Category Archives: television

Shame Day: The History Channel

shamehistoryWhen I was growing up in Syria, we had two channels. One was the state-run propaganda channel, the other was the same channel, but with slightly less static. When my family did make an infrequent trip out of the country, the first thing on my agenda (after ratcheting up the AC to somewhere between “high” and “arctic gale”) was to plop down at the end of the bed and flip on the TV to see if they had Discovery or National Geographic or- best of all- The History Channel.

Of course, this was back before.

[Editor’s Note: Since 2009 The History Channel has gone by the one-word name “History.” Gordon will continue to refer to it by its original name for old times’ sake]

Now when I covered webcomic Sinfest for a Shame Day, I directly addressed the comic’s creator, Tatsuya Ishida, in the off-chance that he might stumble across what I had written. While I don’t think (1) anyone from the History channel is going to come across this post or (2) give a flying **** about it if they did, talking straight to the source came pretty naturally, so I’m going to be employing the same technique again. Continue reading

How We Look At Hitler

Recently, my roommate has introduced me to an Australian series by the name of Danger 5, a parody show mocking the camp and melodrama of 1960s spy and WWII shows.

I’m usually not a fan of the saying “it’s so bad it’s good,” but there’s really no denying that Danger 5 captures the aesthetic (or lack thereof) of the genre it’s mocking perfectly. Heck, I’d put money down that if you were to slip in an episode of Danger 5 in with Hogan’s Heroes, Mission: Impossible (yeah, it was a show first), and Matt Helm you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Like those shows, Danger 5 follows a pretty set formula. The international band of agents are briefed on some new ploy by the Axis to achieve world domination (such as using dinosaurs to invade Holland- I kid you not) and are ordered to infiltrate the Nazi headquarters and sabotage their diabolical plot.

…”and, as always, kill Hitler!Continue reading

A Show By Any Other Name Would Be Just A Spin-off

“There is nothing new in art except talent,” words by Anton Chekhov that I was forced to look up because I’ve already cited Ecclesiastes in a prior post. They’re also words that I feel forced to grasp firmly on to as I’m faced with the deluge of television spin-offs soon to flood your televisions and my laptop with more and more of the same. With that being the worst case scenario, of course.

That being said, I’m going to try my best to take the stance I typically take on these sorts of things, which is that ultimately execution trumps everything else. Chances are that you wouldn’t have thought that a movie about a guy with his arm trapped under a rock would be able to hold your attention, but 127 Hours is great. The premise of a work of art does not damn it, though it certainly colours how audiences choose to approach and experience that work. Continue reading

2 Broke Girls, S3E6 “And the Piece of Sheet”: A TV Review

pieceosheet
I had written this whole intro about how 2 Broke Girls is so slow to address trends while they’re still hot [see the Kickstarter and cronuts episodes] because I saw the above promo pic with Oleg twerking, but I’ve just finished the episode and didn’t see a single twerk. That’s all mildly disappointing, somehow.

Last week in the Stray Observations I promised that I’d share a “theory” with you about Max, and in thinking on how to write about it I realized that it’s not so much a theory as it is a strange realization about the character. To put it simply, we’re constantly regaled by the show about what a terrible childhood Max had and how promiscuous she is now, but none of that is ever backed up. In this episode she jokes about losing NuvaRing birth control in the lettuce, but when’s the last time she actually had sex on the show? Certainly not so far this season. As far as I can remember not at all last season . . . Continue reading

Shame Day: How I Met Your Mother and FASD

I’ve fallen in love with How I Met Your Mother. I chose my timing wisely, waiting until the very last season began to air before I let myself become sucked in. As a member of the generation of binge or marathon watchers (depending on what kind of spin you want to give to it) I just can’t handle waiting each week for a new episode. This way the control is in my hands.

There is just so many lovable characters on the show. Even the unrealistically lucky womanizer Barney makes me laugh. Sometimes while ticking me off at the same time.

By lucky, I mean that he’s lucky he isn’t dead yet, not that he is lucky because of the number of women he has “banged.” Come on bro, quality over quantity, eh?

But my favourite character in the show is definitely Lily.

Continue reading

2 Broke Girls, S3E5 “And the Cronuts”: A TV Review

cronuts

I’m not going to bore you all with the same  old “this show has lost its premise” talk again; we’re past that, it is now the topic that shall not be named. What I do want to focus on, however, is how much this show appears to struggle with conflict. There’s a simple formula in sitcoms [and every other form of media] that goes as follows: (a) a problem arises, (b) that problem is solved. I cannot boil it down any simpler than that. I obviously don’t speak for everyone, but for most viewers what’s really important is what happens between those two points.

Let’s take this episode and view it through the formula above:

(a) The words “Cupcakes are so over” spell out doom for the girls’ business, and they must find a way to make their product appealing once again.

(b) Max’s tendency to dip french fries in frosting leads to “Cake Fries” which are a huge hit both flavourfully and monetarily.

That on its own is really not a problem. I’m always going to be down for an episode of television that revolves around chimeric foodstuffs [though adding too many parts lead to disaster], but as mentioned it’s not so much the end result as it is the journey that takes us there. Continue reading