This post has nothing to do with the BBC, but rather British-inspired news. I have never set foot on the ‘Spamalot’-inspired country, (btw…I just saw the play in Vegas, uh, awesome) but I have a profound respect and odd curiosity for anything that comes from across the pond:
I know this is a stretch, but the American version of ‘The Office’ comes to us directly from the British version. Anyway, ‘The Office’ definitely, in my mind at least, hasn’t jumped the shark, but, again, listening to reactions from people this season as well as reading on-line articles and blogs, I’m convinced that something is amiss. Read this article form Slate magazine that seems to think it knows how to remedy ‘The Office’ funk. Also, here’s the top 25 moments from ‘The Office’ with clips - it invokes fond memories.
Also, with all the Radiohead hysteria lately, I just needed to say that it looks like their little experiment has worked, financially speaking. While there have been many freeloaders who haven’t shelled out a penny for the new album, it looks as though the downloading averaged about $8 per CD. This article indicates that most A-list artists make about $1 for every CD sold, while, in contrast, Radiohead is reaping all the download profit from their own strategy. Not bad considering that estimates are around 1.2 million downloaded albums thus far. That would equate to like a billion pounds or something (I’m hazy on my pound to dollar conversion).
One more thing…Oasis is following suit and offering their latest single as a download only. The only difference is that you actually have to pay for it. P.S. I love Oasis.
Netflix expected to broaden subscriber base after winning Women’s World Cup
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Netflix now has soccer, WWE and boxing as part of its live sports portfolio.
3 comments:
First of all, I appreciate the mention of Spamalot – I think it is ridiculously hilarious, but I couldn’t tell what you guys thought! It is definitely possible and/or likely that I am slightly desensitized . . . As for The Office (Ricky Gervais of the British Office is genius, by the way), I don’t think it has ‘jumped the shark’ yet either. It has possibly gotten a bit quirkier, but I have still been enjoying it and I think it will get better now that they are going back to ½ hour episodes. How is the new Oasis single? (I assume you have it) - Worth the one or one and a half pounds it is going for on their website? (Isn’t it two to one right now-so, two or three bucks?) Or, let me ask you this: if you weren’t already partial to the band and heard the song on the radio, would you love it?
I agree with hayls. I think the hour format is too long for a straight comedy like The Office. An hour is perfect for a drama, with the necessary elements of character development and plot.
A comedy, on the other hand, is more about timing. Most comedy movies are dried up by the end of a full two hours. Like a movie that's too long, the hour long Office episodes seem too drawn out, too forced. That's a problem because one of the best aspects of the Office is that it's characters and setting is believable. The forced, drawn out factor takes away from that believability.
Hayls - Yeah, I would agree. I laughed quite a lot watching it last week, but missed the subtlety. Of course, I still think that the first season's six episodes were the best.
Concerning Oasis: well, I've yet to buy the single because I realized it costs two or three dollars. Here's the other thing, I haven't been able to hear the whole song yet - they only have samples - so I might just wait or something.
Asmith - You have a point. However, I'm not sure if it's the hour-long format as much as it is trading subtlety for outrageousness. I liked Duane's Simpson's comparison that he left in the comments on 'To Boldly Go.'http://jedboy.blogspot.com/2007/10/to-boldly-go.html
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