You know that network TV I mentioned? Well, I’ve been watching some more of it. I guess I wasn’t missing that much not watching network TV very much.
It’s entertaining, but not very well written or plotted. Some of it is OK, some of it is dreck and some of it is fun. Sometimes all I want is fun – actually that’s what I want most of the time, all of the time if you think of good drama as fun. Anyway, I wouldn’t give most of the new stuff high grades. I wonder if TV is always like this.
As far as being reminded of old TV from the 60s and 70s, well, that just makes this stuff look worse. The shows I remember from then were great. These are less than pale imitations and they probably consider themselves improvements.
On a slightly different note, but not entirely, I miss the feeling of adventure. It’s just a sign of age and a shrinking world, but I was reminded it of it while watching an episode of Undercovers. The exotic locations are not – they’re CGI. Same thing for most of TV and movies. This will get me labeled a curmudgeon, but in my defense I must say that enjoy a good special effect, but not when it is being done just because it can be.
Filming in space is very difficult, and recreating the Galactic Empire on a full scale would be cost prohibitive so I fully accept special effects in Star Wars (though some of the CGI added to the old versions was tacky). On the other hand, the only reason you don’t film in Paris or London – or New York or Cleveland for that matter – is because it is expensive. When I watched Kelly and Scotty walking through Japan they were walking through Japan; the same for James Bond. And back then – geologic ages ago for you youngsters out there – it was exotic and new and exciting. Unless you were rich, there was no other way to see places like that except through TV and movies – movies mostly.
These days people travel more and we see it all the time in a variety of ways – not just Life magazine, and we have all sorts of Internet images to choose from. The glamour is gone.
Also, when I watch The Lord of the Rings, I know that the armies marching to the aid of Minas Tirith are not real and I can accept that. But when I see an average army created with CGI it loses its impact. The masses of people leaving Egypt in The Ten Commandments were really masses of people. Even the armies in a movie as recent as Braveheart were real people. That takes planning, direction, cinematography, coordination and movie making skill. Imagine how much less of a movie Lawrence of Arabia would be if made today using tricks instead of people and green screens instead of the desert.
Yes, I rant, but with good cause. Short cuts are not impressive – as opposed to resourcefulness. The difference being that one is done out of necessity and the other out of pecuniary stinginess, or perhaps insufficient talent. Maybe most people don’t care. Maybe most of the people doing it think it’s the right way to do it. Maybe it’s the only way it will get done so I should just shut up and watch it. Well, it may be the only way we ever see some things, but I find it distracting and I’m not likely to shut up.
I hope I haven’t ruined anything for anyone out there, but I just had to get that off of my chest.
Next up, hair color: fraud or fabulous?
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