Today when television shows and movies are put on DVD, they are chalked full of special features ranging from sit down interviews, behind the scenes stuff, gag reels, and even some interactive games. However, there is one special feature I am a fan and a critic of and that is audio commentaries on DVD. Now it might be just the shows I have been watching but Hollywood needs to step up their audio commentary game.
To start off with, I prefer watching 23-minute television show commentaries compared to a 2 hour movie. I did that one time for Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and that was brutal.
Audio commentaries on some shows such as Reba are above par when the actors and writers give In-depth details of what was it takes to put an episode together. They might comment and why something was left out, add that someone was real sick shooting this episode or they were very pregnant and they had to find a way to cover the actresses belly. When commentaries adds insight I feel I get my money’s worth.
On the other side, if you have three or more people doing commentary and their not speaking for three plus minutes, what is the point of watching. Now I’m not saying the actors have to speak during the entire duration of the 22 minute show, but say something more than I’m not very good at doing audio commentaries would be helpful. Alyson Hannigan, who is a great actress was guilty of this a couple of times during a How I Met Your Mother commentary session. It doesn’t have to be completely scripted, I don’t mind some spontaneity but maybe the actors and writers should watch the episode prior to heading in the booth and have some stats and facts ready just in case there significant amount of silence going on.
True it is not easy doing audio commentaries everybody wants something different and it has to be difficult to do it on shows that ended ten plus years ago such as Seinfeld. Even though the show was very popular it has to be hard for Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus to remember what happened in one specific episode when they did over 180 of them. So I let them and cast members from Family Matters and Quantum Leap slide when it comes to commentary quality. But my expectations will be much higher when Scrubs season 8 DVD is released. Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke you’ll better bring it.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Eleven Years Late
Okay it took over a year but I finally completed watching all nine seasons of Seinfeld. Yes I’m eleven years late since the last Seinfeld episode aired, but I must say I now understand all the hoopla around the show. It was funny, unique, and it revolved around four distinct characters.
A lot of people want to brag that the show was about nothing. I disagree, I thought one the main things Seinfeld revolved around was relationships, getting in relationships, and trying to get out of relationships( I believe that was said in The Seinfeld Chronicles episode) whether it be because a woman had man hands or ate one pea at a time.
George was my favorite character. He was the lovable jerk and could be very shallow and stupid at times like the one time he tried to hook up with actress, Marrissa Tomei while he was still dating Susan.
Why didn’t you watch Seinfeld when it air over decade ago is the question I get asked many times. Watching a show while it’s currently on is just not my style. There are very few shows I watch that are currently on today, it’s just too much work to remember if my schedule is clear every week to watch the Office at 9p.m every Thursday on NBC. There might be something else on I want to watch on television-maybe a game, movie, or I simply forget. On DVD, I can pause the show whenever I please, rewind and not be worry about the interruption of commercials. There were occasions when shows would air reruns or there would be a presidential address and that extended my wait to two or three weeks.
Last year, I made the mistake of not to waiting for How I Met Your Mother to run its course then bring in the real cash off syndication. I foolishly decided to see why the show got so much attention. So I halted watching Seinfeld for a while and decided to watch the first three seasons of HIMYM. When season 4 rolled along in September I had to watch it. Even though season 4 wasn’t as good as the first three seasons I forgot about watching the season 4 finale and had to read the recap. When all I had to do was wait ten years when How I Met Your Mother eventually would get cancelled instead of waiting four months to find out what happens between seasons. It a lot easier and less time to go to Blockbuster or Best Buy the next day and get the next season on DVD after the previous one was concluded.
So when people start discussing what happen on Lost on Monday around the water cooler at work just wait eight years and I’ll be ready to share my opinion with you.
A lot of people want to brag that the show was about nothing. I disagree, I thought one the main things Seinfeld revolved around was relationships, getting in relationships, and trying to get out of relationships( I believe that was said in The Seinfeld Chronicles episode) whether it be because a woman had man hands or ate one pea at a time.
George was my favorite character. He was the lovable jerk and could be very shallow and stupid at times like the one time he tried to hook up with actress, Marrissa Tomei while he was still dating Susan.
Why didn’t you watch Seinfeld when it air over decade ago is the question I get asked many times. Watching a show while it’s currently on is just not my style. There are very few shows I watch that are currently on today, it’s just too much work to remember if my schedule is clear every week to watch the Office at 9p.m every Thursday on NBC. There might be something else on I want to watch on television-maybe a game, movie, or I simply forget. On DVD, I can pause the show whenever I please, rewind and not be worry about the interruption of commercials. There were occasions when shows would air reruns or there would be a presidential address and that extended my wait to two or three weeks.
Last year, I made the mistake of not to waiting for How I Met Your Mother to run its course then bring in the real cash off syndication. I foolishly decided to see why the show got so much attention. So I halted watching Seinfeld for a while and decided to watch the first three seasons of HIMYM. When season 4 rolled along in September I had to watch it. Even though season 4 wasn’t as good as the first three seasons I forgot about watching the season 4 finale and had to read the recap. When all I had to do was wait ten years when How I Met Your Mother eventually would get cancelled instead of waiting four months to find out what happens between seasons. It a lot easier and less time to go to Blockbuster or Best Buy the next day and get the next season on DVD after the previous one was concluded.
So when people start discussing what happen on Lost on Monday around the water cooler at work just wait eight years and I’ll be ready to share my opinion with you.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
4 Major Sports championships are not wrestling/boxing titles
One of my pet peeves I have in is when people discuss how a team that wins a championship the previous season heading into next season are defending champions. How is that? I have never seen any team from the four major sports win a championship then defend it the next year. Can they repeat as champions? Yes. Defend? No.
Take for example the 2008 NFL season. Media and fans discussed how the New York "Football" Giants were the team to beat heading into the season because they won Super Bowl XLII. ESPN analyst, Tom Jackson said whoever won Super Bowl 43 had to beat the Giants to get there. Well Philly defeated the G-men but they weren’t playing in Tampa for the Lombardi trophy.
My point is winning an NBA Finals is not like winning a boxing or wrestling championship. In boxing or wrestling if you defend your title and lose, you are now the former champ. Not the case in football or any other major sport that have yearly champions. Because look at the Super Bowl XLIII champions Pittsburgh Steelers, if they go 0-16 and do not reach the playoffs or lose in the conference finals they will still be Super Bowl 43 Champions and no one can take that away from them. If they win Super Bowl 44 they will still be Super Bowl 43 champions.
In conclusion, it’s a nice topic for debate at a bar or for sports talk radio. But there is no such thing as “defending” champions in at least the four major sports.
Take for example the 2008 NFL season. Media and fans discussed how the New York "Football" Giants were the team to beat heading into the season because they won Super Bowl XLII. ESPN analyst, Tom Jackson said whoever won Super Bowl 43 had to beat the Giants to get there. Well Philly defeated the G-men but they weren’t playing in Tampa for the Lombardi trophy.
My point is winning an NBA Finals is not like winning a boxing or wrestling championship. In boxing or wrestling if you defend your title and lose, you are now the former champ. Not the case in football or any other major sport that have yearly champions. Because look at the Super Bowl XLIII champions Pittsburgh Steelers, if they go 0-16 and do not reach the playoffs or lose in the conference finals they will still be Super Bowl 43 Champions and no one can take that away from them. If they win Super Bowl 44 they will still be Super Bowl 43 champions.
In conclusion, it’s a nice topic for debate at a bar or for sports talk radio. But there is no such thing as “defending” champions in at least the four major sports.
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