• Lost To Get Five More Episodes

      A post about by Trace Sharp on February 15th, '08

      No Comments

    • When watching the television show Lost, there are a few items for your own sanity’s survival to keep within reaching distance.

      kate_and_sayid.jpg A cocktail, your laptop for easy reference on a kajillion references because every scenario of each name/photo needs to be researched and then Vicodin to ease the brain explosion after watching the episode. (Legally, of course.)

      One of the things about Lost that makes it such a brainstrain is so much happens at once that it’s hard to put it all together. Thank God the Writer’s Strike is over and ABC will keep putting the last episodes up so geeks like myself can go and pour over 40+ minutes to make sure we didn’t miss something.

      In last night’s episode, we have seen the future of Sayid after the island. We see he’s living a lovely life of running a daycare center named after deceased girlfriend Shannon (I keed. I tease because I love.) Nope, he’s an assassin. And he’s not your run-of-the-mill killer. He’s one with a purpose apparently but we don’t know that until the last few seconds of the episode which I won’t spoil you about but when you see who Sayid is hanging out with, you will be surprised. Don’t doubt it.

      The evolution of the show has once again offered viewers a multi-layered mystery with an outcome revealed but we haven’t been on the journey yet on how Hurley, Kate, Jack and Sayid got from the island to where they are today. We do know that Jack the control freak now has no control over his life. Kate, who can be billy bad-ass and a hot mess at the same time, seems to have it together more than her male counterparts. We know Hurley has returned to the comforts of a mental hospital drawing pictures of Eskimos (remember the finale of Season Two) and that Sayid is in over his head.

      But why?

      And that is the beauty of Lost. The questions are always so much more important than the answers and in some ways Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have given us answers every week as we go along.  You have to pay attention though.

      Lost has redefined television in many ways but I do see some comparisons with shows such as “The Prisoner” which also saw a lost man living in a world that had a set of rules that were not in the manual of what is supposed to happen and what isn’t.

      Lost will also have five more episodes, according to the producers, now that the Writer’s Strike has been resolved.  And for fans salivating over what is going on, this is good news indeed.

      We want to hear what you've got to say! So leave a comment…

    • Jonny Fairplay’s Latest Scheme

      A post about by Trace Sharp on February 9th, '08

      No Comments

    • “Fairplay went to what is affectionately known as Loser's Lounge and waited around until the merge before he got to jet set around the world. I wish that his teammates or Probst had called him out on this, but they didn't.”

      Let’s be very clear. Reality Television, as we say in the south, ain’t always reality.

      Glad that we got that out of the way.

      In following up to the post I wrote on Thursday about the preview of Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites, the season will be filled with uber fans of the show battling it out with “favs” that were on other seasons but didn’t win the $1 million dollar booty.

      And, alas, we got to see the biggest villain in Survivor history return in one Jonny Fairplay who really has made a career of trying his best to get attention and make a living in reality television.

      For fans of the show, we were introduced to the loudmouth in the opening moments that was recognizable to viewers. It was the Fairplay we knew. Snarking with host Jeff Probst, scheming with two sets of already divided favorites, this was the Fairplay that we have seen quite a bit of over the last four years.

      But in an event that you could see play out in his eyes, we saw him shift and try to provetail9.jpg his worth as a kindler, gentler Fairplay. And it happened as he was gathering wood with Amanda. You could see in his eyes that he didn’t want to be gathering water, scavenging for food, hauling water and playing the game of Survivor.

      You could see it cooking like a bad batch of meth in a 1973 Winnebago.

      So the weeping starts and the “throwing” one for the team with Fairplay sadly bringing up that he couldn’t get his girlfriend and his unborn daughter, Piper, “screwing with this head.” He was impassioned about that he needed to be with them, that he was a more mature man. That he was, in fact, a good guy.

      And he was “voted” out but in reality he quit, smiling as the votes came in and even giving his nemesis Probst a goodbye hug.

      Guys, he didn’t go home. According to Dalton Ross at Entertainment Weekly, Fairplay went to what is affectionately known as Loser’s Lounge and waited around until the merge before he got to jet set around the world. I wish that his teammates or Probst had called him out on this, but they didn’t.

      The reality is that Fairplay didn’t want to do what had to be done to outwit, outlast and outplay. Let’s take a look at Fairplay for a moment. He brawled with other reality television actor Danny Bonaduce less than a year ago, he defecated on a bed in Kill Reality and was tossed from that show, he was tossed for disrupting another reality show called “Inked” by disrupting the show’s filming …

      Should I go on?

      It’s not a big issue other than the fact that what is edited for reality television doesn’t always show the entire picture. And that Z-lister Fairplay did something he’s known for:

      He scammed the viewers again.

      I wonder if his grandmother that he said had died on Survivor: Cook Islands was watching this latest Fairplayism. I’m guessing she did.

      We want to hear what you've got to say! So leave a comment…

    • The Mysteries Of Lost

      A post about by Trace Sharp on February 8th, '08

      1 Comment

    • “It's a show that lasts long beyond the credits for those smitten with the rocky hard turns the writers have mapped out.”

      We are two episodes into Lost and the new path has fans excited about the surprising journey the show is taking because it doesn’t follow the traditional rules of television. In it’s fourth season, the show has always introduced unusual elements to shock and surprise and has been reliable (well, except that six episode arc that started season three out) to create a mythology and mystery that is the basis of the revolutionary series.

      350px-lost_season_4_poster.jpg What makes Lost work are the small moments that may or may not open up doors later in the narrative. Last season, viewers were surprised in the finale to see that Jack and Kate had made it off the island and things were not going so well for the stubborn doctor. We were alerted in the first episode of this season referred to the Oceanic 6, although we have only been alerted to Hurley joining the felon and the moon-eyed physician in what is being called a fast-forward.

      Bringing in new characters has usually worked for Lost except for an ill-advised addition of Paulo and Nikki, who after fan outrage, were killed off in a delicious and decadent way. New characters include a mysterious foursome who have come searching for something other than the castaways. One appears to be a very cranky psychic named Miles as well as  the man who should have piloted Oceanic Flight 815, a woman with the initials of CS Lewis and a goofy little guy who doesn’t appear to be dangerous and says he’s a physicist but doesn’t like to be “boxed in.”

      And it is working. We know some of the reaction that came out of unknown actions created on the island and the mythology remains intact.

      As I said, it’s the small moments that make Lost so intriguing. Small looks, tight dialogue and excellent acting that moves the story forward even in the midst of crisis. Emmy-winning actor Terry Quinn is a perfect example as he doesn’t chew the scenery, like Josh Holloway’s character Sawyer does, but that he is comfortable in the character of Locke who could be a prophet or a victim of an ambitious hoax. Both characters play off each other beautifully though. Each piece of the character puzzle fits exquisitely.

      Lost, obviously, is an acquired taste. It’s a show that lasts long beyond the credits for those smitten with the rocky hard turns the writers have mapped out. What does each name mean? What is the significant of small Easter Eggs to the overall theme of the show? Is it supernatural forces guiding the island’s control over characters or is it a man-made nightmare?

      And, as we refer to here so often, the writers’ strike has impeded the promised 16 episodes that fans were promised cutting it in half.

      But each week, there is a scrumptious bit of information revealed and more questions that arise.

      We want to hear what you've got to say! So leave a comment…

    • Survivor Returns Tonight In Micronesia

      A post about by Trace Sharp on February 7th, '08

      1 Comment

    • Survivor premieres a new season this evening with Fans Vs. Favorites. The key is to bring folks back from earlier seasons and then pit them against those “fans” who know their every move. And these are apparently die-hard Survivor fanatics who know the game well.

      Not exactly a Celebrity All-Star thing, but better.surv16256.jpg
      The thing about Survivor is everytime I think it’s dead in the water, it comes back with something new. Last season was obviously interesting as it was shot in China which was unique in its on right, but this year.

      Yeah, Jonny Fairplay is back. I know. I know.

      Survivor does reinvent itself. It is the show that put reality television on the map as a viable marketing monster that could make networks money.

      And it has. And it could also be said that Survivor works a gimmick. The favorites are memorable cast members but not winners. (Remember Rupert, the fans loved him but he was booted twice.)

      The favorites, including Fairplay are James Clement (China); Ami Cusack (Vanuatu); Cirie Fields (Panama); Amanda Kimmel (China); Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands); Eliza Orlins (Vanuatu); Jonathan Penner (Cook Islands); and Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands.)

      But, it’s a gimmick, as I said. And Survivor survives on gimmicks that viewers are vocal enough to tell them if they love or hate it.

      This season is set in Micronesia. It includes a new exile island where two contestants are sent instead of one, Jeff Probst said that James the gravedigger will be outdone on the stupidest move ever and Mark Burnett continues to deposit large amounts of money into his bank account.

      Survivor begins it’s 16th season tonight at 7 CST.

      We want to hear what you've got to say! So leave a comment…

    • Strides Made In Writers’ Strike?

      A post about by Trace Sharp on February 3rd, '08

      No Comments

    • Reports early this morning are claiming, although it hasn’t been officially confirmed that the Writer’s Strike might be easing toward an end. Closed door, informal discussions and a gag order on the proceedings are claiming that an end may come as early as next week.

      hollywood-1.jpg The New York Times is reporting that some of the issues that sent writers to the streets picketing, primarily internet rights for digital content, had a major breakthrough on Friday. Reporter Michael Cieply writes “A final sticking point had been compensation for ad-supported television programs that are streamed over the Internet after their initial broadcast. Companies were seeking a period during which they could stream such shows without paying a residual, and wanted to peg payments for a year of streaming at the $1,200 level established in the directors’ contract. Writers were seeking 1.2 percent of the distributors’ revenue from such streams, to ensure they would participate in any revenue gold mine discovered on the Web. How that issue was finally resolved in the informal talks remained unclear.”

      If these rumors are true, the four-month old strike could come to an end and send writers back to work but the issue will not save the season. Lost will remain at eight episodes, other new shows like Chuck and Pushing Daisies are done for this year but could they come back in non-traditional programming formats.

      But the news is positive. It could be speculated that the strike might change the way traditional American broadcasting works. Will the American public be looking at shorter seasons that have allowed scheduling shows in a manner that is done in Britain, Germany and Australia. Shorter seasons not following a “fall” scheduling might be an answer to get shows back on the air sooner.

      Only time will tell.

      We want to hear what you've got to say! So leave a comment…