanted to out there. As a result, this is one of only a handful of my posts which I won't be allowing Facebook to re-post or Twitter to announce. If you're reading this it's most likely that you found my blog organically and probably not because we've actually met. That's important this time. I want to expel this under the limited anonymity of the internet, without risking hurting anyone close to me.

I resent my parents. That's actually not quite right. It's not my parents themselves that I resent, it's the way I was raised. I come from a very religious family and was raised according to those beliefs. That's not necessarily a bad thing, there are many positives that came out of that, but there are also many negatives. Chief among them is an over-abundance of rules designed to keep us "different from the world". Again, rules in and of themselves are certainly not a bad thing, as hordes of undisciplined children can attest. My problem lies in the likely unintended consequences.

Growing up, I was never allowed to attend any dances. All throughout junior high and high school I didn't go to a single one, not even my grade 12 grad. At the time, whether this was explicitly stated or I just pieced it together on my own, I believed the main reason was the music. There was a multitude of songs and artists I wasn't allowed to listen to, most or all of which would be played at dances, so it tracked that I would be kept from dances to prevent exposure to said music. Turns out, as I discovered only fairly recently, apparently dancing is just "wrong" in general. Don't ask me why. Truth be told, at the time I didn't really care about missing most of these (though grad did sting). I wasn't that interested in them and didn't have anyone special to go with anyway (more on that later). In hindsight, however, it's beyond clear that I did miss out on something very important. It wasn't about the dance itself, but about the social experience the dance created. They're supposed to function as a training ground for social interactions you'll be required to participate in later in life. You learn how to mingle, striking up casual conversations with strangers (or, here, people outside your immediate circle), how to behave in that environment, and, far more important than it might sound, how to dance. It's important to do this so that you can work through all the awkwardness and discomfort now, so that later in life, when it actually counts, you can at least look competent and comfortable and not just be the awkward guy who looks miserable and can't even begin to fit in.

That social training ground leads right into the next step: bars and nightclubs. A place where the skills learned at the dance can be put into practice and refined. Again, learning casual conversation, how to pick up a desired partner, how to dance (again), even something as simple as how to order a drink. This was another point of contention. Bars were absolutely a "place I should not be" meaning that any night out needed to be either hidden or preceded by a long argument. As a result, I've probably gone less than a dozen times. As with the school dances, not going has caused me to miss not only the socializing that would occur there in general but, more importantly, the chance to gain the experience required to function in in similar social situations. When I have to go to functions for work or in my personal life, I struggle just to figure out the norms and expectations, with the added pressure of knowing that I'm so far below the level of experience and knowledge that is expected of me.

Even the most common social skills of entertaining at home or being a good guest cause problems. For reasons I'm not quite sure of, visiting was also strictly limited. I rarely was able to go friends houses (or really even hang out outside of school) and practically never allowed to have anyone over. This once again has left me miles behind what would be expected of me and has led to countless embarrassing situations. Norms and expectations I should have been exposed to years ago are still just now presenting themselves. This presents itself most frustratingly when I'm a guest at someone's home. Since I'm not only unaware of what is expected but also conscious of this fact, I spend most of the time cripplingly uncomfortable, often fighting the urge to bolt. Desperate to make a good impression, but convinced I'm failing miserably.

As you can imagine, none of this combined to create a terribly successful dating life. I don't think it was ever spelled out or that there was a specific incident that led me to this, perhaps it stemmed as a natural extension of the visitors problem, but I've spent most of my life with the belief that if I were ever to attempt a normal dating relationship it would cause no end of trouble at home. Maybe there was a degree of martyrdom involved as well, but I could see no scenario where dating someone didn't lead to huge problems. Though it's not something we've ever discussed, I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that my brother felt the same way, since he had no dating life until well after high school. Or maybe he just wasn't interested and this was all just me. Regardless, as a result I had a few scattered dates, which I made sure remained hidden, but nothing ever came of them and, of course, the longer this went on, the further behind I fell socially in this area as well.

By now, if you've managed to keep reading this far, you've probably decided that all I'm doing is complaining about how miserable my life is and trying to generate sympathy, or trying to make excuses for my own failings, or maybe just being whiny. None of these is the case. The entire purpose was simply to lay my thoughts out in a logical order so that I can work through those feelings of resentment for my parents and hopefully move on. I'm not sure how successful that's been just yet, but this is the longest I've spent thinking about the subject at one time and I do definitely understand my thoughts better now having typed them out. Only time will tell what comes of it.

Sleep well,

DTE

No Points For Originality

Since it’s Thanksgiving this weekend, and since I haven’t written recently, I figured I’d write the same post as everyone else (in Canada, at least).

When I decided to jump on the bandwagon and write this list, a whole 30 seconds ago, it seemed like it should be quick and easy. Bang out a few things I’m thankful for, maybe slap in a few pictures, tag it and hit post. The problem is gratitude is not an emotion I’m very good at, either being on the giving or receiving end. It’s not that I’m an ingrate, I just feel like I sound insincere whenever I do try to express my gratitude to someone, so as a result I just tend not to do so verbally. Likewise, I have a love/hate relationship with being on the receiving end. Like everyone else, I do appreciate being appreciated, but at the same time it often makes me intensely uncomfortable. What does all this have to do with my list? Not much at all, it’s mostly just a way for me to stall while I decide what to include.

So, without further ado (in the obligatory cursive font):

What I’m Thankful For

Family and Friends

Of course, at the beginning of any list such as this you’re required by law, or at least social convention, to list your family and friends. Truth be told, even if it was required in order for me not to be thought of as a Horrible Human Being, I still would have included them in this position. Even though I’ve never been terribly close with any of my family, I do know that if I ever really need them, they’d be there for me, which is comforting to know. I have a handful of close friends who I can, and often do, go to and share way more personal information than is probably healthy for any of us, as well as a broader circle of friends that I can rely on to just hang out with and keep me entertained. And finally, of course, I have a wonderful, loving girlfriend who’s willing to put up with all of my quirks and eccentricities, who I can’t imagine being without.

Work

After having been unemployed for a year a couple years ago, having a steady job is not something I take for granted. Sure I complain as much as anyone about my boss, my salary, and the absolutely ridiculous vacation schedule, but the truth is I’m thankful to have a reliable job, with interesting work and people I enjoy working with.

House

One of the benefits of that steady job is that I was able to purchase a house. It’s nice to be on my own and independent again, even if it does come with a never ending stack of bills.

Technology

The only thing better than living in the year 2011 would be living ten years from now. Or ten years after that. Or ten years after that. You get the idea. I’m writing this blog on a custom Windows 7 PC, with photos from an Android smartphone, while listening to music in iTunes, downloading a game on Steam, and recording a show on my PVR (while my eReader waits patiently for me nearby). I’m a tech junkie, so I’m thankful to live in a time where we have so much cool tech to play with, but also to have the financial freedom to be able to afford to play with it.

People, prosperity, shelter. Check, check, check. A frivolous one just to keep things interesting. Check. Looks like that’s about it for my list. I know it’s full clichés, but that doesn’t make it any less heartfelt (see, there I go questioning my own sincerity again). Regardless, that’s all I’ve got for today. I hope you have a great long weekend (and if you’re not in Canada, feel free to defer those wishes until your next long weekend rolls around).

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Monday 2

It’s finally the last night of premieres. Yes, there are other new shows debuting in the coming weeks, but they are more spread out. Last night marked the end of 13 straight nights of new TV, with only a single new show.

Terra Nova: This is a show that I should love. Dinosaurs! Time Travel! Spielberg! The combination presented here, though, is decidedly bland. The two hour pilot spends most of its time on exposition, delivered by a cast that isn’t particularly appealing with dialogue that is far from sharp. Yes, a series such as this does necessitate a large amount of groundwork to be laid early on, so hopefully the problems on display here are merely pilot-syndrome and the show will improve dramatically now that it’s all out of the way. Only time will tell.

Verdict: Try it for 6

And that’s it for Fall 2011 premiere week. I’ll be back soon with a post completely unrelated to television or film. Probably.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Sunday

Only one more day to go, here’s my roundup of the shows I checked out on Sunday.

Amazing Race: Season 19 – There’s really absolutely nothing new here. This is the only unscripted series I even attempt to watch, and it’s starting to wear on me as well. Over the years there has been a subtle shift in the way the program is cut together. They now devote far less time to covering the challenges and more time to the “drama” within each team. As a result, it’s becoming more and more like every other unscripted series – just a lot of people arguing, and not even in a particularly entertaining way. I might stick it out through this season, but it’s definitely on the bubble.

Verdict: Skip it

Pan Am: ABC’s attempt to create a Mad Men for broadcast. The first thing I noticed was that the whole thing feels cheap. There are a lot of nice period details, but they feel slapped together, rather than organic. This isn’t helped by the fact that the dialogue is stiff and the plotting glacial. The worst offense, however, is the spy storyline. It is painfully obvious that this was added late in development as a way to appeal to a wider audience and create story possibilities. Instead of accomplishing that goal, it merely feels forced, completely out of place, and, in the pilot at least, is not even a compelling spy story. This is a show that I want to like, so I will give it another shot, but my expectations are now extremely low.

Verdict: Try it for 6

Boardwalk Empire: Season 2 – Easily one of the best shows on TV, this season premiere didn’t disappoint. Picking up right where the last season ended, this was a great hour. It’ll be a little difficult for new viewers to pick up in the middle due to the large cast and dense plotting, but it’s absolutely worth the effort. This is a show you should be watching.

Verdict: Watch it

Only one more day left in this series. I’ll be back tomorrow with my opinion on the premiere of Terra Nova.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Friday

I only watched one Friday show, but did manage to catch up on Modern Family, so I’ll include my thoughts on that one as well.

Fringe: Season 4 – Over the past two seasons, Fringe has quietly become one of the best shows on television, and the season premiere was no exception. Though on the surface it appeared to be a simple return to the case of the week formula it followed for much of its first season, it’s actually doing something much more interesting. In effect, it has now created a third parallel universe and potentially erased all of the history it has built to date. I love that the producers seem to be comfortable with trying whatever they think will make for the best story, without worrying about alienating new viewers or being too abstract for broadcast networks.

Verdict: Watch it

Modern Family: Season 3 - Along with Community, Modern Family is the most reliably great comedy on broadcast. The premiere continued that streak, while also making some fairly large changes. I don’t think this show has even reached its peak yet.

Verdict: Watch it

We’re coming to the end of the bulk of fall premieres. On Sunday I’ll be watching Boardwalk Empire, Amazing Race, and Pan Am. I’ll be back with my thoughts Monday.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Thursday

Though it was still far from perfect, Thursday was easily the most solid night so far this week.

Big Bang Theory: Season 5 - The two episodes aired last night were on par with the show’s recent history – nowhere near the heights of the second season, mostly just an entertaining, forgettable distraction. The biggest problem with the series is that it can’t seem to decided if it want’s to be a show that tries to get laughs by making fun of the geeks – casting the audience as the cool outsider who is far superior to the pathetic core characters – or if it wants to be a show that treats its geeks as real people and tries to get laughs by putting them outside their comfort zones – casting the audience the core characters’ different-but-equal peers. I vastly prefer the latter approach as it leads to much smarter humour, whereas the former is just a regurgitation of all the same geek jokes we’ve been watching for the last 30 years. Fortunately, last night’s episodes both fell mostly within the latter category. Let’s hope it stays there.

Verdict: Watch it

Community: Season 3 – Probably the best, and riskiest, comedy on the broadcast networks, Community’s third season premiere was quite strong. After a brilliant musical cold open, the show quickly fell into it’s standard style and though it wasn’t on par with its best episodes, it was funny and entertaining and set up the rest of the season nicely.

Verdict: Watch it

The Office: Season 8 – The primary purpose of this episode, and probably the next few as well, was to prove to audiences that The Office wouldn’t collapse with the departure of its lead character. In that regard, it was successful. It was pretty much on the same level as the last two years. The downside to this is that the last two years have been markedly lower quality than the beginning of its run. The result is that, while it will probably stick around for another season, it will continue shedding fans with each episode as it rehashes and tries to re-attain the freshness it was once known for.

Verdict: Skip it

Person Of Interest: This is a show from J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan, starring Michael Emerson (and Jim Caviezal, but that’s not really important). With that type of talent on board, you’d expect big things. Instead a very standard, dull, and at times laughably nonsensical, procedural. The writing is flat, the story straightforward and obvious, and Caviezal is incredibly uninteresting. Emerson, who works best when playing off of others, is good but mostly confined to sitting in front of a computer. If it weren’t for the behind the scenes talent, I’d be writing this off entirely, but as is I’ll probably give it a chance for a few more episodes and hope it can find its footing.

Verdict: Give it 6

There’s only one premiere tonight worth checking out, so come back tomorrow to see my take on the Fringe season opener.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Tuesday

So Tuesday was not a good night for TV. I’m not going to spend much time talking about the generalities and just dive right in.
Glee: Season 3 – It did have a few good performances, but that’s about it. The best thing that can be said about this episode is that it wasn’t as terrible as most of last season. Though Glee finally hired a full writing staff this season, this episode was written by one of the original three. Hopefully, as the season progresses the new staff can help the show to return to the level it was at at the beginning of season one.

Verdict: Try it for 6

NCIS: Season 9 – This was a terrible episode. Much like Castle, NCIS is best when it’s handling the case of the week and almost hopeless when it tries to tackle the big stories. Unlike Castle, even on its case of the week episodes, it hasn’t been remotely good for several seasons. I’m only watching it because I’m hoping it will end soon, as I don’t like leaving a long running series before the end. This has been pretty bad for quite a while, though, so I think this will the end for me.

Verdict: Skip it

Tonight the only show I’ll be watching is Modern Family. Or at least I will be watching it starting next week. I’m still catching up on the second season, which I should be done in a couple days, at which point I’ll watch this season’s premiere. As a result, my next write-up won’t be until Friday, when I talk about Thursdays shows, which will be Big Bang Theory, Community, The Office, and new series Person Of Interest. See you then.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Monday

So Monday brought us three shows I felt were worth watching. Overall, it fared better than most of what aired last week, but nothing has been fantastic yet.

How I Met Your Mother: Season 7 – CBS chose to launch this season with two back to back episodes. It wasn’t a two part story, and they were only tangentially related, so airing them together really wasn’t necessary, but I’ll review them as one nonetheless. The tone on this show has been incredibly inconsistent over the last two seasons, so I’m hoping they are able to even it out a little this year. These first two episodes succeed in accomplishing that, but everything else about them was stubbornly mediocre. The one shining spot was Barney and Robyn’s dance in the first episode.

Verdict: Watch it

2 Broke Girls: This series seems to be conflicted about what type of show it will be. There is both a broad, slapstick sitcom and a dark, dry comedy jammed into the same pilot. The long term success, either critical or commercial, of the show will likely depend on which formula becomes the dominant one. If the slapstick wins it could become a commercially successful, forgettable trifle. If the darker version comes out on top, it could evolve into a smart, critically accepted show but the ratings would likely suffer for it. Personally, I’m hoping for the later, but it will have to pick one in the coming weeks, because too many weeks of the jumble they are currently presenting will put off both audiences.

Verdict: Try it for 6

Castle: Season 4 – Castle is reliably good, seldom standing out but never falling on its face. It’s always been strongest when dealing with the case of the week and small family drama, while it has great difficulty with bigger stories, like the search for Kate mother’s killer. Unfortunately, this episode is yet another attempt at the big story, and it mostly suffers for it. It spends the entire first act trying to make the viewer believe Kate might actually die, then falls into the same post-cop-gets-shot story you’ve seen a hundred times (She says she’s ready to come back, but she’s SO NOT READY! She has to face down a bad guy but FREEZES! The next time she faces a bad guy she PUSHES THROUGH the fear and OVERCOMES!) Also odd was that this episode seems to be favouring a new lighting philosophy for the show, making every scene appear to take place at dusk. Hopefully that doesn’t become the norm because Castle was one of the few cop shows that wasn’t afraid to set scenes in multiple types of light environments. Next week should mark a return to the case of the week format, so hopefully it will also return to being much more fun.

Verdict: Watch it

Only two shows worth checking out for me tonight, and both are returns, the aging NCIS and the massive downward spiral that Glee has become, though they have a writing staff this year, so it might actually improve. Or at least have consistent characterizations. Regardless, I’ll be back here tomorrow with my thoughts.

Sleep well,

DTE

Premiere Week–Preview

I’m going to do my best to keep this post brief, not that I’ve ever succeeded in doing that in the past, but I can try. It’s been a couple weeks since I wrote, so I’m sure it comes as no surprise that my return post is media related. It’s a topic that interests me and, since my posts on the Upfronts generated the most page views so far this year by an order of magnitude, it seemed logical to weigh in on the shows I passed judgement on back in May. Most of the fall premieres take place this week, so I’ll checking out the few shows that seem promising, as well as the season premieres of the returning shows that I continue to watch.

A few shows jumped the gun and began last week. The new shows I sampled last week were:

Ringer: I was mainly interested in this one solely because it marked Sarah Michelle Gellar’s return to TV. Turns out that was the only notable thing about this show. This is a clumsy, dull attempt at a thriller, devoid of interesting characters and glacially paced. About the only way to wring any enjoyment out of it is to count how many shots there are of characters looking in mirrors (the show’s about dual natures, get it?). It happens a lot.

Verdict: Skip it

Free Agents: The draw here is that I’m a fan of creator John Enbom’s other shows, especially his work on Veronica Mars and Party Down. Unfortunately, this show is a complete waste of his talents. Trying to be a romantic comedy, it’s lacking any actual laughs. The 30 minutes of the pilot took forever.

Verdict: Skip it

The returning shows last week faired a little better:

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season 7 - The dark humour returned with a vengeance. Dead hooker in the hallway – need I say more? It wasn’t all great, though. It felt like it lacked focus and the “Mac got fat” storyline never really worked after the initial shock value.

Verdict: Watch it

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 4 – As a series Clone Wars has been wildly uneven, bouncing between serious, adult tones and silly juvenile humour. It’s at its best when it shoots for serious. The season premiere mostly leans in this direction, though the story wasn’t one of their strongest.

Verdict: Watch it

Young Justice: Season 1.5 – Not really a new season, just the beginning of the second half of the first season after a long hiatus. A fairly strong episode but nothing fantastic.

Verdict: Watch it

On tap tonight is the return of How I Met Your Mother, and Castle, as well as the pilot for 2 Broke Girls. Check back tomorrow for my thoughts.

Sleep well,

DTE

You go to school for this, right?

I am, by no means, a marketing expert. I took one introductory marketing class as part of my engineering degree but beyond that have now experience or training. Irrespective of that fact, I do love to dissect ad campaigns and marketing decisions and this week I’ve come across two that I consider to be completely wrongheaded.

The first is a new plan by Fox and ABC, which you can read about here, to delay the online availability of new season TV shows by over a week. Essentially, by keeping new shows off of network web sites, or services like Hulu and Netflix, the networks hope to drive more people to the TV to watch the shows live, where ad revenues are greater. There’s one problem with this line of thinking – it’s completely wrong.

The majority of people who watch TV online fall into one of three categories. There are the ones who are going to pirate the show no matter what. There’s no way to stop piracy, no matter what they’d have you believe, and trying only ends up hurting the legitimate customers as they have to deal with ridiculous restrictions and limitations, so the most sensible thing to do it just ignore this group entirely. They’re already lost.

The next group are those who can’t or won’t pay for cable. Delaying release isn’t going to convince them to pay $100 a month to watch four shows. Instead it will drive most of them to piracy, while a small number will deal with the wait period. Fewer online views means ad revenue goes down. Unlike broadcast, online views can be precisely monitored and networks can’t use the typical games to artificially inflate their ratings. Online, advertisers know exactly what they’re paying for, so losing viewers here is serious.

The third group are those who simply missed the episode when it broadcast and want to catch up before the next one airs. The 8 day waiting period makes this impossible so, once again, this group will be driven to the torrent sites where they can immediately get a copy of the episode they want to watch, usually in higher quality than they would find on the official site anyway. The networks are claiming they will develop a method for those with a cable subscription to access the shows without the delay, but that will require them actually following through, will require you to be signed up with the right cable company, and be in the right place. All of this merely adds extra hassle, especially when compared to the alternative.

Viewers want access to their media in a timely fashion, on whatever device, or devices, they want. Offer them that and most will gladly pay. Fail to do so and follow in the steps of the music industry.

This week’s second marketing fail is on the radio. Rogers broadcasting has launched a new Top 40 radio station in Vancouver, nothing exciting there. Where it starts to get confusing is when you look at the name. It’s called Sonic. It shares its name, iconography, and website design with another station here in Edmonton which Rogers bought a few years ago. Still nothing too unusual, since media companies often use the same name for local stations across the country to create a brand. The difference here is that Sonic Vancouver is a Top 40 station, while Sonic Edmonton is an Alternative Rock station. Why share the name? There isn’t a lot of overlap in pop and alt rock listeners, so using the same name isn’t going to help build the listener base in either city through name recognition. Sonic Edmonton started as a fiercely independent station and when it was purchased there were concerns of homogenization, which so far have been mostly unfounded. This latest move could reignite those fears. It’s possible that Rogers is readying a format change in Edmonton, preparing to roll out Sonic as a top 40 brand in each of the major markets, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense either, as it has consistently performed as the number 4 station in the city and last year won the national broadcasters’ award for best radio station in the country in any genre. There may be some logical reason for this decision, but from the outside it just looks like a poor move that will damage the brand in both markets.

As I said, I have no particular expertise in marketing, but it appears Fox, ABC, and Rogers could all use some help.

Sleep well,

DTE

Don’t Be Evil

It was with those words that Google defined its mission as a company. Don’t be evil in the way you treat your employees, don’t be evil in the way you treat your customers, don’t be evil in the way you treat your competitors. It was the motto they very publicly promised to live by. Coming on the heels of the antitrust case against Microsoft, who many in the tech community and the public at large viewed as evil incarnate, it was a motto that earned Google a lot of goodwill. Though there has been some discrepancy as to whether they always live up to this goal, they are still generally viewed as the “good guys”. Recent weeks have seen two large developments with the company, which will likely cause many to once again evaluate whether Google is still striving not to be evil.
Several weeks ago, Google launched the invite-only beta of their new social network, Google+. This arena is still firmly controlled by Facebook, but if anyone has a chance of unseating the current champ, it will have to be a company with built in recognition and it will have to offer very definite improvements over Facebook. It launched to much media buzz and invites were so sought after that they were shut down in less than a week. It was easy to find descriptions of all the Google+ offered, but without actually using the service, it’s difficult to understand just how all the elements fit together. That being said, I recently acquired an invitation to join (thanks Sherwin), so I’m going to try to explain my impressions anyway. To my mind, there are three elements which could give the service an edge: security, integration, and unification.
Security has long been one of the major complaints levelled against Facebook. It’s definitely possibly to control exactly who sees your information on Facebook, but the security settings are far from streamlined and may appear impenetrable to an inexperienced user. In addition, by default most things are left open on Facebook. That strategy has served the company well both in the fact that it greatly aided the speed of adoption, making it very easy to find friends on the network, and also by making the network a paradise for targeted advertising, which is how Facebook makes the bulk of its profits. Since it knows a huge amount of information about you, and since you’ve agreed to let that be shared with advertisers, you can get ads directly related to your interests, which means you are more likely to click them, which results in cash in Facebook’s coffers. Google+, in contrast, is very upfront with who can see your information and defaults to hiding most of it from public view. All of your “friends” on the service must be placed into a “circle”, which is basically a group which you can name – eg. Friends, Family, Coworkers, People I Hate, whatever you want. Whenever you post anything on the service, you can select which of those circles can see it. It’s a very elegant, easy to understand way to manage your privacy.

The second potential advantage Google has is integration. They are still the largest search provider by far,through Gmail are one of the largest email providers, and in YouTube are also the largest distributor of web video. Combine that with their calendar, documents, RSS reader, web browser, and desktop and mobile operating systems and Google is pretty much anywhere you want to be. Google+ is integrated into all of these. Once you sign up, it appears in the menu bar at the top of all their sites, meaning you don’t just visit Google+, you take it with you, and it uses all of the services you already use.

Those little “+1” buttons that have been showing up all over the web in recent months? They are Google+’s version of the “Like” button, but in addition to posting the item you “plus” to your feed, they also impact your search results on all Google pages, meaning that the more you use the service, the better your search results will match your own individual tastes. This is where Google makes its money. Rather than giving your information to advertisers to create targeted ads, Google uses your behaviour across the web to give you the most relevant adds. It’s a small but important difference. Whether you feel more comfortable with one or the other is up to you.

The third and potentially most important advantage of Google+ is unification. Most people use multiple social networks already, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. There are enough people that want to be able to do everything in one place that there are a glut of third party programs that allow you to manage all of them within a single program but at best you’re still just controlling each individually within a single window. By coming late to the party Google has the advantage of being able to copy the best elements of each and allow you to do it all seamlessly within one interface. The most obvious one is Facebook, since Google+ allows you and your friends to follow each other, post updates, share links, pictures, and videos. But it also behaves like Twitter, since you can add anyone to any circle, you can create a “Following” circle where you put people who you are interested in seeing updates from and all of their public updates will show up in your feed. You won’t share anything with them unless they put you into one of their circles, in  which case they would get your public feed. This makes it easy to post something general that will go out to the web at large, like you would on Twitter, and something personal that only close friends can see, like you might on Facebook. Google+ also takes aim at Foursquare with its Google Places integration. Places has been built into the web and mobile version of maps for a long time, but will really take off if Google+ does.

My own impressions of the service are mostly positive. I really like the layout and integration, as well as the fact that it already has a strong mobile app, which I think is essential for a social network and something that Facebook largely ignores. I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere anything soon, but Google+ does a lot of things right and if it can hold out long enough, it might just come out on top.

The second major development in Google land is the announcement today that they will be buying Motorola for $12.5 billion. Google’s Android operating system is already the most widely used mobile OS in the world but, until now, they relied exclusively on other companies to build the hardware. Now Google will have control of the complete chain, from concept to putting the product in the customers hand. The flagship Google phones – Nexus 1, Nexus S, Nexus Prime – have always been the best of the Android phones, so the new Motorola phones will likely be the new cream of the Android crop. In addition to the phone division, this acquisition is important to Google in two other, even larger, ways. The first is Motorola’s extensive patent collection. Ownership of these will allow Google to expand further and fend off the patent infringement lawsuits that have begun to head their way. Finally, Motorola also has the largest market share of cable boxes. Having such a large install base will allow Google to put GoogleTV in a lot of homes and help smooth things over with the cable companies which are currently working to stop GoogleTV from receiving content.

So what does all this mean? In short, it means that soon Google will be everywhere. If it has a screen, and even if it doesn’t, Google seems to want to be your connection into that device. This sounds a little like the Microsoft of 15 years ago, only less hostile. Personally, I love Google’s apparent vision for the future. Let’s just hope they can stick to their old motto.

Sleep well,

DTE

The High Cost of Living

So, another week has gone by at my house, so, in keeping with my recent decision, I figured it was time for another post. There isn’t a whole lot to report this time around, so I’ll keep it brief.

I’ve already made most of the larger changes to the house that I intend to make for the time being, so the work I did on the house this week was pretty minor. I found the shower downstairs to be a little small and the shower head was mounted too low for me, so I put up a shower rod and curtain upstairs so I can use the tub shower. The shower head is quite a bit higher and, since it’s also the tub, there’s a lot more room. I dug around in the ceiling in the basement so that I could turn on the two water faucets outside my house. I tried, in vain, to replace the burnt out lights in the light fixture in the master bedroom. I bought CFL’s to put in but discovered that the enclosure is fitted so tightly to the shape of old incandescent bulb that nothing else will fit. Bored yet? Hey, I never claimed any of this stuff was going to be interesting.

Slightly more interesting is the food situation. The first thing you realize when you go to stock a kitchen from scratch is that it cost a hell of a lot of money to stock a kitchen from scratch. The first grocery run cost me $230 and today I spent an additional $90. If you were to go through my kitchen, though, you’d wonder where all that money went. Everything still feels barren. A lot of that money has been spent on that you only have to buy infrequently, so the weekly bill will go down, but it’s still quite expensive. The other food related challenge is figuring out what to buy. I kind of enjoy cooking, but prior to moving out rarely cooked full meals. I have a few cookbooks that I’m using, but the book I really want doesn’t seem to exist. What I’d really like is a cookbook that starts off with a list of 30 or so ingredients that you can go out and buy and then be able to prepare any recipe in the book. As it stands I have to pick out all the recipes for the week ahead of time or go shopping before every meal because, odds are, I don’t have most of the ingredients on hand. Someone needs to come up with my version of a cookbook, or if it already exists somewhere, please point me to it!

So, what’s happening with the rest of my goals from last time? Well, you just spent the last minute or two reading one of them. It’s been a long time since I wrote two posts in a week when it wasn’t Upfronts. The reading is also going well; I’ve managed to read every single night so far, last thing before I go to sleep. It seems to be having the added effect of helping me get to sleep much faster. As I wrote a couple years ago, it’s always difficult for me to get to sleep. Spending that last half hour or so before bed reading seems to help focus my thoughts a little, which in turn leads to less thinking and replaying of scenarios when I do finally turn off the light. My other two goals were the getting healthier ones, which I knew were going to be the more difficult ones to motivate myself to do. As you might expect from that lead-in, I haven’t made any progress on either of them. I didn’t join a gym, get outside, or change my eating habits beyond just making sure that I eat three times each day. It occurs to me just now that I was doing well with that last one until today, since it’s now 4 pm and I realize I haven’t eaten anything yet. Oh well, try again next week.

That’s it for today. I had intended to keep this short, but it doesn’t look like I quite succeeded. I’ll write again soon and keep working on toning down my linguistic diarrhea .

Sleep well,

DTE

The Road to Hell…

So I’m about to fall into that oldest of blogging clichés. If you were to examine all of the blogs on the internet (as opposed to the blogs on the TV?) I have no doubt that the vast majority of them would include a post with some variation on the theme I’m writing on today. Usually these posts can be found just a few entries before the blog’s final entry. They are, in most cases, a blog’s last spasm of energy, the death rattle before the blog becomes a grave. Just like the grave of your Aunt Gertrude – you know, the one no one really liked – it sits gathering dust, never visited and all but forgotten; a monument to an unremarkable life.

But before we get to the actual subject, let’s take a quick look at what brought me here. I recently purchased a house, ostensibly meaning I have now completed my metamorphosis from layabout teenager to full-on adulthood (apparently there is no middle ground, so the last several years exist only in some kind of nether-realm).  I finally moved in last Sunday, so I’ve been living here for a full week now. In the midst of all packing, unpacking, rearranging, and other activities associated with moving, I’ve had a few moments to think. One of the things that I’ve come up with is that moving into a new house is also the ideal time to re-evaluate my current routines and attempt to establish some new ones. Specifically, there are four routines I would like to alter/implement.

The first thing I’d like to do is return to reading more. I’ve always been a very avid reader, but since I started my current job last September, I haven’t had time. What I’d like to do is ensure that I read every single day. I’ll read for at least half an hour each night before I go to sleep, regardless of what time that is. This could come back to bite me, since I’m normally protective of the few hours of sleep I get, but I want to try to make it work.

Secondly, I want to become more active. My job is very sedentary so I need to make an effort to combat that during my personal time. It’s been pointed out to me, in not so subtle ways, that I may be putting on a little weight, so this should probably be a priority. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do about this yet, but it will likely be some combination of a gym membership, bike riding, and *shudder* running.

The third is tied to the second, in that it also involves getting healthier, this time by eating healthier. It’s not that the food I eat now is terribly unhealthy. The main problem is that I tend to not eat at all and it is after those unintentional fasts that I load up on the junk. I plan to figure out a well balanced meal plan and then force myself to stick to it.

And, finally, we make it to the fourth routine, and also to the blogging cliché I mentioned at the top of the post. I’m going to try to blog more. Yes, I know, all the blogs say that, and there’s no reason to assume I’ll be any more successful at it than the others, but I intend to try. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and language in general (because the purple prose that fills this blog wasn’t indication enough, right?) and this is a convenient way to be able to write on a regular basis. To do this, though, I am going to have to change the format somewhat. I’ll still write my lengthy posts at about the same frequency that I do now, but I want to fill in the gaps between those posts with shorter entries. I’ll try it out for a couple months to see how it goes and hope I can keep up. One advantage I do have over all the millions of blogs out there who promise to post more and then die is that if I fail at posting more regularly, my blog won’t die. Instead, it’ll just return to it’s current format of a post every month or two. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

So, with all that being said, I’ll sign off now (see, they’re already shorter!). Hopefully you’ll see another new post here soon.

Sleep well,

DTE

Edmonton Valley Zoo: Using Sex to Sell?

I just wanted to make a quick comment today about the new look for the Valley Zoo here in Edmonton. As part of the major renovations that will be taking place there over the next few years, a couple weeks ago the zoo unveiled their new logo.
For at least the last several years (I was unable to find out exactly how long) the zoo has used a stylized image of an elephant as their logo. It is understandable that they would want to distance themselves from this image, as the presence of the elephant, Lucy, has drawn increasing criticism from animal rights groups who argue that her isolation, relatively small habitat, and Edmonton’s cold climate have combined to create both mental and physical problems in Lucy.
So we are presented with not one but eight new logos for the zoo. Rather than focusing on a single animal, each stylized logo looks at a different species. Though the press release invites you to see any animal you would like when you look at the designs, they did have specific animals in mind: a panda, seal, two owls, snake, meerkat, sea lion, and lemur. Despite this large number of logos, to date most of their signage and materials features a single logo:

I like that this logo (as well as the rest in the new style) feel less formal and are more colourful than the old design. My initial assumption was that it was an image of an owl, perhaps reinforced by the fact that the current radio campaign is voiced by an owl character, or perhaps because of the logo’s similarity to another famous design. And that’s my real problem with this new look.
Does it remind you of any other brand? Maybe a restaurant chain whose sole selling feature is the opportunity to be served by attractive girls in short short and tight top?

The new design in conspicuously similar to the Hooters logo. It is fairly common knowledge that the O’s in Hooters were designed to not only look like the owl’s eyes but also the restaurant’s namesake – a pair of breasts. That’s what makes the thought process behind the new Valley Zoo logo so hard to understand. I find it hard to believe that everyone involved in the design and approval process failed to see the blatant similarities between the two designs, but it’s equally hard to believe (despite the rather leading title of this post) that they could have seen the similarities and decided to proceed with the design anyways, out of some misguided desire to make the zoo subliminally sexy or otherwise.
As I pointed out above, there are seven other logo designs that the zoo will be using in various locations. The most common design, pictured above, isn’t even one of the owls, it’s a panda, but it is definitely biggest offender when it comes to the “zoo tits” design gaffe. “Zoo tits” are still present in most of the other designs, with the exception being the snake, but on many of them to a far lesser extent.

Lemur	Meerkat	Panda
Owl	Owl	Sea Lion
Seal	Snake

So are the new logos a complete failure? No, I don’t think so. Certainly not everyone will make the “zoo tits” connection. If the zoo move to one of its other designs as the primary, I think that any potential damage can be minimized as people will be trained to look at it as it was intended and will be less likely to make the “zoo tits” association when they do encounter the more blatant designs later. The snake, seal, or sea lion designs should be on the forefront of this campaign and the other designs used sparingly. It is remarkable to me, however, that they got this far without anyone rectifying, or apparently even noticing, this problem.
I hope a little more thought and attention is put into the rest of the zoo’s renovation.
Sleep well,
DTE
____________________
Songs of the moment:
Emily Browning – Sweet Dreams; Daft Punk & Crystal Method – The Grid Remix; Garfunkel & Oates – This Party Took A Turn For The Douche
Music while I wrote:
Smodcast Network – Jay & Silent Bob Get Old

Upfronts 2011: The CW

This week I’m going to be posting my reactions to the Upfront presentations. For more info on the Upfronts click here.

Today is the last day for the big(ish) networks at the Upfronts, finishing up with netlet The CW. The youngest skewing of all the networks, their programming is almost exclusively aimed at the under 20 crowd. This year there’s a bigger hole to fill than normal, as Smallville has ended its 10 year run. In fact, Smallville was so important to the network’s ratings that likely the only reason it was renewed for the last two seasons is because even with its poor ratings, it still routinely beat everything else on the network. This year’s crop brings a lot of reality and some more of the same.

CW:

The Frame:

The description makes this reality show sound like nothing more than a rehash of Big Brother.

Re-Modeled:

In this reality series, the host travels to modelling agencies in small towns and forces them to treat their models in responsible and healthy ways. It may be noble, but it doesn’t sound like good TV.

H8r:

This reality show pairs online “haters” with the “celebrity” they hate in an attempt to prove that the celebrity isn’t so bad. It could be an interesting distraction if there were actual celebrities featured on the show, but the pilot features Snooki and Kim Kardashian, and it will probably go downhill from there. The only people less deserving of air time than these faux “celebrities” are the message board trolls who hate them.

Hart Of Dixie:

A medical drama from the creators of Gossip Girl. It looks like it will fit right in with the target audience, but whether it will be quality is yet to be seen.

Secret Circle:

Still trying to recapture the successes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, this is another supernatural drama from the creators of Vampire Diaries, this time about witches. Look for plenty of longing glances, emo songs and teen angst.

The Ringer:

Speaking of Buffy, this show stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as a woman on the run from the mob who hides out with her twin sister (also Gellar) who also happens to have a price on her head. The set up sounds quite contrived, and the fact that it was originally supposed to be on CBS and coproduced by ABC before they both pulled out doesn’t instil confidence. Of the six shows they’re launching, however, this look like it will be the one most worth checking out.

And that’s it for the 2011 Upfronts. Overall, it looks like another disappointing year for network TV. Don’t lose all hope though, as last year looked just as bleak, but we were rescued by cable channels. With any luck, they’ll bring salvation again. We’ll have to wait until the fall to find out.

Sleep well,

DTE

Upfronts 2011: CBS

This week I’m going to be posting my reactions to the Upfront presentations. For more info on the Upfronts click here.

After two days of extremely lackluster schedules, lets see what CBS has to offer. Since it has historically been the oldest skewing and most risk averse, it’s probably not wise to go in with expectations too high…

CBS:

2 Broke Girls:

While the concept doesn’t sound like much (two girls work at a restaurant), the script for the pilot generated a lot of positive buzz. That, coupled with the fact that it stars one of my personal favourites, Kat Denning, means that I’ll probably give it a chance.

Unforgettable:

A procedural on CBS? What a new and novel concept! This one is about a woman with a condition that sounds a lot like a photographic memory who solves crimes by remember things. In fact, the original title was Rememberer (nope, not a real word). Doesn’t sound good, but procedurals have a habit of sticking around on this network, so this one just might make it.

How To Be A Gentleman:

Taking a page out of ABC’s book, this is yet another sitcom about how incredibly hard it is to be a manly man in today’s world (apparently I’m doing something wrong, because I don’t seem to be having nearly as much trouble with this as network executives seem to think I should). A strong cast may help this one find footing, even if the idea will be oversaturating the airwaves this fall.

Person Of Interest:

Starring the great Michael Emerson, produced by J.J. Abrams, and written by Jonathan Nolan, this one would seem like a sure bet. It’s a procedural (shocking!) about two cops who try to stop crimes before they occur, but how they do this is not yet clear.

A Gifted Man:

This show is about a doctor who’s dead wife begins appearing to him as a ghost and inspires him to become a better person and use his medical skills to help the poor, downtrodden, etc., etc. The fact that it’s on Friday means it won’t have to do very well to stick around (hello Blue Bloods), but I still think this one will have a though time remaining on the schedule.

The 2-2:

Not on the fall schedule, but being held for whatever show fails first, this is arty, existential look at what makes… no, it’s yet another procedural. There doesn’t appear to be a single thing that differentiates this show from all the others, so expect it to do just as well.

And that’s it for CBS. The only network remaining (such as it is) is the CW, which I’ll cover after they formally announce their new schedule tomorrow.

Sleep well,

DTE

Upfronts 2011: ABC

This week I’m going to be posting my reactions to the Upfront presentations. For more info on the Upfronts click here.

Today’s presentation was from ABC. ABC is launching quite a few new shows and although they don’t appear to be direct rip-offs, like many of NBC’s, there’s not a lot of originality here either.

ABC

Charlie’s Angels:

A remake of the “classic” series, this one seems destined for disaster. Apart from it’s name, there really isn’t anything convince people to bother checking this out. The first promotional image looks more like a still from a tampon commercial than what is ostensibly an “action” series. Being terrible didn’t stop Hawaii 5-0 from pulling in ratings, but I don’t think that’ll happen here.

Good Christian Belles:

The title has already been watered down from the original Good Christian Bitches, and everything else about this series looks like it will follow in the same vein – a safe, predictable, evening soap.

Missing:

This series sounds like it may be worth a look. Rather than another procedural, this appears to be an ongoing mystery. The big question here is how the show will progress from week to week. It’s difficult to sustain a single mystery over the course of an entire season. The network will be wary of building in too much ongoing story as it makes it difficult for viewers to drop in casually, but there doesn’t seem to be anything for the characters to do from week to week outside the main mystery.

Once Upon A Time:

Like NBC’s Grimm, this is another “fairy tales are real” series. It again appears to borrow liberally from Bill Willingham’s Fables comics. Given the choice between the two series I would tend to lean towards this one as it seems to rely less on action and more on plot but, as with Grimm, it will be extremely easy for this show to go off the rails.

Pan Am:

This looks to be ABC’s attempt to do Mad Men on a network. It sounds like it will be a little soapier than NBC’s The Playboy Club, but I don’t think that will do anything to help this one survive.

Revenge:

The description here is a little vague, so it’s difficult to evaluate this drama, but there doesn’t seem to be any real hook.

The River:

A scientist goes missing in the Amazon and a group sets out to find him. There are hints that there may be some paranormal involvement and it sounds like they may be courting the Lost audience. Probably worth keeping an eye on, but plenty of other shows have tried to follow Lost’s success and failed miserably.

Scandal:

Grey’s Anatomy in the White House. That’s pretty much all the description you need to make your own decision about it.

Apartment 23:

Another victim of a watered down title, this one was originally called Don’t Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23. The title was about the only thing original about this show. It’s a familiar formula, but this may be funny. Until we get some clips, it’s difficult to tell.

Last Man Standing:

Tim Allen returns to ABC, which means this is almost sure to get ratings. It doesn’t sound like a great premise, as it’s yet another show about how tough it is to be a manly man.

Man Up:

Just like Last Man Standing, this is a comedy about how tough it is to be a manly man in the modern world. Giving it a different title isn’t going to make this one any funnier.

Suburgatory:

Another familiar concept, this time about the horror of living in the suburbs, but it’s one I have a weakness for, so I’ll probably give this one a chance once some clips arrive.

Work It:

This one sounds pretty terrible. It’s about a couple of manly men (again!) who dress as women to get jobs in pharmaceutical sales. I think this is my prediction for first cancellation of the season.

Tomorrow will be CBS.

Sleep well,

DTE

Upfronts 2011: NBC and Fox

This week I’m going to be posting my reactions to the Upfront presentations. For more info on the Upfronts click here.
Today’s presentations were from NBC and Fox. My first reaction is that they’re both fairly unimpressive. NBC’s looks like they just tried to rip off every successful series (in fact, NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt said, somewhat tongue in cheek, “We knew we wanted to be derivative this year, so that’s why we picked up all these shows.”) As I noted yesterday, less than half of their schedule is scripted for the coming year. Fox too has a fairly derivative schedule, but there are a couple of unique ideas.
NBC:
The Playboy Club:
While most of NBC’s schedule this year is derivative, this is easily the worst offender. In a nutshell, this is Mad Men for network TV. The problem with that idea is that historically network audiences haven’t exhibited the patience required by that type of series. Additionally, because it’s on a network, despite its racy theme, it will need to be toned down so much that it will turn off those who tune in looking for titillation.
Up All Night:
A comedy about “balancing work and life”. Nothing new here.
Free Agents:
A comedy about coworkers who sleep together and then have to deal with the fallout. Still nothing new.
Whitney:
Another sitcom about “modern relationships”. Still boring.
Prime Suspect:
And Americanised version of the British original, this sounds like a fairly standard cop show. There is some talent behind the scenes in the form of NYPD Blue’s Alexandra Cunningham and Friday Night Lights’ Peter Berg, so there may be reason to give this one a shot.
Grimm:
This one is at least a little different. A cop series which takes place in a world where fairy tales are real. The concept sounds like it borrows heavily from the Fables series of comics. If it can live up to the potential of that series, it could be great, but it could also easily go off the rails.
Smash:
NBC’s take on Glee, this is a musical about the behind the scenes goings on at a Broadway musical. Like Tera Nova (see below), this one is produced by Steven Spielberg. It may be worth checking out for that reason, but I’m not holding out much hope.
In addition to these shows, they will also be launching The Firm, Awake, Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea (this sounds terrible, just based on the source material), Best Friends Forever, and Bent. There’s little information available on any of these, so I’ll withhold judgement for now.
Update: Clips can be found here. Spoiler: they make the shows look even worse than they sound.
Fox:
The X Factor:
Yet another singing competition. This one will surely get the ratings to be considered a success, but it won’t reach anywhere near even the flagging ratings of Fox’s own American Idol. There’s nothing special here and it likely won’t be generating any buzz after its first couple weeks
I Hate My Teenage Daughter:
Two friends trying to raise teenagers who are just like the girls who tormented them when they were young. Without a clip, it’s difficult to judge the level of humour, but the description provided by the network sounds like another cookie cutter sitcom.
New Girl:
Speaking of cookie cutter comedies, Fox is also launching New Girl. This sounds like a redo of Three’s Company with the genders reversed. Again, until we get a clip it’ll be tough to judge if this has any comedy potential.
Allen Gregory:
A new animated series from Jonah Hill. I’m a fan of his comedy in general, so this one may be worth checking out.
Terra Nova:
A sci-fi dinosaur fantasy executive produced by Steven Spielberg sounds like it would be a sure thing. This one has had so many problems and different creative teams throughout its development that there is ample cause for caution. You should still check it out, but be warned.
The Finder:
A spinoff from Bones. Unfortunately for Fox, the backdoor pilot which aired a few weeks ago didn’t go over well with fans. Look for substantial reworking before fall if there’s to be hope for this one to make it.
Alcatraz:
It’s from J.J. Abrams, which is enough to warrant a look on its own. The question here is if audiences will be scared away by the idea of another prison show after being burned by Prison Break, or if the toned down for networks prison experience will turn off those accustomed to cable TV.
Napoleon Dynamite:
An animated series based on the film from 2004. Though the film was considered a cult hit in its day, it has been largely forgotten since. I’m not sure if a weekly continuation of the film would be enjoyable or if it would quickly become grating. I think this is far too late to be attempting this as a series. It won’t last long.
Touch:
Not on the schedule for next year, but waiting in the wings to replace the inevitable cancellations. Not that this one will last long once it gets on the air. It’s from Tim Kring, the creator and destroyer of Heroes, who doesn’t seem to have learned anything from that experience. The series is about a group of unrelated characters with tragic pasts and an autistic boy who can see “how everything connects”. Sound familiar? This one won’t be around long either.

The Week That Will Be

The coming week is one of my favourites of each year. What’s so special about it? Well, it’s the annual Upfront presentations. For the uninitiated, the Upfronts take place each year in New York and it’s where each of the TV networks attempts to sell commercial time for the upcoming season to advertisers. What that means to the rest of us is that we get our first look at what new shows were picked up, which were moved to new time slots, and which were cancelled.

Last year’s Upfronts displayed a fairly disappointing crop (read about it here, here, here, here, and here). That might lead you to believe there weren’t any new shows last year worth watching, but that’s definitely not the case. There were plenty of great new shows, they just weren’t on network TV. The Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire, The Killing, Game Of Thrones among others were fantastic series on cable networks. This has become something of a trend in recent years, with cable’s subscription revenue requiring lower viewership to turn a profit allowing them to be more experimental, creating genuinely unique and interesting shows rather than having to play it safe by churning out more doctors, lawyers, cops, and “the next Friends”. Hopefully this year will bring a little more creativity from the majors.

The schedule for the 2011 Upfronts is as follows:

Monday, May 16 – NBC and Fox
Tuesday, May 17 – ABC
Wednesday, May 18 – CBS
Thursday, May 19 – CW

This morning NBC released it’s fall schedule early. I’ll wait for tomorrow when, hopefully, there’ll be some clips and sizzle reels to look at for each show before I make my initial judgements. One thing that does stand out about the schedule at first glance, though, is that less than half of their programming will be scripted. A whole lot more reality TV is headed our way from the (former) peacock, and that may be a trend that the other networks will regrettably follow.

Check back tomorrow when I’ll have a rundown of the announcements from NBC and Fox.

Sleep well,

DTE