The TV Networks are Superfluous to the User Generated Video Movement

Variety is reporting that ABC is “hoping to reinvent the newsmagazine for the YouTube generation with a show produced by ABC News but based on user-generated video.” 

i-Caught, a new show with a Web 2.0 worthy and grammatically challenged name, will get a six-week run on ABC starting August  6.  If it does well, it might return midseason.

It won’t do well for one reason.  ABC, and the other TV networks, are superfluous to the user generated video movement.  YouTube, Google, the blogosphere and hordes of other online media hubs already constitute a distributed video on demand system that exists without the need for a traditional broadcast medium.

ABC brings nothing to the table users can’t get elsewhere, whenever they want it, and generally without all the advertising.

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Firefly is a Great Series

fireflytvI just started watching the Firefly season one and only DVDs.  This is a great show- one of many great shows that seem to get cancelled too soon.

It’s odd, since Firefly is a science fiction show, but it reminds me more than a little of Deadwood.  The music is very similar.  The titles are similar, and the cinematography is similar.  There are horses in both opening credits.

David Boyd is the cinematographer for both.

I highly recommend Firefly.  It’s available via Amazon and Netflix.

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Jericho- Looks Very Promising

 

jericho

I just watched the series premiere of Jericho, and so far I’d say it is shaping up to be a great show.  Lots of good stuff in the first episode- that was an intense moment when they realized that Atlanta had been blown up too.

Most shows I like (Surface, Invasion, Threshold, etc.) get canceled almost immediately, so I hope I’m not cursing this show, but I am looking forward to it.

TVSquad has a mixed, but mostly positive review.

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11 Teams I’d Love to See on the Amazing Race

Darren Rowse has announced another group writing project, this time with prizes. The challenge is to write a list post. So I’m going to turn a post I’ve been working on for a while into a list post and see if I can win me a prize.

I admit it, I dig the Amazing Race. I thought BJ and Tyler were great and I’m glad they won.

Now I want Phil and company to do a Blogosphere Edition. It would be high entertainment, even if nobody ever made it to the finish line. Here are the teams.

1. Randy Morin and Robert Gale. The fun brokers as a team would be the new BJ and Tyler, plus they would be good for about 4 belly laughs a show. Plus if they ended up in Wales, wherever that is, Robert could read the signs.

2. Henry Blodgett and Larry Page. They could travel in Larry’s party plane and Henry could explain to him why it, like Google, is a bad investment.

3. Om Malik and Carrot Top. They’re both into phones. Plus Carrot Top knows how to fly.

4. Mathew Ingram and Dave Winer. Since Dave probably invented the Amazing Race years ago, he would know how to beat the system. And if not, he would be happy just beating on Mathew.

5. Thomas Hawk and Jill Greenberg. At some point during the race, Jill would burst into tears and Thomas could take pictures. And sell them.

6. Chris Anderson and Lee Gomes. Maybe there would be stops in Manila and the Congo, where Lee could treat Chris to a rematch.

7. Ken Leebow and Snoop Dogg. As they race around the world, Snoop could teach Ken how to really talk like a gangsta.

8. Robert Scoble and Ze Frank. Being teammates would allow Robert to fawn over Ze Frank in person (now I’m never going to get back on Scoble’s reading list).

9. Mike Arrington and Nick Douglas. For obvious reasons.

10. Kevin Hales and Tom Morris. Their arguments about politics alone would be Emmy material. They wouldn’t make it from the starting point to their car, but a show on CNN would be waiting for them when they got back.

11. Jason Calacanis and his dog. I don’t mean Steve Case, I mean his other one. The one that is on his blog and plays the Joe C. role at blog star parties.

It’s a tough race to handicap. Om and Carrot Top, Mike and Nick and Kevin and Tom would be longshots. Jason couldn’t carry his dog the way he carries AOL so they’d be out pretty early. Mathew and Dave might do OK as long as Dave focused on fighting with Mathew and not assorted taxi drivers and ticket agents. Snoop would put a cap in Ken the second time he used the word yo or peeps. Jill would decide that Thomas is exploiting her by taking pictures and quit somewhere in Yugoslavia. Chris and Lee would get lost on a deserted road somewhere.

I’d have to call it a toss-up between the fun brokers, Henry and Larry, and Robert and Ze Frank.

Sounds like a race to me.

Anyone have any additional teams they’d like to propose?

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Dwight is Right

Dwight Silverman has come around to my way of thinking about Battlestar Galactica.

I just saw an extended preview of the forthcoming season while watching the first episode of Eureka, and it gave me chills. I watched the preview 3 times in a row.

Here it is for your viewing pleasure. Here’s the link for the RSS feed.

The Sci-Fi Channel has announced a spin-off prequel, which I am looking forward to.

If you haven’t seen Battlestar Galactica, you are lucky, because you have a treat in store.

The Year of the Westerns

gunsmoke-721467I came across this neat site (but they need to lose the lame pop-up ads), which tells you the top rated TV shows for any year from 1950 to 2000. I was born in 1960, which seems to have been the year of the western. Maybe that explains why I like them so much.

Here are the top 6 shows from 1960:

Gunsmoke
Wagon Train
Have Gun Will Travel
The Andy Griffith Show
The Real McCoys
Rawhide

Here are the top 6 from 1966, the year Raina was born (the year of the somebody show):

Bonanza
The Red Skelton Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Lucy Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
Green Acres

And finally from 1998, the year Cassidy was born:

ER
Friends
Frasier
Monday Night Football
Veronica’s Closet
Jesse

Delaney and Luke came along after 2000, so no lists for them- at least not on that site.

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Battlestar Galactica

bsg

I’ve talked about what a phenomenal show this is before. Many times. I’m about to make a bold statement, but one that I now feel certain about.

This is not only the most well written show on TV now- it’s the most well written show on TV ever.

Tonight’s show set a new high for good writing and edge of your seat tension. When Adama and Cain were deciding whether or not to kill each other, I thought I was going to pass out. If you haven’t seen this show, consider yourself lucky because you have a treat in store.

Interesting Post on TV Shows and DVDs

TV Squad had a post yesterday on how music licensing problems have killed or delayed plans to release some classic TV shows on DVD.

The studios have to negotiate with both the record label cartel for the right to use the recording (to play the recording of the song on the DVD) and the music publishers who control the copyright to the song (to use song itself, as opposed to the recording of the song, on the DVD).

These costs are why advertisers are getting play for sponsoring the music on some current TV shows. This happens every week on Nip/Tuck and may happen on other shows (I don’t watch many current TV dramas, so I can’t tell if this is a trend or not).

Anyway, the point is that the record label cartel continues its war against the consumer. The goal, of course, is not to keep the songs off of the DVDs. The goal is to make them more expensive, with the additional money to find its way into the cartel’s pockets.

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