Each Monday night, the boys and I sit down to watch their favorite cartoon "Total Drama World Tour", the theme song of which is "I wanna be famous".
"Total Drama World Tour" is the third season of the "Total Drama Island" series, which is basically a satirical cartoon version of "Survivor". I had watched parts of a few episodes during the first two seasons, and while I found the show to be quite clever and entertaining, I never could find the time to commit myself to following an entire season-long story-arch. However, this year I'm fully on board with this show because my kids are fully on board. I can't tell you how much fun it is to sit down with my kids each week to watch something we all truly enjoy ( Of course, we all kind of enjoy it on different levels. Michael loves the fact that it's a competition ( He can't wait to see who gets eliminated each week ), Peter loves the cartoon slapstick, and I love the cartoony stuff, the satirical aspect of the show, and hearing my boys laugh. ). It's not that I don't spend a lot of time with the boys otherwise, but it's just nice that three of us have this special "Daddy and the boys" time each week. I guess we'll eventually have a lot of "guys" time together when they start watching sports with me ( Micheal does sometimes, but he doesn't quite have the attention span for a full game yet ), but for now, watching cartoons together is as good as it gets.
As long as I'm on the subject of TV, I think it's about time that I say a few words about the "LOST" phenomenon. Well, not actually "LOSTt" itself ( which I never actually watched ), but just TV shows in general that have complex plot lines that extend over several seasons. You've got to be a little bit careful with shows like these. It's great when the show plays out to a conclusion ( like "The Fugitive" or "LOST" ), but it REALLY REALLY sucks if you get sucked into a show that winds up getting canceled before there is any resolution. I can't emphasize how much that SUCKS. For those of us who read and loved the Harry Potter series, just think about much it would have sucked if J.K. Rowling had died right before she wrote book 7. That's how much it sucks when a show you love gets canceled before there is any resolution.
You've got to be kind of savvy about which show you choose to follow, plus a little bit lucky. I've been kind of unlucky at times when it come to picking shows. I passed on shows like "LOST" and the new "BattleStar Galactica", but at about this time last year, I got sucked into a show called "FlashForward". "FlashForward" was based on an intriguing concept, but unfortunately, it got canceled after one season. Worse yet, the final episode ended on a cliff-hanger, so it looks like all fans of the show will be left hanging indefinitely.
( Why did it get canceled? Well, it was officially canceled for poor-ratings, but every problem has a root cause, and the root cause of FlashForward's bad ratings can be summed up in 2 words:
Joseph Fiennes
My God, is that man an AWFUL actor. Every time I watch him act, I'm stunned that he could have emerged from the same womb as Ralph Fiennes. As intriguing as the concept of "FlashForward" was, I should have stayed away from that show as soon as I realized that Joseph Fiennes was playing the lead role. That show was doomed from the start. Then again, he did play the title role in a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Or course, I still maintain that "Shakespeare in Love" was by far the wost movie ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. I'm still stunned that it was even nominated for an Academy Award.
BTW, I have a theory about why "Shakespeare in Love" won the Academy Award. The movie is full of supposedly clever allusions to many of Shakespeare's works. The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ( the people who vote for the awards ) is probably full of a lot of poorly educated shallow types who like to think of themselves as great thespians who might someday perform Shakespeare , but who actually are not smart enough to comprehend most of his works. When those people watch "Shakespeare in Love" and are spoon-fed simple allusions to Shakespeare's works, they have the following type of reaction:
"Hey, that's a reference to 'Romeo and Juliet'! I bet most people wouldn't have gotten that reference, but I got it because I'm smart.
. . .
Hey, I think that line is from one of Shakespeare's sonnets! Boy, I am smart! It's great that they made such a smart movie for smart people like me. This is one of the smartest movies I've ever seen. This movie definitely deserves to win the Best Picture award."
Anyway, getting back to be original point this tangent, the people who watched "Shakespeare in Love" were probably also thinking "I can't believe that hack Joseph Fiennes is related to that guy who was in "Schindler's List" and "Quiz Show" ( BTW, I mentioned "Quiz Show" rather than the "The English Patient" because I loved "Quiz Show" and hated "The English Patient" almost as much as "Shakespeare in Love". ). )
Anyway, thus concludes my bashing of all things Joseph Fienness. I think I'm just bitter that he got one of my favorite shows cancels.
However, as upset as I was about the "FlashForward" cancellation, it's not the most disappointing premature-cancellation in my life. Even 14 years after the fact, I'm still upset that "Nowhere Man" was canceled.
To give you an idea of what the premise of "Nowhere Man" was, each episode started with the following monologue from the lead character:
"My name is Thomas Veil, or at least it was. I'm a photographer, I had it all: a wife, Alyson, friends, a career. And in one moment, it was all taken away, all because of a single photograph. I have it; they want it; and they will do anything to get the negative. I'm keeping this diary as proof that these events are real. I know they are... They... have to be."
Sound intriguing? It was to me, and from August 1995 to May 1996 I found myself watching this show religiously. Of course, the show wound up getting canceled after one season. I'll admit that the show had its problems ( It helps if a shows about mysterious conspiracies has at least some level of plausibility and has some logical consistency between episodes. A few episodes of "Nowhere Man" failed on both those counts. ), but the concept of erasing somebody's identity was so interesting that I couldn't help but tune in each week to see how things would turn out.
While it sucked that "Nowhere Man" was canceled fans were not left as badly hanging as the fans of some other canceled shows, because the writer/creator of the show was told that the show was going to be canceled before the final two episodes were produced. Two episodes certainly were not enough time to resolve all the plot elements, but I think the writers did a great job with the final two episodes. I don't want to give too much away ( The complete series is available on DVD, and I highly recommend watching it if you ever get a chance ), but the last scene of the final episode reveals something the makes you see the entire series in an entirely different light ( and fixes some ( but not all ) of the plausibility/consistency issues ). It was a great way to end the series, but it was a bit disappointing.
Anyway, I started writing this post on September 17th, and now I find it's the 28th. I'd better post this baby so I at least have one post for September.
Rich
P.S. Since I started this post, I dipped my toe in The Event. Two episodes so far, both very mediocre. Sure, the show has a lot of mysteries to reveal, but I'm not even sure if I care to know.
P.P.S However, Boardwalk Empire has been awesome so far.
P.P.P.S Just for laughs ...
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