Ted Rabinowitz's Blog, page 32
July 10, 2013
Warehouse of Wonder
So Warehouse 13 just had its season finale. I didn't watch it - which isn't necessarily a comment on its quality. When a series develops long-form arcs over seasons, it makes the assumption (and takes the risk) that you'll stay current on the backstory. By Year 3 or 4, I've usually detached from the show. I'll miss an episode here or there, and before you know it, the series has rumbled by without me. It happened with The Sopranos, with Mad Men. And it's true even for shows I really, really like (as opposed to respect): I've barely remained current with Game of Thrones, and I think that's one of the best F/SF TV shows ever.But Warehouse 13 is the current incarnation of a dead trope: the SECRET GOVERNMENT WAREHOUSE that has accumulated all the world's legendary/magical items. It's okay to use the notion as a background somethin'-somethin' - e.g. the final sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, where it's not only cool, but a sarcastic comment on the nature of government vs. individual heroism. Unfortunately, too many producers make it the central premise of their projects, or use it for additional cool points, and add nothing else. "Hey, look, it's Noah's Ark! Isn't that cool?" "Hey, look, it's Tesla's death ray! Isn't that cool?" "Gosh, I hope nobody finds out about this place, they could steal the Spear of Destiny and then we would all be in trouble!" Sigh.
The Librarian.
Area 51.
Warehouse 13.
Every fourth episode of The X-Files.
It's an idea whose time has come, and gone.
July 9, 2013
Defiance Is Getting Worse
Well, not as bad as Rob Bricken at io9.com thinks.
But then, Rob's anger at the season finale comes from a guy who is pretty invested in the show. Me, I was always lukewarm at best (check out my first post about it), but then my ears pricked up as the last few episodes (specifically the season's penultimate episode, "Past Is Prologue") seemed to be getting tighter, more rational, with the characters behaving in their own interests, instead of the plot's interest. But the finale let some of the air out of my slowly inflating interest balloon.
Some of the things that stood out in a bad way (instead of "stood out" maybe "sat down"):
1. The Rosewater sisters. I'm sorry, but they're just useless. Not the fault of Julie Benz and Mia Kirshner, the actresses; it's the writers. Maybe I missed it, but I never saw Mayor Amanda do much of anything besides make flat-footed speeches and say "that's wrong"; and the idea of a madame/hooker who falls almost immediately for the tough hero of the show is just so tin-eared that you want to reach through the screen, past the show itself to the writers room, grab O'Bannon, Murphy and Taylor by the collars and yell "Talk to a hooker! Just one, for research! God knows, you're all LA writers, you've certainly used them before."
2. Doc Yewll. She's a former mass murderer, smarter than most every other character, a techno-savvy cyborg with the skills and ability to kill - and she sounds like a tough dame from a 1940s gangster movie! (Way to go, Trenna Keating.) But she doesn't see the Earth Republic goons coming and gets taken hostage like a UN observer in Somalia. You'd have expected her at least to booby-trap her lab.
3. When Nolan and Irisa break out of the Earth Republic lab, it was every first-person-shooter visual cliché you've ever seen.
4. I'm sorry to say it, but the little kid they found to play Irzu has a thousand watts more charisma than Stephanie Leonidas, who plays Irisa. She stole the scene from Stephanie in less than 60 seconds. Maybe it was the fact that she sometimes smiled.
5. Why, why did Kenya Rosewater warn Stahma about what she was going to do? Really, kid? Give advance notice to your potential victim? How did you survive to own your own bordello in the first place?
So here's the thing...notice how most of these gripes have to do with female characters? And how the show runners are guys? Sigh. (I will admit that the most interesting character on the show is Stahma, Datak's wife. They got her and Datak right. And Nicky Riordan was fun as portrayed by Fionnula Flanagan, but she's dead now.)
However, unlike Rob, I *did* like the way that Datak finally loses control and sabotages himself. (I won't say how...spoilers). I thought it was perfectly in character; if there weren't the potential for Datak to do something like that, he wouldn't be nearly as scary as he is; it's necessary to make him unpredictable.
Maybe the real problem is that the writers are only comfortable with Nolan, Stahma and Datak as characters who actively drive the story forward; the rest feel too often like set dressing.
But then, Rob's anger at the season finale comes from a guy who is pretty invested in the show. Me, I was always lukewarm at best (check out my first post about it), but then my ears pricked up as the last few episodes (specifically the season's penultimate episode, "Past Is Prologue") seemed to be getting tighter, more rational, with the characters behaving in their own interests, instead of the plot's interest. But the finale let some of the air out of my slowly inflating interest balloon.
Some of the things that stood out in a bad way (instead of "stood out" maybe "sat down"):
1. The Rosewater sisters. I'm sorry, but they're just useless. Not the fault of Julie Benz and Mia Kirshner, the actresses; it's the writers. Maybe I missed it, but I never saw Mayor Amanda do much of anything besides make flat-footed speeches and say "that's wrong"; and the idea of a madame/hooker who falls almost immediately for the tough hero of the show is just so tin-eared that you want to reach through the screen, past the show itself to the writers room, grab O'Bannon, Murphy and Taylor by the collars and yell "Talk to a hooker! Just one, for research! God knows, you're all LA writers, you've certainly used them before."
2. Doc Yewll. She's a former mass murderer, smarter than most every other character, a techno-savvy cyborg with the skills and ability to kill - and she sounds like a tough dame from a 1940s gangster movie! (Way to go, Trenna Keating.) But she doesn't see the Earth Republic goons coming and gets taken hostage like a UN observer in Somalia. You'd have expected her at least to booby-trap her lab.
3. When Nolan and Irisa break out of the Earth Republic lab, it was every first-person-shooter visual cliché you've ever seen.
4. I'm sorry to say it, but the little kid they found to play Irzu has a thousand watts more charisma than Stephanie Leonidas, who plays Irisa. She stole the scene from Stephanie in less than 60 seconds. Maybe it was the fact that she sometimes smiled.
5. Why, why did Kenya Rosewater warn Stahma about what she was going to do? Really, kid? Give advance notice to your potential victim? How did you survive to own your own bordello in the first place?
So here's the thing...notice how most of these gripes have to do with female characters? And how the show runners are guys? Sigh. (I will admit that the most interesting character on the show is Stahma, Datak's wife. They got her and Datak right. And Nicky Riordan was fun as portrayed by Fionnula Flanagan, but she's dead now.)
However, unlike Rob, I *did* like the way that Datak finally loses control and sabotages himself. (I won't say how...spoilers). I thought it was perfectly in character; if there weren't the potential for Datak to do something like that, he wouldn't be nearly as scary as he is; it's necessary to make him unpredictable.
Maybe the real problem is that the writers are only comfortable with Nolan, Stahma and Datak as characters who actively drive the story forward; the rest feel too often like set dressing.
July 3, 2013
July 1, 2013
"Defiance" Is Getting Better
No one is more pleased than I am to revise a negative opinion about a science fiction TV show. So I'm happy to report that Defiance, Syfy's big-budget western-town-with-aliens show, seems to be getting better. The last two episodes have been sharper, more logical, and less flat-footed. And the Big Baddie Datak Tarr is becoming more interesting.
June 30, 2013
They Called Me Crazy, Insane, Mad. Well, I'll Show Them!
I'll show them ALL!
In other words, I've decided to try an experiment.
I've written some fun little shorts - a thousand words or less - and they're not really classifiable as anything but goofs. If Woody Allen were writing them, they'd go into the New Yorker. Since it's Your Old Friend Ted, I've decided to use a different medium:
Amazon.
Yes, I have yielded to The Beast. In the next 24 hours, the first short, Aunt Helen Explains New York, will be available on Amazon for the amazing low, low price of $0.99 - that's 99¢ for you old-timers out there. The series as a whole is called (appropriately, I think) Odd Little Shorts. (And BTW, if you're a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it for F-R-E-E.)
So if you do decide to check out this first one, and you like it, please review it. If not...oh, who am I kidding? Of course you'll like it.
And a good time was had by all.
In other words, I've decided to try an experiment.
I've written some fun little shorts - a thousand words or less - and they're not really classifiable as anything but goofs. If Woody Allen were writing them, they'd go into the New Yorker. Since it's Your Old Friend Ted, I've decided to use a different medium:
Amazon.
Yes, I have yielded to The Beast. In the next 24 hours, the first short, Aunt Helen Explains New York, will be available on Amazon for the amazing low, low price of $0.99 - that's 99¢ for you old-timers out there. The series as a whole is called (appropriately, I think) Odd Little Shorts. (And BTW, if you're a member of Amazon Prime, you can borrow it for F-R-E-E.)
So if you do decide to check out this first one, and you like it, please review it. If not...oh, who am I kidding? Of course you'll like it.
And a good time was had by all.
Still Thinking About eBooks...
I've just been enjoying a bunch of old SF as eBooks - David Brin, Dan Simmons, and some of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels.
eBooks are great for comfort reading.
eBooks are great for comfort reading.
June 29, 2013
A Thought About eBooks and Their Stores
I'm published as an e-book author - but I wish I had physical books on shelves.
I've been reading some of my old favorites (Dan Simmons, David Brin) on my iTouch - but I first read them in paperback, and it's unlikely I'd buy a book cold just for my eReader.
I don't think anyone wants *just* physical books or *just* e-books. We want to stock our Nooks and Kindles with light reading when we go on vacation, instead of lugging around a knapsack full of thrillers; and when there's a book or series that we really love or are looking forward to, we want it sitting on our shelves. And if we want the physical book, we'd like to find it in a bookstore, if we can, instead of on-line.
Bookstores do best in communities where the residents are as interested (or more interested) in cultural and educational activities as they are in sports, movies, nightclubs and bars. In the US, that often means urban centers. People move to cities for the cultural opportunities as well as for work. So bookstores are a good business fit for cities. But they're also retail businesses that require a LOT of floor space, selling a product that is often low-margin and low-volume. That's a terrible fit for cities where real estate prices are skyrocketing and floor space is measured in the square inch instead of the square foot.
It may not be digital's fault that bookstores are fading away; it may be the realtors'.
I've been reading some of my old favorites (Dan Simmons, David Brin) on my iTouch - but I first read them in paperback, and it's unlikely I'd buy a book cold just for my eReader.
I don't think anyone wants *just* physical books or *just* e-books. We want to stock our Nooks and Kindles with light reading when we go on vacation, instead of lugging around a knapsack full of thrillers; and when there's a book or series that we really love or are looking forward to, we want it sitting on our shelves. And if we want the physical book, we'd like to find it in a bookstore, if we can, instead of on-line.
Bookstores do best in communities where the residents are as interested (or more interested) in cultural and educational activities as they are in sports, movies, nightclubs and bars. In the US, that often means urban centers. People move to cities for the cultural opportunities as well as for work. So bookstores are a good business fit for cities. But they're also retail businesses that require a LOT of floor space, selling a product that is often low-margin and low-volume. That's a terrible fit for cities where real estate prices are skyrocketing and floor space is measured in the square inch instead of the square foot.
It may not be digital's fault that bookstores are fading away; it may be the realtors'.
June 26, 2013
The Marathon Effect
Have you noticed that for the last four or five years, basic cable channels have been showing huge three- or four-hour blocks of shows? Well, obviously you've noticed; but it's a fairly big change from what you could have expected even ten years ago.
Partly it's a response to shows on demand - Netflix, DVR, streaming video, etc. But what that tells me is that we have an innate desire to just Hoover up the shows we like in giant globs, as opposed to taking them in petite sips once a week. Netflix et al made doing that really easy, so the Cable channels finally figured out that it was popular and are now trying to give us what we want; to suit their schedules to our newly-empowered viewing habits.
One of the results, I think, is a new lease on life, new viewers, for shows that would otherwise have completely faded from consciousness. Take The Big Bang Theory, for instance. When it was on once a week on...what? CBS? NBC? Fox? I forget...I never watched it. It didn't strike me (and still doesn't) as a wildly funny show (unlike, say, 30 Rock).
But now that TBBT is one practically every basic channel, five nights a week, three hours at a pop, it behooves me as a viewer to acquire a taste for it in the absence of fare that appeals more directly to me. And I have acquired that taste. I know all the episodes. I even have favorite moments (Sheldon in a French maid's outfit; anything with Leslie Winkle). It's grown on me like athlete's foot.
(ETA: Of course, there are some shows that shrink on you instead. How I Met Your Mother, I'm looking at you.)
The down side is that I'm less likely to take a chance on something new. And there are some really fun new comedies, with rhythms that are totally different from Chuck Lorre's Hollywood Hammer style. Happy Endings. Raising Hope. Community. And on...
Partly it's a response to shows on demand - Netflix, DVR, streaming video, etc. But what that tells me is that we have an innate desire to just Hoover up the shows we like in giant globs, as opposed to taking them in petite sips once a week. Netflix et al made doing that really easy, so the Cable channels finally figured out that it was popular and are now trying to give us what we want; to suit their schedules to our newly-empowered viewing habits.
One of the results, I think, is a new lease on life, new viewers, for shows that would otherwise have completely faded from consciousness. Take The Big Bang Theory, for instance. When it was on once a week on...what? CBS? NBC? Fox? I forget...I never watched it. It didn't strike me (and still doesn't) as a wildly funny show (unlike, say, 30 Rock).
But now that TBBT is one practically every basic channel, five nights a week, three hours at a pop, it behooves me as a viewer to acquire a taste for it in the absence of fare that appeals more directly to me. And I have acquired that taste. I know all the episodes. I even have favorite moments (Sheldon in a French maid's outfit; anything with Leslie Winkle). It's grown on me like athlete's foot.
(ETA: Of course, there are some shows that shrink on you instead. How I Met Your Mother, I'm looking at you.)
The down side is that I'm less likely to take a chance on something new. And there are some really fun new comedies, with rhythms that are totally different from Chuck Lorre's Hollywood Hammer style. Happy Endings. Raising Hope. Community. And on...
