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| Thread: PHILOSOPHY ON MODERN ENTERTAINMENT | |
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DoddTheSlayer
Promising
Famous Hero
Banned from opening threads
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posted December 16, 2005 10:35 PM |
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PHILOSOPHY ON MODERN ENTERTAINMENT
Ok bear with me all i have something to share here that may take a little while.
I am sure that you are all aware that in modern entertainment there are two current trends that like it or not
make up a formula for modern entertainment from the standpoint of producers, directors, software producers
etc ( so i am talking about the whole entertainment spectrum here). They are as follows.
1) Make as much money as is humanly possible from the general public, placing enlightenment as far down
the list of priorities as is necessary so as not to interfere with profit.
2) Put great emphasis' on realism as regards the degree to which your material reflects real life, as this leads to such things as Golden Globe, and Oscar awards which in turn leads to not only profit, but also that other elusive quality of recognition shortly followed by Godlike status, if things go really well. (Not that as the creator of such material one would ever wish to reach such heights, you understand).
With regards to these 2 phenomenon there are a couple of experiences i had this week that in combination may seem totally unrelated but in fact they are not.
1) I was in my local pc and consul game store this week, looking for some new games to try out. As a big fan
of Football management games (Soccer management to avoid confusion to any US readers here) My eyes
came across a game called "Football manager 2005".
As i look at the back of the box as you do i notice that this is an expansion for an ongoing series as i see the words "New features". Included in these is an option for you as a manager to get your players to employ time wasting. Well anyone who knows soccer will understand why it was so hard for me not to be rolling on the floor with laughter, or maybe you might, but never mind.
2) I have recently become a big fan of US tv series ( Oh you big hypocrite, i hear them all cry with one accord) Yes i am but lets stick to the point here. I have been logging into the official lost site over the last few days, and the theme from many viewer's is not things like "i wonder if they are all in purgetry" and " what could those numbers really mean". It is more like "**** you ABC and all the producers" because in the last 6 weeks (leading up to Christmas coincidently) there have only been 2 new shows with all the other weeks being filled with old episodes, thereby fueling peak anticipation at the most critical time of the year, while every other tv series on the planet is working their butts off to deliver to its audience.
Well these two points got me thinking. It wont be too long ( if it hasn't happened already) before some US
software company comes of with the idea of marketing a game in which you build your own tv network.
Its a massive hit and the height of irony is that after waiting 18 months for the expansion pack that all you see on the back of the box is
"New feature: option to piss off your audience with repeat shows. Will they take the Carrot based on your strategic marketing plan and list of excuses, or will your ratings plummet. Read your no holds barred letters of complaint, and feel the true life pressures of running your own tv network.
Enter your popularity score into our huge national database at the end of the game. Who knows you may even have a big career ahead of you.
Just a few thoughts i wanted to share with you all.
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Retaliation is for the foolish. Silence is wisdom
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TitaniumAlloy
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Professional
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posted December 17, 2005 07:21 AM |
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Maybe they figure that people watch less television during the christmas season as they're away/spending time with friends and family so they want to get the most out of their finale by screening it at an optimum time of year.
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John says to live above hell.
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Ra2
Adventuring Hero
The good doctor
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posted December 17, 2005 12:51 PM |
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about 'Lost':
I've noticed a lot sooner that they are wasting time on purpose. In most of the episodes there is a lot of time wasted on flashbacks. they try to make us believe that they are 'building up the caracters' but the truth is they're just stalling fot time.
Did you know that they will do 8 SERIES?
thats 8x23 = 184 episodes.
that's just media. the fact of the matter is I've decided to sell my TV set 2 years ago. great bargain 
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pandora
Honorable
Legendary Hero
The Chosen One
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posted December 17, 2005 05:10 PM |
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The whole problem with Lost is that they had an amazing idea for the show, and they set out to make it without having high expectations. Then they saw the popularity of the show and realized the potential for $$$$. When that happened they "Lost" the spirit of the show, and instead opted to look at how they can drag it out to milk it for as much money as they possibly could.
I still love the show, and used to read the message forums there too - but my interest is waning because of the way they're handling things now. There are more filler episodes and repeats than there are steps to actually get closer to the answers that we want from the show *sigh* Very bad.
I also hate that shows tend to make everything into a soap opera after a while. I used to love watching X-Files, back when each episode was its own self contained story.. then they dragged it on and made the whole conspiracy blablabla *yawn* Same with Without a Trace. Then we also have shows like CSI which decide that rather than use all the storylines they have to maintain one show for a long long time - they will spawn 50 new shows of the same name (but new location) and try to spead across the TV networks like a virus.
Generally TV sucks, I watch a few shows from time to time but for the most part I would much rather grab a book.
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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
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DoddTheSlayer
Promising
Famous Hero
Banned from opening threads
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posted December 17, 2005 06:09 PM |
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Apologies to Pandora. I have been spending a lot of time on unmoderated boards and i did a cut and paste job forgetting some of my content. It ******* wont happen again.
I have just today realised that the producers of lost are not the ones to blame here. It is ABC.
The channel bosses are the ones responsible for the episode schedule.
This conclusion was further reinforced when when i noticed that they have done exactly the same with
"Invasion" which is aired immediately after Lost and
with both of there shows they are not airing a new episode until January 11th.
I watched lost season one in its entirity 6 months after it was complete in one session. And 2 seasons of 4400 after they were completed. This is how i do it now.
I am not going to waste precious hours of my life loking forward to the next episode of a tv series.
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Retaliation is for the foolish. Silence is wisdom
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Vlaad
Admirable
Legendary Hero
ghost of the past
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posted December 17, 2005 11:01 PM |
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Quote:
I also hate that shows tend to make everything into a soap opera after a while. I used to love watching X-Files, back when each episode was its own self contained story.. then they dragged it on and made the whole conspiracy blablabla *yawn*
Really? I actually enjoyed that storyline most... More than stand-alone episodes for sure.
Quote:
Generally TV sucks, I watch a few shows from time to time but for the most part I would much rather grab a book.
I agree, but there are lousy books as well.
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pandora
Honorable
Legendary Hero
The Chosen One
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posted December 17, 2005 11:41 PM |
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Dodd, no worries - sometimes people slip, you've never really been much of a troublemaker here so I wasn't so concerned
As for X-Files, I've just never been one to schedule my life around TV - so the shows I like usually are ones that I can watch once in a while, without having to worry if I miss a few weeks at a time. X-Files was like that, if I was bored, I could put it on and watch an episode; but then the way it became I couldn't do that anymore because I never knew what the heck was going on 
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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
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Lord_Woock
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Daddy Cool with a $90 smile
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posted December 17, 2005 11:55 PM |
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Quote:
It wont be too long ( if it hasn't happened already) before some US
software company comes of with the idea of marketing a game in which you build your own tv network.
Actually, this has been the topic of a few games from the early 90s, I think. Try searching for Mad TV maybe.
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Mobius
Hired Hero
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posted December 18, 2005 10:26 AM |
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I agree with you about TV Dodd, these days it really is just about making as much $$$$ as possible (though was it really any different than before?).
I still have a TV but I'd watch maybe one movie over the space of two months, the worst I find are those insideous soap opera's....shudder. For me the only thing worthwhile is a good comdey but these are just repeated endlessly these days too so I don't bother with those either.
On a Sunday (my only real day off) I enjoy running a D&D
game for a bunch of friends. Sure this is also a timefiller but at least you get to be creative and get to have a bit of fun.
Good topic and I think many people actually agree with you here Dodd, at least that's my perception anyway.
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DoddTheSlayer
Promising
Famous Hero
Banned from opening threads
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posted December 19, 2005 11:50 PM |
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So pandora are you saying that i am just a small time troublemaker or that i am just no good at it.
i will have you know that i have rubbed shoulders some of the toughest here
i just found out that its not the producers at fault here. It is ABC who are soley responsible for dragging out lost with repeat shows, because they are doing the same with Invasion which comes on straight after.
I have to wait until January 11th to see the next new episode of either show.
The producers have already done their job because when i looked at the schedule i see that the next six episodes of lost have already been made and given a name.
I cannot think of any reason for them to do this that benefits their viewers.
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Retaliation is for the foolish. Silence is wisdom
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Blitzkrieg_Boy
Adventuring Hero
The Lone Keeper
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posted December 20, 2005 12:46 AM |
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Funny though the visual element of the modern day television programs improves drastically while the script gets worse and worse.
Take 'Charlie's Angels' for instance. I hate every bit of it. I cannot see such meaningless piece actually deserve a place on the big screen.
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Twotone
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 20, 2005 05:55 PM |
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Quote:
Funny though the visual element of the modern day television programs improves drastically while the script gets worse and worse.
Take 'Charlie's Angels' for instance. I hate every bit of it. I cannot see such meaningless piece actually deserve a place on the big screen.
I agree. American TV's been trash for almost 10 years. If you want to watch quality TV, go for PBS or BBC. Other than that, sports are about the only thing worth watching on TV. As mentioned up above, all the networks seem to care about is money and prestige as a way to make more money. When that becomes the chief focus, the quality of the shows suffers.
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