| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:02 pm (no subject) |
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While most of the Internet was abuzz with the cancellation of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse this week, I was far more interested in this brief interview with Maggie Friedman, the executive producer of ABC's Eastwick. Eastwick also got the axe this week. I've never seen the show, but I found Friedman's comments about the cancellation are very telling about the nature of television these days. She opines how upset she is that the show is cancelled and how disappointed she is that they will not be able to give the fans closure on the show, given that Eastwick received the cancellation at a point where all the ordered episodes were in the can.
I love how Friedman couches the cancellation into terms of how the premature cancellation of a TV show is a snub in the face of the fans of said show. I mean... is there anyone out there who is a RABID fan of Eastwick? Anyone? She makes it sound like Eastwick fans are legion and they're going to storm the corporate offices of ABC if they don't make more episodes. Certain shows do inspire an insane amount of fan loyalty. Hell, Dollhouse sort of is one of those shows... although I do think when it comes to Dollhouse, it's less about people liking Dollhouse and more about people liking Whedon's previous shows and holding on hope that Dollhouse would eventually get better.
Still, this is a tactic that has worked in the past with marginal shows like CBS's post-nuculear Jericho. Get the fans vocal and they'll show the networks that your show has potential. The problem is, I feel like the ship has sailed on that kind of thing. The viewing audience is so fractured these days that a TV program is always going to have some audience... and even in those instances where networks have given those marginal shows a stay of execution, it hasn't really helped matters. I was actually a fan of Jericho and I didn't think much of its abbreviated second season.
I find it so interesting that higher-ups are starting to be clued into using this kind of language to talk about their shows.
.........
Thought I'd mention a nice value for fans of holiday movies I noticed this week. Turner Classic Movies has been releasing these inexpensive DVD four-packs over the past year under the banner "Greatest Classic Films Collection". They're bare bones releases with no special features to speak of, but they're a great value for the money. For example, in their Best Picture four-pack, you can get Casablanca, Gigi, An American in Paris, and Mrs. Miniver... four great flicks for under $20 bucks!
Last week TCM released a Holiday four-pack and it's got some really good movies included. For only $15.99 you get Christmas in Connecticut, It Happened on 5th Avenue, the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, and The Shop Around the Corner. Now, I haven't seen It Happened on 5th Avenue, but even if you took that movie out of the mix, $16 bucks for those other three movies would be a steal. The '38 Christmas Carol is not my flavor (for those playing at home, when it comes to Scrooge, I worship at the alter of Alastair Sim, thanks much) but it's not a bad adaptation. Christmas in Connecticut too is a fun movie... but really, the best reason to get this DVD collection is for The Shop Around the Corner.
Now best known for being the inspiration for the 1999 romantic comedy You've Got Mail, Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner is my preferred Jimmy Stewart Christmastime Movie. Starring Stewart and Margaret Sullivan as rival at work who are unknowingly falling in love through exchanging letters on their off-time, it's a wonderfully crafted movie with great character bits not only from Stewart and Sullivan, but from the rest of their co-workers. Of particular interest is Frank Morgan as the beleagured boss. Morgan is best known to people today as The Wizard of Oz in the 1939 movie, but his role in The Shop Around the Corner is so nuanced and sad and hopeful that it's worth a look for anyone who's never seen him in anything else.
The Shop Around the Corner is a bit of a cheat as a holiday movie (it's one of those movies where it's Christmas only in the last third of the movie) but it rings truer to me than It's A Wonderful Life ever has. Buying TSAtC as a stand-alone disc online is somewhere around $15 bucks and the only special features it seems to boast is a theatrical trailer. If you like romantic comedies... or hell, even if you don't like romantic comedies, you'll probably like The Shop Around the Corner. |
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