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I have just been watching the première of the television show 'Life'. It does not seem a terribly interesting show - protagonist* suffers undeservedly and out of his suffering attains a new level of peace (in this case, zen), which also happens to be a cop show where the protagonist is expected to solve a long-standing personal crime - but few things are when described so.
After this single episode it seems decent enough. I like that the implementation of zen (I would say Daoism, but zen is the only term I saw used and I do not consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable to make such pronouncements) seems so far matter-of-fact and not mystical. There is no attempt to make it mysterious or exotic; it is presented simply as the mode of interacting with the world he has adopted, the way he survived prison until exonerated and the philosophy he has chosen to live by. It is something he does and not something he preaches.
Haha, it is perhaps very amusing that I would attempt to explain, but what do I know?
I also like that, having been in prison for 12 years, he is very unfamiliar with modern technology. Example: when his former partner asked another cop to take a picture of the two of them together, he remarked (roughly) "But that's a phone." It seems very in keeping with the (a?) theme of the show, reminding us what a marvel the world is when so often we forget.
You may, dear reader, have noticed a complete lack of character names in this post. I may be able to recognise the central two by sight next episode without prompting but that is the closest I could come to naming them. Despite this they do have associations in my mind which mark them as individuals.
Tch. Very nearly I forgot one of the major reasons for my making this post in the first place. That is, this is one of a number of programs being advertised as 'streamed directly from the U.S.' Presumably they mean transferred via some secure (one would assume) electronic collection rather than shipped by ship or plane, so that the episodes now air here days after the original date rather than months as used to be.
I would guess this is from a concern that audiences are being lost due to the availability of peer-to-peer file distribution during the long delay.
What I am wondering primarily is, does this mean our television schedules will now be synched with thse of the United States? In previous years we would be approaching Summer and the end of the rating season. Is it now just Summer? If stations are making a big deal of broadcasting shows soon after they originally air, especially if their motives are what I suspect them to be, I would expect them to want to continue doing this as long as new episodes are being released.
Although I do not know how television seasons work in the United States (and I have seen rumours of a mid-season break so perhaps this is moot), it seems like this would require the ratings season to continue beyond its normal finish date. Perhaps later it will be ended when U.S. television enters a similar state, whenever and ifever that is.
What I am wondering is how great a change the follow-on effects of something so seemingly simple as obtaining programs directly from the U.S. will have on the television industry in Australia.
After this single episode it seems decent enough. I like that the implementation of zen (I would say Daoism, but zen is the only term I saw used and I do not consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable to make such pronouncements) seems so far matter-of-fact and not mystical. There is no attempt to make it mysterious or exotic; it is presented simply as the mode of interacting with the world he has adopted, the way he survived prison until exonerated and the philosophy he has chosen to live by. It is something he does and not something he preaches.
Haha, it is perhaps very amusing that I would attempt to explain, but what do I know?
I also like that, having been in prison for 12 years, he is very unfamiliar with modern technology. Example: when his former partner asked another cop to take a picture of the two of them together, he remarked (roughly) "But that's a phone." It seems very in keeping with the (a?) theme of the show, reminding us what a marvel the world is when so often we forget.
You may, dear reader, have noticed a complete lack of character names in this post. I may be able to recognise the central two by sight next episode without prompting but that is the closest I could come to naming them. Despite this they do have associations in my mind which mark them as individuals.
Tch. Very nearly I forgot one of the major reasons for my making this post in the first place. That is, this is one of a number of programs being advertised as 'streamed directly from the U.S.' Presumably they mean transferred via some secure (one would assume) electronic collection rather than shipped by ship or plane, so that the episodes now air here days after the original date rather than months as used to be.
I would guess this is from a concern that audiences are being lost due to the availability of peer-to-peer file distribution during the long delay.
What I am wondering primarily is, does this mean our television schedules will now be synched with thse of the United States? In previous years we would be approaching Summer and the end of the rating season. Is it now just Summer? If stations are making a big deal of broadcasting shows soon after they originally air, especially if their motives are what I suspect them to be, I would expect them to want to continue doing this as long as new episodes are being released.
Although I do not know how television seasons work in the United States (and I have seen rumours of a mid-season break so perhaps this is moot), it seems like this would require the ratings season to continue beyond its normal finish date. Perhaps later it will be ended when U.S. television enters a similar state, whenever and ifever that is.
What I am wondering is how great a change the follow-on effects of something so seemingly simple as obtaining programs directly from the U.S. will have on the television industry in Australia.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-03 15:00 (UTC)From:I'd love if this was the case, ideally in both directions (the British-only showing of Sky One's "Hogfather" comes to mind, which generated a lot of teeth gnashing among the American Pratchett fans). I'm all for globalization :)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-03 15:27 (UTC)From:Hopefully this practice will happen more widely in future. I did not say so in the post itself but I was wondering if we might end up getting such programs as Doctor Who on a more timely schedule. Perhaps not, since I have formed the impression the BBC guards its properties against foreigners more jealously. Although there are those rumours of their considering setting up legitimate torrents...
Productions like Hogfather by more independent companies might be more likely to get such treatment. Right now I am waiting to see if it is played here at the end of the year.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-03 21:10 (UTC)From:They start in Sept/Oct, they take a mid break in dec/jan/feb, and then do the last run until may/june to finish :)
Usually they're 26 episodes (or in some cases like Smallville, 22) and they split 13/13 or 11/11. That's so that for new shows, networks sometimes cancel after ordering just 13, so presumably the break is to finish up the last 13. :O
Unless you're House, then baseball playoffs and American Idol means that their schedule is completely screwed up and they seem to take 2 week breaks very other week >_>;;;
no subject
Date: 2007-10-04 03:45 (UTC)From: