Last season Alias performed better in the ratings than it ever had. This season, moved to a new time slot, it performed so pathetically that it was both put on a four month hiatus and cancelled. Last Wednesday Alias returned with a two hour episode and peformed better in the ratings than it had all season. Many people might be curious as to why a show which had done so poorly in the ratings as to be cancelled suddenly saw the size of its audience increase. As for me, I am not. It all comes down to the show's time slot.
When it comes to a show's success, its time slot is all important. I think Alias is a perfect example of this. Last season Alias aired on Wednesday nights following Lost. Lost proved to be one of the surprise hits of the season and shares the same production team as Alias. The audience of Lost then, quite naturally, stayed tuned for Alias. This season ABC, for whatever reason, moved Alias to Thursday nights. Moved away from Lost and facing both Survivor on CBS and Will and Grace on NBC, the ratings for Alias plummetted. Quite simply, it was facing more than one highly rated, established show, while at the same time it lost the lead in from a show whose audience it largely shared. The cancellation of Alias could then largely be blamed on ABC, who quite unwisely moved the show from a time slot in which it was doing very well.
Of course, the ratings plunge which Alias experienced was nothing when compared to the drop in the ratings which Mork and Mindy saw in its second season. It was a smash hit in its first season, ranking third in the ratings for the over all season. For its second season ABC made two fatal mistakes with the show. First, they did away with many of the series' supporting characters. Second, they moved the show from its original time slot. The end result was that a show that had previously been a top ten hit started ranking regularly in the bottom of the Nielsens. In the end, Mork and Mindy never quite recovered, even when it was returned to its original time slot.
The importance of a show's time slot can even explain why some shows actually peform better when reran in syndication than they do in their original time slot. There is perhaps no better example of this than Star Trek. During its original network run Star Trek performed abysmally in the ratings, yet it has gone on to become one of the most successful shows in syndication of all time (right up there with I Love Lucy and Gilligan's Island). I suspect much of this had to do with when NBC scheduled the show. In its first season, Star Trek faced the still successful My Three Sons on CBS and the hit Bewitched on ABC. It is little wonder it did not do well in its first season. For its second season NBC gave Star Trek a new time slot. Sadly, this one was even worse than its original time slot. It was moved to Friday night, when many of the teenagers and college students who comprised the majority of its audience at the time would be out and about. I mean, just how many young people stay home on Friday night? Worse yet, it was against Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. on CBS, then one of the top ten shows. Again, it is little wonder Star Trek did not perform well in the ratings. For its third and final season, it remained on Friday night, but aired later than it had before--at 10:00 PM EST/9:00 PM CST. As might be expected, its ratings declined even more and it was cancelled. Because of its time slots, Star Trek never really had a chance during its original network run. I have always thought that had it in placed in just the right time slot, it could well have been a hit in its first run.
Of course, the example of Star Trek brings to me something that has always puzzled me about the networks--that is their habit of placing genre shows with an appeal to young people on Friday nights. I realise that in the early Sixties a study was conducted that Friday night was the best time to schedule such programmes, but the history of television has since proven that study to be false. The list of youth oriented, genre shows which have failed on Friday night is a long one: Star Trek, Beauty and the Beast, the prime time revival of Dark Shadows, Millenium... There have only been a few such shows that have actually succeeded on Friday night. In fact, off the top of my head I can only think of three: The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, and The X Files. Here I should point out that the success of these shows can easily be explained. When The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was moved to Friday night, it was alreay a smash hit and had become something of an outright fad. It could have been placed in nearly any time slot and done well. As it is, many of the show's fans protested its move to Friday nights. As to The Wild Wild West, it was a combinatin Western, spy series, and sci-fi show. As a Western and a spy series, it quite naturally had an audience of older males as well as younger people. Being scheduled on Friday night, it might well have lost many teenage and college age viewers, but it retained many male viewers in its thirties and forties. As to The X-Files, like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. it emerged as something of a phenomenon. Even then, its ratings were not spectacular when it aired on Friday nights. The X-Files would not become a smash hit until it made the move to Sunday nights. I have to wonder that if it had remained on Friday nights that it would not have gone the way of Beauty and the Beast.
Anyhow, I am still puzzled to this day as to why the networks choose to schedule youth oriented, genre shows on Friday night when so many such series have failed on this night. Most teenagers and college age people choose to go out on Friday nights. At the very least, they have never chosen to stay at home and watch network television! Common sense would then seem to dicate that Friday is then the worst night for youth oriented, genre shows...
Obviously, the time slot of a show is not the only thing which dictates its success or failure. The changes made in Mork and Mindy in its second season may have had caused its drop in the ratings as much as its move to a new time slot. That having been said, a show's time slot can play a large role in whether it is successful or not. A series scheduled against an established hit (these days C.S.I. would be a good example probably will not perform well. By the same token, a show scheduled against weak competition might perform better than expected. Sadly, I don't know that the networks always pay attention to this...
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Spoof Emails
If one has email access, chances are that at some time or another he or she has received a spoof email. A spoof email is one that appears to have come from one source, when actually it has come from another. Spoofing is usually done in order to obtain sensitive information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, and so on. A prime example of a spoof email is one I received this morning which claimed to be from Ebay. It claimed that my account could be suspended if I did not verify or authenticate the information in my account. It even included a link which would take me to a place where I could "verify" or "authenticate" my information.
I must admit that this spoof email may have been convincing to someone else, but it did not fool me. The link through which I could "verify" or "authenticate" my information was a dead giveaway. EBay never includes links to pages where one can "verify" or "authenticate" one's information. Another dead give away is that nowhere did it include my EBay ID. In its emails EBay almost always includes one's Ebay ID. Another clue that the email was spoofed was its address--it did not sound to me like anything that would actually come from EBay. Here I should point out that if anyone receives an email claiming to be from EBay, they can always go to "My Messages" on the EBay website. If it is an official email, then it will be there. If it's a spoof email, then it won't.
One should never respond to any email that claims to be from an official site (EBay, PayPal, Yahoo, and so on) and demands that one provide personal information, particularly through a link conveniently provided on the email. And when at all possible, one should forward the offending email to the company from which the email claims to have come. Both EBay and PayPal have email addresses to which one can forward spoof emails. Spoofing is a very serious problem. While it is not that difficult to detect a spoof email, many people still fall victim to spoofing each year.
I must admit that this spoof email may have been convincing to someone else, but it did not fool me. The link through which I could "verify" or "authenticate" my information was a dead giveaway. EBay never includes links to pages where one can "verify" or "authenticate" one's information. Another dead give away is that nowhere did it include my EBay ID. In its emails EBay almost always includes one's Ebay ID. Another clue that the email was spoofed was its address--it did not sound to me like anything that would actually come from EBay. Here I should point out that if anyone receives an email claiming to be from EBay, they can always go to "My Messages" on the EBay website. If it is an official email, then it will be there. If it's a spoof email, then it won't.
One should never respond to any email that claims to be from an official site (EBay, PayPal, Yahoo, and so on) and demands that one provide personal information, particularly through a link conveniently provided on the email. And when at all possible, one should forward the offending email to the company from which the email claims to have come. Both EBay and PayPal have email addresses to which one can forward spoof emails. Spoofing is a very serious problem. While it is not that difficult to detect a spoof email, many people still fall victim to spoofing each year.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Richard Cory
Tonight finds me both sick and tired. I then don't feel much like making a blog entry. Instead I thought I would leave you with one of my favouite poems by one of my favourite poets. Indeed, I'm apparently not the only one who likes the poem. Simon and Gafunkel set it to music and the song appears on their album Sounds of Silence. Anyway, here is the poem...
"Richard Cory"
by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich-yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head
"Richard Cory"
by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich-yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head
Friday, April 21, 2006
Midnight Confessions
Have you ever had one of those times when you can't get a song out of your head? This is one of those for me. For the past few days, "Midnight Confessions" by The Grass Roots (in one of that groups's many incarnations) has been going through my mind at regular intervals. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been their biggest hit. At any rate, it peaked at #5 on the Billboard singles chart in August of 1968. Anyhow, I thought I might let the rest of you hear it....
"Midnight Confessions" by The Grass Roots
"Midnight Confessions" by The Grass Roots
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
House
Well, I finally got the PC fixed. It turns out my niece shut it down while Windows XP was still loading. She did not realise the dire consequences of this action. Anyhow, it is running normally again.
Last night I got off early from work, which gave me the luxury of actually watching primetime television for once. In this case I watched the last part of American Idol (not a show I would watch on a regular basis, but they were performing standards last night) and then House. Along with Lost and Desperate Housewives, House has been one of the most talked about TV shows of the past two years. Despite this, I did not have high hopes for the series. Medical dramas have never particularly appealed to me. Indeed, it seems to me that they all tend to be made from a cookie cutter. Every week another patient suffers some unusual ailment and the brave doctors must rush to save his or her life. And every week the brave doctors become emotionally involved with their patients. Indeed, I think it would be safe to consider medical dramas as a subgenre of soap operas for the most part.
Fortunately, House is different. Much of this is due to the character of Dr. Gregory House himself, played by the great Hugh Laurie (of The Young Ones, Blackadder, and Jeeves and Wooster fame). House is an absolute curmudgeon who never gets emotionally involved with his patients. In fact, he has a tendency to view his patients more as "cases" than as "human beings." House is also an outright cynic when it comes to humanity. When it comes to people, he tends to believe that they almost always act with their own interests in mind. Despite this, there can be little doubt that deep down House does care about his patients, even though he does keep his distance, and he always fights to save the life of each and everyone.
House is assisted by a small group of residents, each with his or her own unique personality. Dr. Allison Cameron (played by Jennifer Morrison) is the closest the show comes to the physicians usually found on TV medical dramas. She typcially becomes emotionally involved with her patients (much to House's consternation) and is always concerned with the ethics of any given situation. Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) is ambitious and sometimes seems to put such ambition above his relationship with his other residents and even his patients. Dr. Robert Chase, played by Jesse Spencer, is the closest of the residents in personality to House. He is a bit of a medical detective, fascinated by the puzzles that often confront them.
Indeed, moreso than its characters, House is set apart from other medical dramas in that it is much more of a mystery series than a soap opera. The show has been compared to the Sherlock Holmes stories and with good reason. Each week House and his residents are confronted with another mysterious malady. The doctors then chase down various clues until finally arriving at a diagnosis. Gregory House is a good match for Holmes, often using unconventional methods to solve a mystery. In fact, he has been accused of caring more about his medical puzzles than his patients.
In this respect, I rather suspect that House would appeal more to fans of mystery series than medical dramas. The show literally owes more to Columbo than it does Marcus Welby M.D.. In fact, I can actaully see the typical fan of medical dramas actually disliking the show. On the other hand, I think anyone who likes a good mystery and can appreciate original, unique characters enjoying the series quite a bit. On the surface, House might appear to be a medical drama, but it owes more to CSI than it does ER.
Last night I got off early from work, which gave me the luxury of actually watching primetime television for once. In this case I watched the last part of American Idol (not a show I would watch on a regular basis, but they were performing standards last night) and then House. Along with Lost and Desperate Housewives, House has been one of the most talked about TV shows of the past two years. Despite this, I did not have high hopes for the series. Medical dramas have never particularly appealed to me. Indeed, it seems to me that they all tend to be made from a cookie cutter. Every week another patient suffers some unusual ailment and the brave doctors must rush to save his or her life. And every week the brave doctors become emotionally involved with their patients. Indeed, I think it would be safe to consider medical dramas as a subgenre of soap operas for the most part.
Fortunately, House is different. Much of this is due to the character of Dr. Gregory House himself, played by the great Hugh Laurie (of The Young Ones, Blackadder, and Jeeves and Wooster fame). House is an absolute curmudgeon who never gets emotionally involved with his patients. In fact, he has a tendency to view his patients more as "cases" than as "human beings." House is also an outright cynic when it comes to humanity. When it comes to people, he tends to believe that they almost always act with their own interests in mind. Despite this, there can be little doubt that deep down House does care about his patients, even though he does keep his distance, and he always fights to save the life of each and everyone.
House is assisted by a small group of residents, each with his or her own unique personality. Dr. Allison Cameron (played by Jennifer Morrison) is the closest the show comes to the physicians usually found on TV medical dramas. She typcially becomes emotionally involved with her patients (much to House's consternation) and is always concerned with the ethics of any given situation. Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) is ambitious and sometimes seems to put such ambition above his relationship with his other residents and even his patients. Dr. Robert Chase, played by Jesse Spencer, is the closest of the residents in personality to House. He is a bit of a medical detective, fascinated by the puzzles that often confront them.
Indeed, moreso than its characters, House is set apart from other medical dramas in that it is much more of a mystery series than a soap opera. The show has been compared to the Sherlock Holmes stories and with good reason. Each week House and his residents are confronted with another mysterious malady. The doctors then chase down various clues until finally arriving at a diagnosis. Gregory House is a good match for Holmes, often using unconventional methods to solve a mystery. In fact, he has been accused of caring more about his medical puzzles than his patients.
In this respect, I rather suspect that House would appeal more to fans of mystery series than medical dramas. The show literally owes more to Columbo than it does Marcus Welby M.D.. In fact, I can actaully see the typical fan of medical dramas actually disliking the show. On the other hand, I think anyone who likes a good mystery and can appreciate original, unique characters enjoying the series quite a bit. On the surface, House might appear to be a medical drama, but it owes more to CSI than it does ER.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Technical Difficulties...
Last night I came home from one of my two jobs to find my PC behaving oddly. Although it would connect to the net, Internet Explorer would simply stop responding rather than connect to any web site. Netscape worked fine. My Symantec Internet Security would simply stop responding. Trend Micro Anti-Spyware simply would not launch at all. I know that my niece had been on the computer earlier from various evidence, but I am not absolutely sure that she inadvertantly downloaded any malware, spyware, or trojans. At least a cursory look at the system revealed none, although as both Trend Micro and Symantec could not be run, I could not be certain.
At any rate, last night I spent doing a reinstall on my PC. I am still in the process of reinstalling various programmes, not to mention fix a few more that appear to have been damaged in the transition. I am certainly not happy. If I don't make another blog entry for a few days, well, it is because I am still getting this machine back in shape.
At any rate, last night I spent doing a reinstall on my PC. I am still in the process of reinstalling various programmes, not to mention fix a few more that appear to have been damaged in the transition. I am certainly not happy. If I don't make another blog entry for a few days, well, it is because I am still getting this machine back in shape.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Whatever Happened to Easter Programming?
Today Christians celebrated their Easter. Since Thursday Jews have been celebrating Passover (which continues until this coming Thursday at sunset). And while these holidays are important to a good many people, one wouldn't know it from the television networks. There was very little in the way of programming dedicated to Passover, the Christian's Easter, or even so much as the season of spring. While I am neither Christian nor Jewish, I think this is a grevious oversight on the networks' parts.
It wasn't always this way. Growing up I can remember that the networks would show various specials this time year. Naturally, given that the majority of people in the U.S. are Christian (or at least nominally so), most of them had an Easter theme. Rankin/Bass, the animation studio which dominated holiday specials in the Sixties and Seventies, produced no less than three Easter specials alone. Here Comes Peter Cottontail was the first, in 1971. Curiously, it was not based on the song of the same name, but on the Priscilla and Otto Friedrich novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept. They followed this special with another, The First Easter Rabbit in 1976. The First Easter Rabbit is unusual for a Rankin/Bass producton. Best known for their stop motion work (think Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer), this particular special used cel animation (think Frosty the Snowman). They produced another Easter special the following year, The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town, which was in some ways a sequel to their popular Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Fred Astaire gave his voice to the mailman narrator just as he had in Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, this time explaining the origins of the Easter Bunny.
Rankin/Bass were not the only people who could be counted on for specials for nearly every holiday. Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez produced Peanuts specials for nearly every special occasion, including Easter. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was a variation on the Great Pumpkin idea, with Linus insisting that the Easter Beagle will bring everyone eggs. The Peanuts weren't the only comic strip characters with an Easter special. A Family Circus Easter debuted in 1982, based on the famous one panel strip by Bill Keane.
Even classic animated characters received their own Easter specials back in the day. In 1977 Warner Brothers produced the special Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. It pretty much featured classic Warner Brothers shorts within a framework story in which Bugs must replace the Easter Bunny. From my childhood into early adulthood, there were many other animated Easter specials. There was Fat Albert's Easter Special, Peter and the Magic Egg, and so on.
Of course, not all Easter programming was animated. And not all of them concentrated on eggs and Easter bunnies. Some of the programming that the networks once showed this time of year drew upon Christianity, while at least one classic film typically shown this time of year was based on events portrayed in the Torah. Growing up I can remember that for a few years NBC showed the classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar this time of year. And for a time the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth was a staple of the season. The all time champion for being aired this time of year, however, goes to the classic Cecil B. DeMille movie The Ten Commandments. I swear it has been shown every year since the Seventies. Based on the stories of Moses and how he led the Hebrews out of Egypt from the Torah, the movie is arguably a great choice for this time of year. It could appeal to both Christians and Jews alike, making the only Easter/Passover special ever shown.
Regardless, this Passover and this Easter saw far fewer shows dedicated to the season airing on the networks. ABC aired It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown just a few days ago. Last night they continued their annual airing of The Ten Commandments. That has been the extent of the networks' observation of the season.
Of course, the fact that there are not very many Passover or Easter specials being shown the past several years should not be surprising. I have written in this blog of how the networks don't show nearly as many Yuletide specials as they once did. The truth be told, they don't show very many specials dedicated to any holiday any more. I can remember a time when there were several Halloween specials on the air. Beyond It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, I can't think of any that aired last year. As to Thanksgiving, the only thing I can think of that they have shown of late is the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Personally, I find this sad. Holidays play an important role in our society. They serve as a break from the humdrum, workaday world. They give people a chance to escape from their everyday lives and to enjoy themselves. In the case of holiday specials, they give individuals a break from usual network programming, as well as envelop them in the spirit of the holiday. A Christian watching Jesus of Nazareth may well be reminded of the meaning of the holiday to him or her. Quite simply, holiday specials help in maintaining holidays as a part of our lives. True, we don't need them to celebrate the holidays, but it is nice to be able to watch programming oriented to a holiday when that holiday rolls around.
It wasn't always this way. Growing up I can remember that the networks would show various specials this time year. Naturally, given that the majority of people in the U.S. are Christian (or at least nominally so), most of them had an Easter theme. Rankin/Bass, the animation studio which dominated holiday specials in the Sixties and Seventies, produced no less than three Easter specials alone. Here Comes Peter Cottontail was the first, in 1971. Curiously, it was not based on the song of the same name, but on the Priscilla and Otto Friedrich novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept. They followed this special with another, The First Easter Rabbit in 1976. The First Easter Rabbit is unusual for a Rankin/Bass producton. Best known for their stop motion work (think Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer), this particular special used cel animation (think Frosty the Snowman). They produced another Easter special the following year, The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town, which was in some ways a sequel to their popular Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Fred Astaire gave his voice to the mailman narrator just as he had in Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, this time explaining the origins of the Easter Bunny.
Rankin/Bass were not the only people who could be counted on for specials for nearly every holiday. Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez produced Peanuts specials for nearly every special occasion, including Easter. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was a variation on the Great Pumpkin idea, with Linus insisting that the Easter Beagle will bring everyone eggs. The Peanuts weren't the only comic strip characters with an Easter special. A Family Circus Easter debuted in 1982, based on the famous one panel strip by Bill Keane.
Even classic animated characters received their own Easter specials back in the day. In 1977 Warner Brothers produced the special Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. It pretty much featured classic Warner Brothers shorts within a framework story in which Bugs must replace the Easter Bunny. From my childhood into early adulthood, there were many other animated Easter specials. There was Fat Albert's Easter Special, Peter and the Magic Egg, and so on.
Of course, not all Easter programming was animated. And not all of them concentrated on eggs and Easter bunnies. Some of the programming that the networks once showed this time of year drew upon Christianity, while at least one classic film typically shown this time of year was based on events portrayed in the Torah. Growing up I can remember that for a few years NBC showed the classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar this time of year. And for a time the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth was a staple of the season. The all time champion for being aired this time of year, however, goes to the classic Cecil B. DeMille movie The Ten Commandments. I swear it has been shown every year since the Seventies. Based on the stories of Moses and how he led the Hebrews out of Egypt from the Torah, the movie is arguably a great choice for this time of year. It could appeal to both Christians and Jews alike, making the only Easter/Passover special ever shown.
Regardless, this Passover and this Easter saw far fewer shows dedicated to the season airing on the networks. ABC aired It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown just a few days ago. Last night they continued their annual airing of The Ten Commandments. That has been the extent of the networks' observation of the season.
Of course, the fact that there are not very many Passover or Easter specials being shown the past several years should not be surprising. I have written in this blog of how the networks don't show nearly as many Yuletide specials as they once did. The truth be told, they don't show very many specials dedicated to any holiday any more. I can remember a time when there were several Halloween specials on the air. Beyond It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, I can't think of any that aired last year. As to Thanksgiving, the only thing I can think of that they have shown of late is the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Personally, I find this sad. Holidays play an important role in our society. They serve as a break from the humdrum, workaday world. They give people a chance to escape from their everyday lives and to enjoy themselves. In the case of holiday specials, they give individuals a break from usual network programming, as well as envelop them in the spirit of the holiday. A Christian watching Jesus of Nazareth may well be reminded of the meaning of the holiday to him or her. Quite simply, holiday specials help in maintaining holidays as a part of our lives. True, we don't need them to celebrate the holidays, but it is nice to be able to watch programming oriented to a holiday when that holiday rolls around.
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