Category: Monday Media
MONDAY MEDIA: Sci Fi Channel Renaming to SyFy? What? Really?
Sometimes decisions are made that make me pause and seriously wonder what could possibly have been running through the decision makers’ heads when coming to the conclusion they did. Such is the case when I heard the news of…
Sci Fi Channel Renaming to SyFy
Initial reaction: Why? Second thought: What a dumb name. Third thought: SyFy? Is that like Syfo?
Well, here’s their reasoning:
From tvweek.com:
“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.
Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.
“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”
[Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel] said going to Syfy will make a difference.
“It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have,” he said.
Oh, I get it. You’re trying to trick the average science-fiction-is-too-geeky-for-me TV watcher into watching one of those low-budget, poorly-produced movie full of giant CG worms that the Sci-Fi Channel is so well known for? Yeah, that’s going to work. Good idea.
More details from tvweek.com:
The network plans to make the changeover July 7, when it will launch the new series “Warehouse 13.”
The series, about a secret government facility in South Dakota where all mysterious relics and supernatural souvenirs are housed, is emblematic of the channel’s programming direction.
“It is a dramedy and it is set in the here and now. It’s a kind of an Indiana Jones meets ‘Moonlighting’ meets ‘The X-Files,’” Mr. Howe said. “This is a very accessible, relatable, fun show.”
I like Indiana Jones. I like The X-Files. Will I like Warehouse 13? Unlikely. Very unlikely.
So far, the only Sci-Fi Channel original programming that I have actually enjoyed (even if only a little bit) has been Who Wants To Be a Superhero? and Cha$e, both of which were reality/game shows. They were extremely corny, but still amusing.
So how about this Sci-Fi Channel: Instead of changing your name to something goofy like SyFy, how about just producing some quality entertainment that everyone can enjoy, whether they’re a science-fiction fan or not? Geek-targeted titles like Battlestar Galactica aren’t going to cut it. Just keep it simple, like (to use Mr. Brooks’ example) Star Wars.
TweetMONDAY MEDIA: It’s Nanerpus!
A little over a month after Super Bowl XLIII was played, I’m just getting around to posting about the best (and most catchy) commercial aired during the game…
It’s Nanerpus!
Watch it again. You know you want to. And again. And again. And again. There’s just something hypnotic about Nanerpus. Maybe it’s the obvious strings pulling its “limbs.” Maybe it’s the fact that its eye falls off. Maybe it’s the cute jingle. Or maybe… it’s just Nanerpus.
The best news is that Denny’s has made available for download a good quality, slightly-extended version of the commercial here. You can hear Nanerpus say the full word “pancakes.” Awesome, eh?
Searching around the ‘net for Nanerpus shows that I’m clearly not the only one that’s slightly obsessed about the silly banana puppet thing.
Here’s an Asian Nanerpus:
And a Baby Nanerpus:
This guy even tried to complete the Nanerpus song:
Nanerpus is also on Twitter (though I’m pretty sure it’s an imposter).
And there’s also an amazing Nanerpus art contest here, with my favorite entry being this t-shirt design:
If Denny’s was smart, they’d sell shirts with this design on it. I’d buy one.
TweetMONDAY MEDIA: Fallon’s Late Night Borrows Too Much from SNL
As a huge fan of Late Night with Conan O’Brien since its launch, I am excited to see what becomes of The Tonight Show when it enters the Cone Zone in June. Until then, I decided to give the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon a shot. I tuned in to the premiere episode last night and found a show that I felt was too rehearsed and never really offered any big laughs.
The new intro is taken straight from the pages of Saturday Night Live history, filled with blurred nighttime shots of New York streets. The whole show was split up into Saturday Night Live-style skits that were just as unfunny as recent seasons of SNL have been. I think it would have been better for Fallon to separate himself from his SNL past.
It sounds like the show will be packed with A-list celebrities for its first week or two, which should help get it off the ground, as long as Fallon can figure out how to stop mumbling and interrupting his guests. The appearance of Robert DeNiro on last night’s show was painful, though it appeared to be rehearsed that way.
The show’s announcer, Steve Higgins, seems totally out of place. He looks like he belongs as a character on The Office rather than announcing a late night talk show. His voice certainly doesn’t help the show any.
The Roots are the new Late Night band and certainly a very different one than the Max Weinberg Seven. I think it may work as the only bit I found funny in the entire show was “Slow Jam the News,” which featured Fallon and The Roots making the Obama stimulus package sound more sensual than it really is.
Overall, once Fallon’s initial nerves leave him, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon could be an okay show, but I don’t see it ever reaching the comedic level of Conan’s Late Night. I would rather have seen an unknown come in and fill the spot, rather than someone I never found to be particularly funny on Saturday Night Live.
Did you enjoy the premiere of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Comment!
TweetMONDAY MEDIA: Street Fighter IV Thoughts
There are regularly video games that I look forward to for many months, sometimes years, and ultimately disappoint me. The hype rarely lives up to the result. However, once in a while, a game truly lives up to everything I hoped it would and today, that game is…
Street Fighter IV
I have been playing Street Fighter II regularly since I was in elementary school. The fun characters combined with simple fighting style have made it withstand the test of time. Many sequels and spin-offs followed, including Champion Edition, Turbo, Alpha, Marvel vs. Capcom, Street Fighter III and more. None were ever quite as good as Street Fighter II, which essentially defined what a great fighting game should be like.
When I first heard that Street Fighter IV was in development, I was concerned that it would be ruined by complication that switching from 2D to 3D has brought to so many fighting games. Side stepping, flying between levels… it’s all unnecessary. Just give me the classic left and right movement with the ability to jump and I’m happy.
Now that Street Fighter IV has been released, all my worries are gone. I played it for over 8 hours the day it came out and loved every minute of it. The game feels just like Street Fighter II, but with an amazing art style, some useful but simple additions in the way of power-up meters, and a fun array of new characters. All of the classic elements of Street Fighter II remain but with the addition of surround sound and high-definition graphics. The classic characters look better than they ever have and it feels like reuniting with old friends.
While I haven’t unlocked all of the new characters yet, most of the ones I’ve seen have been great new additions to the world of Street Fighter. I don’t want to include any potential spoilers here, so I won’t comment on any unlockables. C. Viper, Abel, and a few of the unlockable characters fit in wonderfully, as if they’d been with the group from the beginning. El Fuerte doesn’t quite work as well but is very amusing and fun to watch. So far, the only characters I dislike are Rufus (he fights cheap and his character design is kinda lame) and Seth, who really doesn’t seem to mesh with Street Fighter at all.
One bit that annoyed when I first played was that Chun Li spoke in English. More specifically, after winning a match, she exclaimed “I did it!” instead of her classic excited utterance of “Yatta!” That just didn’t feel right. Fortunately, it’s possible to unlock a mode where you can have certain characters speak Japanese instead of English, which enables Chun Li to return to giggling and saying, “Yatta!” Whew.
My only other gripe is having to hear the “Indestructible” song over and over, in the menus and even sometimes during fights. It’s not a great song and it just endlessly loops.
The biggest advice I can offer for those who are finding themselves having a hard time on the higher difficulties (Medium and up) is to run through the Challenge Trials for each character. It’s a great way to learn the special moves, unique basic punches and kicks, and even a few combos. Trying to complete the trials can be very frustrating, so if you encounter a combo that you simply can’t land, just give up and move on to the next character. Learning the basics is what’s most important and you can grow from there.
Overall, I look forward to Street Fighter IV eating many more hours of my life in the coming weeks/months/years and can’t imagine the world of Street Fighter getting any better than this.
If you are a Street Fighter fan and haven’t picked this game up yet, buy it NOW. You won’t regret it.
TweetMONDAY MEDIA: Is it Fun to Play in Joss Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse’?
The hype machine was in full effect leading up to the premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon’s latest television series…
Dollhouse
Provocative images like this naked-but-covered picture of Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku have been making their way around in promotion of the new TV show’s premiere on Friday. It’s pretty obvious which target demographic FOX was trying to pull in with these photos.
FOX also brought in Summer Glau of their Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series (and Whedon’s Firefly) to help kick off Dollhouse‘s premiere:
Even though Terminator airs in the Friday night time slot just before Dollhouse, I thought this series of promos was a bit goofy and over the top. We get it. They’re two beautiful women who each kick butt on their shows, which are aired back-to-back. Did we need to be reminded of this during every commercial break? I’ve been a fan of the new Terminator TV series since it launched and think Glau does a great job as Cameron, the helpful-but-mysterious cyborg, but seeing her act all girly next to Dushku actually made me want to watch Dollhouse less.
The one promo for the back-to-back airing of these two shows that I did enjoy was this grindhouse-style commercial:
Ever since Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse film came out in 2007, this over-the-top production style has become somewhat of a Hollywood trend, even when it’s completely inappropriate. Fortunately, I think it worked here.
After seeing all of these images and promos, I found it surprising that there was very little (if any) sexuality to be found in the show’s first episode. I was also shocked that Whedon’s trademark no-one-actually-talks-like-that-but-it-still-sounds-good dialogue was nowhere to be found.
What I did find was a show that has potential, but was lacking some key elements to make it special. Dollhouse is billed with the tagline, “She can be anyone, except herself.” That basically translates to Dushku’s character, Echo, being essentially technologically brainwashed into having an all-new persona in order to carry out a mission, or “engagement” as they like to call it. These “engagements” could be as simple as giving a guy a fun weekend or as complicated as trying to rescue a rich man’s kidnapped daughter (both of which we see in the first episode).
It all reminded me of J.J. Abrams’ Alias, but instead of the strong female lead character (Jennifer Garner’s Sydney Bristow) knowingly taking on new undercover identities week after week, this female lead character (Dushku’s Echo) only knows what she’s doing after having her new identity implanted in her head. The difference makes the show more science-fiction than action-adventure.
Dushku’s last television series, Tru Calling, ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2005 but never established a big fan base. Whedon’s projects, on the other hand, always seem to find a huge following. So will Dollhouse create the same level of fan excitement that Buffy and Firefly have in the past? It’s hard to say at this point. I saw very little of Joss Whedon in Dollhouse‘s first episode. Absent were quirky, unique characters, replaced mostly by uninteresting plot-serving ones. And as hard to believe as Whedon’s dialogue usually is, I found myself missing the charm that it has provided in the past.
I’ll continue to watch Dollhouse for the time being, but will hope for improvements in pace and character development in the coming weeks.
What did you think about the premiere of Dollhouse? Post in the comments.
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