I do not remember, but I may have posted on this topic before. But, I still just don’t get it. I’ve never watched more than one episode of any reality show, and the drivel that I have watched is terrible. What is the draw to these shows? Following a celebrity around to watch them flaunt their 100X better life in front of your face? That is fascinating to you? The second you put a camera in the room, it ceases to be reality because no longer do people really behave like the way that they normally would. And thus, if they are not behaving the way they normally are, they are acting!!! And if you just want to watch acting, why not watch good acting and good writing at that, because that reality crap has neither.
I somewhat might understand the draw for competition shows like American Idol or even The Amazing Race, which is kind of like an outdoors around the world game show (from what I’ve read about it at least as I’ve never watched it). So, I kinda get that as game shows have been part of American television almost since the beginning. But, the hell do you care to watch the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, Tori Spelling, Terrell Owens, those Real Housewives shows, or any other of that stuff? Is there someone out there who can actually explain the appeal of these shows? I watched about 10 minutes of that Terrell Owens show about a month ago as I did not have control of the remote. The whole time I’m watching it, I’m thinking, this is a piece of crap. His home is worth more money than I will ever make in a lifetime. The “writing” was awful, as they tried to dramatize any of the crap that went on in front of the camera, even though I bet all of it was staged anyway. Why? Cuz its not freaking reality, its practically scripted crap. You might as watch wrestling, as that is somewhat scripted as well, and the wrestlers just ad lib out there from an outline. I sometimes wonder if in these “reality” shows they go through a scene, the camera guy goes hold up, I didn’t get a good shot of that scene and asks them to replay that scene again, and I bet they do!
Can I ask all of you to stop watching this crap so that they can stop producing this stuff? If not, for the life of me, please explain to me why in the hell you watch this stuff.
I am going to ask a question that most people know the answer to, but they don’t act like they do. Do you know that 100% of all pictures you see in magazines of models and actresses are airbrushed? Expanding on that, do you know that every person you see on TV and in the movies has tons of make-up on, have the best lighting and camera effects which make the actors look better than they normally do? Now, don’t get me wrong. The women in these photos look amazing. I see them for myself. And I always used to think others realized the same thing. But, when you hear the comments people make everyday about how so and so doesn’t look good or how so and so is fat when they are not even close to fat, it makes you kind of wonder.
Have you ever seen some of these “hot” actresses in those pics of them without make up? Oh trust me you can see a difference and many times its safe to say if you saw those same women on the streets like that you would not look twice. Have you ever seen how people look on a soap opera vs. a prime time show? The lighting and cameras on soaps are not as good, and you can really tell the difference. And you do realize that most of the models and actresses you see on TV have had plastic surgery of some sort as well? Put that all together and you see “hot” people on TV and pictures all the time. Sorry to burst your bubble if you didn’t realize all this. Hope that you just like the fantasy that these people represent and not the reality you may perceive them to be.
So apparently this guy is all the rage right now on the internet. I don’t watch TV in the summer, so not sure if he has had commercials on TV or not. I didn’t even click on any of the ads he had on the internet. However, before the movie Inception started, it showed a commercial with him, and I thought it was kind of funny. It got my dad to laugh too. But, I just read an article today that said despite the wild popularity, sales are down. LOL. I’ve never used Old Spice deodorant before. When I was young and just started using deodorant, I went to the store and took a whiff of pretty much every one that was out there in the store (hehe, yup true story), and there was no Old Spice brand that I liked at all. And have never used it since then.
But that is another story. What I really wanted to discuss was commercials, ads and marketing in general. Obviously I am in the minority, but commercials just do not work on me. I am not the kind of person who sees an ad and then think, dang, I gotta buy that. In fact, I hate commercials and they have quite the opposite effect on me. If I see stuff that annoy me, it’ll just make me not want to buy the product. I block all ads while I surf the internet, such that whenever I do see some type of banner ad when surfing on a public computer, I’m like WTF is that? I use a DVR now and always skip commercials, and even before DVR’s, I used to time record the shows I watched on a VCR and then fast forward the commercials. Sorry, but its a waste of my time to watch 20 minutes of commercials for every hour show I watch. I won’t do it, and I’m not going to do it if I don’t have to.
The only advertisements that work on me? They are the coupons/sales that I am specifically looking for. If I know I want to buy say a hard drive, I will look through maybe the Sunday ads. Or I will look at different websites for the cheapest price. Or I will go to slickdeals or something each day until I see an ad for a hard drive. But, in almost all cases, an ad only works for me when I already want that product, and it almost never works on me to buy something I wasn’t already going to buy. There are obviously a couple exceptions to this, like if a new restaurant opens up where I live and I see a flyer and I will try it out. Or I see a coupon to a restaurant that I frequent often or will do so again. I’ll always try out new foods. Video games? I usually have in the back of my mind certain games that I would buy if the price were right, so if I happen to see a sale for that game at my price, then sure. Or I see coupons for things I regularly buy, like maybe toilet paper or the aforementioned deodorant, etc.
Marketing is a funny thing. We seem to have taken in this country the strategy of just bombarding people with every imaginable item and ad out there, hoping that at least a few people buy. The ultimate example of this is spam. You people out there do realize that the reason that people still send out spam is because there are a couple of you out there who actually click the links to those ads and actually buy the product right? I always found it funny that this is the marketing approach so many companies take because its hard for me to imagine commercials getting people to buy stuff since they don’t really work all that much on me. Targeted ads seems like the best way to go, but in mediums such as TV, the best you can do is show commercials during certain programs you know your audience watches. Maybe that’s why Google is so popular, as its much easier to show an ad when you know what the user is searching for. I’d hate to be in marketing because it seems so hit or miss to me. There are so many commercials out there where I thought that’s lame, and it did well. What works for one company often does not work for another. What works one year for a company doesn’t work the following year for that same company. It just seems so hard to predict.
Anyway, getting back to the Old Spice Guy. It kind of sucks I guess for Old Spice that sales have not increased, I guess. Though I will say it might be too soon to tell as the commercials are relatively new. But, if things do not pick up, it would appear there would be only one winner to that campaign, the Old Spice Guy himself Isaiah Mustafa.
As this television season comes to an end, it is quite bittersweet. Two of my all time favorite shows, two staples of mine the past 6+ years week in and week out, are ending in less than a week. What shows am I talking about? That would be Lost and 24 of course. I’ll be honest in that Lost is as confusing as ever. Did all those seasons really lead up to this war of good vs evil? And in 24 you have the biggest badass in television history in Jack Bauer. It doesn’t look like, to me, that things will end up good for him. No hero’s ending/sendoff, at least I don’t see it.
I don’t even know how many emails I’ve written my friends the day after these shows ended. How many conversations these 2 shows alone have started. Every week, I watched these tivo’d shows religiously, and then just cringed when it finally ended because I had to wait a whole 7 days to find out what happened next. That is the biggest positive and also negative of watching these serial dramas. You are so sad and disappointed that the show ends, but you so look forward to getting by the week so that you can find out what happens next. I can’t tell you how many Mondays 24 has made bearable for me, as going back to work after the weekend always sucks. And how many over the hump days that Lost has provided.
I’m dying right now to find out how these shows will finally end, what all these years have been moving towards. But, after they finally end, after that last set of emails/conversations occur to my friends next week, the question then becomes, what next?? Are there any other shows out there that will fill the void of 80 minutes of my life every week? If no shows, more time then to just read my books or play my games? I’m always complaining about not having enough time to do what I want, so if I can’t find any shows to replace these, maybe its a blessing in disguise? I lament now, but I’ve had many favorite shows end on me in the past and I got by fine so I know that I will again. I just have a blog and sometimes I have nothing to write about and just want to whine/cry/complain. Here’s to 2 more great episodes coming up for 2 of my favorite shows of all time.
I have had a DVR now for maybe a couple of years, and I just love it. I used to have Cox for our cable TV, but they got too pricey, and they freaking charge you monthly for every single DVR you have, which is so lame. Switched to DirecTV, and we have multiple DVR’s in the home now, but are charged only one monthly fee to use the service, as it freaking should be. The best feature about it? Skipping the freaking commercials and saving yourself lots of time. Spare me the we are supposed to watch the commercials because that’s how the networks make their money crap. I pay for the technology so will use it. Did you know that for every one hour show, the actual show only lasts 40 minutes? Life is too short to waste on commercials. Even before DVR’s were invented I used to do the same thing by time recording all my shows on a VCR and then watching the shows over the weekend. I don’t even care about being able to pause live TV. That means nothing to me, really. I think I use that feature every once in a while, but since I rarely watch live TV, it doesn’t really matter to me.
For those that don’t know, though, you can watch a show even while its recording. So, if you are watching, say, the latest episode of 24, have it set to record. And then start watching it at 9:20. You will end at about the same time as when the show normally ends, and you will not of wasted your time watching commercials. The only thing I watch live nowadays are sports, because for those, I always seem to get the results before I watch it, so its no fun. But for TV shows? Its just not worth it. I have better things to do with my life than to watch ads. And I don’t care if networks are losing money because of it. If they want to make a deal with TiVo to get a cut or whatever, fine. But, you will not be forcing me to watch that crap. If I watch 5 hour long shows a week, that’s a good 1.5 hours of time I save. Do you know what I can do with that time?? A lot better things I tell you that watching the latest beer commercial.
I left a Facebook status over the weekend about this, but have nothing to write about tonight so will spend a post on it now. One of my favorite shows ever is ending soon!!! This will be the last year of 24. I did not start watching this show when it first came out. I remember reading about what it was about when it premiered, and then thinking that’s such a gimmick, its not going to last. Borrowed the DVD from I don’t know who, and I was hooked. I watched all 24 episodes of the 1st season in less than a week, actually in a few days. And I’ve been watching the show ever since. Eight years later, how wrong I was.
I was reading some articles about how this show might not have been so popular were it not for 9/11 and the Bush era wars against terrorism. That may or may not be the case. All that is too political for me. All I know is that Jack Bauer is one of the all time badasses ever! I don’t recall week in and week out just looking forward to a Monday, a MONDAY!!, waiting to see what Jack would do next to beat the bad guys, overcome torture, outsmart the enemy, defend his country, oh and of course, to torture his hostage. Now, I’m not advocating torture in any way, but this is TV we are talking about, and what is entertaining to watch on TV doesn’t mean its entertaining in real life. Unlike many stupid groups out there, I can distinguish between fantasy and real life.
True, there were things that were pretty lame with the show. Every year, it seemed like they had a twist just to have a twist. The twist didn’t even make sense most of the time, but existed just to make they audience go whoa! Nina Meyer in the 1st season was pretty much the ultimate example of this. At the end, you were like, what the heck!!?? But when you thought about it, it just made no sense. Why was she helping the whole season only to be on the enemy’s side? She could of sabotaged everything from the beginning. Oh well. It is/was still a great show to watch.
As the season/series ends, with 10 episodes to go, we can only just enjoy the ride, and remember the hours of endless entertainment and discussions this show has brought about. Kiefer Sutherland said that they are going to be working on a movie, so there might be something after the show. But, no more Monday’s to look forward to. (Unless Chuck gets renewed, but while I love that show, its still not the same as 24). No more yelling at the TV, “Always listen to Jack, he is always right!!!” No more talking with my friends about it the next day or week. There’ll never be another Jack, so let’s hope another show out there can fill the hour void.
Practically any blockbuster movie that comes out now is in 3-D. I think the latest last weekend was Alice in Wonderland. I don’t know about you, but I am so over 3-D. The movies I’ve seen recently in 3-D include, Coraline, Up, Beowolf, Shrek Forever After (free movie screening), and obviously Avatar. Yes, Avatar was pretty visually stunning. But, I think honestly I would of been just impressed had I watched it in normal 2-D. Each of these movies would have been just as good or just as bad if there was no 3-D version. And every single one of these movies always has at least a scene or 3 in which the director just wants to show off his 3-D toy with some stupid scene that is totally unnecessary but just shows how cool it can be with stuff coming out of the screen.
And now every movie wants to come out in 3-D, and its not because it makes the movie better. Its because they can freaking charge more money for it. Avatar is the only movie of the ones above that I paid more than the regular ticket price, and that’s how its going to be for me for the most part. When I went to that free Shrek Forever After screening, one of the questions that I was asked afterward was whether or not I would pay an extra 2 bucks for admission to get into the movie, and I said no. Its just not worth it to me. The 3-D is not that impressive that I would pay more.
And what news did I hear today? Samsung and Panasonic are going to come out with 3-D televisions. Ummmm, I didn’t read the article, have no idea how much more money it will cost, but whatever that extra cost, I guarantee it is too much. If it is anything like the movies, it’s not even real 3-D. Its just looks like a 2-D scene that has a couple body parts or props appearing to come out of the screen. I so hope that this 3-D frenzy ends before long. Just sick of seeing all the ads and hype over something that is just that….hype.
Flash Forward is the new ABC show that premiered last week. ABC is hoping that this show will fill the void of Lost, which is entering its final season this year. As such, we have another show involving some sort of mystery in which the answers are unknown. Is it mystical, science fiction, supernatural, or just unexplainable? And like Lost, unless the show gets canceled early like many shows are, you will not know the answer to it for possibly years, when the show ends.
Anyway, the show takes place in modern day. A couple FBI agents are staking out some suspects and begins pursuing them. In the middle of their pursuit, however, the driver all of a sudden loses consciousness and begins seeing imagines of himself. After this is over, he has crashed his car and sees chaos and destruction all around him. Why? Because everyone in the entire world had the exact same thing happen to them. They find out after the fact that everyone blacked out for just over 2 minutes, and everyone of them saw themselves in a scene about 6 months in the future.
How did everyone in the world black out? Is what everyone saw really their future? Is it going to happen again? Those are just a few of the questions that this show will have to answer as the weeks go by. If it really is the future, then are people going to try and change the outcome of what is supposed to happen if they did not like what they saw? Are they going to live their life towards that future and fulfill some self fulfilling prophecy? Did someone cause this worldwide event for some ulterior motive?
After watching the first episode, I found myself more curious about these questions in my own head than I did of the actual show and the characters in it. That is, I started asking myself questions like whether or not I’d like to know my own future, and if I did, would I live my life differently knowing it. And, if I did know my own future, would that alter my course towards it? Would I of ended up at that point had I never known? Yes I am curious as to where this show is headed, but I didn’t really like any of the characters all that much. When I first watched Lost, I thought that show was awesome, and there were definite people that I liked. This show? I’m thinking I might watch it just to see what happens. I’m still on the fence with it. I think that it can be a good show, but whether or not it will be, only time will tell.
So, like every single TV show that I watch, I watch every single episode. I seriously contemplated breaking that, but I just can’t do it. I just gotta stick out this train wreck. Has there ever been a more dramatic free fall for a TV show in such a short time? Heroes was awesome, I thought, in the first season. Even though there were characters that I did not like, I still loved the story. There were people you loved, people you hated. Although I did not really like how the season ended, I was willing to overlook that.
Then the second season started, where they just introduced many new characters that nobody cared for. The storylines kind of dragged. They had too many characters on the screen and so too little time for everyone. However, I was willing to forgive all of that season, seeing as how they had such high expectations from season 1, and also the writer’s strike, which just messed everything up. Ok, I get it. Do over.
But this season currently? To say its terrible would be putting it kindly. The storylines just no longer make any sense at all. And characters who once acted one way in the past, are now acting totally different this year. You can’t just change the personalities and actions of characters! Sylar used to be such a creepy character in the first season. I remember that I literally got goose bumps everytime he was on the screen. He was that scary. Now? His character is probably, in my opinion, still intriguing at least, but he’s stuck with the stupidest storyline! What the heck was the point of him visiting his father? What did he get out of it? I guess I’m ok with him wanting to do that, but they could of done all that in 1 episode, not spread it out into like half the season!
I’m getting quite frustrated, and I really hope that things get better. Its not unprecedented for a show to improve. Smallville last year was one of the worst written shows last year. Maybe even worse than Heroes this year. However, this year it was much improved, outside of the stupid Lana guest starring episodes. Hopefully the writers can do the same next year, if NBC decides to renew this show.
I just watched Jim Cramer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I watch the show pretty much every day, and its pretty entertaining. This one was entertaining too, but in a different way. Did anyone else watch that? Stewart pretty much ripped Cramer and his network CNBC, for pretty much being in bed with the financial companies. I’ve never actually seen Mad Money, or CNBC for that matter, so I have no clue if what Stewart was saying was correct or not. I will give you this though. Jon Stewart is a very intelligent person. If not intelligent, then very well prepared. He always seems to know what he is talking about and can go toe to toe with anyone he speaks with. Yes, granted, its mostly on his show and so on his turf. But, I have seen him on other shows, and he is just as articulate and knowledgeable about what he speaks of.
I think that a lot of what he said in this interview was right though. A reporter’s job should be to report the truth and what is really going on in an objective way, not what they think that their viewers want to hear for ratings. Its the reason why I don’t really watch MSNBC or Foxnews for the news. All they really do is just cater to their audience. I think its a travesty in this country that so few huge corporations own the majority of the news outlets, whether it be tv news, newspapers, magazines, etc. You name any network news station and it is owned by a huge conglomerate. Time Warner, GE, etc. Its getting to the poin that the only way to really get objective news about our country is either from international news outlets, or even blogs sometimes.
Now, is it Jim Cramer’s fault that everyone lost their money in stocks? Absolutely not. He didn’t exactly help things, it would seem, but just went along for the ride like everyone else. Here is my two cents to everyone out there when they listen to reporters, or anchors, or pundits on the air. If they don’t get good ratings they will not be on the air much longer. The networks and news outlets, just like every other company in America, only cares about making money. So, when they say things on the air, they are not trying to make you money. They are trying to make their company and stock holders money. And finally. Every single report her you see on the news makes like tons more money than you. When they cry about how the economy is hurting everyone, they are not talking about themselves.
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