#thetwitterrevolution

I will be the first to admit that I could not understand Twitter for the life of me up until about a year ago. Why would anyone want to read the thoughts and quips of relative strangers? What do people even have to say at all hours of the day? Don't we already have Facebook for our friends? Eventually I gave in and made a Twitter account for my self, to see what all of the fuss was about and to see what my favorite famous people are up to. I quickly found out what a useful tool Twitter can be not only for entertainment but also for news and info. Musical artists now are announcing song releases and album releases via their Twitter accounts. Sports stars are keeping fans updated on injuries or locker room situations as they happen. Actors are tweeting about upcoming films and projects in the works. News is delivered in an instant. And once I got up to speed on the format and the lingo of the website, it became a fun tool to use. I now keep my feed up on my desktop at all times via a twitter app, something that I never would have thought that I would do one short year ago. I learned of Osama Bin Laden's death via Twitter, not television or radio or newspaper. I stayed up to date on numerous other news stories through my feed. Twitter is truly revolutionizing the way that people are sending and receiving information and consuming the media. Everything is instant and up to date, and the "old" media seems downright slow in comparison. I think that this media revolution is positive; people are more connected now than ever, and news is even more accessible and fast.

The Golden Age of Television

The "golden age" of TV often references the period from the early 50s to the 60s, when television was becoming a fixture in American culture and there were popular and critically acclaimed shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and featured live productions of famous plays and films. Although this period was essential in shaping the television medium, I believe that we are in the midst of the golden age of television and I believe that it is right now that the best shows in history are being made. The number of shows on today and recently that are of high quality is unprecedented. Shows on broadcast television from Lost to ER to The Office to Friends have all pushed the boundaries of TV forward to the point where it seems wrong to call it the small screen anymore. More recently, cable has released some of the best dramas ever seen on television with shows on AMC like Mad Men and Breaking Bad and premium cable shows like The Sopranos and Dexter. These are just a few examples of what is truly a great lineup of shows today and recently. The reasons behind this I think can be explained by not only multiple televisions being in about every home in America, but also cable becoming more widespread and profitable. All of this leads to advertisers willing to spend more on ad space which gives networks more money to invest in some more expensive and ambitious shows. I hope that this trend of shows being made better in terms not only of technology, but also acting and writing because I for one am enjoying every minute of it. I'm just going to need a bigger TiVo...

RIP to the Code

The Chicago Code was a new TV show that just came out this winter on Fox that turned out to be a very short lived one. I admit that one of the main reasons that I watched this show was because it was shot in my current hometown and it had a very "Chicago" feel to it with the characters and the landmarks that were represented. It was still a very solid police drama, however, and the themes of taking down corruption and the complex characters provided a needed twist on a very stale genre. The viewership was not terrible, but it was nothing groundbreaking either and the show received solid critical reviews. All of this would seem to lead to the show being renewed for at least one more season by Fox, but unfortunately it did not. The reason behind this is obvious and it has everything to do with money. Instead of picking up this show, that has to pay writers and actors, Fox will continue to stick with their reality TV lineup, and since the show did not bring in a large enough viewership, they don't think that it is worth it to renew a solid new cop drama. Another factor that goes into Fox's decision is probably that Chicago Code was shot on location in Chicago, which adds to the cost of the show, rather than it being shot in a studio in LA. In any case I wish that Fox would have given the Code another chance next season, as I think that with a little more advertisement, they could have brought in a lot of viewers.

Funny Girls

Despite the female leads, writers and feminine subject matter, all of the men in my family (Dad, Brother and me), had a trip to the theater to see Bridesmaids this weekend. I will admit that the major reason that we decided to see the film was because we heard that it was funny online and Judd Apatow was involved. I wouldn’t say that we weren’t expecting the film to be funny, but we were all thoroughly entertained, and we were found it to be a great film. I think that many guys in our position will write off this film simply because it involves female characters and a wedding, and with other “guy” movies like Fast Five out right now. I do hope that people will see it anyway and realize that funny is funny, no matter if a woman or man wrote the jokes. Also, it will be very interesting to see whether or not the unexpected success of this film will lead to more female driven comedies. As of now, there really is not a big market for a “female” comedy, but the success of Bridesmaids this weekend may lead to more studios taking chances on them. I just hope that it doesn’t turn into a gimmick-y thing for women to have a film; it should still have to be funny, but I will definitely go see a movie if it is funny, regardless of the gender of the actors or writers.

All we ever hear about today regarding the print media is that it is an antiquated source of information quickly becoming obsolete by digital forms of media. Newspapers left and right are going bankrupt or out of business so it would make sense if the magazine industry was suffering from the same type of hardships, but reading through my latest issue of Rolling Stone, I found this ad which states the exact opposite. I found it very surprising, especially the statistic about the amount of time spent on average reading magazines without consuming any other type of media. I personally enjoy magazines and I subscribe to both Rolling Stone and Spin. It is still surprising to me, however that magazines are thriving as much as they are. I still use the Internet very much for news and entertainment, but I tend to prefer sitting down and reading something in my hands over that. I hope that both magazines and newspapers continue to stay around because I don’t think that there is anything quite like going through a newspaper or magazine cover to cover with out the distractions and spastic nature of the Internet.

After 1 Year, Lost Continues To Amaze

Every so often, a television show comes along and it changes the game for the rest of the shows in that genre. The Sopranos revolutionized the cable drama, The Simpsons was and continues to be a game changer for broadcast comedies and cartoons and Lost set the bar for every drama on broadcast television that has come after it. It has been almost a year now since Lost aired its 3-hour epic series finale, and the show’s impact is still being felt. Sure, there are critics of the way it ended, how some mysteries were left unanswered, but the impact that the show had on not only the way that television is made and presented, but consumed and followed by the fans is nothing short of revolutionary. Lost created a cultural phenomenon during its airtime and that continues even after its conclusion. If you watched it as it aired, every episode had a week’s worth of discussion online in message boards, with friends and family, and the following was vast and loyal. The show rewarded this following with a smart, suspenseful, action-packed drama that was truly transcendent. I think that the cultural impact that Lost had is something that all shows are trying to reach for now and it is amazing that a simple television show can have such a large impact on people’s lives. I know first person the impact that this television show could have on someone’s life, as I was one of the loyal followers, discussing and debating week to week, and Lost continues to amaze me even a year removed from its end.

Madden Cover Jinx?

In an interesting push for some publicity this year, video game giant EA has left the decision of who is going to be on the cover of their immensely popular Madden NFL football franchise up to the fans vote. The cover of Madden is seen as a great honor among the football community (only one person gets it per year), and it usually goes to a member of the Super Bowl winning team or the MVP of the last year. This year, EA made a tournament style bracket of players from every team and they had the fans vote on who they want to be on the cover. I am sure that EA thought that the fans would simply vote Super Bowl winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who they would have picked anyway, and they could generate some much needed buzz for their game with the impending NFL lockout. However that is not the way that this bracket played out at all. The two finalists are Michael Vick and Peyton Hillis and I am sure that is not who EA expected to come out on top. Vick has actually appeared on EA’s 2004 edition of the game already, but since then his life has changed drastically with his felony conviction and prison stint. Don’t worry if you have never heard of Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis, as most non-hardcore football fans also have not. It will be very interesting to see how EA deals with these two challenges. I am not sure the majority of America has forgiven Vick for what transpired a few years ago with his involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring, and I guarantee that there will be protests and boycotts from various groups of people if he appears on the cover, which will affect sales. I also can pretty much guarantee that the majority of America has not heard of or seen Peyton Hillis, and the fact that he lacks that star power will affect sales as well. In any case, I don’t think that EA will be doing this contest again next year.

The LASERS Fiasco

It is pretty evident that the record industry is and has been struggling for a while now. Digital piracy is extremely widespread and people just aren’t buying music like they used to. That being said, music is still a business, and record companies still try to make money by embracing digital sales, tours, and merchandise, the main methods of money making now that album sales are down. Profits from tours and merchandise used to go right to the artist, but now record companies will try to sign artists to what is known as a 360 deal in their contract which means that they get a percentage of basically anything they sell related to their music.

This is exactly the case of Lupe Fiasco and his label, Atlantic records. Lupe has been with Atlantic for years, and he has released 3 albums with them now. However, his most recent release, entitled LASERS, was delayed by Atlantic for over 3 years. Lupe refused to sign a 360 deal with Atlantic, because he felt that it was unfair to him, and in return Atlantic refused to release his album. It is pretty unsettling to think that the record label would do that to one of their most successful and critically acclaimed artists, and it ended up taking a fan signed petition and protest march outside of the Atlantic headquarters to finally persuade them to release the album.

The notion that a corporation has that kind of control over the art that is released to the public is scary to me and I hope to everyone else as well. Even though it is inevitable to have some dilution in the media, especially in the music industry, , the freeze-out that Lupe experienced with Atlantic sets a scary precedent for other music labels and I hope this trend stops where it started.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Product placement is something that is definitely very present in film and television, but I am not sure that most people realize the extent to which it is used. It definitely has an impact on us, however, even if it is not overt advertisement. There is a film coming out by Morgan Spurlock called The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and in it, Spurlock attempts to expose product placement advertising techniques. Spurlock has a track record of doing great documentary films with his popular film Super-Size Me, and his lesser known but just as good television series 30 Days. In his films, Spurlock attempts to expose problems in society by living with them as best he can. For example, in one of his 30 Days episodes, he tried to live with his wife on minimum wage for 30 days and he found it to be almost impossible.

For this particular film, Spurlock is trying to expose product placement in films by making a film that is paid for entirely by advertisement in the film. I think that it will not only be an interesting film, but I also think that it will be a great way to expose people to the way that they are getting advertised to. Even though I have only seen a trailer for the film I am already more aware of the ways that companies advertise that may be more subtle than others. I think that this film will be a good watch for everyone.