When you need to rant...

[KremlingWhatnot]

Disney owns ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel's show airs on ABC, so therefore, Disney owns Jimmy Kimmel's show; it doesn't have anything to do with SST, the strike was because I uploaded a clip from Jimmy Kimmel.

You realize the FCC doesn't even do anything anymore, right? I mentioned this a while back, I actually contacted them last summer, asking them if it's their job to monitor the kind of content we see on television and so forth, why do they continue to allow more and more degrading, vulgar, and obscene content to be seen? Their response was they didn't care. Seriously.

Yeah, if their response is that, then they are not going to care about the internet if they take it over!?!?! UGH! that makes me more ticked off by this situation , I've always think the internet should stay free and open, it shouldn't be controlled by anyone at all, not Congress, not the FCC, not the president, if I had to choose as to who "would" control it would have to be the people. because they would at least KNOW how the control it.

 

[D'Snowth]

I doubt anything is going to happen, and I doubt the FCC will really take over the internet.

This crops up every few years: the big media conglomorates get their panties in a wad over their content being posted on the internet for free, and then there are some killjoys who like to think that fanfiction and fan art are grounds for copyright infringement (however, I have heard within the last year or so that Amazon or whoever is trying a new program where you can get paid for writing fanfiction and having people read them), and as such, they issue these threats that they're going to take control of the internet and infringe on our rights such as Fair Use Act and such, but really, all these threats are just that: threats. They die down just as soon as they come up, then nothing happens, and everything dies down until the next threat is issued a few years later. It's like whenever there's a presidential election, all of the Republican candidates want to make wiping out PBS one of the their first orders of business: that's been going on since the beginning of time, but the American public is strongwilled enough to not let anyone touch PBS, and as such, that hype dies down too until the next presidential election. Remember, it was just three years ago that Meathead Romney was all, "Yeah, I like Big Bird too, but either Big Bird needs to be killed, or he has to have commercials."

 

[Drtooth]

I've always think the internet should stay free and open, it shouldn't be controlled by anyone at all, not Congress, not the FCC, not the president, if I had to choose as to who "would" control it would have to be the people. because they would at least KNOW how the control it.

The problem isn't the gumment, the real problem is corporations. The major telecom congloms want to own the internet, and they're paying lobbyists a fortune to make it so. The FCC is pretty much run by the very same corporate interests the FCC was created to prevent! The FCC's true purpose was to regulate how much media influence a company has, and policing television for "dirty bits" was a very minor thing. Now it's reversed. The censorship is all what they're about, and the media has been deregulated since the 90's. Passed with that freaking thing that made Children's television unprofitable, no less.

The only hand government should have in the internet is to make sure that the telecoms don't screw it up and charge to make some websites load faster. That's only going to favor entertainment conglomerates that can afford to pay the protection racket the telecoms are charging. "Youse gots a nice website here. Shame if it don't load at all." And I say favor but not benefit, as the entertainment companies (the ones that don't own telecoms, that is) wouldn't much like to have to pay extra. There were accusations that a certain telecom was purposely making Netflix run slow. That doesn't benefit the users or the companies that have deals with Netflix. They're listening to a minority of a minority of guys with money.

It's like whenever there's a presidential election, all of the Republican candidates want to make wiping out PBS one of the their first orders of business: that's been going on since the beginning of time, but the American public is strongwilled enough to not let anyone touch PBS, and as such, that hype dies down too until the next presidential election. Remember, it was just three years ago that Meathead Romney was all, "Yeah, I like Big Bird too, but either Big Bird needs to be killed, or he has to have commercials."

I love the whole "big business is inherently perfect and godlike" mentality. Goes to show how much lobbyist cheese they've been fed. PBS has been a windmill crusade for them for years because the American public is poorly informed on how much PBS actually gets from the government. Yet, huge tax cuts for corporations that just pad that money as profit and subsidiaries for corporations that can afford to stand on their own two feet... those are untouchable. They're so upset about government waste, yet the only way to close those gaps is to go after the small stuff that's inconsequential in the grand scheme of the budget ignoring the big money waste that benefits their backers. That's like saying "we're on a budget, so we have to stop buying food, and for all the money we save, we'll buy flat screen TV's to throw out of the window and see go smash!" Like how everyone whined about the bailouts yet don't mind the exact same corporate welfare that doesn't create the jobs they say it does.

 

[D'Snowth]

I know some people around here, like Drtooth, are getting tired of the ol' everything-new-automatically-sucks rant, but honesty, after seeing the promos for the remake of THE ODD COUPLE, I'm convinced this is going to suck.

I mean, when Tony Randall did Felix's little nose honking whenever his sinuses were acting up, it's was funny... when whoever this guy is whose playing Felix now does it, it's just plain cringeworthy. They also kind of look like exaggerations of the characters: Felix now has a preppy look about him, while Oscar looks more like a deadbeat than a slob.

Of course, THE ODD COUPLE has been remade tons of times... Lamont from SANFORD AND SON was even the black Oscar in the 80s! But in this day and age, with Hollywood openly admitting that they no longer want to take chances on new ideas and intentionally bank on nostalgia because they think somehow tarnishing older classic works by modernizing them in today's immoral society is endearing themselves to the public, another remake is just bound to be terrible. I almost want to kill myself knowing they're about to do another remake of BEWITCHED: that movie with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell was bad.

 

[Drtooth]

Much as I dislike FRIENDS, I do like Mathew Perry. I really miss Mr. Sunshine. Too bad that didn't catch on. And Alison Janney was much funnier there than on Mom.

But I agree. I have no faith in this project since the original 70's sitcom is one of my favorites. The Felix here seems like a flat camp straight stereotype, rather than the effeminate sophisticate, and Mathew Perry is playing aging, let himself go Chandler. I have no desire to bother with it one way or the other. At best, it's a rehash, at worst, it's an in name only or flat copy. Now, if they made a movie remake based sort of off the play, that would be interesting. I wouldn't see it, but I don't think a new version of an old sitcom no one under 35 knows about other than references would appeal to anyone. The fans of the old series will be put off, newer viewers just won't see anything too special about it.

Then again, CBS also airs that dreadful McCartheys sitcom that somehow people manage to like and didn't get it's butt rightfully booted off the schedule like poor unfortunate The Millers did. Then again, I swear they sabotaged the series with Sean Hayes.

 

[charlietheowl]

Much as I dislike FRIENDS, I do like Mathew Perry. I really miss Mr. Sunshine. Too bad that didn't catch on. And Alison Janney was much funnier there than on Mom.

I feel bad for him, this is his fourth attempt at a TV series since Friends and the other three seemed to be well-liked but didn't connect (Studio 60, Mr. Sunshine, and Go On). I'd like to see him land somewhere successfully, even Matt LeBlanc managed to turn things around after Joey.

 

[Drtooth]

Studio 60 is a show that I liked when it was first on, but then retroactively disliked it. Of the two backhanded SNL behind the scenes parody shows, there's a reason why 30 Rock was the clear winner. I get Arron Sorkin's style and all, but the show was far more heavy handed and ham fisted than the points 30 Rock made. It was clearly the product of Bush Era resentment, and while the points were important to make at the time, the show rarely came off as anything but a long rant. Heck, the show started with a long rant. Plus, everything was an inside joke. One character was a weird backhanded, yet respectfully so caricature of Kristen Chennowith. And it's like, hey! Who was that for? Meanwhile, 30 Rock made some of the same statements against corporate gluttony, politics, censorship, and the like and managed to do it funny. Even then, there was plenty of the show still focusing on genuinely funny stuff that didn't need to complain about anything.

I really can't blame the audiences fleeing Studio 60 and loving 30 Rock on that account. It's a shame Mathew hitched his wagon to that one. I don't know how or if Mr. Sunshine could have sustained itself, but it feels it could have gone another season easy.

I agree, it's sad that everything he's been in since has been a flop. This one doesn't look any different.

 

[mr3urious]

Studio 60 is a show that I liked when it was first on, but then retroactively disliked it. Of the two backhanded SNL behind the scenes parody shows, there's a reason why 30 Rock was the clear winner. I get Arron Sorkin's style and all, but the show was far more heavy handed and ham fisted than the points 30 Rock made. It was clearly the product of Bush Era resentment, and while the points were important to make at the time, the show rarely came off as anything but a long rant. Heck, the show started with a long rant. Plus, everything was an inside joke. One character was a weird backhanded, yet respectfully so caricature of Kristen Chennowith. And it's like, hey! Who was that for? Meanwhile, 30 Rock made some of the same statements against corporate gluttony, politics, censorship, and the like and managed to do it funny. Even then, there was plenty of the show still focusing on genuinely funny stuff that didn't need to complain about anything.

And they didn't need to use an ersatz NBC to do it. It's a win-win.

 

[Drtooth]

Needed an ersatz Comcast in the end of the series, though.

In fact, I find 30 Rock more subversive and meaningful as a series on the whole because the show was headed by former SNL members. And by their comedic exaggerating, they got more apt points across than 60 did by turning everything into a rant. Like the time Liz Lemon was freaking out about how much corporations are heavily right wing, even though they put on a leftist facade, effectively giving a pretty significant sting to Urban Outfitters without being anvilicous and actually being even handed. Loved the joke about Che Guavera. Took out both sides of that one. Not to mention the whole saga about Tracey's EGOT journey and his Too Hard to Watch (or whatever it was called) film.

Just... I could give so many examples of biting satire that show delivered with a smile and a nod. Studio 60 was more like a long lecture by a college professor that thinks he's better than everyone when all he could become was a college professor.

 

[mr3urious]

Well, Mr. Enter's channel was finally re-instated. The reason it was suspended was because Viacom cried foul on a SpongeBob video that was at least a year old, which Enter disputed, but they did nothing about this dispute for a month. Here's the full story (language warning).