GROUNDHOG DAY 2
October 18, 2006
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
With the exception of NBC's Heroes (and only because I grew up with super heroes, er, "underwear perverts"), this season's lineup of network television shows is terrible: The Nine, Brothers and Sisters, Six Degrees... bleah. It's all trash. At least Studio 60 is interesting, but it's on a little late, and it's not so great that I want to record it and watch it later.
Anyhow, while watching an episode of the third and increasingly disappointing series of Lost (and seriously... why does a show like this need to be in its third season?), I saw a preview for a new ABC series coming out in November: Day Break... or Groundhog Day: The Sequel.
Today Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. He will realize he's been framed. And he will run. Then he will wake up and start the day over again. This time he'll do it differently - and will continue to - until he finds out who's framing him, gets his gang witness to court to testify, and until he saves the lives of his loved ones. Hopper has only one advantage in his favor - he remembers everything he did the "day prior" that didn't work. It's a painful way to learn because he also carries the bruises and battle scars from every mistake-filled day.
Right. The writers of this new show will be able to draw in just as much advertising revenue, but with half the work, as they'll just be able to reshoot scenes over and over again. Terrible.
I'm sick of the "let's try this exact same thing for TEN seasons and see if people keep watching" structure of television, coupled with the "this formula works for XYZ network - let's write a show that uses the exact same formula and try it on ours!" mentality that the networks are throwing out there. I'm just tired of forumula entirely. I want something new. I want something captivating.
I browsed around on google video until I found the Sundance Channel, a repository of independent videos that can be viewed outside the prime-time real estate structure of network television (I don't have to worry about missing an episode), and commercial free. A lot of the episodes and movies cost about the same as a video rental, making it somewhat reasonable, if you're already into renting videos. And sure, a lot of the content you find in indy films is crap, but there's probably a great deal of content that's fantastic as well... making it not much different than what you find in a video rental store.
As I find good videos, I'll post links to them from here and share my thoughts.
This is the Long Tail at work.
Anyhow, while watching an episode of the third and increasingly disappointing series of Lost (and seriously... why does a show like this need to be in its third season?), I saw a preview for a new ABC series coming out in November: Day Break... or Groundhog Day: The Sequel.
Today Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. He will realize he's been framed. And he will run. Then he will wake up and start the day over again. This time he'll do it differently - and will continue to - until he finds out who's framing him, gets his gang witness to court to testify, and until he saves the lives of his loved ones. Hopper has only one advantage in his favor - he remembers everything he did the "day prior" that didn't work. It's a painful way to learn because he also carries the bruises and battle scars from every mistake-filled day.
Right. The writers of this new show will be able to draw in just as much advertising revenue, but with half the work, as they'll just be able to reshoot scenes over and over again. Terrible.
I'm sick of the "let's try this exact same thing for TEN seasons and see if people keep watching" structure of television, coupled with the "this formula works for XYZ network - let's write a show that uses the exact same formula and try it on ours!" mentality that the networks are throwing out there. I'm just tired of forumula entirely. I want something new. I want something captivating.
I browsed around on google video until I found the Sundance Channel, a repository of independent videos that can be viewed outside the prime-time real estate structure of network television (I don't have to worry about missing an episode), and commercial free. A lot of the episodes and movies cost about the same as a video rental, making it somewhat reasonable, if you're already into renting videos. And sure, a lot of the content you find in indy films is crap, but there's probably a great deal of content that's fantastic as well... making it not much different than what you find in a video rental store.
As I find good videos, I'll post links to them from here and share my thoughts.
This is the Long Tail at work.
