Wow, so it’s been weeks since I last ranted and raved to you, dear reader. And what, you ask (though begrudgingly so) has TV and Film Guy done with his time? Well, I’ll tell you, I watched television, and because everything in the world was a repeat I watched stuff that I’ve never watched before, and though I liked some of it, I will probably never watch it again.
An example, you ask (again begrudgingly so)? Sure, no problem. On New Year’s Day I watched many, many hours of a Flip That House marathon on TLC. Boy, is that show fun! Or at the very least, it is when the story is compelling. There was this one guy, an assistant for a talent agent, that was working with his friends on a house on the weekends and hadn’t a clue as to what he was doing. He went over budget, he went over time, he practically went broke doing it, but the house, should it be sold at the appraisal price, will make him a pretty penny (technically, $88,000 worth of pretty pennies).
There was also an episode with a shrill woman that plays in a band. That episode wasn’t as good, because the woman was shrill; she was too perky and too peppy and just not as much fun (sorry lady, it’s true). At the end of every episode they go over the cost of the place, plus the cost of the improvements made and then show the new appraisal value. Everyone seems to make money, it’s unbelievable. Even the people that had to tear down the entire house and completely rebuild it made money. Frankly, I think there’s something a little fishy there, but I’ll roll with it. Seriously, if everyone can just get a bank loan, buy a $200,000 house, hire someone to fix it, put in $30,000 and then sell the whole thing for $380,000 two months later, I’m in the wrong business. After watching hours of Flip That House I have to believe that there are things the audience just isn’t being told.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
I'm most looking forward to the return of Rome on HBO !
2 - Bliffle
I seldom watch commercial TV having found that PBS type programs suit me better, comparitively.
I would watch more commercial programs except for some serious faults that they have:
(1) too much commercial time; every hour of TV has 20 minutes of commercials, and I think it's going up to 25 minutes stealthily. So those few I watch I pre-record on my HDTV PVR and then edit the commercials. When commercials were a minor irritant I was willing to put up with them, but as they have become more aggressive and invasive I feel justified to cut them. If commercials become more obnoxious and if the entertainment monopolists succeed in imposing more restrictions on my equipment I will use the simple pirating techniques which are widely available. Really, there is no way they can stop determined guerilla TV watchers.
(2) the plots of commercial programs depend more and more on sex and violence to attract viewers, and while I'll enjoy a little of the sex I just find the excessive violence offensive. It's enough to know that someone is dead, I don't have to see their decapitated body. The former adds to the plot, the latter is egregious.
(3) most of the modern plots are terrible, re-using scene cliches that were bad when they were first used and are not improved by repeating.
(4) most of the actors are terrible, even the main characters of the shows. First, they are unbelievable in the roles, second they mumble incessantly. So often an important comment or statement is spoken casually and incoherently into the cuff. the contrast is glaring when a good actor appears in a TV scene. Usually a stage or movie trained person.
3 - TV and Film Guy
Eric, I've tried watching Rome and was just never able to get into it, though I know tons of people that love it.
4 - TV and Film Guy
Bliffle, I understand where you're coming from on many of your points, and just happen to see things differently. I can however tell you that the time devoted to commercials per hour is closer to 16 minutes than 20.