Good Morning America has jumped the shark with the addition of George Stephanopoulos and the loss of Chris Cuomo. Chris was already a much better fit with the happy happy joy joy morning atmosphere and his presence is missed!
George is just stiff as a board. He doesn't seem comfortable unless discussing politics.
But the thing that KILLS me is that George is short. It does not bother me one iota that George is short but the jumping the shark comes in with the way GMA tries to HIDE that George is short. They try to do this with trick photography.
They make the Amazon Goddess, Robin Roberts stand a few feet behind George when they are photographed in the crowd. If they turned to face each other and walked forward, they would simply pass each other!
ABC really missed the mark on this addition and has ruined a good morning show.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Jump the Shark | The Unit
It was October 20, 2008 when I realized one of my favorite shows, The Unit, had jumped the Shark. It's gone now, but is was this show that made me realize that good shows go bad all the time!
The Unit was created by writer extraordinaire David Mamet... although I feel I must be totally honest and credit him with the ONLY movie I've ever walked out of and demanded a refund! (Glengarry Glenross - five minutes of grown men doing nothing more than shouting "F*&( you!" "No, F*&( YOU!" does not exactly move a plot along in my book. I got my refund, leaving my friends in the theatre and spent my time at Pink's Hot Dogs reading a book!)
The show got off to a promising start. Starring one of my favorite actors, Dennis Haysbert, as the leader of a top secret Special Forces unit based on the book Delta Force. The storyline contrasts the issues of the wives with those of the men who are often away on "save the free world" missions.
The men of the cast include are rock solid and believable and most are known (such as Scott Foley and Robert Patrick) or at least known faces. The women, less so, with the exception of the always classy Regina Taylor, wife to Haysbert's character. The one actor underutilized is Michael Irby. He's very talented but with no female counter-part on the show, he doesn't get as much screen time.
The Unit has been exciting in the first three seasons but this last one really blows! I blame it on the women. I'm sure portraying life on an army base may not be that exciting but the story lines only touched on a few of the problems real women in these positions may face - like how to pay for food for your kids when your husband's check is lost or how to make friends when you can't talk about your husband's job.
From a production standpoint, telling the women's stories is probably way more cost effective. Shot on sound stages, no location fees, no special effects. If the show were all about the men (which would be fine by me), it would cost significantly more to make.
This season (#4), they've created a ruse to get rid of the youngest children in the show and move the women across country under the guise of great danger and every episode has them stretching the truth and getting into more and more perilous situations. Ah, ah, ahbull shitchoo. Excuse me!
If real "terrorists" were after the women of the most elite of our armed forces, I'm certain the powers that be would not ship them across country, off- base and leave them to their own devices. And what of those poor little kids shipped off to grandma's??? Would they really be safe there??? Come on!
And as for plausibility... one of the things I hate most is contradiction. Don't say one thing and do another. Last night's episode had an all time classic - but I'm saving that for another post on things that drive me nuts in films! I'll use another show for an example: Friends. I love that show - for the most part. I try to see at least part of an episode before falling asleep... what's better than going to sleep happy??? But the whole Chandler / Monica love affair thing makes me crazy. While the character of Chandler was never the Lothario that Joey's character was... he slept with plenty of women in the show's early days. But suddenly, he hooks up with Monica and he's some dweeb who's only slept with two women and Monica is one of them! What the f*&(????
Watching The Unit last night really made me sad. They've taken a thrilling show and they are turning it into drivel and there's plenty of that already!
The Unit was created by writer extraordinaire David Mamet... although I feel I must be totally honest and credit him with the ONLY movie I've ever walked out of and demanded a refund! (Glengarry Glenross - five minutes of grown men doing nothing more than shouting "F*&( you!" "No, F*&( YOU!" does not exactly move a plot along in my book. I got my refund, leaving my friends in the theatre and spent my time at Pink's Hot Dogs reading a book!)
The show got off to a promising start. Starring one of my favorite actors, Dennis Haysbert, as the leader of a top secret Special Forces unit based on the book Delta Force. The storyline contrasts the issues of the wives with those of the men who are often away on "save the free world" missions.
The men of the cast include are rock solid and believable and most are known (such as Scott Foley and Robert Patrick) or at least known faces. The women, less so, with the exception of the always classy Regina Taylor, wife to Haysbert's character. The one actor underutilized is Michael Irby. He's very talented but with no female counter-part on the show, he doesn't get as much screen time.
The Unit has been exciting in the first three seasons but this last one really blows! I blame it on the women. I'm sure portraying life on an army base may not be that exciting but the story lines only touched on a few of the problems real women in these positions may face - like how to pay for food for your kids when your husband's check is lost or how to make friends when you can't talk about your husband's job.
From a production standpoint, telling the women's stories is probably way more cost effective. Shot on sound stages, no location fees, no special effects. If the show were all about the men (which would be fine by me), it would cost significantly more to make.
This season (#4), they've created a ruse to get rid of the youngest children in the show and move the women across country under the guise of great danger and every episode has them stretching the truth and getting into more and more perilous situations. Ah, ah, ahbull shitchoo. Excuse me!
If real "terrorists" were after the women of the most elite of our armed forces, I'm certain the powers that be would not ship them across country, off- base and leave them to their own devices. And what of those poor little kids shipped off to grandma's??? Would they really be safe there??? Come on!
And as for plausibility... one of the things I hate most is contradiction. Don't say one thing and do another. Last night's episode had an all time classic - but I'm saving that for another post on things that drive me nuts in films! I'll use another show for an example: Friends. I love that show - for the most part. I try to see at least part of an episode before falling asleep... what's better than going to sleep happy??? But the whole Chandler / Monica love affair thing makes me crazy. While the character of Chandler was never the Lothario that Joey's character was... he slept with plenty of women in the show's early days. But suddenly, he hooks up with Monica and he's some dweeb who's only slept with two women and Monica is one of them! What the f*&(????
Watching The Unit last night really made me sad. They've taken a thrilling show and they are turning it into drivel and there's plenty of that already!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Jump the Shark | So Why Blog About It?
http://www.amazon.com/Indiana-Jones-Last-Crusade-Poster/dp/B0016DBUSQWhy write a blog about Jumping the Shark?? Because good things go bad every day! If Indiana Jones can jump the shark, why can't I???
Seriously, there's so much entertainment out there that starts out great and...gets lost along the way and I thought it would be fun to take a look at current shows and revisit some oldies but goodies!
Seriously, there's so much entertainment out there that starts out great and...gets lost along the way and I thought it would be fun to take a look at current shows and revisit some oldies but goodies!
Jump the Shark - How It All Started
Yes, it's all Fonzie's fault - the jump the shark business.The show was Happy Days and it aired in September 1977. The successful show was entering it's fifth season and as t.v. shows were apt to do in those days, they used the summer break to film on "location." That term is used loosely here because the show was set in Milwaukee but filmed in Los Angeles.
In that episode, the Fonz a/k/a Arthur Fonzarelli, the epitome of cool was asked to jump a confined shark while wearing his trademark leather jacket, swim trunks and water skis. I was a kid at the time and even I knew something was rotten about this episode.
Why on earth would such a cool guy need to prove his bravery??? And...jumping a shark??? REALLY???
But it marked the creation of a new American idiom. Whenever something wonderful has peaked and turned downhill, we say it's jumped the shark.
As a t.v. and movie buff, I hope to share many more crucial moments of shark jumping.
In that episode, the Fonz a/k/a Arthur Fonzarelli, the epitome of cool was asked to jump a confined shark while wearing his trademark leather jacket, swim trunks and water skis. I was a kid at the time and even I knew something was rotten about this episode.
Why on earth would such a cool guy need to prove his bravery??? And...jumping a shark??? REALLY???
But it marked the creation of a new American idiom. Whenever something wonderful has peaked and turned downhill, we say it's jumped the shark.
As a t.v. and movie buff, I hope to share many more crucial moments of shark jumping.
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