Under the Weather

Been sick (damn you, catching the colds everyone else in LA got when it was raining), but I had to comment about Project Runway if only to say finally.

The Ads

Please note these are not the actual titles of the commercials (probably).

Bud Light + Firebreathing: Not as funny as Bud Light has given us. Eh. I don't think Bud Light found a new "Magic Refrigerator" tonight.

Audi R8 + Godfather parody: Fantastic. And great product category branding.

Diet Pepsi Max + Night at the Roxbury parody / narcolepsy: Terrible.

Salesgenie.com + ACME Widgets animated: Huh?

Bud Light + beer hidden in other objects: Better than firebreathing. Still eh.

Under Armour: Um... anyone get slightly fascist/undertones from this? Reminded me of film versions of Nazi speeches and V For Vendetta's evil government. Was it just me?

Bridgestone Tires + screaming forest creatures: Mildly amusing. Don't think it sells me a tire so much as a car, though.

Doritos + Kina Grannis music: Um... where are the DORITOS? And what does this have to do with DORITOS?

Wanted promo: Nice visual effects (seems to be "a new twist on bullet-time"). Heavily featuring Angelina Jolie and having most of the dialogue come from Morgan Freeman were probably the right calls.

Gatorade G2 + Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning: I chuckled at tad at the end.

GoDaddy.com + promo for online ad: I know that Fox shot down the ads they wanted to run... but that just didn't do anything for me. I guess it would serve the purpose of driving people to the website.

Dell + Product (Red): Ad gave me awkward ass-slap/molestation vibes that didn't wind up being funny at the end.

FedEx + Carrier Pigeons: Funny stuff. I approve this message.

Cars.com + Circle Death Match: Goddammit I hate ads from websites that not-so-subtly tell you specifically what they do. I just find it creatively lacking.

Tide To Go + Talking Stain: More annoying than anything else.

Budweiser + Rocky parody with Clydesdale and Dalmation: YES. Not sure if they is the best ad so far. I think I might still have to give that to the Audi R8. But great ad. And the animals didn't talk!

Iron Man promo: Went by too quickly, but it was engaging/explosive enough to warrant a rewind (in fact, it was rewound at the party I attending).

Corolla + Ferocious Badgers: So when you're in the car, you can't hear outside noises... okay... and?

Leatherheads promo: Definitely had a "ye ol' chucklefest" feeling to it.

Garmin GPS + Napoleon: Huh?

CareerBuilder.com + Follow Your Heart: Gross...

SoBe Life Water + "Thriller" Dancing Lizards: Don't really understand the ad, but it was amusing (because no one but lizards dosed with some drink would want to dance with Naomi Campbell).

Parents, The Anti-Drug: The ad was basically like "Teens, you can get high off things in your parents' medicine cabinets." Thanks, Office of National Drug Control Policy / Partnership for a Drug-Free America!

GMC Yukon Hybrid + Sisyphus crudely-drawn animation: Okay, I get it, but it was a tad cerebral (not to mention not flashy) for a Super Bowl ad.

Bud Light + Carlos Mencia: Carlos Mencia is not funny. Nor was this commercial.

Prince Caspian promo: God (er, maybe not the right thing to call on) help me, I'm actually going to see this movie (really, really, really disliked the first movie, though I loved the books as a kid).

Planters + Unibrow Lady: Mean-spirited (though definitely got the "men love nuts" message across). Is this only a year after the Dove "Real Women" ads?

T-Mobile + Charles Barkley: Cloying.

Pepsi + Justin Timberlake: Would be even funnier if I hadn't seen it on YouTube (several times) but it still makes me laugh so whatevs. Especially enjoy the mailbox yelping and the HDTV wanging the back of his head at the end. Hm, does this say something about some subconscious urge to do bodily harm to Mr. JT?

Doritos + Mouse Trap: Um... okay. Unexpected ending.

Lexus GS + Thing It Can Do But You Shouldn't: Not bad, but not great. Would work outside of the Super Bowl, but I'm not sure it's big enough for the event. Well... I guess Lexus may actually have been SMART by making an ad they can reuse outside of the game.

Toshiba HD DVD Player: Hahah, dying format (Travis loves his PS3/Blu-Ray player).

Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler + Animated Rhyme: Zzzz.

NFL Network: Well, it's the right crowd...

Lexus GS + The Doughnut: As above with the longer ad.

Zantac: Utterly forgettable (but not an affront to mankind).

Cars.com + Witch Doctor: Okay, so the Cars.com ads follow the formula of someone shopping for a car explaining that they did their research on cars.com, and thus they don't need to use "Plan B" on sleazy, unhelpful car salesmen. Bigger question: why is TJ Thyne (Bones' Jack Hodgins) stooping to commercial work? Oh, right... writers' strike... forgot about that...

Salesgenie.com + Pandas animated: Just not good. Just not good.

Vitamin Water + Shaq as a horse jockey: Um... no.

Bud Light + Cavemen: I guess I'm just one of those guys that don't find cavemen that much of a source of humor (certainly not the series). Why Bud persists on these ads... well, I guess someone out there likes 'em.

Ice Breakers Ice Cubes: I think they could've done a lot more with the "prepare for the stontaneous 'whoa'" message.

Bridgestone Tires + Richard Simmons: Would've been much funnier (IMHO) if the driver, after choosing to avoid a deer and what appeared to be a whacked-out, goth serial killer hitchhiker, had run Richard Simmons over. But, again, I'm used to these commercials about how cars handle on roads being about... well, cars.

CareerBuilder.com + Wishing Won't Get You A Better Job: Oh, that's just not right. Icky spider eating Jiminy Cricket-a-like.

Hyundia Genesis: No ad will convince me that a Hyundai is the performance equivalent of a Mercedes. Trying to position your brand up the premium scale is hard. Sorry, Hyundai! Well, not that sorry.

Wall-E promo: Toy Story characters talking about Wall-E... maybe it would've been a bit better to do a promo about the movie instead of the character? I know it's Disney-Pixar's hardest sell yet (they keep outdoing themselves on that scale...) I mean, it was cute, but... eh. When does Toy Story 3-D come out?

Jumper promo: Nothing new here, moving on.

E-Trade + Talking Baby: We were so close to having a Super Bowl without a talking baby... So. Close.

Bud Light + Flying: As with firebreathing... Bud Light has been funnier with its concepts and with its ending twists.

NFL.com SuperAd: I'm not sure what, if anything, the ad about Chester Pitts was selling, but it was engaging.

Nissan Murano: So far ahead, the rest of the world will have to catch up? Eh.

Sunsilk + Marilyn/Shakira/Madonna: Seemed out of place during the Super Bowl.

Coca-Cola + Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons: Right up there with Audi and the Budweiser Clydesdale ads for "best of the night".

Coca-Cola + James Carville / Bill Frist: You know, I didn't like the ad at first... I thought that politics should've stayed out of the Super Bowl commercials... but, obviously, the point was that despite differences, both extremes can enjoy Coca-Cola (and through Coke, friendship). Nice. Not as good as the above ad, though. What prime real estate Coca-Cola bought!

Toyota Sequoia: Yawn.

You Don't Mess With the Zohan promo: Adam Sandler in a Super Bowl commercial should be a gland slam. I dunno about this movie, though... especially with the far-less-one-joke Hancock coming out (though not being promoted here).

E-Trade Talking Baby 2: Argh. Anyone else notice that the baby DOESN'T BLINK!?

Tace Bell Fiesta Platters: Uh... okay. Barely passable. But passable. Taco Bell has always been about camp anyway.

Gatorade + Dog Lapping from Bowl: One of those "waste of space" ads. The "man's best friend" tagline totally didn't work for me.

Bud Light + Semi-Pro tie-in: I usually don't like Will Ferrell being Will Ferrell... but this (multiple takes where his character says an innuendo-laden wrong line) made me laugh (especially the "suck one" line).

Hyundai Genesis 2: Again, Hyundai, there is nothing you can do to position yourself in league with Lexus, Meredes BMW. You make cheap, crappy cars.

Victoria's Secret: Pitch. Perfect. And tasteful.

Amp Energy Drink: Just wrong. Just so very wrong.

As for Fox's promo department...

Sarah Connor Chronicles had the biggest push. I loved the CG terminator fighting the Fox football robot thing... SCC and Prison Break were set to gain the most as far as Fox shows go, because of their young-and-male-skewing demo scores. I found the PB promo where the characters find a tunnel that opens in the middle of the big game to be trying too hard (okay, I've given up on the show and nothing is bringing me back, so I'm biased).

House's post-game episode obviously got a push... not quite as "must watch" as ABC's "Code Black" promos for Grey's Anatomy (OMG, a compliment for the ABC promo department?) Probably because the episode wasn't really originally written as a post-game event episode (cue reader: ENOUGH ALREADY, TRAVIS). The promo with dubbed voices over various football coaches "talking about House" amused me. But, to be honest... I'm (pleasantly?) surprised Fox didn't promote it more. They spent a lot more on time on SCC (which needs the boost after a two weeks of steeply declining ratings after it's smashing premiere, and a week off for a repeat and the State of the Union address).

Unhitched (previously known as The Rules for Starting Over) didn't hold me interest, mostly because the pilot I saw 9 months ago was among the vilest things ever (primate rape is funny? huh?) I'd seen the New Amsterdam promo before, unless it's changed, it goes in the "wouldn't air except for the strike" category, and I don't think the ad was particularly compelling (how many "New York's Most Brilliant Detective"s are there, anyway?)

American Idol had a really good promo at the end with Ben Roethlisberger, but I was confused by the earlier promos because there is still a week of auditions, yet they were promo-ing Hollywood Week. WTF?

Ready for some football

So that game was pretty boring / unintense until the last five minutes, huh (the party I was at had a whole bunch of socializing, and a lot of shouted "oh, shit. oh, shit." by the end)?

Was elsewhere, so I've got the whole thing (and commercials) saved on the FauxVo for review (I'll admit, I wasn't paying too much attention to the commercials this year).

The post-game was only 30 minutes, so House started at 10:38pm Eastern. Especially with such a close (if slightly low-scoring and boring until the last few minutes) game, should be a big lead-in for the episode. I'm expecting it to come close to the Grey's Anatomy numbers, simply because House is such a big hit already. The episode seems very formula outside of the "House and his team aren't actually with the patient, since she's in the South Pole" thing. I really, really, really wish the show had been able to go with its original plan for the post-Super Bowl episode... but enough complaining about that.

OH MY GOD the ending. THE ENDING!!!!!!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!! That so fixes my issue with the result of Number 32 from my Top 50 of 2007 list.

Still not liking that the show can't fit both Cameron and Chase into episodes. Since the end of the Survivor-arc (as in last Tuesday's episode and tonight's episode), it's been either-or.

OMG did you see

Wow, so all of the wannamodels' hahas, hohos, and weewees were on display in this week's Make Me A Supermodel...

But the thing that struck me the most was the shoes they used to decide who the "leading lady" of the Live Art Sculpture was going to be. What were, though, 10-inch heels? Christ!

Weird thing with the show's format... two weeks ago they did makeovers. They cut everyone's hair, and they waxed the boys. Well, two weeks have gone by, and the show still has, what, two-to-three months left? All of that makeover stuff is gonna get undone. On Top Model, the makeovers work for a while because the production is so much more condensed (I think they only shoot for a month or so per cycle)... and even then the girls' hair can get raggedy by the end.

I still don't like Frankie.

And what happened to the weekly measurement / weigh-in thing? Maybe they still are doing it, but it's uneventful so they cut it from the final product?

I cannot wait for next week's episode. It's Fashion Week. The wannamodels are going, right? Right? In some capacity???

With the judges having said that Jay should've been cut when Aryn was cut at the beginning of the episode, and he's back up for the vote... I imagine he's getting cut.

And contrary to my previous Doomsday post (aka Lucy)

... here is what I'm hearing from another source, and it goes more closely hand-in-hand with the vibes form Nikki Finke and the New York Times articles.

Everyone is in agreement on the basic terms of the deal, and an agreement is being drafted, it should be in by Tuesday. If there are no issues that come up based on that draft, the contract will be brought to the WGA board probably by Friday. If the leadership (Verrone, Bowman, and Young), the board and the negotiating committee are behind it, the feeling is that the general membership will ratify the contract.

This process could take up to three weeks, but writers could go back to work sooner than the contract being ratified.

Obviously, it's a wait-and-see time, and there's no guarantee that SAG will find the deal close-enough that they don't go out on strike in July.

And there's nothing saying this can't and won't blow up in our faces.

It would seem as if having Peter Chernin back in the informal talks yesterday helped a lot.

FNL

Great episode. Finally, I think not a single plotline in the episode smacked of less-than-worthy of this series (with the rapist-murder plotline done, and Riggins not living with Ferrety-Meth Guy). Man, you gotta feel for Smash... there's only one more episode left in the can?

... FauxVo didn't record Make Me A Supermodel on Thursday. It's recording in an hour, so I'll eventually get to it... and I owe a Lost analysis post, will get that up before the Super Bowl.

Lucy

Despite Nikki Finke's most recent post citing progress at informal talks between the WGA and the moguls, I heard a really disturbing rumor tonight that I pray to God is just idle speculation that went through two people before getting to me (though the original source is someone who is highly placed within the industry).

The rumor basically goes that if there isn't a settlement tomorrow, the studios are going to walk away again. And are going to sit it out until next year.

So, when this doesn't come to pass, I hope you'll forgive me for being foolish enough to post it and get you all momentarily worried with me. But I'm deeply troubled by even the possibility of the "next year" part of this rumor, much more so than Lucy pulling the football away again.

I don't understand the financial reasons for walking away again, because, as I've said before, the studios have accomplished the house cleaning they wanted to get done with the strike lasting as long as it has. There are no more short-term gains to reap (aside from firing executives and their staffs), only long-term losses to exacerbate.

The Beginning of the End

About to watch (but not blog) live. Yes, live. As in with commercials. As it airs.

Because I <3 style="font-style: italic;">Lost that much.

Will probably not blog about the episode until late tonight or tomorrow morning when I get a chance to do a second viewing, as I'm going to be running out the door the moment the episode ends (10:02pm) to meet someone for much-needed alcohol (but as my friend does not watch Lost, there will unfortunately... or perhaps fortunately... be no discussion).

A Non-Fierce Wednesday

Sigh, no Project Runway this week.

Anyway... Idol. A thought occurs. Has Paula ever said "no" and Randy and Simon said "yes"? Because I feel like she's always sending people through to Hollywood when the other two judges disagree. And little else. Anyway... Miami was pretty uneventful for me, dawg. Syesha Mercado had a big voice... there was the requisite Shakira look-somewhat-a-like with big hoop earrings... and OMGYOUGUYS remember American Juniors LOLZEEZ girl.

Lost: The annotated "Through the Looking Glass" got off to a bad start for me (not the episode, the annotations). Um... why not save telling people that the non-Island stuff was a flash-forward until later? Why blow the wad in the first 5 seconds (why not wait for one of the later flash-forward sections, and point out things about technology that wouldn't have existed pre-crash, for instance)??? Not to mention the annotations for the rest of that scene (I'll tone this down as I watch... hopefully the pop-ups won't be as terrible throughout)... "Jack looks troubled" and "Looks like a bumpy ride, but Jack doesn't seem to mind." Really, annotations? REALLY!? Okay, it looks like the annotations get a bit more informative once we get to the Island (and even have pop-up images to show what character is being talked about as the annotation explains the context of what's going on). Also they develop a sense of humor... somewhat. Bad call not annotating Charlie's brief flashback to Desmond telling him about the images surrounding his death at the Looking Glass station.

BWAHAHA, someone needs to put the Sawyer character promo set to "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood on YouTube. If you missed it, it started at around 9:54pm. Hi-freaking-larious. The 10:46pm Locke character promo set to "Crazy" by Patsy Cline was just "a'ight".

... goddammit, "Through the Looking Glass" is such a fucking brilliant episode of television...

Tuesday TV

Idol: Okay, even if he hadn't figured the words out, the judges would have to be real tweedledumbasses to not let Jason Rich through. Maybe no immediate star quality, but a gorgeous voice. Not quite as "aw, shucks" as the season's other singing farm boy (Drew Poppelreiter). I absolutely love that girl who accidentally said she was going to be America's Next Top Model. Angelica Puente's voice has amazing range, I hope she can develop her own sound by the time Hollywood rolls around. And Randy recommended mirror time to the rocker guy (how can you be a rocker without, er, stage presence/persona?) Can't remember the name of the girl, but whoever sang Norah Jones... I liked it, the show needs a good, jazzy voice in the mix.

House: OMG, I've been waiting for this episode for months (and there are only two left...) What does the post-Survivor format look like? I'm watching now... no new opening credits? Sad day. They're credited as "Also Starring". Interesting. Also... Christmas episode? Oh, Fox scheduling department... oh, Preston Beckman... oh, writers' strike. Anyway... House went to talk to the patients' daughter really quickly (for him). I persist that I don't give two shakes of a fist about Ministud/Taub. Where the heck are Cameron and Chase, goddammit!? The show needs to figure out a way to include them. So, this whole episode is basically House fucking with his new team in order to make sure they're always on their toes and always looking over each others' shoulders and questioning each others' diagnoses (and I absolutely love that Thirteen sees through his bullshit and wants to drive him nuts). Smart, but... eh? Hah, Jennifer Morrison's lone scene is a mit-out-sound montage.

The preview for the not-supposed-to-be-post-Super-Bowl-but-post-Super-Bowl episode looks gimmicky... man, I wish they'd gone with their two-parter idea instead of making some mechanic at the South Pole into Izzie Stevens (preview basically has him drilling a hole into Mira Sorvino's head).

Nip/Tuck: EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh, the opening consult (newlyweds trapped in car during honeymoon resort to mild cannibalism because one has hypoglycemia)... wow, I'm sorry, I think this may be my last episode of this show. BWAHAHAHA! Okay, they just saved their bacon with that "We're CAA" bit. They do look like they're CAA... except, um, no, the assistant does not walk with the agent. The assistant stays in the Death Star while their bosses go to poach clients since said talent's agent is under the knife (would I be terribly surprised if this were based on a true story? It's CAA... so nope!)

Wizard's First Rule

The Hollywood Reporter has an article about Sam Raimi re-teaming up with the Xena/Hercules people to do a weekly syndicated fantasy series based on Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" cycle, and it will be called Wizard's First Rule (which is the title of the first book in the series, and the only one of the books I've read... I know people who've read through the cycle, and they basically told me that the first book is the best, the second book is good, and from then on it's just Terry Goodkind preaching morals and ethics).

Despite any potential misgivings about the source material... I'm all for this. I miss me my (good years of) Xena. Not that WFR will have that kind of camp value or subtext, but still.

And if Sam Raimi can't get one of these weekly syndicated fantasy series up and successful, we'll know once and for all that the format is dead.

... now I have "Jockser the Mighty" stuck in my head.

MEANWHILE, I'm still eagerly awaiting George R. R. Martin's "A Dance With Dragons" from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" cycle (which has, through four books, been hands down the best fantasy I've ever read... if you haven't read the first book, "A Game of Thrones", get thee to a book store). It was announced what seems like a year ago that David Benioff was going to adapt the entire "A Song of Ice and Fire" cycle for HBO, with each book comprising a season (for seven planned seasons). Of course, that's made more difficult with only 4 of (again, planned) 7 books published, and continuous delays of publication of the next installment.

Dear The Simpsons

Never, ever, EVER do a flashback episode again.

Tonight's sacrilegious affair did point out the inconsistency of the long-held canon that Bart was conceived while Homer and Marge were just out of high school (despite, again, as noted in the episode Homer and Marge being near-40 and Bart being perpetual-10).

But that's where the semi-accolades stop.

I know the show has been around almost two decades so it can be a real stretch on the space-time continuum thing... but for those of us who've been with it since nearly the beginning (and those of us to still hold much of the series's mid-90s work to classic, pedestal status) don't mess with the show's rich inner history. It's a betrayal. Please continue with the premise that despite not aging, the characters move forward in time with the rest of us (and the politics, pop culture, celebrities, sensibilities, and technologies of the day). Don't deprive us of Homer being a little kid during Woodstock, his mother being an outlaw for her hippie ways, and Homer and Marge's beautiful late-'70s high school courtship. Among other things.

And while you're at it, please note that Semisonic's "Closing Time" came well after Nirvana. So... using it as background / sweetening music in a montage before Homer apparently invents grunge music doesn't work. However the parodies of Nirvana and Bush songs were nice.

Seriously, though, now that the series is so old that flashing back to just before Bart was born puts the series after the start of its run... just don't do it.

Playing Catch Up

Having now caught up on The Wire (through last Sunday's episode), what's really impressed me about the three episodes to far this season is the show's ability to service a truly astounding number of characters while connecting stories that chart back through the first season... plus seeming to bring the second season back into the fray! Beattie (Amy Ryan)! The Greek!

In that spirit, I must ask... where are Prez and Bunny?

Man, season four still brings tears to my eyes.

Ugh, I've spent much of the last few days in seclusion (a combination of attempting to finish work on some projects and strike-inspired antisocial...-ism? -ness?). Plus my ratings source was sick and thus I wasn't getting nationals, meaning nothing to report. Hopefully I'll be getting stuff on time (not to mention waking up on time), since I'll be posting the prelims at PIFeedback.com for Marc Berman while he's in NATPE (fingers crossed).

Moving on to this week's TV (bottom line: not enough to tide me over through a hopeful-May/probable-September). Seriously, I looked at what's scheduled to record for the next 10 days (most shows are in repeats/skips this week... how much can I not wait for Lost's return???) I'm this close to recording Lipstick Jungle on February 7th simply because it'll be on...

Anyway, I'll probably miss some stuff, so... forgive me?

Friday Night Lights: You know, I don't post thoughts on FNL enough. The 2008 string of episode have really been so back-in-form that I (sorta) haven't missed the football games. Nice to have volleyball and some good, fun Tyra action in this episode. And how much fun is Matt Czuchry as something other than a Huntzberger? Not sure how many episodes are left... wonder if we'll actually be able to see any real fallout from Smash not eating his episode-title-humble-pie. He apparently attended the Ben Silverman school of how to talk to journalists.

Chuck: What can really be said about these two episodes except... Chuck, I'll miss you most of all (now that you're out of episodes). Come back soon! Please?

Ugly Betty: Gene Simmons can't be Amanda's father. It's way too easy (although, very, very, very fun to have "It's Mandy, Bitch" rocking out with the IRS). Not that we should really put stock in what any TV psychic played by Annie Potts has to say, but she did say "the kiss will lead [Amanda] to [her] father." So... where was Gene taking our Mandy? I couldn't care less about what Wilhelmina's sister's secret is. And someone needs to remind the writers (when they return) that Betty has a family, and they used to have plots of their own.

Big Shots: It's over. I'm pretty sure I can delete it from my FauxVo/TiFaux's fake Season Pass.

Make Me A Supermodel: The reviewer at Zap2it.com misses the point of the show's title. The "Make" isn't about the judges creating a supermodel (and while there was no instruction in this episode, they did have runway sessions in the first two... they also had the good-to-know measurement system to track fitness). The "Make" is about the viewer vote. Though I do agree on the point that the show is too slow moving and we don't get a real look at the "characters" (as I noted last week, I get it because of the rush-job the show's post-production schedule requires... it would be too difficult to include non-task related stories from the time between putting wannamodels up for elimination and the elimination ceremony). Man, if Frankie (tres annoying, no?) were up for elimination this week, he'd be so very gone. I sincerely hope that Jay leaves this week because I like both Aryn (she is part of the hilarious extra-marital Ronnie/Ben/Aryn sandwich... oh, dear, I wonder what Ben's wife thinks...) and Holly (in the words of Roxette, she's got the look).

American Idol: Zzzzz. What a terrible week of auditions. "Limited" by the one-hour running time each night, the show failed to feature much real talent, and the "freak" portions weren't even that terribly funny (more of just terrible). Ordinarily I'd be really happy about Idol's ratings decline... but not so much this season (no, I don't have money on it... yet...) With Idol no longer breaking 30 million viewers, it points to really, really bad signs about broadcasting television in general. We're pretty much guaranteed a post-strike world were the networks act more like cable and ordering precious few pilots to series (ordering, perhaps, more scripts of pilot scripts they like before giving the series order) and far smaller writing staffs on shows (so, yay to being a baby writer). Though, perhaps, a new development system will help Hollywood inch closer to being a meritocracy instead of a place where the shit and the gold both float to the top (and you know it does in the current system). I'm getting away from myself here... and with my foot squarely secured in my mouth.

Project Runway: Oh, Ricky. You cry even when you're complimented. You should've been booted episodes ago. Anyway, do we hear me complaining about Victorya getting auf'd?

Nip/Tuck: What's really left to say about this show? I wasn't even aware the show had set this episode up as a "we're going to kill someone" episode. So the (I guess) fake-outs with Julia's illness only bothered me inasmuch as they were just... blech. Shame the bring Gina back for two episodes (and to only have her serve as a plot device to wedge in between Christian and Julia) and kill her. Although I was definitely surprised by it. And a bit put off by the over-black "This is love" echo.

Oh, Oscar

Oh, my, something to distract me from the strike! And what a something!

Loving that the Oscar nominations fell head over feet for the deserving Michael Clayton, which managed to be completely ignored by the Golden Globes (blech, anyway) and by the American public, thanks to an odd release date and possibly the least engaging title ever for what turns out to be an incredibly engaging movie.

Also, take a look at this:

Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Transformers.
Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, There Will Be Blood, Transformers.
And you wonder why people get the categories confused (let alone know what either job is)!?

Cheers:
- Juno goes into the Oscars as the biggest box office draw of the Best Picture nominees. Gotta love the division of/schism between art and commerce.
- Despite being ignored elsewhere, Once is nominated in the original song category for "Falling Slowly" (swoon).
- Hopefully Amy Adams will perform some of the three nominated songs from Enchanted. Would love to see the special, Oscar-telecast staged version of "That's How You Know".
- Lots of love for Rataloutille all over the place (except it's relegated to Best Animated Feature, and can't crack into the Best Picture race).

Jeers:
- Double nominee Cate Blanchette gets Best Lead Actress love for Elizabeth II, a role she won the Oscar with years ago, but for a far worse film (and it wasn't really adding that much to the previous performance). I'm fine with her nomination for Best Supporting Actress in I'm Not There... but spread the love! The only nominations E2 should've gotten where in the artsy technical categories (which it would deserve, completely, since it was a beautiful-to-behold film). Despite my issues with the second half of Atonement, I'm surprised to see its two leads (James McEvoy and, especially, Keira Knightley) shut out. Or, even better, how about a nomination for the, er, enchanting Amy Adams?
- Surf's Up in the animated feature category... what of The Simpsons Movie? At least it makes it easier to only have to try and decide between two films: Ratatouille and Persepolis.
- A nomination for Norbit!? NORBIT is an Oscar-nominated film (for Make-up)!?!?!?
- Only one nomination for Charlie Wilson's War? This was a fantastic film. Sorkin doing what Sorkin does best. At least they got the nomination right... Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole every scene he was in.

Breaking Bad

Even having watch the premiere now, I still don't know how I feel about this show. Bryan Cranston gets to shine... but it's a dramedy that plays its comedic moments with the speed of a straight drama. And I don't know about investing in the show. I feel like it's trying to be a "kinda different" version of Weeds, but the Showtime show is much better paced (as a dramatic half-hour comedy, rather than an occasionally-comedic hour-long drama).

A talk with my parents

I spoke with my folks today about the WGA strike. It disturbs me that the outside world must surely share their view, as their opinions have been formed by mainstream media. Those opinions are:
- The DGA deal is a good one for writers, because it is a deal.
- Should the WGA negotiating committee not be able to hammer out a deal with the AMPTP now that negotiations seem to be back on the horizon, the WGA is on the verge of being busted because countless members are going to break off from it (go fi-core, though they don't know what it means).

In truth, the DGA deal may be a decent one for directors, I can't judge.

However, any real advances they made (specifically "distributor's gross") are because of the writers going on strike. In a universe where the writers hadn't gone on strike in November, the DGA does not make nearly this good a deal.

As for what the WGA gets now? Yes, the DGA deal will be a template used by the AMPTP in negotiations (which will hopefully be in good faith). At least they're talking however I've seen this effective union-busting technique before, and I'm not fooled by it. Am I cautiously optimistic that the WGA and AMPTP are talking? Hell yes. Am I at the same time worried that this is another feint by the AMPTP to send the WGA membership on a rollercoaster, giving a brief moment of "OMG, there's hope on the horizon" only to pull the rug out from under us by not negotiating in good faith (although with the exception of union-busting, there is no longer any financial reason for the studios to not bargain in good faith with the WGA... the overall deals have been severed, development slates are being cut down, some of 2009's features are starting to feel the burden).

Anyway, whatever the WGA gets now is primarily because we went on strike, and not because of the DGA deal.

Should there not be a deal made (in a timely manner), though? I don't see this ridiculous massive fi-core split. I don't know a single writer contemplating it. I don't know anyone who knows anyone. I don't know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone. Somehow, John Ridley going fi-core has let the mass media spin it out that there's a schism or giant contingent in the WGA that will do the same, when the truth is simply that a lot of writers (specifically, and as reported in the trades and media, a group of showrunners) are voicing their concerns to the guild leadership that a deal be made. Because if it's not made in this coming negotiating session, then there's no chance of getting anything else out of this TV season and pilot season (as diminished as it is) will be forfeit. It's TV writers "pressuring" the guild and the reason should be self-evident.

But the guild can't fold and take the DGA deal. It doesn't work for writers. They can't take just any deal, especially not after a hard-fought eleven-week(-plus?) strike. The deal has to work for writers and it can't be a bad deal. The WGA made a bad deal in 1988. Once burned, twice shy. And in this New Media fight, the WGA (and its membership) should know that making a bad deal isn't going to help the industry because if the WGA makes a bad deal, come July SAG will be on strike. It's not like we're going back to work without a stoppage for the next 20 years provided just any deal gets made.

At this point, though, I'm not sure what a "great" deal for the WGA looks like... I don't even know what a "good" deal looks like. The question I really have is... what will settle the strike? What deal terms? I'm excited to see (because I want to get back to work).

Which my parents understand. After I explained it to them. But I worry that because of the perception the media has been putting out there (DGA deal should be taken by WGA, WGA strike had nothing to do with DGA getting a good deal, WGA may break if no deal is made), if the WGA does not make a deal... the massively pro-WGA public opinion, a war that the WGA actually has been winning, will start to wane.

There was something on TV besides football?

The Amazing Race finale: The finale already!? Ugh, they need to run this series twice a year. Anyways... without spoiling it (sort of?) the least objectionable team won. It was difficult to watch this season's finale because I wasn't actively rooting for or against the whole of any of the teams.

Breaking Bad: Haven't watched yet.

Sigh, no new Brothers & Sisters until February 10th (and then the last one on the 17th).

Hm

Saw Cloverfield last night, so too tired(ish) to do a full recap of last night's TV that I watched (basically... Ugly Betty good, Big Shots quite a bit of fun when in the Duncan and Brody storylines).

I'm a bit disappointed that Make Me A Supermodel skips right from the end of one episode with elimination at stake to 4-5 mornings later when one of the wannamodels is eliminated. I want to know what they do in the interim! Although that certainly would make the process of editing the show together harder (having to find stories over 4-5 days of non-eventful filming and cut 'em up and stick 'em on the air in under two weeks). I guess all they do is shop, eat, and work out? Anyway, this week was makeovers, and it didn't exactly have the flair and craziness of a Top Model makeover episode... which I think is actually good because it wasn't changing the models to Tyra Banks' evil whim so much as it seemed to be about helping the models (only one went completely away from her natural hair color). The weekly/episodic measurements are definitely the show's most unique point (other than having the elimination at the top of the episode... which they string out to like 5 minutes... ugh... what at are they going to do for the finale?) The weight/inches gain/loss in various areas and the reminders to lose weight/inches healthily is good... but without showing the viewer the interim days between putting models up for elimination and eliminating them, we don't actually get to see how/why these people are gaining/losing weight/inches.

DGA makes a deal

Alright, the DGA is done. Now let's see this deal's terms, see if they can help bridge the gap between the AMPTP and the WGA (and SAG), and get back to the negotiating table.

I'm hesitant to get too optimistic are near-future progress. Remember, part of the strategy of union breaking in the time of a strike is causing a rollercoaster of emotions... hope, despair, hope, despair, etc.

Some terms of the deal can be found via this DGA fact sheet.

My thoughts...

- New Media jurisdiction... a given necessity. So yay. The exceptions seem acceptable, but then again I have no idea what things like the Lost: Missing Pieces clips cost to produce so... I can't weigh in legitimately on that stuff.
- Electronic Sell-Through... I think the WGA is going to want more than what the DGA got on this, as it's only slightly above the DVD rate (and the increased rates only kick in after a certain number of downloads). I think the WGA will still ask for more because this isn't as important to the DGA as it is to the WGA, as many members in the DGA are ADs and do not receive residuals. I've no clue how many copies of even the most popular series are downloaded, as that information has never been released (for instance... even though Gossip Girl episodes are constantly the top downloads on iTunes TV Store... how many copies are being sold?)
- HOWEVER... payments for EST are based on distributor's gross. That is essential (and the AMPTP told the WGA it needed off the table before negotiations could resume was also accepted). It seems as though the "Fair Market Value" provision that the AMPTP wanted to do away with is in the deal as well, as the DGA will have access, through this deal, to financial data.
- Ad-Supported Streaming... that should be acceptable to the WGA. The WGA wanted, I believe, a three-day free streaming window before residuals kicked in, while the AMPTP wanted a six-week window. Seventeen days is pretty much in the middle (and the 3% rate is actually more than the 2.5% WGA was asking for... though the DGA seems to have agreed to a flat rate based on time the program is available to stream, while the WGA had proposed a tier-by-viewing-levels system). The extra week for new programs actually does make sense under "promotional use" thinking.

I'm sure there's plenty of fine print in the actual contract document that isn't summarized, so all of this is "on first, surface blush" reaction.

The DGA deal of course doesn't have anything about reality or animated directing... the DGA already has reality directors in its union (i'm 99% sure). Not sure about animation. Those two jurisdictional questions, the WGA has said, are not blockers to a deal in case they need to be taken off the table (and under proper organization, those writers can become part of the WGA through other ways).

Crap, I'm optimistic.

...

And with the AMPTP statement including "we invite the Writers Guild of America..." rhetoric, sigh, I wonder if the PR war of words is really over.

Idol Auditions night two

I find it interesting that, for me, the many of the impressive featured auditions have been hot white, blonde women (especially in light of the ranting Faux Leia at the end of last night's premiere... but she had gross arm hair and couldn't sing, so who cares).

But I have to give my props to the standout, for my anyway, of the night, which was farm boy Drew Poppelreiter. Cute, polite, innocent, and a nice country voice. I hope he goes far, despite the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of country music. So precious! While I think Simon was right about a lack of "wow" in the performance, it was so simple and smooth that I would've been really disappointed with a "no" for Drew.