Its that time of year again. Television Series' are wrapping up their seasons, and the Upfronts are quickly approaching. What that means for the Internets is the annual tradition of 'Save Our Show' campaigns. While I personally think these campaign's are a futile attempt (Jericho is the exception that proves the rule, and DirecTV saved Friday Night Light's, and Firefly is honestly a whole different kind of story), and really just prolong the inevitable.
What really yanks my chain though, is the fact that incredibly crafted Television gets canceled every year. I'd like to say "Thank Goodness" to the Cable companies, but I think they deserve some of the blame for this, but more on that later. Journeyman, Freaks and Geeks, Moonlight (Ok, I didn't like it, but if my mother reads this, so I'll hedge my bets), Wonderfalls, Eli Stone... These lists can go on and on, and, you know, on. And it looks like some good shows might join the list this year. At least Chuck, Life, and Terminator got a second season. Dollhouse didn't get off on the right foot, and never regained the audience it deserved. And Kings, I guess, both takes itself too seriously while being a little too smart for its own good.
What is wrong with people? We can tolerate 15 different iterations of Law and Order (And I'm not saying they are bad shows, but maybe a little derivative?), and "Who Wants to Sleep with My Sister," but smart writing and brilliant characterization go out the window when its about a kooky pie shop owner.
Where has all the good scripted television gone? More and more good shows are getting developed on Cable networks. The Closer, Dexter, Battlestar, Rescue Me, and the one that seemed to start the trend, the Sopranos, all have thrived both critically and financially (on that end because, I'm guessing, they have lower expectations as far as viewership goes). This is only going to continue... NBC is proving it with this idiotic Leno experiment. I won't be watching, but I'm sure many others will.
Ten years from now, will there even be any scripted network television?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Seraching for Work
Most of my readers (all three of you), know that I'm currently out of work, and looking for a job. As those safely ensconced would imagine, it sucks right now. Especially in my industry (Theme Parks), or any discretionary-fund kind of industry right now.
The funny thing is that there are open jobs out there... If you can get at them. The problem is this. As you'd imagine, parks have a very cyclic nature. Most jobs start coming open in January, get filled, and then another round in March, and then it pretty much peters out come April and May, as parks start opening. So right before the hiring cycle this year, the industry experiences some of the same layoffs that others are familiar with. Now the job market is flooded, and instead of competing with 3-5 other qualified candidates, you're looking at 15-20. Great for employers, who now get the pick of the litter, but not so good for the rest of us. Which honestly is just a "free market" hiring market, and if I were a better candidate, I'd be hired. True, but still sucks.
So I've thought about completely changing careers, even if just temporarily to get through this economic drought. But what would I do? I think my skills translate, but I honestly think that HR Managers get my resume (and I think its a damn good resume), and say, "Hey, he was a professional lifeguard." There is, unfortunately, a lot of truth to that. What they don't see is me directing the daily operations of a $22.5 million asset.
Honestly, that's just the first of many excuses. The truth of the matter is that I love what I've done these last 15 years. There are some that would say that I'm damn good at it (As, invariably, there are those that would disagree). Good, bad, or indifferent, I love doing it. I like working with younger staffs, and the challenges and opportunities that it provides. I like working in an industry where the best payoffs in a given day are watching kids laugh and play, or by your team providing proper care in an emergency situation. This job is incredibly rewarding, and I'm not sure that I'm ready to walk away from that.
The funny thing is that there are open jobs out there... If you can get at them. The problem is this. As you'd imagine, parks have a very cyclic nature. Most jobs start coming open in January, get filled, and then another round in March, and then it pretty much peters out come April and May, as parks start opening. So right before the hiring cycle this year, the industry experiences some of the same layoffs that others are familiar with. Now the job market is flooded, and instead of competing with 3-5 other qualified candidates, you're looking at 15-20. Great for employers, who now get the pick of the litter, but not so good for the rest of us. Which honestly is just a "free market" hiring market, and if I were a better candidate, I'd be hired. True, but still sucks.
So I've thought about completely changing careers, even if just temporarily to get through this economic drought. But what would I do? I think my skills translate, but I honestly think that HR Managers get my resume (and I think its a damn good resume), and say, "Hey, he was a professional lifeguard." There is, unfortunately, a lot of truth to that. What they don't see is me directing the daily operations of a $22.5 million asset.
Honestly, that's just the first of many excuses. The truth of the matter is that I love what I've done these last 15 years. There are some that would say that I'm damn good at it (As, invariably, there are those that would disagree). Good, bad, or indifferent, I love doing it. I like working with younger staffs, and the challenges and opportunities that it provides. I like working in an industry where the best payoffs in a given day are watching kids laugh and play, or by your team providing proper care in an emergency situation. This job is incredibly rewarding, and I'm not sure that I'm ready to walk away from that.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
In This White House...
I don't watch House. Its one of those things I suspect I'll love (A lot of the people I worked with in Tennessee said that once they realized how much like House I was, they stopped hating me. So, you know, there's that), but want to watch it when I can start back from Season One on. Despite the fact, however, that I don't watch the show, I keep my ear to the ground on the internets, and was surprised the other day to here that Kal Penn's character was killed off very suddenly. Once I did a little reading on what was going on, I read the same story that everyone else at this point has also heard.
Kal Penn left the show to go work in the White House. Ok, not so much "IN" the White House as much as across the street at the OEOB, but still, how freaking cool is that? First there's the concept that this man is putting on hold what was turning out to be a successful career in acting. On a material level, I'm sure he's taking a massive pay cut. I'm sure, if the roles were reversed, that I would jump all over it too.
Penn is not, as you'd think, a Democrat. He considers himself an Independent, but worked on President Obama's campaign. Its also not what I would consider to be the splashiest of posts (Constituency relations are important, but its a little to "Big Block of Cheese Day" for me, to telegraph one analogy by using another). But at the end of the day, he's working for the White House... What are you doing?
Kal Penn left the show to go work in the White House. Ok, not so much "IN" the White House as much as across the street at the OEOB, but still, how freaking cool is that? First there's the concept that this man is putting on hold what was turning out to be a successful career in acting. On a material level, I'm sure he's taking a massive pay cut. I'm sure, if the roles were reversed, that I would jump all over it too.
Penn is not, as you'd think, a Democrat. He considers himself an Independent, but worked on President Obama's campaign. Its also not what I would consider to be the splashiest of posts (Constituency relations are important, but its a little to "Big Block of Cheese Day" for me, to telegraph one analogy by using another). But at the end of the day, he's working for the White House... What are you doing?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
"...this song...will change your life"
You won't find me talking about music much. I love music as much as the next guy, but I know what I like, and I generally stick to it. I'm not one that is always searching out the latest artists, underground or major label types. I actually find myself directed to new music more often than finding it myself. Most of my life has been like that, with one person in particular introducing me to a lot of what I love today.
I find that my favorite music isn't always just about the beats or arrangement or genre, but the lyrics. As I love a movie, book, play, or television that tells a great story, I love songs that do as well. Music, though, just as often tells the story of a single moment rather than of a collection of them. Instead of characterization and plot, it tells the story of an emotion, or a sense even. I think there is as much to be found in a moment as anything else.
What I love even more, is when a filmmaker or television director that use these songs to help tell us their story. Zach Snyder goes overboard with it in the Watchmen, but each song reflects specifically on the scene it plays against. There are television shows that use popular music brilliantly, Life and Bones in particular stand out (I should note that I really refer to songs, and not necessarily the score, as I don't think I can speak with any level of authority on that type of music).
The one experience that will always stand out to me as the best use of music is the Garden State Soundtrack. The music used is so critical to the story being told, that it actually becomes part of the story. When the two main characters have their 'meet-cute' moment, Sam puts her headphones on Andrew and introduces him to the Shins, telling him that this song "...will change your life." I don't know if 'New Slang' changes Andrew's life as much as meeting Sam does, but the soundtrack opened my ears to music I would have never heard before. Colin Hay, the Shins, and Iron and Wine in particular, but there's not a song on that soundtrack that doesn't instantly bring me back to that movie, and the sense of opening doors and freedom that Andrew experienced.
More people should use Garden State as a way of handling music. There's also a couple of people I should thank for the soundtrack. You know who you are (Yes, Zach Braff, I'm talking to you, and, you know, other people, too).
I find that my favorite music isn't always just about the beats or arrangement or genre, but the lyrics. As I love a movie, book, play, or television that tells a great story, I love songs that do as well. Music, though, just as often tells the story of a single moment rather than of a collection of them. Instead of characterization and plot, it tells the story of an emotion, or a sense even. I think there is as much to be found in a moment as anything else.
What I love even more, is when a filmmaker or television director that use these songs to help tell us their story. Zach Snyder goes overboard with it in the Watchmen, but each song reflects specifically on the scene it plays against. There are television shows that use popular music brilliantly, Life and Bones in particular stand out (I should note that I really refer to songs, and not necessarily the score, as I don't think I can speak with any level of authority on that type of music).
The one experience that will always stand out to me as the best use of music is the Garden State Soundtrack. The music used is so critical to the story being told, that it actually becomes part of the story. When the two main characters have their 'meet-cute' moment, Sam puts her headphones on Andrew and introduces him to the Shins, telling him that this song "...will change your life." I don't know if 'New Slang' changes Andrew's life as much as meeting Sam does, but the soundtrack opened my ears to music I would have never heard before. Colin Hay, the Shins, and Iron and Wine in particular, but there's not a song on that soundtrack that doesn't instantly bring me back to that movie, and the sense of opening doors and freedom that Andrew experienced.
More people should use Garden State as a way of handling music. There's also a couple of people I should thank for the soundtrack. You know who you are (Yes, Zach Braff, I'm talking to you, and, you know, other people, too).
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Search for William Bell
It figures. My first "real" post, and its going to show my Sci-Fi geek roots. I guess I don't really care that much, because my reaction when the news came across in a Twitter pop-up window. Leonard Nemoy has been cast as oft-mentioned, man behind the curtain William Bell on Fox's Fringe. I'd long suspected that Bell was actually John Noble's Walter Bishop, in some split personality thing. Not the best of stories, I know, but that's why I watch TV and not write it.
The casting does make a bit of sense. JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Nemoy just worked together on a new, small film coming out this summer, so they're familiar enough with each other. Nemoy will bring a gravitas to the show its not seen before. Don't get me wrong, Noble has done excellent work, but Bell is going to be completely different.
He's scheduled for the finale, and an arc in the fall, but I hope he sticks around longer than that. Fringe is picking up steam, and I think this piece of casting will only aid in that momentum.
The casting does make a bit of sense. JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Nemoy just worked together on a new, small film coming out this summer, so they're familiar enough with each other. Nemoy will bring a gravitas to the show its not seen before. Don't get me wrong, Noble has done excellent work, but Bell is going to be completely different.
He's scheduled for the finale, and an arc in the fall, but I hope he sticks around longer than that. Fringe is picking up steam, and I think this piece of casting will only aid in that momentum.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Guess who's back?
So, once again, I try to start a blog. I've tried several times before, and failed, rather miserably, each and every time. I've decided that this time will be different. And, because I have decided, it will be so (If only everything were that easy. Hell, if only this will be that easy).
I look forward to this as its an opportunity to start writing again. I've always loved writing (It was one of the few things I enjoyed in school), and I used to think I was half decent at it. Now, I'm probably writing at a fourth grade level. At the end of the day, there's probably no one reading, so does it really matter?
What will I be writing about, you ask? Well, the most interesting thing I can think of: Me, Myself, and I. Or, not really. More likely, topics will include Television (A lot of reviews and commentary), Film (Less likely while I live in the middle of nowhere), Technology (Who knows...), Politics (If John Stewart can get it done, I probably can't), and even a dash of Pop Culture in general (This does not mean you'll hear my thoughts on Paris Hilton. I try not to think about Paris Hilton if I possibly can).
So, hopefully the journey will last longer than a week or so.
I look forward to this as its an opportunity to start writing again. I've always loved writing (It was one of the few things I enjoyed in school), and I used to think I was half decent at it. Now, I'm probably writing at a fourth grade level. At the end of the day, there's probably no one reading, so does it really matter?
What will I be writing about, you ask? Well, the most interesting thing I can think of: Me, Myself, and I. Or, not really. More likely, topics will include Television (A lot of reviews and commentary), Film (Less likely while I live in the middle of nowhere), Technology (Who knows...), Politics (If John Stewart can get it done, I probably can't), and even a dash of Pop Culture in general (This does not mean you'll hear my thoughts on Paris Hilton. I try not to think about Paris Hilton if I possibly can).
So, hopefully the journey will last longer than a week or so.
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