Acceptable TV Getting Mixed Reviews

Acceptable TV Getting Mixed Reviews by Roxanne McDonald

And mixed up reviews from this at first naysayer, then fan, now I don’t know what.

Those disapproving of the new interactive show with the original formatting and less than reverent approach include those at Variety/V TV, like Brian Lowry; Paul Brownfield, of the Los Angeles Times; and of course those who don’t quite grok that the whole “acceptable” or not angle is a spoof on censors like the very ones who censor ATV (I’ll leave the names out…just suffice with those who probably woke at 4 a.m. to stand in line for the first TV Blocker programs/sevices….

Anyway.

Lowry, writing for Variety’s TV section, for example, says a lot about the less than acceptable nature of ATV, but here is a chunk of his final commentary:

“…much like the Current TV venture, VH1 appears to be pandering to that “You’re in charge, viewer” mentality without creating material destined to possess much shelf life or value. As for the thrilling innovation of allowing people to select which elements they prefer, doesn’t some Fox show — “American Idol” or something — do that already?”

“…Still, it’s difficult to see the benefits of TV aping the Net’s cut-rate look and then dicing the material into juvenile bits offering no incentive to sit through a commercial pod.”“…Not that there’s anything wrong with being juvenile, of course. It’s only the unfunny that’s unacceptable, and judging strictly on its premiere, Black’s pledge notwithstanding, “Acceptable.TV” only manages to make the old tube just a little bit shittier.”

Those all in favor and saying “aye”, however, are those at TV addict.com, at Wonderlandblog.com, and TV critics like Virginia Heffernan at The New York Times.

Head writer of TV Addict.com says, “Frankly, it’s theTVaddict’s dream come true. I get to play TV network head honcho (7th HEAVEN, DONALD TRUMP — You’re Fired) without having to start in the mail room at William Morris.”

Wonderland blogger writes, “This is like.. reality TV for TV?! I like it.”

And established critic Heffernan writes, “The conceit is pretty funny and doesn’t get old for the full five minutes. (These things are short.) And this — rather than the crude game- show parody or the homeless James Bond action series — is the one pilot I’d watch again. Raunchy jokes you overhear in childhood are exactly this scary, vivid and mysterious.”

And while the ones who matter most are the ones digging the YouTube user-friendliness (as well as the way ATV allows You to download any clips/shows you wish, I am once again changing my mind: I was against. Then I was all for. Now I am astraddle the fence of product-integration and redundant TV.
Too, I am bummed Jack Black made one appearance only so far….

Plus, I’m pissed “Teensies” didn’t make it. But that’s not the fault of “Acceptable TV” any more than it is the fault of American Idol that Sanjaya Malakar is still depressing the hell out of our democratic souls, now is it?

Jack Black at Celebrity Robot

Mea Culpa to Acceptable TV

Mea Culpa to Acceptable TV by Roxanne McDonald

Okay! Okay! I was a bit hasty in my future-of-TV paranoia and all that. And from what I understood then and know now, I admit my erroneous ways. In fact, I applaud this “Project Greenlight” “On the Lot” hybrid for being one of the funniest programming choices avaialable now, in a fairly bereft of humor prime time.

But first, you have to give me some slack–for trying to get an idea of “Acceptable TV” based on two promos which did NOT do the show justice.

Next, I can see what they are considering “interactivity” is not all that different from the interactivity of Idol (where voters call in) or “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (where public sends stuff in). Then again, “Acceptable TV is a far, farrrrr cry from “America’s Funniest Videos”…for “Acceptable TV” (a name which also does not do it justice) is actually funny.

Very, laugh-out-loud funny. Hysterically funny.

In this understated Wayne’s World type living room sit the

creators and host, quietly chatting about the titles of the upcoming shows, sharing premises and puns and soliciting our votes and contributions.

Then the shows, one at a time, air. Each one is titled and numbered, and each one is crude, amateurish, funny, and fresh. Some are more character-driven. Others are more costume-heavy, but at least one (in this case, the first week, two) are so funny that even if you are a malcontent moping about your pad or a curmudgeon carping about the future of TV as a form of social control, you will laugh. Out loud. Even with no [thank God] laugh track or one else in the room to share in the prepare to catch the contagion of laughter thing that happens when more than one watches a comedy.

The five shows airing the first night were as follows:

(read more…)

Keep Your Alternatives off My TV!

Keep Your Alternatives off My TV! by Roxanne McDonald

Alternative TV might be the next step towards the future: its interactivity factor might also be setting a dangerous precedent.

From what I just caught from a TV commercial this week, television viewers will very soon be able to interact with certain programs, taking, as is the premise of the ad, control of their televisions…rather than engage in otherwise passive entertainment.

According to Cory Bergman of LostRemote, Channel 101.com, Vh1, and Jack Black are collaborating on Acceptable TV, whereby viewers/users upload a three- minute mini show, which is edited in with a “professional” show and aired as a complete piece. More interactivity comes at a second level, whereby users/viewers vote to keep or kill particular shows.

The good side of this future-is-here TV is that one, again, people can get off their passive asses and participate in their own television experiences; and two, those who do submit are said to get a “cut of the ad revenues” for the week their pieces air.

Okay, so it’s reality TV; it’s viewer-driven, or controlled, with the voting; and it calls for submissions of work.
Three characteristics already in existence.

And, okay, absolutely no offense to Jack Black, who is one of the finest minds in the entertainment field today….

So “Acceptable TV” is going the way of the future—not introducing it, just furthering its techno-culture, picking up on what Ray Bradbury first offered, for example, in Fahrenheit 451.

But if you read that book and/or saw the movie, you saw what a mockery was this so-called interactive TV: Linda Montag hurries back to her television screens, where “The Family” comes on and asks for Linda’s input as one of the characters. However, the two TV personalities are not as much interacting with her as they are performing in spite of her. They have a scripted dialogue, then ask Linda what she thinks (the answer which they of course cannot hear), so as she stammers and coyly blushes, they say, “Very good idea, Linda!” or something similar–which just highlights the mediocrity and ignorance of the stay-at-home wife type who is out of the loop of reality, really, points out the pitiful state of people addicted to drugs and the media and even points a critical finger at the absurdity of the so-called advancements of television.

(read more…)