"Taped Before a Live Action Audience"

Many of the shows that my parents watched (and de facto I watched as a kid) always seem to be taped before a live action audience. I wonder what it would be like to be in that audience. Would you need to laugh if they told you too? Could you for that matter? What happens if you laugh at something that wasn't funny? Would they kick you out?

If the show is taped before a live audience, does that mean the actors cannot make mistakes? Before long I could see any audience being bored with take after take after take of the same joke. How would you pick the audience? Was there a waiting list for this kind of thing?

Do they still use live action audiences? I'm not totally up to date with television, because there is only so many things I watch in my life. I just always wondered about this while I was watching shows like Sanford and Son and occasionally the The Cosby Show.

Videogames/Violence

I love to play videogames. I especially love those that have a storyline (I cannot play MMOs). Some of the videogames I enjoy include GTA. Whenever Rockstar (the company that makes GTA) makes a new videogame, it always seems to have troubles with the ratings board. For instance Manhunt 2 was originally given an Adult Rating (A) because of the excessive violence within the videogame. This virtually kills a videogame because many stores will refuse to carry it because of the rating. This also happened to GTA: San Andreas because of the Hot Coffee Mod that allowed players to watch one of the main characters fornicate with random women.

What I find annoying is that although we already have a Mature (M) rating that restricts games to 17 and older, we still have this higher rating. Why do we need this A rating? At the age of 17, an idvidual should be able to decide whether they are old enough to paly these videogames. Why should people be restricted from playing a certain videogame, just because a ratings board believes there is too much violence. How much is too much. That is the problems with ratings boards. Can you really decide that correctly everytime? Is there a mathematical equation to decide these classsifications? Do these ratings boards change with the times. Are A rated games going to become M rated within 10 years?

Funny enough this discussion can also be used for movies as well. Both Midnight Cowboy and A Clockwork Orange received an X rating when originally released but were given an R rating in later years.

Continuous vs. Standalone

This blog is more to promote conversation then anything else. You have two main types of shows. Those that have a continuous week-to-week storyline (like Sopranos and ER) or those that have standalone episodes (like Family Guy and The Simpsons. More often then not comedies will have standalone storylines while dramas will have continuous storylines. There are instances when this is not the case (like The X-Files that had both standalone episodes and a main storyline) but this is usually the general way shows are today and have always been.

For me, I more often then not enjoy the continuous storyline. It can be interesting to watch events unfold over several episodes rather then knowing the whole story within an hour or less. There are times when this is not the case like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which can be quite hilarious in their episodes and boring and dry in others. Shows with continuous storylines always seem like you invested your time and effort to watch all the episodes whereas standalones you can stop watching for a whole season and everything will be about the same. Plus watching continuous storylines seems, at times, like watching a very long film.

I was wondering what everyone else felt about the topic.

Unnecessary Sequels/Spinoffs/Remakes

I might have spoken of this in past blogs but after what I've been reading lately, I just keeping more and more annoyed. I believe that Hollywood has run out of ideas (at least to a certain degree). They've decided that instead of lowering the number of movies we see each year, so they can regroup, they must either remake a classic or give it a sequel. Lately I've been hearing news of another Bad Boys film. Hasn't it been a while since the last one? And was the last one as good as the original? I'm also hearing this news with Rambo and Beverly Hills Cop. I root for the underdog like everyone else, but COME ON!!! Sylvester Stallone is in his 60s for god sakes!!! One was enough but another? and Beverly Hills Cop? I love Eddie Murphy...10 years ago. And he has one or two good films since (I personally enjoyed Dreamgirls). But doing another Beverly Hills Cop will not help him.

Another thing is the remake. Remake used to be a decent idea. Good examples that were great, or even decent are Father of the Bride, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Sometimes these films were even better then their originals. Nowadays remakes have become a dime a dozen. Either you'll see a foreign film remade (Juon to The Grudge or Infernal Affairs to The Departed) which can be decent, or you'll see older horror films remade (like Amityville Horror, Last House on the Left, When a Stranger Calls, The Wicker Man) and they will almost certainly fail where the original succeeded. Remakes may seem like a more viable option than coming up with a more original idea, but sometimes its a better investment in time.

My last complaint are Spinoffs, which are in the tv area. I can't understand remakes of Beverly Hills 90210 or Melrose Place. Whats next, a new Baywatch. Why don't we make a spin off on Frasier, i mean if it worked once, why not six more times.

Maybe its not just Hollywood's fault. If we didn't watch these things then eventually Hollywood would have to follow a new path, maybe a better one. Reading one of my favorite websites a few months ago, I saw an article on movies over the decades and ones that are truly memorable. All were classics that everyone should see. Know what scared me? They couldn't come up with anything beyond The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They went on to call the 2000s the year of remakes (paraphrased of course). Sad really, but until we say "No More" we will continue to have these films redone and shoved down out throats. Will we ever see another era changing film like Star Wars in our time? Time will tell.

Color Adjustment

Watching Color Adjustment was interesting to say the least. The special showed many different stages of blacks on television, a progression that moved behind the times. Its interesting to watch the programs change, always too late to be revolutionary. Color Adjustment actually even says that programs too revolutionary will never be broadcast or will be quickly canceled (Interestingly enough, however out of topic, think of both Family Guy and Futurama, both canceled in their primes). The one thing that concerned me was that if this was true, how can you possibly ever have an accurate representation of a poor black family that will last more then three episodes and won't end with "Dynomite!!!". Television may never be ready for a true representation of any race.

Who am I

My name is Joe DiGaetano. I'm a history major from Rockland who is attending BSC for his last semester. I enjoy video games and watching movies. I have an unhealthy obsession when it comes to movie and video game news and like the Oscars more then the Super Bowl. I read when I can, but it always seems like there is too much to do, so I never have time to read.

I've worked at Walgreens for the last five years and will going back there after college. I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life. It's such a menacing question. "What do you want to do for a living?" Such a final question that will rule you for the rest of your life. I'm still not sure and might never be (God forbid). Until I understand my destiny maybe I'm doomed to wander the earth searching aimlessly. (Kinda sounds corny doesn't it lol). Well that is a small part of me, more to follow.