Ok ... ok ... ok ...
Pretty off the beaten path here in terms of what I usually blog about but I just had to get this off my chest. Basically ... I had given up on Heroes somewhere during the beginning of season 2 ... BUT ... I kept watching. I had become invested in the characters and the overall story. I like probably nearly every single person watching the show ... was ticked off about various things and dismayed about the spiraling quality of the show. But I hung in there and kept watching ... yes ... yes ... grumbling all the way ... BUT I WAS STILL WATCHING the show. Now they announce its been canceled ... ok ... that's fine ... relieving in a way even.
To me this highlights yet another instance to me where network TV just utterly sucks ... any decent show quickly gets killed because the demographics aren't right or the ratings aren't good enough (but in today's media world I'd argue ratings are less and less where its at ... they really need to figure out how people are really viewing stuff).
It would seem that more and more the only people who watch network TV with any regularity are watching crap I hate ... Law and Order ... Desperate Housewives ... Jay Leno (I like Jay but not his show ... I preferred Conan) ... etc. etc. Its the same with most of the big budget Hollywood films. They are produced with first and foremost tweens/teens in mind in terms of what appeals to them ... so we get alot of Hannah Montana, Twilight and adjustments are made to stuff that adults would normally be watching so it appeals to that demographic more. Its logical since they are the only ones still going to movies ... along with seniors. The other area of focus for big media is obviously DVD sales and foreign box office ... which there again screws most adults and/or geeks (we might be mostly older but I don't know if you could really call us "adults"). So you get alot more train wreck films like Pirates of the Carri bean III and far fewer titles that I'm willing to go spend $20 bucks to see a Sunday matinee on. Even the so called "cool" stuff ... I would argue is watered down by these factors ... pick a movie that has been somewhat well received and you can see the telltale signs of adjustment for maximized marketing effect.
Such is life ... capitalism at its core eh ... life in a media world = the media puts out what people will consume so in addition to mostly crap films, music, TV, video games, etc. we have crap news as well. I long ago learned this as I'm sure many of you have ... yet ... like a moth to a flame I get pulled back in by stuff like Heroes or Legend of the Seeker (which also has been canceled) and burnt. All I know is there should be an FCC regulation requiring all cancelled shows to be wrapped up at least in a lame way so fans can avoid OCD thoughts about why the show they actually didn't like much was ended ... without an ending. Is that too much to ask? Oh well at least Hayden will go on acting ... for whatever reason I really like her ... hrrmmm
It would seem that more and more the only people who watch network TV with any regularity are watching crap I hate ... Law and Order ... Desperate Housewives ... Jay Leno (I like Jay but not his show ... I preferred Conan) ... etc. etc. Its the same with most of the big budget Hollywood films. They are produced with first and foremost tweens/teens in mind in terms of what appeals to them ... so we get alot of Hannah Montana, Twilight and adjustments are made to stuff that adults would normally be watching so it appeals to that demographic more. Its logical since they are the only ones still going to movies ... along with seniors. The other area of focus for big media is obviously DVD sales and foreign box office ... which there again screws most adults and/or geeks (we might be mostly older but I don't know if you could really call us "adults"). So you get alot more train wreck films like Pirates of the Carri bean III and far fewer titles that I'm willing to go spend $20 bucks to see a Sunday matinee on. Even the so called "cool" stuff ... I would argue is watered down by these factors ... pick a movie that has been somewhat well received and you can see the telltale signs of adjustment for maximized marketing effect.
Such is life ... capitalism at its core eh ... life in a media world = the media puts out what people will consume so in addition to mostly crap films, music, TV, video games, etc. we have crap news as well. I long ago learned this as I'm sure many of you have ... yet ... like a moth to a flame I get pulled back in by stuff like Heroes or Legend of the Seeker (which also has been canceled) and burnt. All I know is there should be an FCC regulation requiring all cancelled shows to be wrapped up at least in a lame way so fans can avoid OCD thoughts about why the show they actually didn't like much was ended ... without an ending. Is that too much to ask? Oh well at least Hayden will go on acting ... for whatever reason I really like her ... hrrmmm
6 comments:
Maybe I'm watching crap you hate, but I feel we're actually in a new Golden Age of TV for the past decade, albeit most of it on cable. Current shows: Breaking Bad, Lost, Fringe, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, and in number of HBO shows--The Pacific and Treme now--are mostly only topped by other shows from the 2000s.
Hopefully you'll see this comment. I'm not saying at all ... not in the slightest ... that everything on TV is crap. If whatever I said conveyed that I apologize. I mean NETWORK TV ... I agree that cable is indeed putting out some quality stuff. So if your saying there is a golden age of TV on cable ... I won't argue at all. I think the vast majority of stuff on Network is junk. The "crap I hate" are the tired old franchises ... CIS spin off #28, Law and Order spinoff #9, etc. etc. Even though I'm saying that most of what the networks are putting out is bad ... I even still am watching some of it ... Lost for example. My main reason for ranting was that unlike the trend with cable ... Networks just don't stick with anything anymore and they just burn stuff down rather than finish it. There are endless examples of cable shows that struggled for a place but were given a reasonable run and a dignified ending ... nicely wrapping things up. My hope is that somehow happens with both seeker and heroes ... but I'd be surprised if that does happen. Also I'd be the first to tell anyone that both of those shows are less than classics ... but ... sadly ... I got hooked on them and now would just like a reasonable conclusion to each of them. I don' think that is too much to ask. Anyway ... please don't take offense by what I said ... there are some bright spots out there and again I'd agree that cable is getting alot right these days vs. network.
Hey--I didn't think you were ranting at all! And if if you had been--I'd have to be pretty thin-skinned to take offense that someone on the internet didn't like a show I liked. :)
And I agree completely on the Law & Order and CSI stuff.
Well I don't mind if I offend with one of my loony rants ... but I strive to offend mostly people who I disagree with :) Nice blog you have going btw!
I really can't think of how they would do the next season for Heroes. I think it would have been interesting to see, kind of like a train wreck.
I'd honestly just settle for a everyone kills each other episode. They all die in a massive battle with each other ... the end ...
If they don't actually wrap the show up ... that is how I declare it ended :)
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