I just gave away an hour (okay, more like 45 minutes) of my life tonight to try to support Canuck tv and give two CBC shows a chance to shine.
'Rumours' - Sigh. What's with Canadian 'comedies?' needing to fill the soundtrack with wacky sound effects and 'kooky' music to tell us its supposed to be funny? Not that it would've been any better without the 'help'. Same goes for 'Smart Woman's Survival Guide' over on W Channel...more wacky sounds and funny score - in Smart's case, the 'help' was annoying, but overall the show was a notch above Rumours at least, for a tenth of the budget I'm sure. 'Rumours'..."head shake"...Big sigh.
But then...I start to watch the CBC real crime reinactment whatever show '72 Hours: True Crime' - AND THEY BROADCAST IT WITHOUT THE FRIGGIN' DIALOGUE AUDIO TRACK!!!
No talking, just music...for half an hour...and that's all those shows are is talking heads and narration. Maybe it just aired that way here in the west, but it was shockingly sad and inept. Never seen anything like it actually.
Sorry to rant, but geez...
14 comments:
Did you watch Jozi-H?
No I have a rule to always watch only the second show of a Canadian series...lol.
No I missed it but will tape it this Friday and make sure i see it.
i've always wanted to write a post about canada's need to put "funny" music in sitcoms... it's a terrible habit. watch any canadian sitcom, they pretty much all do it. it's got to be some sort of bizarre compromise. the networks are willing to trust that you can have a show without a laugh track, but they need SOMETHING to remind the audience that it's a "funny" show. cue crappy "plink-plink" synth banjo.
W, I am in total agreement with you on Rumours.
But Smart Woman is kind of growing on me (don't say like a fungus, or that I can see a doctor about it). In their defense, at least they're pushing the boundaries of formats and have a hybrid of factual and fiction which is at least innovative, even if not your particular cup of tea. I dunno why, but I like all the helpful hints. Maybe it appeals to my inner multitasker.
I missed Jozi-H too but hoing to catch it this week, at least by PVR.
Seriously re 72 Hours? The mind boggles.
Matt, you are totally right about the music. Do something about that, will ya? Once you've caught up on the blogging, that is ;-)
i like your earlier funnier post better.....
Clever you are, Portnoy. Clever you are.
I missed 30 Rock, Chopped - too much tv...but I'll check it this week.
Write that post Matt - I'd read it and probably concur...
And Caroline, I don't mind Smart Woman's Guide...you're right, its trying to be something different and more or less succeeding
Tell us what you really think about Rumours ...
And clever you be too, Diane...
Wow - I should post about the CBC more often...such a flurry of commenting activity even at this late hour
Sigh.
did you get my reference to Sleeper?
"Do the world a favor, tell funnier jokes?"
Portnoy: Wasn't it Stardust Memories? "I like your movies...especially your earlier funnier ones."
I think both those lines are actually from Woody Allen somewhere. Or at least someone said, "tell funnier jokes" but the ref about your earlier funnier ones is definitely Stardust Memories.
I'm a Moses groupie (I used to work for CHUM) so I was all fired up to watch Rumours after reading/watching articles & interviews with the folks involved. But a TV scheduling conflict kept me from taping the pilot last week. I was a little upset about it -- until I read a few of my favourite blogs, every single one of them trashing the show. What a shame. I had so much hope that CBC was going to leap forward into the new millenium with some fresh, innovative material.
As for Smart Woman, I like it, even though I find the concept (characters breaking the fourth wall, pop-up info bubbles) a little jarring. There are some talented folks behind that one and they have my support.
KJC (who finally launched her own blogspot blog, Mixed Nuts, earlier this week)
They do that with a lot of English sitcoms. But instead of adding wacky sound effects and 'kooky' music they remove the jokes.
Post a Comment