April 2004 Archives
The Apprentice is the biggest show in America right now. The finale of the first season will air live on NBC tomorrow night, and it is likely to get monster ratings. NBC sorta lucked into finding their replacement for Friends (after failing with such duds like Coupling), and they are really banking on The Apprentice being a heavyweight for the next few years. I had the opportunity recently to go to a tryout for The Apprentice 2 at Mall 205 here in Portland, Oregon. As my partner, J. John Afryl, and I pulled into a overflowing parking lot we noticed a few people wearing suits scurrying towards the mall entrance. Once upon the scene we found a vacated women's clothing store with 3 folding tables surrounded by 12 hopeful apprentices and one person moderating from the production comapny. Gazing into this stark room you could just feel the nerves mixed with insecurity and arrogence coming from all different directions. The people at the tables spoke animatedly and laughed at each other's quips while the next few groups of 12 waited outside the dress shop in the hallway of the suburban mall mostly quiet, pumping themselves up, and practicing in their heads, I'm sure.
The mall hallway was filled with onlookers, supportive friends and family, merchants trying to sell the would be apprentices coffee, pastries, pizza, and specialty t-shirts with "You're Hired" on the front and "I survived auditions for The Apprentice; Portland, OR" on the back. What was most interesting in that suburban mall hallway was the small groups of potential apprentices who had completed their tryout. So excited and expressing the need to talk about what happened these ultra-quick friendships were born. Business cards were exchanged. "No! You were so good in there. I definitely think you should be on the show," was heard more than once. People were making plans with these new friends! Even the overly optimisitc "I'll see you in Trump Tower," escaped a mouth.
The line for the tryouts went all the way down the hallway and we were quite impressed, but as we investigated fully we realized that the line was not contain by the building alone, but it escaped outside, and as we emerged outside the line was a behemoth. It went from one end of the mall all the way to the other end, you know like going from the JCPenneys to the Sears. It became apparent to us that people had camped out overnight for their spots in line as we saw some sleeping bags and tents. Amazing. This line of 800 to 1000 the vast majority in their best business wear was a real sight. There were many vendors walking up and down the monstrous line hawking their goods to those who were trapped in line. Porta-potties were brought in the for this occasion. It's amazing that the tryout was big business in itself.
Some people in the line had eye catching props. One woman had a full size cutout of Donald Trump with a thought bumbling saying "Clearly She Trumps The Competition!" Wow. What struck me most while inspecting the line is that a lot of these people would have no chance to get on the show based on their looks only. This show is no different the The Bachelor or The Real World or Temptaion Island in that looks definitely matter. I mean it might be a little different but if you don't fit the part, you're outta luck. I don't really have a problem with the concept. It's all about making TV that people want to see, but it struck me as sad to see all these people who want this thing enough to show up at the crack of dawn, take the day off work, and potentially make themselves look like fools for this opportunity they so desperately want.
We hung around for quite a while longer, just basking in the excitement of these contestants. Watching people walk out of the tryout room and whip out their cellphone to call their loved one and tell them what happened. Hearing people about their business qualifications. Some folks talking about how would have done something differently, in reference to something that happened on the show. My partner and I had a couple of friends who we were urging to take part in the tryouts, and neither of them did, and while observing this bizarre thing, I kept thinking about how I wish they were there because I wanted them to experience this wonderful combination of vulnerability, excitement, ambition, and hope. I doubt I will recognize from these tryouts when The Apprentice 2 premieres, but I also doubt that no one that I saw on that bright beautiful Friday morning regrets trying out.
ps-GO BILL!
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey debuted their newest project on Easter Sunday, "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour." Getting really solid ratings, the variety show was approved for a second special around Christmas time. The newlyweds couple seem to have the midas touch these days (except for Nick's music career) with their reality show being a huge hit, Jessica's music career doing better than ever, both of them filming pilot's for ABC, and movie role possibilities. I happened to catch "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour," and I thought it was really really fun. It could have been just the novelty of it, but I loved the concept of the show. It wasn't even really Nick and Jessica that I thought was that interesting, but the variety show concept that was so fun and a joy to watch. The silly celebrity drop-ins (such as Jewel Mr. T, K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, Kenny Rogers, and The Muppets), the silly skits, the random breaking out in song all make for a sorely missed light form of entertainment. In our TV world today filled with overly dramatic news magazine shows (Dateline, 20/20), overly dramatic TV shows (Extreme Makeover, Forever Eden), and overly dramatic drama shows (The OC, Law & Order) I think that this fun view of celebrities being goofy and "entertaining" with their "vast talents" is fresh. I wanna see talking cars!! I wanna see Muppets!! Actually, Jessica persona (and singing) was annoying, but hooray for them for trying (or being talked into) the variety show idea!!!!!! This inspired me to put some old episodes of The Muppet Show (maybe the best variety show ever) on hold from the library. Muppets are awesome and funny! Anyone wanna come watch?
DVD Reviews:
Family Guy: Season 1 & 2
Always struggling for ratings during it's run on Fox, Family Guy, has found a whole new audience and much greater appreciation with its second run on Cartoon Network and its release on DVD. One of the largest selling DVD collections of 2003, Family Guy has gone from underappreciated to huge cult hit status, and is even going back into production for new episodes after a couple years off. For this reviewer, Family Guy isn't a very big hit on DVD unfortunately. I always thought this show was funny, and would try to watch it when it was airing on Fox, and I was stoked to have the opportunity to watch the first two seasons on DVD. It just didn't keep my attention, though. Watching TV shows on DVD is usually a pretty compulsive experience for me. I start watching and I can't stop. I will watch for a couple or more hours at a time and I will want to go back every day until that DVD set is complete, but The Family Guy didn't drive me to that rabid level of watching. I would watch one episode then when I started the second it felt really uninspiring. I never felt like I was learning anything new about the characters, and the jokes seemed pretty repetitive. All the jokes on the show are of the pop culture satirical tip, which is pretty good, but they are all rapid-fire reference style, and are more clever than funny, and after one episode it becomes a little tedious. I still think this show is pretty funny, and if you are a fan it would be good to one and check out an episode every once in a while, but this style of series really didn't mesh with my DVD viewing habits, and left me feeling really flat.
The Simpsons: Season 3
Nearly everyone has a history, and a well formed opinion of The Simpsons. It's been running for 15 years!! Can you believe it?? It will become the longest running television comedy ever at the end of this season. It's characters are some of the most recognizable people in the world. The Simpsons are icons. Enough of that, how is season three, you ask. It's just OK, I respond. I watched season two upon it's release about a year ago, and being surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I thought it would coincide with my memories of very early and very crude early Simpson with that much gruffer Homer voice, and just a mess of catch phrases. There was elements of that in season two but it was a really lovable series with some pretty funny moments with a heavy emphasis on moral lessons and junk, and it was nice. My surprise love for season two lead me to have really high expectations for season three expecting it to be a perfect blend of that lovable early family style Simpsons and the brilliant comedy of seasons like five and six. It was enjoyable but not great. There are a couple really great episodes, such as "Flaming Moe's" and "When Flanders Failed," but the majority are not outstanding. The best comedy in season three comes from self referential humor mocking the huge Simpsons mania and merchandising that struck America in 90 and 91. There isn't that scathing pop culture satirical streak to the show yet. It's still pretty mild. With all that said, this is still a classic series and these are good episode, definitely enjoyable and worth seeing for historical reasons. In the end, it left me a little unsatisified and waiting for seasons four and five.
Six Feet Under: Season One
Six Feet Under is a show that I was completely unfamiliar with before viewing this DVD set, and now I feel like I am a part of this wildly interesting family that Six Feet Under is based upon. Six Feet Under is an example of awesome television. It is a dramatic series that focuses on the Fisher family, who run a morturary in Southern California, immediately after the patriach of the family dies. The series was created by Alan Ball, the made who made American Beauty. The characters are so well drawn, and each deal with the death of Nathaniel (the father, husband) in different and all realistic ways. The characters have flaws and yet remain likable. The writing is such a solid mix of character devolpment and plot. The show is riveting, and somehow funny. The acting is incredible, featuring wonderful performances from Peter Krause (previously from the brilliant Sports Night series), Lauren Ambrose (previously from the awesome teen comedy, Can't Hardly Wait), and Jeremy Sisto (previously playing Jesus in the bad TV movie Jesus and Julius Caeser in a mini series). The family is dysfuctional is many ways, but not ways that we don't all recognize from our own lives. I can't say enough good things about this show, and I can't urge you to obtain a copy (rental or library preferred, the dvd set is pretty pricey) of Six Feet Under: Season 1 and bask in some seriously awesome TV.
