Reflection

I have a hard time with Blogs. I find that often a concept will be too large to discuss in a blog, or at least this was an issue for me at the beginning. I don’t feel like I have a lot to say to the masses or that any of my thoughts are that “needed.” I’ve often viewed blogs as many people saying a lot of useless things, throughout this course I have come to appreciate the media that is blogging though. I am quite found of being able to link and reference other material as I write and found that many concepts that I felt “too large” to discuss because it would take too much time to explain the background was actually easier to accomplish with blogging because all background material could be linked in. Thus if a reader had no background information on the material they could go to the link read up on it and return back to the blog. I realize this must be a common practice now in blogging, yet since this was the first time I have used wordpress or any type of blogger, I was easily appeased. I feel like I still have a long way to go to understand exactly why blogging appeals to the masses and also a long way to feel like my words should be added to it.

Blog1

I felt good about Zombieland, it was a concept that I understood and a quick post. I thought that it would be good for comments and lead a compelling argument without being too bias.

 

Blog 2

I liked the Bear Grylls concept and got a little too excited about how many pictures I could post, looking back I would have spent more time on the actual argument then letting the images talk for me.

Blog 3

Alphas was a blog where I thought my concept might be a little to loose, my argument seemed weak from the very beginning and I felt like I could have done better. I didn’t see how I could expand without giving too much information. I felt like I should have laid this one out again.

Blog 4

Besides the clip with subtitles in a different language I was pleased with this post.

 

Blog 5

I really wanted to use this clip because I thought it gave another interesting aspect to the class, I would have gone more in depth if it wasn’t my last one.

 

Overall, as I said before, I enjoyed the experience yet I have a hard time with the concept that everyone can view these.

 

 

Too much?

I absolutely love this ad. I think that it speaks volumes about how the ad industry bombards us with images and content in order to influence us, whether it is subconsciously or consciously.  We are aware that media influences us on a greater scale than we actual give credit for, yet we fail to recognize exactly what that can result in. I think one should remember that television is a wide spread media that most have access too. The average number of hours per day that a TV is on in an American household it six hours and forty-seven minutes, this means that even if someone is not watching it one quarter of the day the television is on. It is averaged that 20,000 30 second commercials are seen a year by a single child, that’s 2 million commercials seen by the average person by the age of 65. Now, given obviously that number will decrease as we increase our acceptance of Netflix and DVDs, yet Hulu and other web streamers also have commercials. 28 hours of television on average per week for the typical American. That’s a lot of commercials. Shouldn’t we be taking a second look on exactly what we are watching?

Wilfred; Too Far!! Bad Dog!

I am all about supporting Wilfred, as one to watch other “graphic” series the “odd-ball” humor that Jason Gann brings to the screen is both humorous and entertaining. It’s rude and brash humor is both refreshing and shocking. I love that they have begun to take certain subjects only approachable by animated series into live action. However, I am not a big supporter of episode four, “Acceptance.” This was definitely something that crossed the boundaries of“acceptable” television for me.

 

The summary of the episode is “Wilfred has a shocking experience when Ryan leaves him at a doggy day care to reconcile with his sister.” Shocking experience indeed, it is more than hinted at that Wilfred’s care-taker is basically into bestiality. With references to peanut-butter and blow jobs, we get the basic joke of the episode. Wilfred is being lured into a compromising position.

This is not okay with me. Call me a hypocrite, I’ve watched my fair share of television that is considered borderline such as Spartacus season 1 and 2, and yet all the blood, sex, and violence that was prime material for that show does not compare in the horror of cross-species “love making”. I’ve had a hard time coming to terms with this, one hand I love the show, the other hand, that’s just gross and wrong and I can’t laugh at it. To make matters worse, we are given a second reference to this in episode seven “Pride” Where it is assumed that Wilfred has “gone south” on a certain women in order to erase Ryan’s car debt. Awkward. Very, very awkward. Maybe it’s because despite that it is Jason Gann’s in a ratty dog suit, the idea and constant reference to bestiality is still not something I can laugh at. So please, here’s to hoping that the humor is kept unclean but strays away from that one subject I feel is too taboo. I mean really do I need to see this?

Alphas

Alphas is currently one of SyFy’s newest science fiction series that started airing this past July. It follows five characters who are considered “alphas” of the human race, they all posses superhuman abilities and they use these skills to hunt down other extraordinary humans like themselves. Dr. Lee Rosen, who  happens to specialize in the field of super abilities reported in humans, is the one who has discovered, dubbed, and organized the Alphas; he has been given the opportunity to construct this team under the watchful eye of the government who sponsors him.  Overall, it’s just another show with ordinary humans with extraordinary abilities. Yet it’s not necessarily the extraordinary abilities that attracted to me in the first place, but more of the characters that we are introduced to. Mainly one character in particular, Gary Bell.

Now, don’t get me wrong Gary’s ability is pretty freaking cool, the young teenager can not only view, but manipulate wireless communication signals. This is sort of like being able to always have access to not only the internet, but every camera feed, every phone signal (including text), every radio station, right at your disposal 24/7 with no need of any technological device.  Not only can Gary view all of these things, but he can interact and process the information faster than any computer.

Yay to Syfy and their low budgets I felt that despite this obstacle the show does a nice job with “animating” Gary’s ability, allowing the audience to see the signals in the air as Gary taps his way through them, much like the idea of a computer without a screen, yet Gary can access these signals anywhere.
So again, a pretty cool ability, yet it’s really not about the abilities that makes Gary such a fun character. Gary is autistic, which manifest itself in very socially awkward tendencies which tend not to respect most common social boundaries.  Autism is considered a “disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.” It’s a hard thing to define correctly politically, much less showing a well-rounded character on cable television. Alphas  does an amazing job.

Often many on television characters with mental illnesses are portrayed as “dangerous to others.”  How does one combat this issue without going to the other extreme and create a character that requires too much “pity” to reach an audience. How do you make that balance? I thought that Syfy’s Alphas has made a valiant attempt, especially by episode 4 “Rosetta.” I was surprised when the main story focused on Gary and his new friend Anna, who is also autistic. We find that Anna can understand all the languages in the world, and she has also invented her own language which Gary can interpret by looking at the electromagnetic waves. I was very impressed by how Alphas  made these two characters the characters of power. Thus allowing us to view this odd social behavior as the norm and the preferred. I’m very excited where Alphas takes this opportunity to help the masses understand and embrace autism which is become quite a norm.

How many bears would Bear Grylls grill, if Bear Grylls could grill bears?

Answer – All of them. No joke, I’m going to step right out there and say it; Bear Gryll’s you are the only “survivor man” I need, Les Stroud you can pack your things and go home. I mean really people, understandable that there was big controversy in 2008 that since Bear Grylls had certain scenarios set up for him and that he didn’t always end up camping out where he said he was going to somehow was supposed to discredit his show and make him less desirable as a celebrity. However, I want to argue that it is through the Bear Grylls “image” that really captures what an audience wants in a survivor.

First one should note that Bear Grylls does state at the beginning of his shows now, “Bear Grylls and the crew receive support when they are in potentially life threatening situations, as required by health and safety regulations. On some occasions, situations are presented to Bear so he can demonstrate survival techniques. Professional advice should always be sought before entering any dangerous environment.” (it is interesting to note that Man vs Wild is still airing new seasons while Survivorman is has been off since 2008, suck it Stroud, I don’t care if you survived cancer) So Bear has come to terms that his “image” is set up, but the same way that you are still entertained by a magician despite knowing you are being tricked, Bear sets up and performs a wonderful show each and every time. He has a formula, 5 tricks to entertain the masses;

1. He eats something gross,

2. He gets naked/they sexualize him,

3. (similar to 1)  He does something gross,

4. He preforms a dangerous stunt, and

5. He builds something really, really cool.

I watched a random episode and tried to record the 5 tricks, here is what I found.
Season 3 Episode 2 – Deep South
2 min. #4 – he jumps from a moving plane into a deep lake
6 min. #1+ #3 – he bites the head off a snake in order to eat it raw
9 min. #4 – pokes a baby alligator with a stick
12 min. #4 – fights a 6ft alligator
13 1/2 min. #4 – straddles the 6ft alligator, stabs it’s spinal cord with a knife
15 min. #5 – builds a pretty nifty camp
19 min. # 1 – he eats the alligator
19 1/2 min. #3 – rubs alligator fat all over his face in order to prevent mosquito bites
20 min. #2 – the camera blatantly focuses on his butt
23 min. #5 – he builds a pretty cool raft
26 min. #4 – he uses the pretty cool raft to cross deep “alligator infested” water
29 min. + # 4 – he sticks his hand in multiple deep holes to “attract” catfish – he has the possibility of also attracting alligators and snapping turtles
30 min. #4 – he is bite twice by a giant catfish; he also mentions that the dorsal fin and pectoral fin of the catfish to have dangerous venom, awesome
32 min. # 1 – he eats the catfish raw
33 min. #3 + #2 – he pees on his hand cause of catfish sting
35 min. #4 – decides to walk atop the vegetation which can result in him falling beneath the swamp like surface and getting caught underneath the water in a the “killer weed masses”
36 min. #4 – he drops like a rock underneath the “killer weed masses”
42 min. #4 – he poles a cottonmouth snake (very poisonous) with a stick
43 min. #4 – he jumps to a helicopter ladder
43:35 min. long

Jammed packed from the very beginning we see Bear going from one dangerous scuttle to the next, who cares if the raft he built had wood that was provided by crew? Who cares that maybe the alligator was lured into the glad so that Bear could wrestle it and kill it with a knife? But thats just the point, with 43 minutes to entertain who could argue with a man who is willing to do everything from eating a raw snake to jumping onto a moving helicopter just for the sake of a show? Is that man for real? Of course he is, he is Bear Grylls!

Reflection

When I was selecting my classes for the summer, there were only two writing classes to choose from: this class and one on women in society that met at 9:15. Meeting at 7:30 for a month almost killed me, but I’m glad I chose the class I did. I really enjoyed being able to write in an informal style because I have a very sarcastic sense of humor which doesn’t really have a place in academic writing. Being able to write freely and to write about TV shows I love was a great experience and the perfect combination for a summer class.

http://summertvwriting2011.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/life-lessons-from-niptuck/

In my first blog, I wrote about one of my all-time favorite shows, Nip/Tuck. I analyzed one episode in particular, where a character named Julia has a vivid dream about what her life would be like if she had married a different man. However, since she ends up overdosing and wrecking her face in both lives, I wondered if people are meant to end up in the same places no matter what smaller choices they make. Also, this story suggests that people are never happy with what they have, always thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else. I originally titled this blog “Life Lessons from Nip/Tuck,” but changed it to “Reflections on Nip/Tuck” because the latter seemed more appropriate. I also tried to cut down on the episode summary and include more analysis, since I tend to oversummarize as a writer.

http://summertvwriting2011.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/its-all-gone-back-to-pot/

My second blog was about Weeds, a show that I kept up with at first but lost interest in as the storyline started to drift from Nancy’s drug dealing to butter eating contests, Jesus vans, and other ridiculous avenues. However, the newest season has brought back characters from the first season and is starting to get back to the original premise that lured me in in the first place. In this blog, I speculated about where the season would go and also what would happen if this was the final season, since many of the main actors’ contracts expire soon. I think I did a better job of managing my summary to analysis ratio in this blog since I tried to examine Nancy’s character and the direction of the show instead of one specific episode.

http://summertvwriting2011.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/hoarders-a-much-needed-escape/

The third blog I wrote addressed Hoarders and the idea of a guilty pleasure TV show. Hoarders follows individuals and families that suffer from compulsive hoarding, or as I see it, the inability to throw away almost anything. Many of these people have mental or physical illnesses that exacerbate or have resulted from their hoarding. Some of the featured people have even lost spouses, children, or their homes as a result of their compulsion. As with Obsessed, Intervention, or a plethora of other shows that examine such fixations, I believe that watching Hoarders makes people feel better about their own lives since their problems don’t seem as bad in comparison. Why else do we watch guilty pleasure shows? For one, they are like a train wreck and we can’t look away, but I also think that Americans like the idea of improvement and enjoy seeing a transformation in progress, whether it is a home makeover or a beauty one.

http://summertvwriting2011.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/the-death-of-dexter/

My fourth installment covered Dexter, which will be returning in the fall for its sixth season. Myself and many of my friends were disappointed by the most recent season finale, so here’s hoping that the next season will put some new life into the show. As a serial killer that only preys on murderers, Dexter Morgan has almost been caught several times, but he is still undetected and his sister Deb has no idea as to his real identity. This season, I am hoping for Dexter to be exposed to his sister and the world for what he really is. Otherwise, I fear that the show will just be a repeat of the previous two seasons. The tagline on Showtime’s website for this season is “Have Faith,” but so far I have remained skeptical.

http://summertvwriting2011.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/fall-tv-lineup/

The final blog I posted was just a look at some of the upcoming season premieres for a few of my favorite shows. Desperate Housewives ended its last season with a murder and an impending divorce and will enter its final season this September. The Office is also on its final season, but since Steve Carell’s character has left the show, I fear that it will not be nearly as engaging as it has been in past seasons. Finally, How I Met Your Mother will return with a wedding for Barney, a pregnant Lily, a new job for Marshall, and a new love interest for Robin. However, all I want to know is who the mother is already! You can’t draw this out forever, CBS. I give you two more seasons max.

Blogging has helped me cultivate my informal writing as well as encouraged me to learn more about my favorite shows and the industry itself: what makes good TV, why certain shows get canceled, etc. The comments and workshops also greatly improved my writing, since a post is only as good as the number of revisions it receives. Writing informally also helped my academic writing, since I have some of the same problems in both areas (too much summary!). Overall, this class improved my writing within the context of a fun setting, which is the perfect combination for a summer class.

Fall TV Lineup

Spoiler Alert!

Here’s a quick look at a few shows that will be returning in the fall of 2011.

Desperate Housewives: returns September 25 to ABC

Desperate Housewives will be entering its eighth and final season this fall. The seventh season ended with Carlos killing his wife Gaby’s stalker in the middle of a neighborhood dinner party, in the dramatic fashion that DH fans have come to know and love. A handful of guests are aware of the murder, and were able to help Carlos and Gaby conceal the body at the very end of the episode. Unfortunately, Bree and her cop boyfriend are also in attendance, so it will be interesting to see if the characters in the know will be able to play it cool. Another crucial plot line is Tom and Lynette’s impending split. As the only couple on the street that hasn’t yet divorced, remarried, or dissolved due to infidelity or death, it is sad to see them falling apart. And what are they going to do with all those kids?

How I Met Your Mother: returns September 19 to CBS

I never thought I’d see the day, but Barney is getting married. Yes, Barney. As of now, the bride’s identity remains unknown, but last season’s finale hints at either Nora or Robin. This is also the wedding where Ted will meet his wife. Big things are in store for Lily and Marshall too; he’s got a new job and a new boss and she’s got a bun in the oven (finally!). For those fans of Harold & Kumar, Kal Penn and Neil Patrick Harris will be reunited as Penn is set to guest star in multiple episodes this season as Robin’s court-mandated therapist. HIMYM is always good for a laugh, but I’m starting to get frustrated. It’s about time the audience finds out who the mother is! Here’s hoping season 7 will be a bit more enlightening than past seasons have been.

The Office: returns September 22 to NBC

As far as I’m concerned, The Office is dead without Steve Carell. After his character Michael moved to Colorado with Holly, the office saw a slew of interim managers, including Dwight, Creed, and over-actor Will Ferrell. Sadly, none of these characters possess the combination of magnetism and wackiness that made Carell so perfect for the role of manager. However, season 8 will bring a new CEO to Sabre/Dunder Mifflin, another kid for Jim and Pam, and a new manager for the office. If all else fails, there’s always Jim’s pranking of Dwight to fall back on.