hijacked by tivo
May 31, 2002
My, my. Who knew the Venerable Beeb would stoop to such underhanded tactics? For that matter, who knew that they could?
And, of course, the US networks have to place their own demented little twist on the experience. It really does figure that the first thing the US nets would force on the public are commercials, doesn't it? People use TiVo specifically to avoid commercials, among other things, so they force you to use "reserved" disk space to save commercials that you then can't get rid of. (Yes, I know you can't use it yourself, but disk space is disk space.) Interestingly, according to a New Scientist article, future plans for TiVo include allowing advertisers to download commercials to your recorder, and then forcing you to watch them -- without being able to fast forward -- before and after any program that you chose to record.
I don't know ... everyone I know with a TiVo loves it, but I'm beginning to think that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. You can't really keep something without compromising your ability to record something else, it needs a telephone/network connection so that it can continually update itself, and now it can record things that you know you don't want because someone else wants to try to force you to see them.
Jeez, with a helpful device like that, I think I'll just stick to my VCR.
Posted by iain at 10:49 AM
anna nicole smith
May 29, 2002
Anna Nicole Smith to be E! reality: Anna Nicole Smith will be getting the "Osbournes" treatment with her own reality series, featuring her family and friends, set to debut on E! Networks this August.
Oh ... dear.
You know, I knew that the Osbournes would set off a raft of copycats. After all, it was not only consistently the highest rated cable show but frequently also the highest rated show on Wednesdays for all people 18-35 (which, considering as it's on cable MTV, is a truly spectacular feat). In TV terms, it had that "buzz", people were always talking about it (or talking about the media talking about it, which is just as good). And, of course, it made pots of money for MTV because it was suddenly incredibly desirable television real estate. (And MTV, of course, will be bringing the Osbournes back for a second season, at a much increased price; on a recent Howard Stern, Sharon Osbourne did not deny that they were requesting approximately $20 million over two years (which means there will also be a third season if this one doesn't tank). And, of course, in order to make that sort of request, you need to know not only how well you're doing in ratings, but how well your station is doing in selling and charging for ad time on your show. So it's reasonably safe to say that the Osbournes were an unexpected cash cow for MTV this year, and therefore, ripoffs ... er, that is, sincerely flattering imitations are entirely to be expected, because whenever an original idea passes by, television has to clone it into the ground. MTV is reportedly even ripping itself off, with a Kid Rock-Pamela Anderson thing. (.... Nah. Too easy.)
But ... Anna Nicole Smith? Anywhere? Is the public that fascinated with the lives of celebrities? I mean, does anyone have the foggiest idea what's happening with her lately anyway? Does anyone actually care? Isn't she essentially one of those persons that's famous for being famous, only nobody quite knows why?
I suppose we'll all find out.
Posted by iain at 11:06 AM | Comments (8)
grooming for straight men
May 13, 2002
Reality-TV Idea: Gay Men Groom Straights (NY Times, registration required)
I think it's safe to say that I'm revolted. Yes.
I'm not even concerned about stereotypical representation, as such. I just think it's an appalling idea. For one thing, how many straight men want to be remade in the gay man's image? Let alone on television. (We'll just leave aside the fact that, given the particular approach that Bravo is taking, this assumes by default that there is A gay man's image: chic, stylish to a painful fault, and willing to be campily entertaining in the pursuit of remaking the straight man! ... oh, dear. Apparently I do have one or two wee problems with the whole stereotyping thing.)
My principal problem is with the comedic element. Apparently, we're only good for comedic, sexless entertainment. How special! How charming! ... really, Bravo, of all channels, should really know better than this. (Yes, I do realize that he's talking about making fun of the straight man. Frankly, I suspect it will be squirmworthy making-fun of just about everyone in the vicinity. Everyone will come out of it completely chic and stylish, but nobody will make it out with even the smallest shred of dignity.)
Thing is, I don't object to the whole gay/straight makeover as such, quite. Style/E! has or had a show -- I don't remember the name -- hosted by Emme in which people were made over. Mostly women, but the occasional man received a makeover as well. And, typically, his makeover was guided by their male fashion reporter, who was also quite quite gay. However, his being gay, as such, was never the point; the point was that he was the fashion reporter on male clothing. The woman who usually did the women also handled the men sometimes, and he sometimes worked with the women. There are ways of doing this without making such a distasteful point of things.
Then again, Bravo doesn't seem to know how to handle "gay" anything without going out of its way to do it distastefully.
Posted by iain at 02:11 PM