Reality to Earth . . . Did I just hear you right? You're bringing back WHAT?
I know things are going badly over at NBC (The president of entertainment at the network as much as said so to reporters on Friday), but when you hear something like this one brainstorm you wonder if somebody's leg was being pulled right out of its socket in the meeting during which this idea came up.
Then you do a little research and realize they're taking it seriously and seem to be suggesting you might want to do so as well. The NBC network is reaching back into television's spoof-laden past to come up with . . . Drumroll please . . . A "visually spectacular reinvention" of "The Munsters" as an hour long drama. (I believe, given the fact it's being woven together by Brian Fuller (!), the same character who worked on the late, lamented "Pushing Daisies", and Bryan Singer (!!), who led the X-Men onto the screen, a dramedy with a bit of action is a more likely outcome.)
That's "The Munsters", folks. If you have any connection to a place where syndicated TV shows filled part of your childhood, you probably remember them. The show had two singularly goofy seasons on CBS in the 60's, along with a few movies and telemovies, and a late 80's syndicated reboot to its name. This came with the aid of a rather genial group of actors in classic movie monster make-up, interacting blithely with the 'normal' societies they were wrapped up in.
Sometimes lately I watch television with the same fascination some people watch auto races; to see when things go spectacularly wrong. NBC as of late qualifies as an auto race in which the track is littered with wreckage while some of the pit teams seem to have been diverting ideas from the main grid and saving the entertaining stuff for USA Network, where the short-season programming and the odd fun concepts NBCUniversal are generating seem to be doing a hell of a lot better than what's being splashed out onto the senior circuit. Perhaps they should be getting this one instead of the network, or it should be sent to one of their other wings, SyFy, as it would be the only way to assure the show would last long enough into the slash-and-burn festival NBC calls a television season to find out what they've gotten themselves into.
Are the networks running out of ideas? It's a good question without a definitive answer, but "Grandpa" Al Lewis standing down in his dungeon and mixing various potions might never have reached for an ingredient like this to throw into the mix. In any event, stay tuned ladies and gentlemen. Whether it makes sense or not, it's happening. I only shudder to think what's next.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Is it Over Yet? A Holiday Primer
Happy New Year, all. It's January 3rd, ladies and gentlemen. The hangovers of the world, both liquor-driven and holiday-prompted, should have faded by now enough to get back to whatever it is you do best, whether student or office drone; outdoors, indoors or behind closed doors.
In the world of commerce, it's been a better year for the shopkeeper, most especially if he or she is working at a distance from the consumers they've been courting. More people have been using the internet as an option, and while many use it as a convenience, I find there's a considerably larger reason for using the shipping departments of the world to handle Holiday Shopping; a reason which, had it existed in the 1840's, would have scared Ebeneezer Scrooge out of his mind in a way the three ghosts of Christmas never could have . . . And probably for the worse.
The opening of the shopping season has been, for the past few years, the scene of cavalry charges at the openings of stores which make "The Valley of Death" the "600" rode into look like Sunday afternoon on a merry-go-round. When people start talking about injuries and death tolls, something's wrong here, folks. There have been instances in the past few years where some loose end was carrying, and I don't mean boxes and bows, and someone was shot as a result. K-Mart has had to change its way of doing business since one of their people died in a stampede (Humans, not cattle) in 2008.
The latest example of this holiday spirit involved $180 sneakers, the Air Jordan XI's, where fights broke out in at least ten states where the footwear went on sale, with subsequent E-Bay resales tripling the price.
Seeing the holidays the way they're currently run, I have no doubt the old man would have sent Tiny Tim a check via Paypal, his family a turkey via Peapod and other gifts via Amazon, e-mailed Cratchit his promotion and raise with a request he run the office, and then crawled under the comforter on his four-post bed to await the ghost of Christmas yet to come. If he made it through to New Year's Eve, he would have needed to keep off the roads on Amateur Night, when most of those who drive shouldn't, especially drunk.
As is to be expected, most of us live to tell the tales of Christmas and New Year's, both good and ill. Let's get back to whatever it is we do well with the understanding that this year, maybe we'll do it a little better. It's quite possible . . . Even in a election year.
In the world of commerce, it's been a better year for the shopkeeper, most especially if he or she is working at a distance from the consumers they've been courting. More people have been using the internet as an option, and while many use it as a convenience, I find there's a considerably larger reason for using the shipping departments of the world to handle Holiday Shopping; a reason which, had it existed in the 1840's, would have scared Ebeneezer Scrooge out of his mind in a way the three ghosts of Christmas never could have . . . And probably for the worse.
The opening of the shopping season has been, for the past few years, the scene of cavalry charges at the openings of stores which make "The Valley of Death" the "600" rode into look like Sunday afternoon on a merry-go-round. When people start talking about injuries and death tolls, something's wrong here, folks. There have been instances in the past few years where some loose end was carrying, and I don't mean boxes and bows, and someone was shot as a result. K-Mart has had to change its way of doing business since one of their people died in a stampede (Humans, not cattle) in 2008.
The latest example of this holiday spirit involved $180 sneakers, the Air Jordan XI's, where fights broke out in at least ten states where the footwear went on sale, with subsequent E-Bay resales tripling the price.
Seeing the holidays the way they're currently run, I have no doubt the old man would have sent Tiny Tim a check via Paypal, his family a turkey via Peapod and other gifts via Amazon, e-mailed Cratchit his promotion and raise with a request he run the office, and then crawled under the comforter on his four-post bed to await the ghost of Christmas yet to come. If he made it through to New Year's Eve, he would have needed to keep off the roads on Amateur Night, when most of those who drive shouldn't, especially drunk.
As is to be expected, most of us live to tell the tales of Christmas and New Year's, both good and ill. Let's get back to whatever it is we do well with the understanding that this year, maybe we'll do it a little better. It's quite possible . . . Even in a election year.
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