Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Five Things You Might Not Know About Television

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in November 2009)

Don’t get me wrong, I love talking about television. I like it so much that I went into it as a career. On many levels, I’m a viewer like everyone else – I have my favorite shows, some of which are guilty pleasures, and some of which I will proselytize from the rooftops. But, there is something odd about working in TV that makes nearly everyone you meet at a party believe they could run a network.

Nerd TV

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in July 2009)

Earlier this year, to the groans of many fans, marketers, and pop culture pundits, the cable network Sci-Fi rebranded themselves “Syfy,” with their new tagline, “Imagine Greater.” All debate over the silliness of the name aside, the rebrand was prompted by an interesting situation that the network found itself in. Sci-Fi was a very successful niche network catering to fans of that genre but, in an effort to expand their business, had been creating original series and specials meant to appeal to a broader audience, largely women. Sci-Fi found a great deal of success in this endeavor with Battlestar Galactica, whose audience seemed a perfect storm of rabid science fiction fanatics, and casual viewers who didn’t mind a show about space, as long as it was a good show.

Battlestar Galactica Redux

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in March 2009)

Awhile back I wrote a column for ALARM about the Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. I discussed the “fascinatingly complex story,” and how creator Ronald Moore’s update of the series was like “a good cover song,” in that it was more than just a remake, but a reinterpretation. After watching the series finale recently, I re-read that column, and honestly don’t disagree with anything I said at the time. In fact, it only reminded me why I was so disappointed in the way the series completely fell apart in the last two seasons.

On Copyright Law and Entertainment

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in January 2009)

The elephant in the room of the recording industry trampled the entire business. A decade ago, no record company wanted to address Napster as anything but a criminal enterprise, and that obvious shortsightedness has plagued them ever since. While they try to come to grips with the aftermath of their missteps, the same elephant now lurks in the boardrooms of companies that produce television and films. Despite the scrambling of these companies to prove that they’re hip to what consumers want by offering shows online and on-demand, the fact remains that, as technology improves, it will only get easier for consumers to obtain their products through the same kind of file sharing that wrecked the record business.

Mad Men and C3 Ratings

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in July 2008)

“Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car.” -Don Draper

The cast of AMC’s Mad Men were the darlings of this year’s Television Critic’s Association summer press tour. Set at a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960, fawning critics have hailed this drama as the second coming of The Sopranos, much to the delight of creator (and former Sopranos producer) Matt Weiner. Many critics have credited the success of the show to his carefully nuanced characters and obsessive attention to period detail. The acting is electric, the writing phenomenal, and the production design superb. The show is stacked to the rafters with wonderful subtext about gender and family dynamics, about race and class, about work and social status – about pretty much every aspect of American life at a pivotal time in our history. And, as the occupation of the show’s central characters, it also has a lot to say about advertising.

Watching Outside The Box

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in May 2008)

I couldn’t believe it. The system actually worked. Not only did they get me hook, line, and sinker, but I loved every minute of it. It started innocently enough – F/X posted some webisodes for their returning series The Riches on iTunes. They were 1-2 minute shorts of a father showing his kids some simple short-changing cons (“no, I gave you a twenty!”). Before I knew it, I had consumed the show on nearly every possible platform, and, to my surprise, the digital journey ultimately led me right back to my television.

Pilot Season

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in February 2008)

The pilot season is dead. Long live the pilot season.

In the last issue of Alarm I offered a list of good stuff to catch up on during the desolate final weeks of the television writers strike. Hopefully you found something to treat your TV fix, but now it’s back to business. The writers and producers have resolved their differences, and settled on an absurdly intricate deal that involves many fractions of pennies worth of compensation for the digital exploitation of television shows. As the scribes of Hollywood return to their laptops, we’ll see many of our favorite shows return for what remains of this season. Hopefully for the networks, writers and producers, audiences will return as well.

What To Watch During The Writer's Strike

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in January 2008)

Hopefully, by the time you read this, the WGA strike will be over and television will be back to the business of making new, scripted television. As I’m writing this, the DGA has already secured a deal with the producers, and the writers are headed back to the negotiating table. Really, I don’t see how much longer we can go on with American Gladiators being one of the only “new” shows on television. And, though the first week of The Daily Show without writers was funny in a very “ha-ha-we-don’t-have-any-writers” kind of way, I don’t know if they can pull it off long term. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much on the side of the writers, as is pretty much everyone except half a dozen major studio and network execs. But, I just can’t take much more of this.

On Sitcoms

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in November 2007)

No genre is as prevalent, recognizable, or unique to television as the sitcom. There are certainly many cases where the business of the TV industry holds back the artistry of the TV medium, but the evolution of the sitcom is not one of them. The business of grabbing larger audiences for bigger ratings and more ad revenue often has very different goals from the writers, producers and performers trying to make a good show. But the sitcom is as much a product of the business model as it is of the creative side. It is an invention of TV’s desire to attract audiences, and its evolution is a chronicle of some of the brightest, bravest, and most profitable moments in TV history.

Franken-TV

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in July 2007)

Recently, Sony Television Distribution teamed up with MySpace to unveil a novel little venture, the “Minisode Network,” a broadband video channel that features five to seven minute cut-down versions of classic TV shows like Starsky and Hutch, Who’s The Boss? and The Facts of Life.

Battlestar Galactica

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in April 2007)

The incessant recycling of popular culture is one of the more loathsome qualities of American entertainment. Television shows based on movies, movies based on television shows, video games based on both, and every permutation in between crowd our media landscape. At best, remakes like The Brady Bunch Movie often remind us how much we liked the original. At worst, an ill-conceived rehash like 2005’s Bewitched can make us feel an awful kind of cultural claustrophobia.

The Perfect Sport for TV

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in January 2007)

I love football.

As a guy who was never really into any sports as a kid, this is realization took me a long time to fully understand. I used to hate the kids in my homeroom with their NCAA basketball pools and their clean, white baseball caps promoting various sports franchises. It was antithetical to everything I thought was cool. Punk rock bands, confusing left-wing political philosophers, obscure poets and filmmakers… those people were cool. What they were doing was important. Sports? What good had they ever done anyone?

An Interesting Time in Television

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in October 2006)

Lately I find myself recalling a lecture from one of my first media classes in college. The class was a basic requirement for all students majoring in film and television, generically titled, “Critical Evaluation of Mass Media.” The subject, a very rudimentary discussion of the differences between film and television, seemed unwavering. Like the date of the Battle of Hastings or the manner in which hydrogen and oxygen bond to form water, what we learned that day would never change… or so we thought.

It's Not Just About The Money

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in August 2006)

There are two frustrating realizations I have had about the television industry since starting my career several years ago. I was ready for the first one, but the second took me totally by surprise.

Emerging TV Technology

(originally written for ALARM Magazine in January 2006)

There are more buzz words right now in the television business than ever before. It’s virtually impossible to go to a morning meeting, drinks after work, or any time in between without hearing a sea of acronyms like VOD and DVR. The day that Apple announced the new video iPod would be capable of downloading episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives through the iTunes store, I got the feeling that many TV sales executives were quietly looking for new careers.

What's Wrong With Westerns?


(originally written for ALARM Magazine in June 2005)

"A gun is a tool, Marion, no better or no worse than any other tool, an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that." –Shane

The Western occupies a curious place in the history of American film and television. I have always found Westerns puzzling for a number of reasons, but none so prominent as the fact that so many people just don't seem to like them. When asking about the genre, replies often range from half-hearted enthusiasm to outright disgust. It's similar to the stigma evoked whenever someone says "I like all kinds of music except country." The entire idea of a genre that once ruled our culture instantly turns many people off today.

Kerouac and Quality Television


(originally written for ALARM Magazine in October 2005)

“7. Blow as deep as you want to blow”
- Jack Kerouac, Belief and Technique for Modern Prose

When I first found Kerouac’s list of 31 essential writing tips, the line, “Blow as deep as you want to blow,” hit me like a shot. It’s a call to be daring, to break new ground, and to harbor confidence in a bold artistic vision. If I were to give one piece of advice to the television industry, that’s what I would say.

The Evolution of Reality TV


(originally written for ALARM Magazine in January 2005)

There’s an old saying I often hear repeated around poker tables. It goes something like, “the person who invented gambling was smart, but the person who invented chips was a genius.” A reference to the subtle innovation that turns a good idea into a great idea, this is the essence of Survivor’s role in igniting the reality TV explosion that led television into the 21st century. The person who pitched Survivor was smart, but whoever decided to have them vote each other off the island was a genius.

The Comedy of TV News


(originally written for ALARM Magazine in August 2004)

These days it’s almost cliché to talk about how terrible television news is. Talking heads, catchy sound bites, provocative b-roll and epilepsy-inducing graphics are such the norm that no one feels the need to even point it out anymore. It used to be a hot subject of debate, at least among academics and professional journalists, but in the past two decades the real journalists have been marginalized, anchor seats have been awarded to the broadcasters with the best hair, and the academics... well, who cares about them, right? Unless you read a good paper or web magazine, the only academics you hear from anymore are being talked over by Chris Matthews.