Tonight brings us an hour-long supply of the TV crack that is the American Idol audition shows (it'd be two hours but for the State of the Union address, which may be the only good thing that comes of it). If you watched at least 12 seconds of Fox programming over the last 4 days, you know that last week's two audition episodes brought in over 80 million viewers. I'm not sure if that number inspires more awe or sadness, though it certainly brings a healthy dose of both.
I don't care for the lengthy audition shows, with their stampede of tone deaf losers and various montages that apparently someone finds funny. The whole thing ages quickly, and while that gives some insight to what the judges go through, what airs isn't smart enough to draw that distinction. Rather, let's pair the fat kid and the guy who looks like a bush baby together as friends!
Even so, I did find myself enjoying last week's four hours of warbling somewhat entertaining. Maybe it was the dawn of a new season, maybe I was having a reaction to something I ate, but my irritation at this part of the process (if I can use that term in this situation) was markedly lower than in the past.
Of course, it could all be another sign that I'm going a little soft in the melon. Like your average American Idol viewer.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
What I Did on my Winter Vacation
One of the good things about working in education is the roughly two weeks we get off for the winter holidays. As you can imagine, I spent a not insignificant portion of that time in front of the TV, rotting my brain as surely as all of the Christmas treats were rotting my teeth.
Very little of this viewing was actualy on holiday-related fare. I do have the hour-long How the Grinch Stole Christmas special on the DVR, but I did not partake of Frosty, Rudolph, or TBS's annual 24 hours of A Christmas Story. I tended to favor bowl season over the holiday season, with more time watching minor college football bowls - and their attendant fifth-string crews and repetitive tourist promotional ads - than was strictly necessary.
Spent a little time catching up with Jericho, though not all of the episodes were available through Comcast On Demand. They are available through CBS's Innertube service, so I'll likely fire that up at some point. It's still not the best show - folks in Jericho seem exceedingly slow at times - but it's diverting enough.
We also blew through most of our DVR backlog, getting caught up pretty much with every show we regularly follow - just in time for the return of 24, American Idol, and (in February) Lost. We'll be up over 90 percent capacity in no time.
One new show I sampled was Top Chef, Bravo's unscripted cooking competition. It was OK. I think I'd have to watch more of it - or at least start at the beginning - to really get into it. That being said, the challenges are interesting, even if the drama between contestants seems a little forced at times.
Sticking with food, I also watched the Las Vegas and New Zealand episodes of No Reservations, and found myself less annoyed with Tony Bourdain than normal. I imagine part of this is the production staff sanding off some of the rough edges, and certainly part is Bourdain's willingness to have a laugh at his own expense. Both help soften his usually annoying New York exterior. It also helps that the show manages to balance food and travel better than most shows that try to combine the two. Now if I can only talk a well-know Kiwi chef into inviting me to his next beachside cookout...
Very little of this viewing was actualy on holiday-related fare. I do have the hour-long How the Grinch Stole Christmas special on the DVR, but I did not partake of Frosty, Rudolph, or TBS's annual 24 hours of A Christmas Story. I tended to favor bowl season over the holiday season, with more time watching minor college football bowls - and their attendant fifth-string crews and repetitive tourist promotional ads - than was strictly necessary.
Spent a little time catching up with Jericho, though not all of the episodes were available through Comcast On Demand. They are available through CBS's Innertube service, so I'll likely fire that up at some point. It's still not the best show - folks in Jericho seem exceedingly slow at times - but it's diverting enough.
We also blew through most of our DVR backlog, getting caught up pretty much with every show we regularly follow - just in time for the return of 24, American Idol, and (in February) Lost. We'll be up over 90 percent capacity in no time.
One new show I sampled was Top Chef, Bravo's unscripted cooking competition. It was OK. I think I'd have to watch more of it - or at least start at the beginning - to really get into it. That being said, the challenges are interesting, even if the drama between contestants seems a little forced at times.
Sticking with food, I also watched the Las Vegas and New Zealand episodes of No Reservations, and found myself less annoyed with Tony Bourdain than normal. I imagine part of this is the production staff sanding off some of the rough edges, and certainly part is Bourdain's willingness to have a laugh at his own expense. Both help soften his usually annoying New York exterior. It also helps that the show manages to balance food and travel better than most shows that try to combine the two. Now if I can only talk a well-know Kiwi chef into inviting me to his next beachside cookout...
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