Television

So, did you hear the one where I showed up on @TMZLive talking about blonde pop music singers?

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8 months ago
by Tom in

Interesting fact about me: for some strange, unexplainable reason I am addicted to TMZ… which makes no sense whatsoever.  I hate reality TV.  I hate tabloids.  I’m not a big fan of the color red.  So why do I like this show/website?  I DON’T KNOW.  STOP JUDGING ME.

Anyway, I added TMZ Live to my Skype a few weeks ago while randomly watching the show (I don’t watch it regularly; it’s more a “it’s on, leave it!” thing for me.)  As a result of being logged in the other day, I had a conversation with TMZ about the whole Christina vs. Britney/The Voice vs. The X-Factor thingamabobber.

Here’s the video.  I show up near the end.  Right after 41 minutes in.

As an added note, my Skyping was done via my Samsung Galaxy S3. Damn good phone.

Hey WPLG Local 10 News in South Florida (@WPLGLocal10) – story idea! (In regards to #StarWars Celebration 6)

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8 months ago
by Tom in

I could go on an on about the decline of journalism in lieu of tabloid television, but sometimes the actions of “the news” tells the tale well enough on its own.

It seems that WPLG, a local station in South Florida, decided it would be AWESOME to post a photo gallery of Star Wars fans from the recent Star Wars Celebration event at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

You know… that event that brought in thousands of travelers across the state (and outside Florida) to pump money into the local economy.

Yeah.

Here’s the details (from the Facebook group “WPLG Local 10 Owes Star Wars Fans a Formal Public Apology“)

“For those who do not know what is going on – this station, or should I say someone who is employed by this station posted 45 pictures from the Star Wars convention that was held in Orlando this past weekend. Attached to those pictures were very rude and insulting captions by the station. For example, there was a picture of a young lady dressed as Obi-wan Kenobi (A male Jedi knight in the films) and she was wearing a fake beard. The station captioned the photo that no one seemed to notice the number of hairy women at the convention. There were over 44 other pictures, all of them making fun of peoples sizes, gender and so on.” -El Bradfield

Here’s an example:

Caption reads “Dateless man for as far as they eye can see”

(“they” should be “the” – their typo, not mine.)

It seems that WPLG has missed the point regarding how asinine this action was and tried to do a “brush off” apology.  That’s right – there’s a screen shot of that, too:

This was going south quick, so they quickly removed the apology claiming the “my sandbox/my rules” standard.

I personally don’t think this “news” organization gets it.  So, for my own amusement, I have compiled a list of suggested upcoming photo galleries for WPLG to create and post based on other events coming to the Orange County Convention Center.  After all, it’s not offensive or bullying based on stereotypes if it comes from a news organization, AMIRIGHT?

Suggestion #1: The Surf Expo, September 6-8, 2012

Imagine the comic genius the WPLG crew could produce!  Get photos of surfers away from the beach.  They’re all pot smoking stoners living in low income housing, right?  Make sure to poke fun at how most of them are probably jobless and living off of welfare while they waste their days away at the beach.  HILARIOUS, RIGHT?

Suggestion #2: Southern Women’s Show, October 11-15, 2012 

Southern women?  Hellllllloooo redneck chick jokes!  I mean, based on stereotypes, I’m pretty sure that all of these lovely ladies have married their cousins and support their families as they march in KKK outfits.  Just think of all the “white sheet” jokes you could get with the right photos!  COMIC GOLD, NO?

Suggestion #3: The American National Cheer & Dance Championships, March 22-24, 2013

So if all the men at the Star Wars Celebration event were dateless, then (based on the WPLG thought process of news reporting) this must be the proverbial SEA OF SLUTS!  I can only imagine the guffaws from a photo gallery of teenage girls in compromising positions who are OBVIOUSLY sleeping with every guy they meet.  They’re cheerleaders, right?  That’s their stereotype so that means IT’S NEWS, RIGHT?

Get it?

When a “news source” decides, via one of it’s communication outlets (in this case, Facebook,) that perpetuating stereotypes for the sake of humor is okay then they cease being news… and transforms into a lame ass sitcom.

For those wondering:

WPLG
3401 West Hallandale Beach Boulevard
Pembroke Park, FL 33023
(954) 364-2500

How much of my life has been spent on The X-Files? Good question…

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1 year ago
by Tom in

Shannon and I just completed watching every episode and movie (in order) of The X-Files tonight with the completion of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

I just checked and there are 202 episodes total.  Plus two movies.  Figure that each episode is approximately 50 minutes each.

50 minutes times 202 episodes = 10,100 minutes.  Throw in another 240 minutes for the movies… 10,340 minutes.

Divide by 60 = 172 hours.

Divide by 24 = 7 days and 4 hours.

That’s right… I have spent just over one week of my life watching The X-Files.

FAIL or WIN?  You decide.

The Two Things Wrong with #Torchwood: Miracle Day (or “Why It’s Just Not That Good This Time…”)

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1 year ago
by Tom in

Yes – I like Torchwood.  No, I am nowhere NEAR where Captain Jack Harkness comes into play in the Doctor Who Universe since I’ve started watching the series that aired in the seventies and eighties.  (Click here to see what I mean.)  Thus, my viewpoint if the Torchwood television show is finite to JUST Torchwood.  As a litmus test of my level of interest for random readers: I LOVED Children of Earth.  It was both disturbing and thought provoking which (in my opinion) makes for solid science fiction.  With all that in mind, here are the two things wrong with Torchwood: Miracle Day.

1. IT’S TOO LONG.

A normal season (“series” for you hardcore Brit folk) runs 13 episodes.  Children of Earth was a finite story told over 5 episodes and is considered the third season (series.)  Miracle Day is the alleged fourth season.

In the normal seasons (one and two) you had a story arc, but you also had stand alone episodes for developing characters and telling individual tales.  For thirteen hours of television, this makes great sense.  This is why people fell in love with the show and it’s characters.

Torchwood (to me) always felt like a clever British mix of Angel and The X-Files.  ”Filler” episodes add flavor and give chances for characters to do more outside the main story.  They also give the viewer an opportunity to gain insight and emotional attachments to people in the story.  There’s a reason fans were so upset when (SPOILER) Ianto died.  People were emotionally invested in the show via the characters.

I feel that Torchwood: Miracle Day could have been told in five episodes – just like Children of Earth.  Ten episodes is just too damn long for a single story line the Torchwood Universe.

2. JACK IS TOO GAY.

Hear me out on this.  In the series, Jack Harkness is allegedly “omnisexual.”  He hooks up with men.  He hooks up with women.  He hooks up with the random ambiguously gendered alien form.  He is, for all intent and purpose, a man whore.  He lives life to that extreme because he has been alive (and will be) for so long.  Sex makes him feel like part of the living and he enjoys that aspect of his existence.

I think the team at Torchwood were so excited at bringing a character to the States so openly interested in men that they have inadvertently turned Jack into a walking/talking gay man stereotype.  Jack is more than that.  For the sake of shock value, the writers have taken a deep character with a unique viewpoint of relationships on Earth and turned him into a two dimensional stereotype.

Torchwood’s development team has a chance to introduce their clever world to a broader American audience thanks to Starz, but it looks like they’re just killing a great concept in the process.  I’m only eight episodes in, but Torchwood: Miracle Day already feels “Category 1″ to me.

Working Out with DOCTOR WHO: The Hand of Fear (4th Doctor)

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1 year ago
by Tom in

…aka “WTF is Sarah Jane wearing?!”

I haven’t had much time for TV lately (and I was away from the gym for a short bit.)  Pesky conventions keep taking up my time.  That said, here’s what’s I’ve watched thus far in the Who-niverse:

I’m just going to skip past talking about the plot, acting, story and effects and go straight for the important stuff: Sarah Jane’s epic red and white overalls.  They have three red stars on them.  As a result of this brave fashion move, Sarah was described by one character during the series as looking “just like Andy Panda.”

There was something about a hand.  And fear.  And dramatic science fiction.  And stuff.

…but those overalls.

This is the last (not counting very recent stuff) appearance of Sarah Jane in the series (which makes the overalls that much more unusual.)  I do like the anti-climatic nature of her leaving… just very plain.  She gets dropped off by the Doctor who has been summoned back to Gallifrey.  Sarah, upon arriving home, realizes she has been dropped nowhere near promised.

The sad irony… the week i watched this series – this happened.  :(

Working Out with DOCTOR WHO: The Ark in Space (4th Doctor)

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2 years ago
by Tom in

This posts begins my watching of the Fourth (and most well known to American classic fans) Doctor: Tom Baker.  The others that I have watched thus far:

Ah… those scarves. Tom Baker’s visage was commonplace on PBS during my childhood. I didn’t get into it then, but I knew who Doctor Who was. I didn’t know, though, that the show had been running long before I was born. So begins my first foray in the Fourth Doctor’s adventures. From iTunes:

The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry arrive on board and are suspected by the awakening survivors. The insectoid Wirm becomes apparent.

I can see why people got into Tom Baker’s version of the Doctor.  He’s got personality.  The Fourth Doctor’s over the top mannerisms seem just as over the top of Jon Pertwee’s – but different enough to be conveyed as a whole different persona.  The merits of both Doctors are a point of discussion at geek conventions and around the Internet, and (quite honestly) I haven’t watched enough of Baker yet to make a verdict.  Let’s talk about the episode…

THE GOOD: Doctor Who proves itself, again, as worthy science fiction series on par with similar shows running in the U.S.  ”The Ark in Space” also gets the characters off of Earth to do some galactic gallivanting – something the Third Doctor was restricted to due to the Time Lords being fussy and (in reality) budget constraints.  Overall: an enjoyable four episodes.

THE BAD: Harry.  I wasn’t fond of the multiple companions with previous Doctors, and I’m not digging it here either.  Keep it to the Doctor and a clever female companion and you have a formula that works IMO.

THE CHEESE: Tom Baker.  The man IS cheese and the extreme eccentricity of his version of the Doctor looks promising.  I’ll get a better feel for it in future episodes.

Working Out with DOCTOR WHO: The Time Monster (3rd Doctor)

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2 years ago
by Tom in

Tom Croom’s Doctor Who Adventures Thus Far:

Which brings me to my final iTunes viewing of the Third Doctor: The Time Monster.

England, the near future. Professor Thascales’ TOMTIT project is nearing completion… but why is a simple matter transmitter causing disruption to the flow of time? And what exactly is Kronos, the time monster itself?

Yes, the twelve year old me giggled every time someone mentioned the TOMTIT project.  Actually, I chuckled a bit right now when I typed it, too.  Tom.  Tit.  [chuckle.]

THE GOOD: Duh… The Master! I can’t get enough of Roger Delgado’s version of the ultimate baddie in the Doctor Who universe.  The man oozed evil with personality.  My man Mr. Master pretends to be a professor, travels in time to Atlantis, and (AND!) convinces that hot queen to help him out.  HELLO BOOBS

Is she, too, a part of the TOMTIT project? [more chuckling.]

The Master = pure awesome.

THE BAD: The name “TOMTIT”. [snort. giggle.]

THE CHEESE: Kronos, The allegedly epically powerful super bird like being that is (obviously) a man in white costume flapping his wings in a very silly fashion.  Check it out:

It should also be pointed out that this episode, like The Time Warrior, features some Star Wars co-mingling goodness: David Prowse aka “Darth Vader” is the Minotaur in Atlantis in this series.  The Force, though, was not strong with him since he gets killed in the maze.

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