2014 RANDOM TV THOUGHTS

[Technico Support]

Sam Worthington sits alone atop the "shitty at doing an American accent" hall of fame.  In any role he plays, you can hear the Australian accent sneaking in.

[Reed]

David Lynch and Mark Frost are hinting at a Twin Peaks comeback on twitter.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Sam Worthington sits alone atop the "shitty at doing an American accent" hall of fame.  In any role he plays, you can hear the Australian accent sneaking in.

 

It was so bad in Avatar. I know James Cameron wanted someone unknown for that role, but why couldn't he just be Australian? I am glad Worthington's popularity waned as fast it came, but now we have to deal with Jax Teller trying to not be Jax Teller. It's almost as bad.

[Bustronaut]

I think my favorite "foreign guy doing accents" is Christopher Lambert.

 

He was born in Great Neck, NY!

[Tabe]

 

I think my favorite "foreign guy doing accents" is Christopher Lambert.

 

He was born in Great Neck, NY!

 

Mel Gibson was born in Peekskill, NY

[Travis Sheldon]

 

Actors who instantly loss all charisma when you get them doing terrible American accents:

 

Jonny Lee Miller

Liam Neeson

David Tennant

Franka Potente

 

Liam Neeson does accents????

 

Yes he does

[Elsalvajeloco]

Patrick is using his real voice but slightly affected. Liam went full out hick. Then, you have to contrast those two with Paxton's clearly from the middle of Texas accent. It was just all over the place.

[_MJ_]

 

Yeah NBC cancelled Community to make room for shit sandwich like Bad Judge and A to Z why?

 

Because Community had proven itself to be unfunny and was known to be watched by only a small set of people, whereas A to Z and Bad Judge could potentially be funny and/or attract an audience?

 

TV really isn't a "devil you know" sorta business.

 

 

We get it. You don't like Community.  You're completely right about the small set of people part though, especially in regards to attracting a bigger audience.

 

I forgot all about America's brief Sam Worthington phase.  Whoa.  He needs those Avatar sequels to come up quick.

[Raziel]

 

Sam Worthington sits alone atop the "shitty at doing an American accent" hall of fame.  In any role he plays, you can hear the Australian accent sneaking in.

 

It was so bad in Avatar. I know James Cameron wanted someone unknown for that role, but why couldn't he just be Australian? I am glad Worthington's popularity waned as fast it came, but now we have to deal with Jax Teller trying to not be Jax Teller. It's almost as bad.

 

Oh come on, Hunnam was totally attempting to not play Jax in Pacific Rim.

 

He almost pulled it off too.

[Spritenaut 32]

 

 

Yeah NBC cancelled Community to make room for shit sandwich like Bad Judge and A to Z why?

 

Because Community had proven itself to be unfunny and was known to be watched by only a small set of people, whereas A to Z and Bad Judge could potentially be funny and/or attract an audience?

 

TV really isn't a "devil you know" sorta business.

 

 

We get it. You don't like Community.  You're completely right about the small set of people part especially in regards to attracting a bigger audience.

 

I forgot all about America's brief Sam Worthington phase.  Whoa.  He needs those Avatar sequels to come up quick.

 

 

Actually, I kinda regret being that snarky - though I do find Community to be really unfunny (that's just my personal opinion, of course.  Obviously, a number of people like it quite a bit).

 

The serious answer is probably that existing series are generally more expensive to produce than new shows.  Generally speaking, if your show stays on the air, you're probably getting a bigger budget next year unless you're a former ratings juggernaut well past its peak.  How much a budget increase depends on the ratings and demographics, of course, but it's fairly standard policy for the cast of a middling hit like Community to have pay increases built into the star's contracts.  Add in all the other rising costs and a show like Community ends up being more expensive to make in season 6 than it was in season 1.

 

Unless the show completely tanks and the network can't make money selling ads during that time period, renewals are mostly negotiations,  Lots of aging shows would still be on the air if the producers and stars were willing to do the show for much less money so that the network can make money.  Ratings for series such as House tend to be respectable at the end of their runs, but, by that point, everyone is getting paid like they did during the show's peak years and it's either impractical to make the show on a smaller budget, or no one wants to take the requisite pay cut.

 

As far as salaries go, Bad Judge and A to Z are probably a lot cheaper than Community.  Aside from Kate Walsh, no one on either show has much of a track record (I think.  Haven't seen Bad Judge yet, so I'm not sure who all is in the main cast).

 

The other reason is that Community is already in syndication.  A lot of the reason low rated shows like Community and 30 Rock make it to 5 seasons or so are lucrative syndication deals.  Once the show is sold to syndication, the series' main revenue stream is once again ad revenue.  If the show isn't very profitable in its time slot and the syndication sale isn't in the offing, there's more incentive to try something new.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Sam Worthington sits alone atop the "shitty at doing an American accent" hall of fame. In any role he plays, you can hear the Australian accent sneaking in.

It was so bad in Avatar. I know James Cameron wanted someone unknown for that role, but why couldn't he just be Australian? I am glad Worthington's popularity waned as fast it came, but now we have to deal with Jax Teller trying to not be Jax Teller. It's almost as bad.

Oh come on, Hunnam was totally attempting to not play Jax in Pacific Rim.

He almost pulled it off too.

I'm mainly talking about his accent. He dropped it many times during the movie. He can't consistently hide how he actually talks.

[Kuetsar]

 

 

 

Yeah NBC cancelled Community to make room for shit sandwich like Bad Judge and A to Z why?

 

Because Community had proven itself to be unfunny and was known to be watched by only a small set of people, whereas A to Z and Bad Judge could potentially be funny and/or attract an audience?

 

TV really isn't a "devil you know" sorta business.

 

 

We get it. You don't like Community.  You're completely right about the small set of people part especially in regards to attracting a bigger audience.

 

I forgot all about America's brief Sam Worthington phase.  Whoa.  He needs those Avatar sequels to come up quick.

 

 

Actually, I kinda regret being that snarky - though I do find Community to be really unfunny (that's just my personal opinion, of course.  Obviously, a number of people like it quite a bit).

 

The serious answer is probably that existing series are generally more expensive to produce than new shows.  Generally speaking, if your show stays on the air, you're probably getting a bigger budget next year unless you're a former ratings juggernaut well past its peak.  How much a budget increase depends on the ratings and demographics, of course, but it's fairly standard policy for the cast of a middling hit like Community to have pay increases built into the star's contracts.  Add in all the other rising costs and a show like Community ends up being more expensive to make in season 6 than it was in season 1.

 

Unless the show completely tanks and the network can't make money selling ads during that time period, renewals are mostly negotiations,  Lots of aging shows would still be on the air if the producers and stars were willing to do the show for much less money so that the network can make money.  Ratings for series such as House tend to be respectable at the end of their runs, but, by that point, everyone is getting paid like they did during the show's peak years and it's either impractical to make the show on a smaller budget, or no one wants to take the requisite pay cut.

 

As far as salaries go, Bad Judge and A to Z are probably a lot cheaper than Community.  Aside from Kate Walsh, no one on either show has much of a track record (I think.  Haven't seen Bad Judge yet, so I'm not sure who all is in the main cast).

 

The other reason is that Community is already in syndication.  A lot of the reason low rated shows like Community and 30 Rock make it to 5 seasons or so are lucrative syndication deals.  Once the show is sold to syndication, the series' main revenue stream is once again ad revenue.  If the show isn't very profitable in its time slot and the syndication sale isn't in the offing, there's more incentive to try something new.

 

Yeah that makes sense. Just disheartening to see the crap that replaced it is all. . . .The thing about Community is that is wasn't always the funniest show. "Cute" is more a word I would describe it. It was more about enjoying the characters. I can see why someone wouldn't like it though. . .

[DreamBroken]

Disappointed to hear TNT cancelled Dallas. Was still enjoying the show quite a bit and hoped for a season 4. Thought the finale was pretty good and had an interesting setup for continuing with the expected cliffhangers.

[Spritenaut 32]

Kinda surprised.  I thought it would probably have enough of an audience to run 6-8 years.

 

How was the quality?  I watched season 1 and thought it was ok, if not outstanding, but I only watched a couple times after that.  I did think the show relied on the older characters too much (particularly Hagman, who was already in terrible health by the time filming began).  They needed to establish the new generation of characters more firmly, but I didn't find the characters that compelling and the 20/30-ish actors generally weren't that great.  I watched a bit of this season and Patrick Duffy/Bobby Ewing seemed to be the lead babyface, not his son or Jr's kid.

 

USA canceled Rush.  Kinda wish it had gotten a season 2.  There was a lot that didn't work about season 1, but the middle of the season was rather enjoyable.  The setup was mostly House for younger sexy people, though.

[Burgundy LaRue]

The ratings had gone in the tank this season, last I read. They should have allowed it to remain as a summer series.  13-14 episodes airing between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  It would have kept more of its audience because it wouldn't need to compete with the heavy hitters during the regular TV season.

 

The show could have survived Hagman's passing, if they built it around Josh Henderson and Julie Gonzalo--the two younger main actors who were actually decent at their jobs.  They should have had Pamela Rebecca using Barnes Global to wage war with the Ewings/Ewing Oil, all while wrapped up with John Ross and/or Christopher.

 

Instead, they tried to turn Elena into the Miss Ellie for the new generation.  And that wasn't flying with most of the older viewers, who were already complaining about Cynthia Cidre taking too many liberties with what's considered canon from the first show.  Elena and her family just wasn't interesting, and took away time from the Ewing/Barnes saga.

 

TNT supposedly ordered enough scripts for a fourth season.  Maybe they'll do some online thing,  But that still would require filming the episodes, and I don't know if they'll want to do that.

[bazzil]

hunman wasnt even close to the worst accent in pacific rim. the two guys trying to be australian almost had me stomping my blu ray player out.

[Spritenaut 32]

I probably want to retract my smug condescension towards Community.  I watched the Bad Judge pilot last night, and it was... not good, imo.  It has the honor of being the first show deleted from the DVR (though Selfie and Agents of SHIELD are probably about to follow). 

 

Bad Judge seems to be one of those shows where they gave someone a production deal and the person was incapable of following up.  Apparently, the show is already on it's third showrunner and the pilot that aired was a partially re-shot version of the pilot shown to advertisers and critics over the summer.  From what I've read about the original pilot, the show seems to have lost it's focus (in the original pilot, the main character is a fairly nasty person who is a judge by day and in a rock band at night.  I guess that explains why she's driving a spraypainted van for no apparent reason in the pilot that aired).  The original pilot was apparently not much better, but seems to have at least had a handle on it's main character and point of view.

[Reed]

Sometimes I get kind of sad when I think how great The Following could have been. Come on, evil genius serial killer who's obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe running his cult from behind bars. How could that not be fun? And the pilot was great. Done correctly, it could have been the popcorn version of Hannibal.

 

But, I don't know, after a decent but patchy first season it just sorta fell apart. Also, Kevin Bacon just reeks indifference in everything he does.

 

I don't know where else they can go with it in the next season, which I presume will be where everything gets wrapped up. (Ratings for season 2 weren't good and it was a surprise to many when it got renewed.)

[EVA]

But you know what Fox show is EXACTLY what it should be? SLEEPY HOLLOW.

Watched the first 3 episodes on Hulu the other day, and it was tremendous fun. Which shocked me, because it came from the minds of two of the Four Horsemen themselves, Orci & Kurtzman. The two leads have fantastic chemistry right off the bat. The mythology is fucking preposterous and there's no way it pays off in a satisfying way, but I could care less. Wahtever the end may be, I sense it's going to be tremendous fun getting there.

I laughed so hard when the lady deputy who's name I haven't retained yet passed Crane a glock, and he took one shot at the witch with it and threw it away because he thought it was empty.

[Kuetsar]

I probably want to retract my smug condescension towards Community.  I watched the Bad Judge pilot last night, and it was... not good, imo.  It has the honor of being the first show deleted from the DVR (though Selfie and Agents of SHIELD are probably about to follow). 

 

Bad Judge seems to be one of those shows where they gave someone a production deal and the person was incapable of following up.  Apparently, the show is already on it's third showrunner and the pilot that aired was a partially re-shot version of the pilot shown to advertisers and critics over the summer.  From what I've read about the original pilot, the show seems to have lost it's focus (in the original pilot, the main character is a fairly nasty person who is a judge by day and in a rock band at night.  I guess that explains why she's driving a spraypainted van for no apparent reason in the pilot that aired).  The original pilot was apparently not much better, but seems to have at least had a handle on it's main character and point of view.

Sad thing is, I really WANTED to like it, because I like Kate Walsh. . . 

[Reed]

But you know what Fox show is EXACTLY what it should be? SLEEPY HOLLOW.

Watched the first 3 episodes on Hulu the other day, and it was tremendous fun. Which shocked me, because it came from the minds of two of the Four Horsemen themselves, Orci & Kurtzman. The two leads have fantastic chemistry right off the bat. The mythology is fucking preposterous and there's no way it pays off in a satisfying way, but I could care less. Wahtever the end may be, I sense it's going to be tremendous fun getting there.

I laughed so hard when the lady deputy who's name I haven't retained yet passed Crane a glock, and he took one shot at the witch with it and threw it away because he thought it was empty.

 

 

Ichabod attempting to re-adjust to life in the 21st century is easily one of the best parts of the show.

[EVA]

HAHAHAHA. Old rich dude throwing the lady off the balcony on THE STRAIN was the most unintentionally hilarious thing I've seen on TV in a long time.

[EVA]

Oh, man. I wish there was a dedicated thread so I could just live blog all the hilarious stuff happening on THE STRAIN finale.

[offspring515]

So Mulaney was repellant. The ads were bad but the finished product was garbage. He's a brilliant comic, and I really wanted to enjoy this. I'm in for a few more hoping they got their shit together after the pilot but I can't imagine John Q Public coming back for more of this.

[Jrag]

Homeland 2.0 was actually pretty great last night. No idea if they can maintain that quality over the course of a season, but it does look like they have given up on Carrie as a sympathetic figure. Big step in the right direction.