Television
MTV, Jon Gosselin and Cake Boss
Jun 16th
For those who have checked out my articles page, you can probably tell I love reality TV. I have written reviews for The Hills, The City and The Bachelorette. There’s just something about reality TV that fills me with excitement. Perhaps because it is unscripted and everything is unexpected. Sometimes the season is killer and sometimes it’s just dead, but I’m always willing to give it a try. Which is why I tuned in to MTV’s House of Jazmin, a show following a 20-year-old L.A.-based designer. The first episode was kind of boring, but it’s too early to judge.
House of Jazmin
During the school year, I am (unfortunately) sans television. Therefore, I rely on the internet. Thus, I have become hooked on MTV’s The Real World. Drama, drama, drama! But now that MTV has added early episodes of The Real World series (San Fransico, New York, Los Angeles) to their website, I found myself disgruntled with the latest installment, Cancun. The original Real World was just that, the real world. They had jobs, lives, friends… They really were just seven strangers picked to live in a house; they weren’t seven strangers picked to live in a completely different country with no friends, TV or life apart from their roomies. I want a “real world” Real World, none of this “I hate Joey”/”I love Pat”/”I drink all of the time” crap. Okay, maybe I made the last one up, but someone might as well of said it.
The Real World San Francisco
The change in The Real World series is starting to make me think that MTV’s gone to crap. What a waste of time watching My Super Sweet Sixteen and Cribs is. Sure, they now have 16 & Pregnant, but really, how diverse are those stories? They are all low-income, unemployed, high school drop-outs. With the exception of one, who was from a high-income family. Those girls are up for a struggle, but documenting one or two stories pretty much speaks for the rest. And where’s a new episode of True Life? To me, True Life is MTV’s redemption for spoiled, rich kid garbage. Each episode of True Life tells the story of a few people who have one thing in common. Episodes range from I stutter to I have autism to I have embarrassing parents to I work in the porn industry. And yes, they even had an episode on young moms, so there 16 & Pregnant, True Life‘s been there, done that! But where are the new episodes? Documenting normal young adults for one episode can’t be that expensive, but renting a big mansion for one month on the other hand… I’m just saying…
Even TLC is following in MTV’s shadow, thanks to Jon Gosselin. What started off as a sweet documentary of a family with eight children, has now become tabloid fodder. I adore the early episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8. Watching Kate struggle to manage a home with sextuplets and twins was interesting, and the kids are so gosh darn cute! I love Aidan and his little glasses and Alexis being silly. Plus, who didn’t love Kate’s pushy comments to Jon? Well, apparently Jon didn’t love them. The divorce aspect of the new episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 isn’t what gets my goat, it’s Jon prancing around with various women at clubs flaunting his Ed Hardy gear that gets me going. Why isn’t he helping with the kids? Why is he going on vaca with “home wrecking Hailey”? I don’t get it, and viewers don’t seem to either. I feel for Kate Gosselin, but it’s hard to watch a show that still features Jon as a #1 Dad because, frankly, he isn’t. When your twins call your ex-wife to come over when you’re being touchy-feely with the babysitter and your ex-wife calls the cops on you, you just aren’t a good dad. When you spend more time talking to the paparazzi and tabloid reporters (ahem, Kate 2.0) than your own kids, then you’re not a good dad. Not to be black and white, but I’m sick of this man saying how much he cares about his children when his actions say otherwise. TLC needs to revamp this show ASAP before they lose their ratings. Or, I don’t know, here’s a crazy thought, maybe the Gosselins should rethink being on a reality show, seeing as their lives are falling apart and their children are dealing with a parental divorce. Nah, that stuff is ratings gold.
Jon & Kate Plus 8
But don’t get me wrong TLC hasn’t gone to hell. With shows like Cake Boss to Ace of Cakes, The Little Couple and Little People, Big World, TLC is reigning supreme in family-oriented reality shows. They show viewers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, and to me, that’s a great message to convey through TV.
I still love reality television, but I think that reality TV needs a splash of actual reality. No more “unscripted-drama,” how about just real drama. What if The Hills showed the Pratts real-life (Playboy photoshoots and all), or The City showed the press interviews Whitney Port endured? I’d kinda want to see that, but then again, House of Jazmin showed mom yelling at brother to get out of the bathroom. And I labelled that kinda boring. Reality TV needs a splash of reality and a splash of glamour. Perhaps as the House of Jazmin series progresses, it’ll take my interest, seeing as it has bathroom fights and runway shows. In its one episode House of Jazmin had more reality than all of L.C.’s Hills relationships combined, so maybe House of Jazmin will be a hit. Or maybe not…because who wants to see real reality shows anyway?
The Time Traveler’s Wife, TV Show Smashes & Flops, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jun 16th
Lately, TV commercial breaks have been filled with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams meeting, getting married, and having a kid to Lifehouse’s “Broken”. Based on the novel of the same name, The Time Traveler’s Wife is the love story of Henry (Bana) and Clare (McAdams), a man who lives life on a shifting timeline and his wife who desperately tries to hold their marriage together. I have yet to see the film, but apparently ABC execs have because the network has ordered a pilot for The Time Traveler’s Wife. The ABC pilot was created by Warner Bros. and Marta Kauffman, the creater of Friends, who have yet to set an air date.
This isn’t the first time a box-office hit has been turned into a TV-series. But just because it was a hit on the big screen, does not mean that success will transfer to the small screen.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, an independent film with a $5 million budget, grossed $368 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy ever. Nia Vardalos wrote and starred in the sleeper-hit as Fotoula Portokalos, a single Greek gal who lives with her parents. Being childless and 30 paints a big “Failure” on her forehead in the eyes of her parents, but that all changes for Portokalos when she meets school teacher Ian Miller…
My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a cute movie that everyone could relate to, so why not milk that cash cow? In 2003, My Big Fat Greek Life premiered on CBS. All of the original actors took part, with the exception of John Corbett who played Ian Miller in the movie. My Big Fat Greek Life only lasted seven episodes, with major plot changes from the movie and random character entrances, the show was a complete failure.
The cast of My Big Fat Greek Life
But My Big Fat Greek Life is an all-too-common occurrence. Networks are always willing to take a chance on crappy TV shows based on movies in order to get those big numbers. But the curious viewers who tune in for the first episode always dwindle away as the series progresses.
In 1990, NBC aired Ferris Bueller, a prequel to the John Hughes film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Matthew Broderick was replaced by Charlie Schlatter as Ferris Bueller, Jennifer Aniston replaced Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller, and Ami Dolenz took Mia Sara’s role as Sloane Peterson. The show did not make sense; despite being a prequel to the film, the pilot episode has Schlatter cutting a board of Matthew Broderick and saying he hated Broderick’s performance. John Hughes fought against the series, and despite losing the battle against production, fans sided with him and the series was canceled after thirteen episodes. Luckily for Jennifer Aniston, no one remembers that flop.
Ferris Bueller teaches networks that they should always listen to John Hughes
But not all television shows based on movies were failures. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and M*A*S*H were huge successes. And let’s not forget about Clueless, the show about a spoiled rich girl with a heart of gold. Fans loved these shows; both Buffy and M*A*S*H have an extremely loyal following of devoted fans.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a huge success
Will The Time Traveler’s Wife find the same success as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, M*A*S*H and Clueless, or will it suffer the same fate as My Big Fat Greek Life and Ferris Bueller? We’ll have to tune in and see!
The Spice Girls, a Teenage Witch, and ’90s Nostalgia
Jun 16th
An Ode to the 1990s
Amanda Zimm (Laura Bertram) and Busy Ramone (Lani Billard) on "Ready or Not"
Sometimes I think life would be easier if I just lived in a different time period. No, I’m not talking about the roaring ’20s, reserved ’40s, or ruttin’ tootin’ ’60s, I’m thinking more along the lines of the ’90s. You may be thinking how old are you then, nine? Well… no. I wasn’t born in the year 2000, but as an ’88er, I didn’t get to enjoy the glorious years of overalls, flannel, and Doc Martins as a teenager. Being a child during the ’90s had its perks (Ready or Not ring a bell anyone?), but being a teenager in the ’90s, now that’s something special. As opposed to the tight hip-hugging jeans and graphic Ts that plagued my generation,’90s teens got baggy jeans and flannel shirts, and it was actually considered cute. Imagine the luxury? This is because the ’90s wasn’t about clothes, it was about grunge. Looking like you just walked out of a garbage can started long before the Olsen Twins started their collections. Which brings me to another great show of the ’90s, Full House. Remember the Tanners and their feel-good family lessons? I know I sure do.
But I don’t seem to be the only one with 1990 nostalgia, Jimmy Fallon’s feeling it too. With Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez among others on his side, Fallon is hoping to put together a Saved by the Bell reunion. Unfortunately, Tiffani Thiessen is “too busy” to do it, well, at least according to her FunnyorDie skit. But Ms. Thiessen managed to clear her schedule for a People magazine Saved by the Bell cover shoot. Noticably absent from the shoot were Screech and Mr. Belding. Dustin Diamond was probably too busy filming porn or trying to save his house or some other scheme that’s occupied his time for the last 20-odd years. And Mr. Belding probably just wasn’t invited. Ouch. But you know what? He was no Mr. Feeny, that’s all I’m saying. Oh, Boy Meets World. Cory, Shawn and Topanga growing up in this crazy world. How I adored Fridays when ABC had the T.G.I.F. lineup, complete with my favs Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Popular, among other great teen angst shows. As a kid I loved spending Friday nights on the couch in my p.j.’s watching these shows and dreaming of when I’d be a teenager. I couldn’t wait to find my Harvey Kinkle, join the cheerleading squad, and attend posh parties. But now it makes me think of what the teenagers who had their Harvey Kinkle, cheered for the footballers and partied it up with friends on weekends, were like. I remember my cool baby sitters who came over with their multiple ear piercings, loose cotton T-shirts and faded, ripped jeans. Everyone was just so nice and unpretentious back then. Sure, they had their escape through shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, much like today’s Gossip Girl, but they also had a Real World that upheld to its title. No Cancun drunken antics for them. And what about date night? How I long for the movie choices they had! Will it be She’s All That or Sleepless in Seattle? Forrest Gump or Clueless? Oh, the choices! And the music, oh, the music! Imagine living during the reign of The Spice Girls, N’Sync, the Backstreet Boys, and New Kids on the Block. And let’s not forget Hanson, The Moffatts, or Savage Garden. They had a younger Madonna and Bono, Jerry Springer and Sally Jessy Raphael ruled day-time TV, and MuchMusic actually played music videos- think of the madness! How nice it must of been to truly experience the 1990s as a 16-year-old as opposed to spending it shopping at Northern Getaway and buying the latest Barbie outfit by Park Avenue.