Archive for the ‘TV’ Category:
Reality TV Casting Calls
Reality TV show casts always have their stereotypes and token members. From reality TV casting calls will emerge the drama queen, the looker, the mean girl, the jerk, the quiet one, the one minority, the rich and spoiled one (sometimes merged with the drama queen/mean girl/jerk), the rural and naïve one, the devoutly religious one, the unstable one, the immature one, the den mother and so on. The cast of people, or should we say characters, is what makes reality TV so interesting to watch. You might think it’s about being the next top chef, surviving the island, finding the next big designer or top model, finding a soul mate or being thrown into unfamiliar situations and environments, but you know that all of the drama that goes on in the house comes first. The mean girl or jerk is alienating everyone else in the house, the minority one is shown constantly talking about their minority status, the immature one is getting on everyone’s nerves, the religious one is having it out with someone non-religious in the house, and the drama queen is, you guessed it—causing drama. For the viewers, all of this turmoil makes for great entertainment and gossip.
It makes you wonder though, through reality TV casting calls that attract anyone, how does the cast always happen to contain some of these stereotypes? What were the chances that the sample of contestants picked happened to distribute all of these traits? This is why many people are suspicious or critical of reality TV casting calls and their validity. They’re really looking for good TV and not talent, some will say. American Idol has specifically been the target of such criticism, prompting organizations like the “Vote for the Worst” campaign. Accounts from people who auditioned say that in a matter of seconds, people are chosen, and somehow from that group they get a bunch of horrible singers that make for good television. Others accuse TV shows of keeping around certain contestants that deserved to go just so they can make the show more interesting.
Yet this can’t always be the case, or at least not entirely. Many reality shows are based on skill and competition and even with drama, the show would most definitely fail and reek of being rigged if none of the contestants had remotely any talent. The reality TV casting calls have to be producing some genuinely talented people, but you’ll forget about them when the show ends while remembering the contestant who threw a hissy fit, or the one who had a nervous breakdown, or the outrageously eccentric contestant that kept you tuning in every week.
CSI Shows
CSI is an innovative crime drama where characters use cutting-edge forensic tools to examine evidence that helps to resolve cases. CSI Shows take a different approach to the more common and popular ‘whodunnit’ cop shows and instead explore the ‘howdunit’ angle in the investigation. It is in fact one of the most watched shows in the world. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television in conjunction with CBS Productions, CSI Shows have been heavily criticized because of their graphic portrayals of violence and sexual content.
The concept and development of CSI Shows dates back to the 1990s and the entire idea of a forensics team was borrowed from the Discovery Channel that showed detectives using DNA to solve cold cases. In time ABC, NBC and Fox executives took an interest in the idea and decided to pass it for development into a series. You may be surprised to know that the main filming location of the show is Santa Clarita, California, only second unit photography shots are done on Las Vegas streets. Due to the versatility and the similarity between Santa Clarita and Las Vegas, a lot of the show’s outdoor scenes take place there.
The show has occasionally used yet-to-be-invented technology and gadgetry drawing its comparisons to shows like ‘The X-Files and ‘Quincy’ as part of the science fiction genre. However, CSI Shows stand because of their unusual camera angles and percussive editing techniques. Other features that clearly stand out are the graphic portrayals of bullet trajectories, blood spray patterns and organ damage. The technique of shooting extreme close-ups with an explanatory commentary from a CSI character has even come to be referred to as a ‘CSI Shot’. Crime reconstructions and methods of evidence recovery are also outstanding features of this crime drama series.
The main character set includes the CSI level 2 Dr. Raymond Langston played by Laurence Fishburne who comes into contact with the CSI team during a murder investigation. Once a doctor he uses his experience in the Las Vegas Crime lab to solve murders. The commander of the nigh shift Las Vegas CSI unit is CSI level 3 Catherine Willows who brings a lot of her personal life into the picture. Another notable character is the Trace Technician David Hodges who brings a comic relief into the crime scenes. It is also noted that Hodges has an uncanny sense of smell that comes in handy. Now in its tenth season, CSI Shows continue to captivate their viewers.
 | US $25.99 End Date: Monday Mar-22-2010 14:43:36 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $25.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
| US $25.99 End Date: Monday Mar-22-2010 14:43:36 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $25.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
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Lost Season – Two
Lost is one of the most popular shows on modern television, an hourlong drama that combines elements of sci-fi, melodrama, adventure and thriller genres in a way that many, many people find to be near endlessly entertaining. Me personally, I’m not a big fan. I find J.J. Abrams – the creator and producer, as well as head writer of Lost – to produce insipid and simple work. In that regard, lost season two is a perfect example.
The whole season revolved around the cliffhanger from season one, namely “What was in the hatch?” Yes, Abrams and his writing staff answered the query early – in the opening sequence, actually – but that shot off only more questions as Lost Season Two progressed. Periodically the writes would drop hints at what was going on, but in fact their main goal seemed only to be as incrutable and obtuse as possible, with the goal of representing confusion as entertainment. It’s a tack taht I, as a television viewer, find to be endlessly annoying, but clearly (according to the ratings) many people find to be absolutely scintillating.
My main gripe with that kind of writing is that it cheapens the narrative of the story being told. Yes, you can throw in cliffhangers and wild twists and turns, but you do so at the expense of legitimate characterization and story development. Instead of getting people invested in the plot or the situation, you get them invested in the trick about to be played on them. It’s like going to see a magician; he distracts you with his left hand while he performs the trick with his right, and you get a momentary thrill of “ooh, how’d he do that?” with no more significant meaning behind anything that’s actually happened.
Then at some point, the writers realize that they’ve constructed nothing but a house of cards and have to further the plot somehow. Without exception this seems to be done by adding new, superfluous characters who function only as plot devices. That’s because they’ve spent more time coming up with “shocker” moments than actually developing a cohesive narrative into which their current characters can fit and advance. And Lost isn’t the only popular show to do that – Heroes is another.
So lost season two has some twists and turns, but in the way I look at it, it’s twists and turns to no point except for having twists and turns in and of themselves. Is that a good enough reason to purchase or even rent lost season two? Not for me.
 | US $119.99 End Date: Friday Apr-09-2010 20:59:25 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $119.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $115.00 End Date: Saturday Apr-10-2010 10:31:37 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $115.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
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 | US $94.95 End Date: Wednesday Mar-17-2010 8:34:20 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $94.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
