Lately I started watching two new (to me) series. I started watching Roswell and Parks and Recreation. I'm about midway through the first season of Roswell. I like it, but I don't love it. It's fun but I haven't clicked with it in that "I have to see what happens next/I need to have watched so I'm in on all the jokes" kind of way.
Parks and Recreation on the other hand...I'm midway through season 4. I started season 1 forever ago, and didn't like it. Then I heard season 2 was better, so I powered through season 1 to get to it. Now I love this show.
So yeah, that's wat I've been watching lately.
Oh and Cupcake Wars but I mean, c'mon. Cupcakes.
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What "The Veronica Mars Movie Project" could mean for your favorite TV show
Earlier today Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell, the creator and star of Veronica Mars, announced that there will be a Veronica Mars movie next year...if the fans helped pay for it. Enter the kickstarter asking for $2 million by April 12. Basically, the deal with Warner Brothers, who owned the right was that if they could get the money to make the movie, WB would pay for distribution and marketing.
As you can see if you go to the campaign, The Veronica Mars Movie Project met its goal, in one day, and still has people making pledges.
All this has sparked a lot of discussion about what this means for the future of TV movies. Some people have expressed concern that this will become how all future movies are made. Mostly people are just excited about what it means for their favorite cult shows that got canceled. Everyone is throwing around names of shows that could get made into TV movies now, so I thought I'd share my opinion of some of them.
Firefly: The Movie
One of the most commonly suggested shows to get this treatment, given that the first movie got made on the strength of the series' DVD sales, it isn't that much of a stretch to imagine it would try a kickstarter campaign. The stars have also expressed interest in coming back and continuing their roles. Unfortunately, it also has a lot of things working against it. The first movie didn't do very well at the box office, so the studio might be wary to make it, even if the fans chip in. Also, given that the show is science fiction and takes place in space, it's going to need a MUCH bigger budget than $2 million, so any realistic amount asked for might just end up being too much to actually get. Also a problem (though a good one), Joss Whedon is pretty busy right now with Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so even if it does happen, it'd be a while. Besides, like with Buffy and Angel the story has already been continued in comic book form.
Gilmore Girls: The Movie
In honor of Rory Gilmore, a Pro/Con list.
Pros: No real dangling plot threads means they can write a real stand alone movie, Can be done on a low budget since there were never really any massive special effects, Also owned by Warner Brothers the success of VM means they might be more willing than other studios to try, Fans clearly want it to happen.
Cons: Do the creators and actors want to make a movie? While they've expressed interest when asked, they haven't gone out of their way to say it's something they want to do, the way Thomas and Bell have.
Chuck: The Movie
While special effects cost would drive up the price to make this a reality, the fans have shown in the past that they are willing to put their money where their mouths are. Chuck fans went to Subway restaurants (a main sponsor of the show) and bought sandwiches, leaving suggestion box notes to "Save Chuck". It worked, the show was renewed and got five seasons in total. Given the open ended nature of the finale, a movie would be a great way to show just how things finally ended up. Also going for it? Earlier today Zachary Levi, who played the titular Chuck, tweeted that the Veronica Mars news "bolstered [his] faith that [he] can bring you a Chuck Movie".
Leverage: The Movie
One thing that kept repeating in the back of my mind today while waiting to see Veronica Mars reach $2 million was that $2 million is also what John Rodgers has said is the budget for an episode of Leverage, so I imagine a full on movie would cost more, but not a lot more. The show was only just canceled, but Rodgers says TNT has been letting them shop it around to try and find a new home, so why not let the fans, who stole a People's Choice Award to try and get the show renewed, pay for a movie?
Arrested Development: The Movie
Years after the show was canceled, Netflix got the rights to the show, and has now made a season 4, to be released in May. Ron Howard, the creator has said that the episodes will stand on their own, but also as a lead-in to a movie which, as of this writing, hasn't been ordered by any studio. The hope was that if the soon-to-be-released season 4 was successful enough, a movie deal would come through. And that may still happen. But maybe instead, the movie studio will ask them to do a kickstarter. Luckily, an Arrested Development movie could probably be done on a fairly low budget, and the fans have been very clear in their desire to see it happen.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Priorities are a Thing I Have
So this week is academically not that strenuous. This is good, because this week has a lot of season finales. That I want to not wait until the weekend to watch. I'm totally on top of my work though.
The main problem comes more from the fact that the weather has been lovely for a few days now, so I have to pry myself outside to enjoy it.
Currently however, there is a thunderstorm. So of course, I'm watching that. I love thunderstorms. While it's definitely not snowing I would love to see a thunderstorm with some snow. That would be amazing. It's instead raining, but just softly enough that it isn't always clear if the sound I hear is rain, or just the wind in the trees.
The main problem comes more from the fact that the weather has been lovely for a few days now, so I have to pry myself outside to enjoy it.
Currently however, there is a thunderstorm. So of course, I'm watching that. I love thunderstorms. While it's definitely not snowing I would love to see a thunderstorm with some snow. That would be amazing. It's instead raining, but just softly enough that it isn't always clear if the sound I hear is rain, or just the wind in the trees.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Bechdel Test and Me
Recently I started looking into something I'd heard about only slightly called the Bechdel Test. In order to pass the test there are three criteria that must be met.
1. There must be at least two female characters
2. Who speak to each other
3. About something other than a man/men.
This test is applied to movies and TV shows to look at how women are presented. Mainly, the goal of the test is to try and shed some light on how infrequently women exist in movies independent of their relationships to men. Think about your favorite movies. How many of them pass this test?
This test is interesting for a lot of reasons. It's very revealing when looking at the percentage of movies that pass, but when the actual movies themselves are examined, passing the test doesn't always mean the movie is female friendly, or contains a strong female role model. Similarly, not passing the test doesn't mean the movie is antiwoman. After all, according to the Bechdel Test Movie List Paranormal Activity 3 passed the test while the final Harry Potter movie does not.
After all, a thing to note is that the test doesn't care if the women talk about stereotypically "girly" things like shoes or make-up, so long as they aren't talking about men. As a result plenty of movies that don't provide positive female role models or positive messages about women pass. Meanwhile an action movie where the strong female leads discuss defeating the evil male bad guy, would fail.
It's also interesting because of how strict the definition of men is. The test doesn't care if the women are discussing a romantic lead, an ailing father, or a mortal enemy, if the person about whom they are speaking is male, the movie fails. My problem with this is when the topic of conversation is about a public figure. If the women are discussing the recent actions of the male president and how they feel about it, I'd view that as a pass, because they are discussing politics, however according to the test, it is a fail because they are talking about a man. Luckily from what I've seen, while my president example would fail, a discussion about congress would pass, because it is an organization, even if it is an organization mostly made of men. A more concerning part of the test is that women who discuss their daughters pass, but women who discuss their sons don't. While this makes sense when characters are talking about adult children, if characters say "Nathan rolled over today. Did Bobby" "Why yes, Bobby did." instead of Lucy and Emily, I feel this should be a pass.
The test is further complicated with the added requirement that the female characters be named. The purpose of this restriction was to avoid movies in which two background characters that have nothing to do with the story are the only reason it passes (ie. Police Woman 1: Boy it's hot today. Police Women 2: Sure is. Say what's that? Police Woman 1: Why it's a meteor. And it's heading right towards us!). Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of named. Do the characters have to be addressed by name during the movie, or is it sufficient for them to be named in the credits? There is no clear indication, which leads to interesting fights in forums about the test.
I think the Bechdel test is a useful indication about how women are presented in film and other media, but it cannot be used alone. Context is not a part of this test, and context must be provided to fully understand what is going on in the world of media in regards to women.
1. There must be at least two female characters
2. Who speak to each other
3. About something other than a man/men.
This test is applied to movies and TV shows to look at how women are presented. Mainly, the goal of the test is to try and shed some light on how infrequently women exist in movies independent of their relationships to men. Think about your favorite movies. How many of them pass this test?
This test is interesting for a lot of reasons. It's very revealing when looking at the percentage of movies that pass, but when the actual movies themselves are examined, passing the test doesn't always mean the movie is female friendly, or contains a strong female role model. Similarly, not passing the test doesn't mean the movie is antiwoman. After all, according to the Bechdel Test Movie List Paranormal Activity 3 passed the test while the final Harry Potter movie does not.
After all, a thing to note is that the test doesn't care if the women talk about stereotypically "girly" things like shoes or make-up, so long as they aren't talking about men. As a result plenty of movies that don't provide positive female role models or positive messages about women pass. Meanwhile an action movie where the strong female leads discuss defeating the evil male bad guy, would fail.
It's also interesting because of how strict the definition of men is. The test doesn't care if the women are discussing a romantic lead, an ailing father, or a mortal enemy, if the person about whom they are speaking is male, the movie fails. My problem with this is when the topic of conversation is about a public figure. If the women are discussing the recent actions of the male president and how they feel about it, I'd view that as a pass, because they are discussing politics, however according to the test, it is a fail because they are talking about a man. Luckily from what I've seen, while my president example would fail, a discussion about congress would pass, because it is an organization, even if it is an organization mostly made of men. A more concerning part of the test is that women who discuss their daughters pass, but women who discuss their sons don't. While this makes sense when characters are talking about adult children, if characters say "Nathan rolled over today. Did Bobby" "Why yes, Bobby did." instead of Lucy and Emily, I feel this should be a pass.
The test is further complicated with the added requirement that the female characters be named. The purpose of this restriction was to avoid movies in which two background characters that have nothing to do with the story are the only reason it passes (ie. Police Woman 1: Boy it's hot today. Police Women 2: Sure is. Say what's that? Police Woman 1: Why it's a meteor. And it's heading right towards us!). Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of named. Do the characters have to be addressed by name during the movie, or is it sufficient for them to be named in the credits? There is no clear indication, which leads to interesting fights in forums about the test.
I think the Bechdel test is a useful indication about how women are presented in film and other media, but it cannot be used alone. Context is not a part of this test, and context must be provided to fully understand what is going on in the world of media in regards to women.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
A Busy TV Year
So I was just about to take a study break to watch an episode of Alias, when I realized something. Alias is one of many shows that a year ago I had never seen an episode of. And, at the rate I'm going it will soon be one of many shows that a year ago I'd never seen an episode of, but that I've now seen in it's entirety.
What other shows are on this list you ask?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Dollhouse
Wonderfalls
Sherlock
By the way, on a related note, I have never seen an episode of Law and Order (or any of it's incarnations). The closest I've come is catching the last minute or so while waiting for a different show to come on, which I don't think counts as watching it. I think it's especially impressive/weird given how frequently it's on TV. I'm probably not going to get tonight's episode of Community.
What other shows are on this list you ask?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Dollhouse
Wonderfalls
Sherlock
By the way, on a related note, I have never seen an episode of Law and Order (or any of it's incarnations). The closest I've come is catching the last minute or so while waiting for a different show to come on, which I don't think counts as watching it. I think it's especially impressive/weird given how frequently it's on TV. I'm probably not going to get tonight's episode of Community.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
One Season Wonders
Sometimes really good shows only last one season. This is sad. But at the same time, it makes it a lot easier to do a marathon of episodes.
1. Firefly
Joss Whedon space cowboy adventure. 14 episodes of about 45 minutes each plus a feature film.
500 years in the future people have expanded beyond "Earth that was" and live on other planets. The Central planets are very rich and live like a science fiction future utopia, while the Border planets are poor live much more similarly to the old western genre. Captain Malcolm Reynolds leads the firefly class ship, "Serenity" named for the battle that allowed the Alliance to win and create "unification", something he and first mate Zoey fought against. Rounding out the crew are Zoey's husband, the pilot Wash, Kaylee, the mechanic and Jayne, who basically gets paid to fight and help pull jobs. A companion, Inara rents a shuttle. During the first episode the crew is joined by a preacher, Shepard Book, as well as a doctor, Simon Tam, and his sister, River, whom he rescued from a government facility. Simon and River are wanted by the Alliance, but since Mal and his crew dislike the Alliance and make their fortune through criminal acts, they don't really mind.
My Favorite Episodes: Shindig, Jaynestown, Out of Gas, War Stories and Objects in Space
2. The Return of Jezebel James
Comedy from the people who created Gilmore Girls. 7 episodes of about 22 minutes each.
Sarah Tompkins is a children's book editor who wants to have a baby. When she finds out she can't get pregnant she asks her sister, Coco, to be her surrogate. The problem is that the two have barely spoken over the years, and are dissimilar in their personalities. Sarah is viewed by most, including their parents as the golden girl, while Coco is the wild child. Sarah's assistant, Buddy, man friend Marcus and Coco and Sarah's parents round out the cast. Mainly because the show got canceled so early, the main focus is on Sarah and Coco getting to know each other again, rather than the intended main plot of the surrogacy.
My Favorite Episodes: Pilot/Frankenstein Baby, I'm With Blank, Sarah Takes a Bullet
3. Wonderfalls
Bryan Fuller drama about a girl who has inanimate objects speak to her. 13 episodes of about 45 minutes each.
Jaye Tyler is "overeducated and underemployed" having graduated from Brown with a degree in Philosophy, but working in a Niagra Falls gift shop. She's unmotivated and sarcastic. Then a wax lion starts talking to her. Then other animal toys and images start talking to her. They tell her to do things, that usually lead to a good outcome. Jaye is constantly frustrated by her family, her sister Sharon an immigration lawyer, overprotective brother Aaron who is getting a PHD in theology and her parents Karen, a travel book writer and Darrin, a doctor. Her best friend Mahandra is a waitress in a local restaurant where Eric, a man who's wife cheated on him during their honeymoon to Niagra Falls has recently become a bartender. Jaye tries to deal with the directions from the animals as best she can while she and others question her sanity. Additionally, Jaye takes issue with the increasingly helpful things she's ordered to do, as it violates her policy of not being nice to people.
My Favorite Episodes: Wax Lion, Crime Dog, Lovesick Ass, Cadged Bird
1. Firefly
Joss Whedon space cowboy adventure. 14 episodes of about 45 minutes each plus a feature film.
500 years in the future people have expanded beyond "Earth that was" and live on other planets. The Central planets are very rich and live like a science fiction future utopia, while the Border planets are poor live much more similarly to the old western genre. Captain Malcolm Reynolds leads the firefly class ship, "Serenity" named for the battle that allowed the Alliance to win and create "unification", something he and first mate Zoey fought against. Rounding out the crew are Zoey's husband, the pilot Wash, Kaylee, the mechanic and Jayne, who basically gets paid to fight and help pull jobs. A companion, Inara rents a shuttle. During the first episode the crew is joined by a preacher, Shepard Book, as well as a doctor, Simon Tam, and his sister, River, whom he rescued from a government facility. Simon and River are wanted by the Alliance, but since Mal and his crew dislike the Alliance and make their fortune through criminal acts, they don't really mind.
My Favorite Episodes: Shindig, Jaynestown, Out of Gas, War Stories and Objects in Space
2. The Return of Jezebel James
Comedy from the people who created Gilmore Girls. 7 episodes of about 22 minutes each.
Sarah Tompkins is a children's book editor who wants to have a baby. When she finds out she can't get pregnant she asks her sister, Coco, to be her surrogate. The problem is that the two have barely spoken over the years, and are dissimilar in their personalities. Sarah is viewed by most, including their parents as the golden girl, while Coco is the wild child. Sarah's assistant, Buddy, man friend Marcus and Coco and Sarah's parents round out the cast. Mainly because the show got canceled so early, the main focus is on Sarah and Coco getting to know each other again, rather than the intended main plot of the surrogacy.
My Favorite Episodes: Pilot/Frankenstein Baby, I'm With Blank, Sarah Takes a Bullet
3. Wonderfalls
Bryan Fuller drama about a girl who has inanimate objects speak to her. 13 episodes of about 45 minutes each.
Jaye Tyler is "overeducated and underemployed" having graduated from Brown with a degree in Philosophy, but working in a Niagra Falls gift shop. She's unmotivated and sarcastic. Then a wax lion starts talking to her. Then other animal toys and images start talking to her. They tell her to do things, that usually lead to a good outcome. Jaye is constantly frustrated by her family, her sister Sharon an immigration lawyer, overprotective brother Aaron who is getting a PHD in theology and her parents Karen, a travel book writer and Darrin, a doctor. Her best friend Mahandra is a waitress in a local restaurant where Eric, a man who's wife cheated on him during their honeymoon to Niagra Falls has recently become a bartender. Jaye tries to deal with the directions from the animals as best she can while she and others question her sanity. Additionally, Jaye takes issue with the increasingly helpful things she's ordered to do, as it violates her policy of not being nice to people.
My Favorite Episodes: Wax Lion, Crime Dog, Lovesick Ass, Cadged Bird
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