Thursday, April 26, 2007

a week of entertainment thwarting

I have been thwarted repeatedly this week in my entertainment choices. First of all, I can only watch Scrubs in re-runs as I work Thursday nights. All of the episodes that have aired this week were ones I had seen already, a couple of them more than once. Why can't the channels airing the episodes in syndication have the courtesy to air them in order? Is that too much to ask? Apparently. Secondly, when trying to pick a movie to view this weekend my friends and I discovered that neither of the films that we wished to see (Grindhouse and Hot Fuzz) were playing locally. Or even a little bit off. Oh no, we would have to drive for at least one hour to the pulsating hotbed of cinemas: Charlotte. Yes, my life has come to this, I must drive for an hour each way to enjoy films with any sort of intelligence. I will cut our local cineplex some slack on Grindhouse, it is three hours long which means fewer showings which means fewer dollars. However, it makes no sense to not show Hot Fuzz. It will show all of those torture flicks and lame teen movies for weeks at a time, but not something like Hot Fuzz. Maybe they are showing all this dreck so that no one will complain when those films get kicked out to allow ten screens of Spiderman-3 next week. But I digress. Finally, my good friend Mockingbird phones me last night to inform me that Fox has canceled their new show Drive after four episodes. Four. Now, I'm not saying that Drive was television gold, but it was certainly interesting and with such a large ensemble cast it would take a while to get all of the plot in place. But, oh no, Fox pulled the plug. Why broadcast a show with even a scrap of intelligence when they can glut the television landscape with vile content like Temptation Island, or the notorious "If I Did It" interview? And does anyone else find it disturbing and hypocritical that Fox brings us both the most conservative network news program in the US as well as the tawdry tripe I just mentioned? Sigh. Thus, I have been thwarted. I don't like it at all.

8 comments:

syrion said...

Well, it don't cost nothin' to make "Temptation Island" and other assorted reality shows. Shows with plot cost money. That makes the suits unhappy.

Librarian Who said...

ah, the almighty dollar....Fox worships at your altar and tries to gild their own crap for others to consume.

Unknown said...

Well, we never said this town was intellectual, even in the slightest. With that being said, it's not really surprising at all that Fox airs such redneck, un-stimulating, anti-intellectual material. The few programs they've ever had with any intellectual integrity usually get canceled. =(

Unknown said...

I should have mentioned, that if you want a great show... you should take me up on watching Alias, especially since there's no commercial breaks and no having to wait for the next episode. =D

Librarian Who said...

I know, the only two shows I even enjoy on Fox are House and Bones, and I only watch House in re-runs. Oops. I expressed a positive opinion about a show on Fox. They will probably get canceled now. (knocks on wood) Better not!

Dale Guffey said...

I'd love to know some specifics about the movie theatre in town - I saw Pan's Labryinth here, which shocked me. (Not the movie, the fact I was able to see it here.) The fact they were willing to lose money for a week showing that (I was one of 2 people at my showing - I don't care what you charge for popcorn, you're losing money with those numbers) indicates to me that they're willing to take an occasional risk. We need to make a couple of friends there . . . oooh, I feel so revolutionary - let's be all "change the system from within."

And I'm downloading Drive from iTunes. Yeah, I know, more cash for Fox, but there's no chance of a box set with only 6 eps filmed.

Unknown said...

I haven't seen Pans Labyrinth yet, though I'd like to (I have it on my Netflix queue). But they really are quite pitiful with their selection of film showings here, though. Can you blame them, look at the audience.

Dale Guffey said...

Adding insult to injury - Time magazine has a nice review of the upcoming film "Waitress" (which I'm praying will come here, if only for a week.)

And Nathan Fillion's name is misspelled. That's F-I-L-L-I-O-N, people. Rhymes with "million" - it's not that bloody difficult. And instead he's "Nathan Fallon," as if he's that no-account Jimmy's brother.

sheesh.