Dictum Ridiculum - December 2005

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Dictum Ridiculum: December 2005

Archived rants and raves from the main page of the Colin Campbell Network.

Thursday, December 8, 2005
Sucks to like Reunion
You know, of all the shows I started watching this fall, I thought I would really take to Reunion, FOX's attempt to duplicate 24-style storytelling. Only this time, instead of each episode being an hour in real time, each episode would be a year counting down toward a twenty-year high school reunion, telling the story of what happened to a group of friends over that period. Here's FOX's explanation:

REUNION opens in 2005 at the funeral of one of the friends, whose death is being investigated by DETECTIVE MARJORINO (Mathew St. Patrick, “Six Feet Under”). Before the identity of the deceased is revealed, we’re transported back to 1986, as the group is celebrating their high school graduation. The pilot episode follows all six through the summer of 1986, and we witness the formative events that alter their dreams and desires forever. Episode two finds the group a full year later, in 1987; episode three tells the story of a seminal event in 1988, and so on – culminating in the season finale at the friends’ 20th high school reunion. REUNION also will build toward answering two important questions raised in episode one: Which of the friends is dead? And how did that death occur?
Which is all well and good... except for one thing. FOX canceled the show. Typical FOX (see Firefly, et. al.).
But the somewhat good news appeared to be this: The show is still in production, at least until they finish their 13th episode. So could the show's creators figure out a way to wrap it up?
Now comes this article from TVGuide.com in which the show's executive producer, Jon Feldman, says basically -- no f'ing way.

"Because the events of Samantha's murder are partially reliant on characters we haven't yet met -- and events we haven't yet seen -- there is no way to solve the mystery of her murder without being able to complete the full arc of our story through the present day. I greatly regret that this question along with many others that the series has posed will remain unsolved, and I am deeply grateful for the support of viewers who share this regret."
Or, to put it another way, "Don't be mad at us, we didn't cancel the show. Oh, and screw you, FOX."
Well, at least we found out it was Samantha who was whacked. (I actually stopped watching this show about ten minutes after it started airing... for some reason, it just didn't click with me.)
Suddent thought: Maybe the folks at Reunion could team up with the people at the recently-axed Threshold (another show Tivo'd in the Campbell household, and sadly deleted without viewing due to other priorities) and do one final "all the answers" episode? Like, maybe Samantha was killed by those crazy crop-circle screechy alien things?
Transmitted 01:22 AM PST | Link |

Monday, December 5, 2005
What They Think Of You, and Why They Have No Clue
The "they", in this case, refers to "Hollywood Bigwigs." Now, I know, an Internet rant saying Hollywood Bigwigs don't get it -- how original. But it's important to keep reminding folks of the general level of idiocy at the upper levels of the entertainment industry.
Today's moron: Bob Iger, the head of the Walt Disney company. In this interview with the Wall Street Journal, Iger is asked about the reaction to ABC offering episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives on the new video iPod. Iger says it's not that big a deal -- viewers aren't choosing not to watch the over-the-air broadcast, but instead, are using the iPod versions to catch episodes they otherwise might have missed. So far, so good. But he then trots out this tired canard:

Committed viewers to the most popular shows only watch about half of the episodes that are available over a given season.
Now, I watch Lost. Lots of people do. Do you know ANYONE who only watches half the episodes? I mean, really, Bob... if you only watched every other episode of Lost, you'd be pretty... well... you'd have no idea what the hell was going on. (It should be noted that that condition also applies to a good number of fans who do see every episode.)
Most fans of the show -- "committed viewers", to use your term -- can't wait for new episodes to air. The reasons for missing a "new" episode likely fall in to one of three categories: scheduling conflict (not home/near TV when episode airs), technical failure (VCR screw-up, etc.), or lack of awareness that after weeks of repeats, a new episode is going to air. The most committed fans of a show like Lost watch every episode of Lost. How come your research department doesn't know that?

Transmitted 04:36 PM PST | Link |

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