TV TALK

Dancing with the Stars which had its 20 year anniversary this month, has been on so long it had its own In Memoriam segment. (Charo and Wayne Newton though, in the audience, still with us). It was a great show, starting with an excellent opening number. Funnily enough, I turned to my partner and commented on how well choreographed it was, only to find out a minute later that it had been done by Derek Hough.

"He should choreograph everything," he said. There were a number of excellent dances, as well as a good effort by Andy Richter.

The best moment though, was at the start when we not only saw the original pros start the show (I can't believe there were no interviews or moments with them about their memories – guess that was all saved for the podcast) but Tom Bergeron was back. I am quite happy with Alfonso and Julieanne as co-hosts but I miss Tom.

And speaking of hosts, Project Runway has had a more checkered history for several reasons. ( Read more... )

There was a recent article in the Hollywood Reporter about how movies are the lifeblood of streaming services. Though I find this disappointing, I don't find it surprising. Movies are (often) a one-shot sort of story, quick to get through, and usually getting a lot of expensive publicity before their release date, thus raising awareness in a big part of the potential viewing public. And people rewatch a good bit because, again, it's short and doesn't require a big commitment.

The other two reasons are, I think, more recent in nature. One is that movie attendance has been declining for some time, but I never thought this was because people were less interested in them. It's just that it's expensive and inconvenient to go see them away from home. I mean, HBO was created in 1972 primarily as a home movie viewing option, as well as for some sports, which was also entertainment you had to go out for. And people were so interested in being able to watch movies (I won't even say "recent' because the theatrical run used to be pretty long), not even on demand, but on a convenient schedule, that HBO was a viable business for decades even as video rental became common. I'd add that it was common that, whether or not a hotel had cable, HBO was almost expected to be available as well.

But these numbers seem to indicate something besides the eternal popularity of movies and increasing desire to skip the theater and see them at home: ( Read more... )

Too long ago now, I shared some DS9 related meta posts at meta_warehouse and found that I was interested in the suggestions about older Trek being more character oriented than newer Trek shows. Although the post involved DS9 and Discovery, if we look at Star Trek Enterprise versus Discovery, "bad writing" doesn't cover it all. ( Read more... )

There was a recent discussion about whether one's preference is always for the first instance of a canon you've experienced -- the first show in a verse, or a book vs TV show or vice versa.

I know that I've mentioned before that I preferred the Inspector Lynley TV series over the books even though I read the books first. However this has a lot to do with what I'm looking for in a mystery. ( Read more... )