HERE are the lecture slides for download. Lecture and discussion to be continued on Thursday.
Feel free to get the discussion going. I'd love to hear about your own observations about the media landscape (trends, hits, misses, issues) as well as your reflections about the ratings game.
Study for your quiz on Thursday, okay? :) Come prepared with a 1/2 sheet of pad paper.
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18 comments:
Ok, I'm going to be a paper leech tomorrow. Can't find any pad paper anywhere. >_>
I guess the ball's in my field? Ok, going to kick it and get the discussion going.
I've seen this trend of local television being "makamasa." You know, low brow entertainment that makes you want to spew? I hate how noontime television shows make the poor look stupid. I mean really:
Show Host: Sino ang main character sa movie na Goblet of Fire?
Contestant: Goblet.
*dies many times* Do we really have to see that? All that's going to happen is the masses will laugh at the poor guy. It's just not right. It's almost like social stoning, and the person being stoned to death doesn't even know it.
And the dancing girls! Do we need dancing girls everywhere? They're there holding bayongs, briefcases, boxes...stuff that contains potential prizes. Is that what women are to these people? Attractive prize holders that mindlessly move to music?
The mindless jingles? If I hear the "Spaghetti Song" coming out of another public school child's mouth, I will scream! I used to teach children in public schools as part of high school Catechism classes. They're bright kids! Oh sure, one of them had green snot constantly dripping out his nose and that image haunts me to this day, but he was damn eager to learn! It's sad that television fills their minds with drivel like this.
There's also the matter of language. I've always wanted subtitled television. Why? It makes people want to read! Would it kill the networks to put in English and Tagalog subtitles for their shows? I think it would really help in educating the masses. If someone who isn't educated, and has no desire to be educated, but loves television, sees subtitles, he'll soon realize that it will help him experience TV better and he'll want to learn how to read. Do you get what I mean? Edutainment, much? ;) And they can learn English this way, too!
Networks have to stop underestimating the viewer's intelligence. Come on, these people are a lot more than telenovelas, Wowowee and Eat Bulaga! If you don't raise the bar, they'll never improve. You never know, they might actually enjoy Star Trek. xD Granted, it might have to be Tagalog dubbed and subbed. x_X Preferably subbed. Kate Mulgrew's voice is too sexy to be dubbed. :p
As for my reflection on ratings, there's an issue with it that wasn't tackled in class and is more centered in the West. Ratings can really steer a program. For example, (yes, another Star Trek: Voyager example. Can you already tell that this is almost all I watch because programming has been such a wasteland of late?) Voyager was released in 1995 with a strong female captain. It was billed as the series that featured a commanding officer that was going "where only men had gone before." It was feminist and all that. But then ratings plunged around 1998...and they decided to add "sex appeal." They put in a sexy blonde. She was smart but she wore a catsuit. I think that was when the series started going to hell. By 2002, when the series ended, the blonde sexpot had taken over the show and the feminist ideals the captain represented were tossed aside in favor of "sex appeal." Fans were pissed, and the finale was a disaster because they paired the captain's romantic interest with the sexpot. Voyager was the last great Trek series because of that move in plot. Enterprise was boycotted by many fans because they no longer believed in Paramount's abilities.Nemesis tanked at the boxed office. Basically, the audience believed the company was only out to make money off the shows and had no care for what fans thought. This also eventually lead to the demise of UPN, Paramount's TV channel. amusingly enough, Voyager was the show that carried UPN. It was their first primetime show...and they trashed it because they were so eager to boost ratings.
Caring only about ratings can lead to a bigger loss in the long run if you miscalculate. They alienated the female fanbase with the "sexpot" leading to a great loss in viewership. They got more males to tune in but they lost more, really. Funnily enough, UPN (which tried so hard to be pro-male and twisted a feminist show for ratings) rematerialized as The CW, a channel that's mostly for female programming like ANTM and Gossip Girl. Starts with a woman, ends with a woman...
And yes, this is why I want to work for Paramount. xD Got to fix them!
And that's my two pesos...er, five pesos. Anyone else want to take a crack at this?
Ooohhh. Touchy touchy! That brings to mind my obsession also with Alias and Veronica Mars. Both these shows had rabid cult followers (like me!). But then, to attract more viewers, they decided to do standalone episodes (ala CSI where the crime is solved within that episode, i.e., where the story 'ends' within one episode) as opposed to their grander, episodic storytelling that carried them in their earlier seasons. These episodic storylines supposedly are "hard to get into" because it demands more (thinking) from the viewers, as opposed to the "neater" standalone format.
But... yan tuloy! The creativity of both shows suffered as a result. And it alienated some hardcore obsessives as a result!
I miss Veronica Mars and Sydney Bristow!
Veronica Mars was on UPN and later The CW. It was put on hiatus and replaced by "The Search for the Next Doll," that reality show looking for the next Pussycat Doll. Sadly, that reality show garnered higher ratings then Veronica Mars and our favorite high school PI came back to finish the 3rd season but wasn't renewed for a 4th. Grr...reality trash beat it in ratings and it's such a loss. Loved that series.
Although, VM did have a little victory. Star Trek: Enterprise had higher ratings but it was cancelled in favor of VM. Guess UPN wasn't full of complete idiots. They saw that despite lower ratings, VM had more potential than Ent. But then UPN died, The CW had its own idiocy with reality trash.
And you're right about creativity issues. One-shot episodes are problematic. Fans want to watch some story arcs. Voyager suffered from a heavy lack of continuity because it had so much pressure on it being that it was UPN's pioneer series. They did a lot of "alien menace of the week" episodes, and character development was neglected. As for continuity,iIn Season 2, the first officer was deeply in love with his captain. In Season 7, he was still in love with her. Then a few episodes before the finale, he inexplicable falls in love with someone who'd been established as his daughter figure. The response was a collective: WTF?! The writers say they did it because they wanted the finale to have high ratings. Hot blonde + hunk = no chance of failure, right? Heck no! The people who suggested that most probably never even saw the show...it threw established canon out the window. VOY's finale, Endgame, is now commonly known as Endshame in the fan community, a testament to Paramount's failure to understand their audience.
OMG robyn i totally agree with you and the noontime show thing. it's like totally degrading and kills the viewers' braincells as well.
another concern i have about the media is the fact that at times the manner of advertising has NOTHING to do with the product. like for this certain cigarette brand (MORE) the commercial was about a couple skiing and having a good time while some lady in the background belts out tunes and stuff. and then only at the end will she sing "catch the taste of magic... the magic taste of MORE!!!"
i'm like: "... ok WTH?? where was the magic there???" and the funny thing was during the commercial the skiing couple wasn't even SMOKING just SKIING. so it's like you dunno what they are actually promoting.
REALLY WEIRD.
Melo: Lol, yeah. Willie Revillame is responsible for the mass murder of neurons. I hate how he forces the people in the crowd to dance. It's humiliating! And then he gives them money to humiliate themselves. It's just so wrong and sick... I own Bob Ong's "Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang Pilipino" and it contains a huge list of game show answers that make me cringe although it is somehow clever. For example:
Host: Hindi ito boob, hindi ito tube, pero tinatawag ng iba na boob tube. Ano ito?
Contestant: Bra.
Come to think of it, the contestant makes sense based on his/her understanding.'It's only hilarious to us because we know about the TV being the "boob tube." The contestant didn't and still came up with an answer that kind of makes sense.
Oh yeah, those commercials. xD Have you seen the one for Eaji dip snacks? Goodness me! What does falling in love have to do with dip snacks? I thought it was a hair commercial when I first saw it because the guy was looking at her hair... @_@
OK super sorry that this is my first reply here. BUT anyways.
One complaint I have concerning Philippine media tactics in terms of telenovelas are the similar, practically recycled plots.
Before, it was a trend that people with half or fully burnt faces were usually one of the main characters or the antagonist. I saw that "trend" in about 2 or 3 more other telenovelas which was really annoying. Although it's not really used now, if you look closely, telenovelas today still hold a common storyline; you just change some details and some characters.
Props to ABS though for at least coming up with newer concepts like Lobo (esp. now that they're trying special effects - ABOUT TIME!).
Another thing that really irks me is the Philippine movies. I know the most important thing here is to sell. Understood. But come on! SAME STORY! AND SAME STUPID LOVE TEAM! Producers and the like are so caught up with trying to find a new love team to promote and make a movie out of that they completely miss the purpose of movie making (or at least the creativity and imagination required in making one).
The scripts are usually always cheesy and cliche. The actors, probably not even that great since they got them from shows like PBB. The only reason they were casted in the first place was out of popularity.
In this way, I personally think Filipino's minds are honed to think that these are the only kind of movies and story lines we can come up with - either way too sappy and cute or melodramatic and over the top. Maybe this is also the reason why indie films aren't appreciated as much as it should be, no matter how great they are.
This media industry barely gives chances to others. Sorry, but I do like the American way of doing things: they hold actual screenings and auditions. Whereas here, you don't even get the audition. Directors (or whoever) just give the most popular couple the script and its done. Period.
I'm not too fond of they way Philippine media has shaped itself into a mediocre industry when we all know, esp. now that we're in college, that we can do so much better than the next damn "it" couple or the next stupid trend in scripts.
- Jeula :)
I really like Veronica Mars! But being in a provincial town which only recently got cable, I had very little access to it. Sad. :(
I hate it when TV networks sacrifice the quality of the shows for ratings. That's not responsible media practice! It's like offering a Dags-tionary (a segment in Going Bulilits where Dagul defines English words in super funny and stupid ways)to a four-year-old kid.
I really appreciate it when TV networks take risks in the ratings game just so they can give a quality show to the audience. It makes things a bit more exciting. Things become fresh. :)
I also hate it when ABS-CBN and GMA deliberately make new shows for the same timeslot with practically the same genre of show (KDrama, Chinovela, Pinoy Action,etc.) It's obviously a move for the ratings! They're turning it into a game and it's frustrating sometimes because as a viewer, you don't know which one to watch because sometimes both shows are cool and well-made.
The ratings game ruins our TV sets, remote controls and thumbs. How can say that they did OK now? :P
Chyna: Ok, I'm an evil pirate for showing you this but I know where you can watch all of Veronica Mars streaming:
http://www.surfthechannel.com/show/television/Veronica_Mars.html
Lol, I should really be watching it, too. But yeah, I still have 150+ episodes of Voyager to finish. Happy viewing. :D
I am so with you in sacrificing quality for ratings. Geez, not everything wonderful has to be popular, or turn in a profit. Entertainment's main goal is to make people happy, not to get ads to make money. I can understand needing a ratings boost if the show is bankrupting the company but if you're breaking even or making a little profit, leave the show alone if people are happy with it! It's a form of art, for heaven's sake!
Yeah, I noticed that about GMA and ABS, too. Game show vs. game show, chinovela adaptation vs. chinovela adaptation. WTH?! They're fighting fire with fire and not getting anywhere. They should try pitting radically different shows against each other. Take risks!
Yes, sometimes you can't decide because both shows are well-made. There's also the case of when both shows are crap. You just turn off the TV in that case...nobody really wins the ratings game. And in the end, the biggest losers are the viewers who face way too much disappointment when they're favorite show gets trashed plotwise or is judged as a "flop" and taken off the air...
Jeula: Super agree with you on love teams. I have the urge to smash my TV when I see Kim Chiu "acting." @_@
Before I bash out on TV, I guess I should also give them some consideration. They are after all doing all their shows for free to the public. The cable, which as most of us have already pointed out, have quality shows but we pay for it right? Basically because they won't survive without charging because the public doesn't really like watching them day and night. I guess this is why ratings matter so much to them. Ratings become the basis of products on paying them, and consequentially keeping them up and running. Higher ratings = more money = more airtime.
However, (here's where my bashing starts) my problem with media may be that they are starting to prioritize ratings way too much. They literally bash each other now because of issues on ratings. Also, like what a lot of the comments have pointed out, some publicity techniques really make me go "what?". There are a lot of ads today that have no connection whatsoever to the product that they're trying to sell. Also, in TV, the dancing girls on noon time shows, shows that televise some really stupid things; those are obviously for the sake of ratings nalang. It really sucks that way because shows that are made for the sake of ratings are so numerous now. When i watch TV(during the occasional time that I DO watch), I can really feel my neurons dying exponentially.
My point is basically, although we understand that ratings matter in order for them to keep on running and deliver entertainment to people, TV and other media shouldn't prioritize it the way they are doing right now. If they keep on doing that, they might as well just stop running their shows, since it makes people less and less intelligent by the second (which is not at all helpful to anyone).
(read your posts )
I’d like to bring up the topic of hair commercials. I mean, why the hell is the television constantly showing super long, super shiny hair that doesn’t even seem to be “real.” In the chart Sir Jon showed us, one of the top products was for the hair. People were actually brainwashed into wanting long, shiny hair and you only need to find the “right” shampoo.
Noontime show, I really don’t want to disagree with you guys, but Sir Lopez somehow changed my perception on Pinoy pop culture. It made me think “appreciation.” I actually like how the hosts and dancers perform, also the dances being taught(Papaya :3), the jokes being said and most especially, how the people react to the show’s antics. Basically, it’s all entertainment. People should be relaxing by that time. It’s not like they’re already stressed at work, they should experience “nosebleed-ing” when they open the tv. I guess what I’m saying is, it’s a choice to whether or not to view abs or gma. And, I bet the goal of those shows is to make the people happy, and not make them their brain cells die.
Oh yeah, about Kim Chiu… I don’t like her acting at all. I didn’t even like it when I saw a glimpse of Ejay(the PBB teen big winner) in betty la fea teaser. I also don’t like the way Pinoys adapt foreign shows. I hate it when they constantly reuse the artist too. It gets boring.
Since I'm living in a dorm without the luxury of cable television, my only option is to watch ABS-CBN or GMA. I agree with Robyn when she said that networks should stop underestimating the intelligence of viewers. What's going to happen to us if they give us shows that are getting more and more stupid?
As for the ratings, I think that it's really important since networks use this to gauge if people are liking their shows. If the ratings are high they'll extend the season or whatever. If it's low, they usually give it a quick and crappy ending [for telenovelas] . But while focusing on the ratings, TV networks should also give much importance to the quality of their shows. The main question they should be able to address is: Do our viewers learn anything from our shows that may benefit them?
*bow*
sorry if that didn't make much sense. i'm sleepy. XD
wow, robyn. you've mentioned a lot of things i was planning to post XD needless to say, i agree with you on most of your points :)
one of the things that i really identified with in robyn's post/s was the issue of creativity in tv shows. i absolutely hate watching local tv 'cause everything is so formulaic -- there has never really been a particular show that has stood out because of its originality. everything is either a copy of some international television phenomenon (deal or no deal, pbb, pinoy idol) or a copy of some other local television format that has long been established and ingrained in the filipino culture (telenovelas, game shows, love teams, shrill news reporting).
not that i'm saying only local tv has turned into complete and absolute -- for lack of a better term -- crap. i hate the fact that some really intelligent shows have been canceled simply because of lack of viewership (like "arrested development"!! which i miss so so much) and that other tv shows which i somewhat enjoyed in the first few seasons or so have lost their creative edge (like "lost", "heroes", and "veronica mars") in a bid for wider audience share.
not to mention recent hollywood movies. my god, how many freaking sequels and remakes and book/comic/television/musical to movie adaptations are released every year? (do you know that they're planning to remake "sixteen candles"? with molly ringwald? that really makes me mad :| if they touch "the breakfast club", or "pulp fiction", or any of stanley kubrick's films, so help me god, i will start a riot.)
im not saying that these movies are horrible though. from what i remember, "spider-man 2", "ironman", "there will be blood", "atonement", and "sin city" were kick ass. it's just that most movies have, for me, been reduced into mere franchises -- films for profit's sake. and isn't that strange? i don't know about you, but i've always thought that movies were a form of art or expression.
but i guess at the end of the day, we cannot just blame television and movie producers, networks, and companies. after all, what they run is a business. of course there will be some capitalist ideologies lurking at the sidelines, at the very least -- these networks would obviously want to give what they feel the viewers want for more profit.
in my opinion, the main problem in philippine television is that we don't exactly know what we as viewers want to see, having been so accustomed watching the same cheesy love teams, the same melodramatic stories of social oppression. after all, these elements are so deeply ingrained in the filipino culture. i believe we can trace their roots all the way to morality plays and cenaculos staged during the spanish colonial period. with roots that go so far as these, how could we possibly get rid of them?
and what exactly is that difference that many of us say we want to see in local tv programming?
to give them credit, sometimes the media does give us something new from time to time. but the responses aren't always favorable. indie films with fresh concepts are almost always viewed by a very small circle (usually just students and art critics). on the other hand, formulaic romance and slapstick comedies become hits with the masses. and in some cases, most of us don't really give a damn about the local films that are showing.
so what are we? schizophrenics? or an undecided, passive group of people?
okay, i'm rambling again. i guess my point is that media networks must try to find that perfect balance between creativity and capitalism. but at the same time, this shouldn't be a one-sided effort on their part. viewers must learn to be open to more possibilities and to step out of the comfort zone that culture and tradition have built for them.
- kasey albano
Hey Binny! I missed "talking" to you over this blog site! Hahaha. Needless to say, you are rating really high! Your points are really noteworthy and I hope the producers *ahem* of TV shows here in the Philippines read your noteworthy criticisms of their shows so that the television companies here would be as productive.
At any rate, I was really laughing at your very graphic example of how noontime variety shows bash people from the lower classes of society. Well, not really bash, may be. Making them innocent-looking, vulnerable citizens of society. I really pity these people who are being portrayed on variety shows as people who make money through luck. More so, I pity the producers who portray these vulnerable people as weak.
Another thing. Those girls wearing tutus, showing their magnificent bodies on TV screens act like prostitutes being sold to television viewers. This is very dehumanizing. At the same time, why do producers treat the television like a sex bar of some sort. Why? MONEY. Those brilliant, sparkling, golden bills that smell like shit. It's all because of money. Poor babies, poor future generations. This is soooooo sad.
Anyway, Philippine Media has been portraying a bad image for quite some time.
Here's the deal on the TV Numbers Game. Ratings, as we know from Com100 class, is a tool for advertisers and producers. Right? So why show the ratings to the public? Yes, we have the right but not all viewers have the proper mind to process or evaluate these ratings. I mean, it's for corporate purposes. When the media companies who these ratings on TV, people will just say, "Oh this TV station is rating higher than the other, so let's watch this station nalang!" I mean, the publicity of these ratings are not really called for. It would be better if they just privatize these ratings and not show them on public. It seems like they want to overthrow the other station/s and manifest how superior they are. Let's build a just and fair communications media, shall we?
Another thing. Producers nowadays are more concerned on how their shows and their talents will earn, right? So in reality shows, they want the contestant who will sell most win! You think reality shows are still reality shows here in Manila? I don't think so. Reality shows are already overrated. More so, they do not depict reality anymore. Talk about production manipulation. Talk about producers meddling. Talk about money. It's all money. Money. Money. Do you think that winners of the so called Big Brother in Manila are worthy to be called winners? Did they play fair and square? Maybe. But the producers wanted them to win. The advertisers will pay the company/show lots of money and invest more if the producers will make their bet (because he's compatible with their product to be endorsed) the winner. It's so sad that the so-called REALITY SHOWS before aren't real anymore in the strictest sense.
Or maybe there's something wrong with the audience as well.
Contestant A: from the small barrio who is really humble and gentle, who so wanted to win because he was poor and he wanted to rise from poverty
Contestant B: well-off dude who showed his true self; epitome of the game show
Winner: CONTESTANT A!
Why? He was poor!
WTH?!?! Societal status shouldn't be the criteria. This is soooo stupid. I want to kill people same as how they killed the objectives of the show.
Bottomline: PHILIPPINE MEDIA IS GOING NOWHERE!
So what now? WE COM MAJORS SHOULD DO SOMETHING! IT IS IN OUR HANDS!
For the mean time, let's sip some good tasting coffee and eat our muffin.
Before I talk about Philippine Media, I just have to say that I LOOOOOOVE Veronica Mars and Arrested Development! I didn’t know that many people from the block (and sir!) like those shows! (It’s funny that we’ve been together for a year and it’s just now that we talked about them HAHA!)
Anyways, reading from the previous posts, I can see that we (Com100 D) have a problem with Philippine Media, especially with TV and movies (and in Claire’s case, advertisements :p). Movies have been crappy because of clichéd dialogues, overused love teams etc.
In TV, quality is sacrificed for higher ratings. Telenovelas have the same old worn-out storylines: twins separated at birth, one becomes rich and enslaves the other, they both fall in love with the same guy and then find out that they are siblings, or another plot , wherein a rich guy falls in love with the poor girl. Philippine TV should have unique show premises! (Like Pushing Daisies, for example! :p)
Like Chyna, I appreciate it when networks take risks to increase their ratings. What they do is they buy famous television franchises from other countries and just make them Filipino by changing some details in the format—like the hand signals in Deal or No Deal and Wheel of Fortune (which I find so annoying, btw). However, when they bring those shows here, some are used differently. The Big Brother franchise became a talent search. Every season, ABS-CBN manages to gain 14 new “actors” that were chosen not because they can act, but because of their face value and how tragic their lives are.
Recently, Deal or No Deal U.S. had “Around the World Specials”; they went to the country, and the show (in the Philippine format) was aired in the US. When I heard about it, I blog-searched about what people in the US thought of it. A blogger said that he was annoyed with Kris Aquino’s wannabe American accent and that the audience looked “too dressed up”. However, the blogger liked the dancing girls, random fun facts about the Philippines, Howie Mandel touring Manila and saying that he really likes our country!
With that, I don’t think that Philippine TV is really doomed because there is still some good that comes from it. However, it cannot be overlooked that there are problems with Philippine TV. Like Ej, I think this is where we, Comm majors, come in, we can do something about it, we can save Philippine Media! :D
- Bea Oliveros :)
Last year, the battlecry of some people in the department was:
Save media studies, save the world!
Without media studies classes (such as Com100), we won't have critical-thinking Comm students to go out and save the media so it can save the world! :)
Oh oh! And I heart Pushing Daisies as well. So quirky... like a Tim Burton movie on TV every week!
Anyway, EJ made an interesting comment about how ratings shouldn't be published for the public to see (because the general public are not equipped with the knowledge of how the data is measured in the first place, how to interpret it, etc). My long-held belief actually is that ratings should be made available for all to see and published by an independent company. E.g., Entertainment Weekly publishes TV ratings of the US networks and regularly analyzes trends in viewership. I think that the problem with our networks is that they take it upon themselves to publish the ratings (so it's obviously self-serving), but we don't have entertainment media that can sift through the spin and give audiences the real deal.
O_O So much to reply to...
Kasey: I concur with you on movie remakes. Some things are cult classics and should remain untouched! Thank goodness my favorite movie, Night of the Comet, isn't well-known enough to merit a remake. xD Very campy 80's zombie flick with a mall scene involving two army brat teen girls shooting guns in a deserted mall to the tune of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." When I saw that scene, I was like "Whoa! Why don't they do stuff like that anymore?" Worst remake I've seen: "Bewitched." Will Ferell + Nicole Kidman = NO!
There are some good remakes/revamps though. The new Battlestar Galactica is hailed as much better than its predecessor. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is also superb and the actors are top notch. Yay for no Arnold in the series. xD
Can't say the same for local remakes though. Panday was an utter failure. Maria Flordeluna ended in the death of the title character. I'm curious though if they'll ever remake Mula sa Puso. Shame of shames, I actually liked that telenovela. xD Mostly because it was so hyperbolic and the villain was so damn evil. Yes, yes, Rico Yan and Claudine Barreto. :D I think they were the last decent love team. >_> Both of them had acting chops, at least. Wowie De Guzman was a good actor, too. I saw him as Florante in a stage production of Florante at Laura. You see, a long time ago, networks actually hired people with talent. Now they use effing reality shows...
EJ: Understandable. You barely talk to me in reality. *pouts*
The dehumanization is a major point. Those are women, not dancing prize holders. Those are people, not stupidity given a body so we can laugh. They have feelings just like us and they don't know what they've fallen victim to.
Also agree about the poor guy winning. People like to root for the underdog. Sometimes I think these things are rigged.
What coffee and muffin? @_@ How very Western of you. xD What happened to puto and barako?
Sir Jon: Oh yes, adore Pushing Daisies. ABC (Yes, the channel owned by Disney and Buena Vista) was smart enough to renew it for another season. Season 1 would have been longer if not for the Writer's Strike. Also, the writer is Bryan Fuller! *worships Fuller* He wrote some of the best episodes on Star Trek: Voyager. xD Only Jeri Taylor could write better. :p His episodes were of a wide range: morbid, kinky, a salute to B sci-fi-movies. Even if you don't watch Trek, I highly recommend Bride of Chaotica. Fuller was pure genius in writing that episode and you can see his quirkiness. Only he could pull off a character called Satan's Robot or a device like the cradle of pain. Also, this is the only Trek ep I know that was mostly done in black and white. xD Linky to info if it catches your interest:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Bride_of_Chaotica%21_%28episode%29
And if my zeal hasn't scared you, this is the ep itself:
http://www.surfthechannel.com/info/television/Star_Trek%3A_Voyager/48080/S5E12.html?aid=66891
sir ong: i loooove "pushing daisies" too!! :)
the art and costume direction is impeccable, and the script is extremely intelligent! not to mention, the awesome possum acting :) anna friel pulls off the american accent very well, i think.
in my opinion, "30 rock", "the office" (us version), "how i met your mother", and "weeds" have very good scripts too :D too bad some of these shows are underappreciated :(
speaking of tv shows, i couldn't wait to see who's going to win this year's emmys! :)
Though ratings play an important part in gauging the success of a television show, I don't think it paints a very accurate picture of who's watching what, etc. As discussed in class, there are many factors that come into play when television stations are measured for ratings.
A lot of shows today have really good scripts, and yet they only become "cult classics" because the so-called mainstream audience (as gauged by the ratings) do not follow them.
I think that there should be different and more personal ways of conducting a sort of ratings meter. It shouldn't be enough to find out how many television sets are glued to one channel because, as we all know, this may prove to be inconclusive. I don't think door-to-door surveys or phone surveys would help because that just tends to irritate people, the same way that the black box on top of the tvs (as shown in class) will definitely annoy people as well.
I don't really know what the solution could be for this (if I did, that would just be amazing), but I know that changes definitely need to be made in this system of gauging which channel or show is better.
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