I must be a sucker...
There are some TV shows I just can't stop watching. As much as I know I should be doing something else, anything else with my time, I just need my weekly fix! And I don't mean I can't quit them, as in having a nicotine induced fog over my head, hindering my judgment, where I fool myself into thinking these shows are great. To the best of my knowledge, the offending shows are, simply, okay, and I know it. Nevertheless, I tune in, download, and drop onto the sofa everytime a new episode is ready.
I suppose I'll name a few of the shows in question, though I'm sure I can apply this rant to almost everything on TV. Over the past few years, I can attribute spending countless hours (well, actually, I can count them), to watching 24. Also, though it's took me watching the show up to the third season to actually get into it, the L-WORD has me in it's grasp. And there are others. Many, others...
For the L-WORD, I wasn't a fan when the show started. There was no way that this show was truly the voice of a minority! It seemed too contrived, it's characters so archetypal to the point of obvious predictability, every aspect of the show precisely calculated to perform a specific way on the small screen. A ever so slightly faded xerox of other shows gunning for that niche market, that have proven to be successful. The L-WORD sported in my humble opinion some lame ass dialogue. And speaking as straight dude (who for reasons only known to the architects of the heterosexual male mind, normally enjoy viewing a little girl on girl action), seriously, even the ample scenes of nice looking women having at it wasn't worth the price of admission. That price, having to sit through the rest of the tripe.
That said, I enjoy my girl's company, so much so, that if she loves the L-WORD, to spend that time with her, I will "enjoy" the L-WORD. And "enjoy" I have, for 3 seasons. But now, for some reason, I'm hooked. I look forward to knowing what happens in this mystical world of lesbians, that is the L-WORD.
I can only theorize that after say, watching a show for at least 20 or so hours, you actually get engaged, and attached to the characters. You start, in a sense, caring for them, and regardless of the bad writing, contrived situations and predictable plots, you have to know what happens to them.
Take soap operas for example. Nothing really happens. Sure the odd person dies, a man becomes a woman, and some dude marries his cousin, but there is no real development, at least in terms of the characters. Yet, they rake in the audiences on a daily basis.
The same can be said of the half hour sitcom. The entire idea behind the sitcom, is that a situation that is problematic presents itself, and in 20 minutes, it's resolved, and the world keeps turning. But because we get into the characters, we care, and we have to know that they are all right. Look at FRIENDS, specifically. How can a show last for 10 years, even though next to nothing happens. You can count on one hand the major turning points of over 200 episodes. Each character had their role, and rarely did they deviate from this set path. But people had to watch, just in case. Imagine if a hardcore fan got tired, and stopped watching in season 9. The sad sack would have totally missed Ross and Rachel finally getting together!
So basically, despite the accepted fact that very little development occurs in most shows, we, the suckers stick around, just in case.
I mentioned 24. This show, while it does have it's characters take baby steps in development, the characters are pretty much hardwired with their specified traits and roles, all of which are designed to move the plot along, which is the real star of the show. Watching 2 over the years, it's plain that the plot sort of follows the same path, each player does what they normally do, with only a few variable changed. Bauer will always be captain America. CTU will always be split between those who support Bauer, and those who don't. I could go on.
And I keep going on, watching the show, though I could probably tell you what's going to happen before it happens. I need to make sure my favourite people make it through, or maybe someone who I though had met their demise last season could suddenly resurface. You never know.
Yes, I can admit it, I am a sucker for these, and other shows. But I admit it. That's good, right?
ADC
Leave comments at:
www.mydestroyer.com
All text (c) 2006 Arthur Dela Cruz
www.kissingchaos.com
I suppose I'll name a few of the shows in question, though I'm sure I can apply this rant to almost everything on TV. Over the past few years, I can attribute spending countless hours (well, actually, I can count them), to watching 24. Also, though it's took me watching the show up to the third season to actually get into it, the L-WORD has me in it's grasp. And there are others. Many, others...
For the L-WORD, I wasn't a fan when the show started. There was no way that this show was truly the voice of a minority! It seemed too contrived, it's characters so archetypal to the point of obvious predictability, every aspect of the show precisely calculated to perform a specific way on the small screen. A ever so slightly faded xerox of other shows gunning for that niche market, that have proven to be successful. The L-WORD sported in my humble opinion some lame ass dialogue. And speaking as straight dude (who for reasons only known to the architects of the heterosexual male mind, normally enjoy viewing a little girl on girl action), seriously, even the ample scenes of nice looking women having at it wasn't worth the price of admission. That price, having to sit through the rest of the tripe.
That said, I enjoy my girl's company, so much so, that if she loves the L-WORD, to spend that time with her, I will "enjoy" the L-WORD. And "enjoy" I have, for 3 seasons. But now, for some reason, I'm hooked. I look forward to knowing what happens in this mystical world of lesbians, that is the L-WORD.
I can only theorize that after say, watching a show for at least 20 or so hours, you actually get engaged, and attached to the characters. You start, in a sense, caring for them, and regardless of the bad writing, contrived situations and predictable plots, you have to know what happens to them.
Take soap operas for example. Nothing really happens. Sure the odd person dies, a man becomes a woman, and some dude marries his cousin, but there is no real development, at least in terms of the characters. Yet, they rake in the audiences on a daily basis.
The same can be said of the half hour sitcom. The entire idea behind the sitcom, is that a situation that is problematic presents itself, and in 20 minutes, it's resolved, and the world keeps turning. But because we get into the characters, we care, and we have to know that they are all right. Look at FRIENDS, specifically. How can a show last for 10 years, even though next to nothing happens. You can count on one hand the major turning points of over 200 episodes. Each character had their role, and rarely did they deviate from this set path. But people had to watch, just in case. Imagine if a hardcore fan got tired, and stopped watching in season 9. The sad sack would have totally missed Ross and Rachel finally getting together!
So basically, despite the accepted fact that very little development occurs in most shows, we, the suckers stick around, just in case.
I mentioned 24. This show, while it does have it's characters take baby steps in development, the characters are pretty much hardwired with their specified traits and roles, all of which are designed to move the plot along, which is the real star of the show. Watching 2 over the years, it's plain that the plot sort of follows the same path, each player does what they normally do, with only a few variable changed. Bauer will always be captain America. CTU will always be split between those who support Bauer, and those who don't. I could go on.
And I keep going on, watching the show, though I could probably tell you what's going to happen before it happens. I need to make sure my favourite people make it through, or maybe someone who I though had met their demise last season could suddenly resurface. You never know.
Yes, I can admit it, I am a sucker for these, and other shows. But I admit it. That's good, right?
ADC
Leave comments at:
www.mydestroyer.com
All text (c) 2006 Arthur Dela Cruz
www.kissingchaos.com
posted by ADC at 8:08 AM
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