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Why low budget TV comedy sucks.
Jan. 3rd, 2005 06:54 amMEDIA RANT AHEAD.
I love low budget TV more than probably anybody on the planet, but low budget comedy is just annoying.
Some examples of this that can be found in Canada are "The JR Digs Show" (now cancelled) or "Brothers TV". These guys are going out and doing what they love. I'll give them credit for that.
However, following the format of shows like Tom Green or Jackass is not a good idea. Those shows sucked from the start. The format works fine for short segments (2 minutes or so) but it's a one trick pony and quickly becomes pointless.
It's easier and cheaper to film a ton of Streeters footage and boil it down, rather than hammer out a script and work from that. I know this from first-hand knowledge. However, you know what? I prefer scripted comedy to "let's freak out the common people".
One of my biggest issues is with the lack of characters or plot that appear with the Streeters format. Most shows that try the format forget that characters and story are an important part of any piece of media. Without them, how in heaven's name is the audience to relate to the show?
Now, some people will note that the "characters" in these shows could be the hosts. This is partly true, but the hosts are mostly just playing themselves. Don't claim that the host just being himself is a character. That people can even consider this route makes me ill. It's an offshoot of our obsession with celebrity; we're focused on the actors, not the characters. While good acting is an important part of a good character, it's not the whole thing and more often than not, the host is nothing more than the "Average North American Young Adult Male".
I'm SICK of seeing the Average North American Young Adult Male. It's fine the first few times, but if you don't expand the personality, it's not going to hold water over the span of a TV series. Characters need to be different; quirks, opinions, relationships. "Joe Average" bores me, so why should I watch?
Creating a character is not that brain bustingly hard. Characters in Red Green, Mystery Science Theater 3000, etc are based on the Average Male model, but expanded to the point where they are somewhat interesting. Is the fact that Joel looks half asleep important to the plot? Nope, but it makes him different from the rest of the charcters.
Quirky is good. Different is good. Don't give me what I've already seen and tell me it's extreme and groundbreaking.
Same goes for the plot. Random events are fun and all, but when the clips start looking more like outtakes and less like events that could occur in the world you've created, there's no point.
A created world? Oh, that's another thing that many of these shows lack. It's too easy to claim that a show just exists in "the real world". Most shows exist in idealized and skewed version of our world. Even so-called "Reality Shows" exist in a magical fantasy land. People need to figure out where the heck the series is set. What are the laws of the world? The locations?
Heaven help me when I finish my courses. I'm going to get into the business and fall flat down on my idealist butt.
I love low budget TV more than probably anybody on the planet, but low budget comedy is just annoying.
Some examples of this that can be found in Canada are "The JR Digs Show" (now cancelled) or "Brothers TV". These guys are going out and doing what they love. I'll give them credit for that.
However, following the format of shows like Tom Green or Jackass is not a good idea. Those shows sucked from the start. The format works fine for short segments (2 minutes or so) but it's a one trick pony and quickly becomes pointless.
It's easier and cheaper to film a ton of Streeters footage and boil it down, rather than hammer out a script and work from that. I know this from first-hand knowledge. However, you know what? I prefer scripted comedy to "let's freak out the common people".
One of my biggest issues is with the lack of characters or plot that appear with the Streeters format. Most shows that try the format forget that characters and story are an important part of any piece of media. Without them, how in heaven's name is the audience to relate to the show?
Now, some people will note that the "characters" in these shows could be the hosts. This is partly true, but the hosts are mostly just playing themselves. Don't claim that the host just being himself is a character. That people can even consider this route makes me ill. It's an offshoot of our obsession with celebrity; we're focused on the actors, not the characters. While good acting is an important part of a good character, it's not the whole thing and more often than not, the host is nothing more than the "Average North American Young Adult Male".
I'm SICK of seeing the Average North American Young Adult Male. It's fine the first few times, but if you don't expand the personality, it's not going to hold water over the span of a TV series. Characters need to be different; quirks, opinions, relationships. "Joe Average" bores me, so why should I watch?
Creating a character is not that brain bustingly hard. Characters in Red Green, Mystery Science Theater 3000, etc are based on the Average Male model, but expanded to the point where they are somewhat interesting. Is the fact that Joel looks half asleep important to the plot? Nope, but it makes him different from the rest of the charcters.
Quirky is good. Different is good. Don't give me what I've already seen and tell me it's extreme and groundbreaking.
Same goes for the plot. Random events are fun and all, but when the clips start looking more like outtakes and less like events that could occur in the world you've created, there's no point.
A created world? Oh, that's another thing that many of these shows lack. It's too easy to claim that a show just exists in "the real world". Most shows exist in idealized and skewed version of our world. Even so-called "Reality Shows" exist in a magical fantasy land. People need to figure out where the heck the series is set. What are the laws of the world? The locations?
Heaven help me when I finish my courses. I'm going to get into the business and fall flat down on my idealist butt.
