Saturday, January 24, 2004
Bauerism
Not just a show, it's a religion.
Okay it could be the lateness of the hour, the dealing with a sick kidlet for the past 3 days, the amount of caffeine running through my body, or I could just be a freak of some kind but I came across a post on the Fox forum and it made me giggle. Full credit to NILSTE35 for making up this amusing little prayer:
Our Jack, who art in CTU
Courageous be thy name.
Thy Tony come, Thy Kim be done!!
In Mexico, as in LA.
Give us this week our weekly show and forgive us our missed episodes as we forgive the weeks that the episodes missed us.
Lead us not into Sherry's lair and bring Nina to justice.
For Primetime and FOX is yours now and forever.
And another user posted this addendum (that I changed a little because the ending is a forum in-joke and I don't get it :) ):
And though Jack will lead us into temptation,
We will fear no evil,
For he has a hacksaw, and a gun.
And so ends another post and I ask you, is it Tuesday yet? Because I'm running out of material here.
Okay it could be the lateness of the hour, the dealing with a sick kidlet for the past 3 days, the amount of caffeine running through my body, or I could just be a freak of some kind but I came across a post on the Fox forum and it made me giggle. Full credit to NILSTE35 for making up this amusing little prayer:
Our Jack, who art in CTU
Courageous be thy name.
Thy Tony come, Thy Kim be done!!
In Mexico, as in LA.
Give us this week our weekly show and forgive us our missed episodes as we forgive the weeks that the episodes missed us.
Lead us not into Sherry's lair and bring Nina to justice.
For Primetime and FOX is yours now and forever.
And another user posted this addendum (that I changed a little because the ending is a forum in-joke and I don't get it :) ):
And though Jack will lead us into temptation,
We will fear no evil,
For he has a hacksaw, and a gun.
And so ends another post and I ask you, is it Tuesday yet? Because I'm running out of material here.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Sutherland talks FOX Spoilers
Inside 24 has posted this link to a great article with cast and crewmembers of 24 from the recent TV Critics Association gathering recently. The article doesn't have any spoilers for episodes that have not aired, but it does have some major spoilers for anyone not watching S3 yet. Then again if you're reading my site, I've spoiled the hell out of you anyway so live it up!
Asked what he thinks of FOX's penchant for revealing major plot points (GRRR!) in their ads for the show, Kiefer Sutherland replied:
"It is frustrating," he says. "The network has a responsibility to entice viewers to come back to the show and tell other viewers to watch the show, and they do a fantastic job at that. [The writers] do a fantastic job writing intricate plot points that make it very difficult to put those trailers together. Obviously, on our side of the fence, we would rather have no promos. But that's not realistic."
Ok. I see what you're saying Kiefer, and I agree. But I still think they can put together enticing ads without revealing/spoiling key points of the story. Don't ask me how though, but surely they're clever enough to find a way. But yes, it's very frustrating. I've ended up limiting my exposure to FOX because I really don't want to see any of these adverts before I see the episode. I really love this show. It's like a fascinating book you just can't put down and you stay up all night to finish it. Seeing these ads is like having someone who read that book come in your room and tell you what happens in the next chapter.
I know what FOX can do. They can just show 30 seconds of BlueKiefer, BlueDennis and BlueElisha, all looking smoking hot and then end it with a clever tagline similar to 'If you're not watching 24, you don't know Jack.'
Asked what he thinks of FOX's penchant for revealing major plot points (GRRR!) in their ads for the show, Kiefer Sutherland replied:
"It is frustrating," he says. "The network has a responsibility to entice viewers to come back to the show and tell other viewers to watch the show, and they do a fantastic job at that. [The writers] do a fantastic job writing intricate plot points that make it very difficult to put those trailers together. Obviously, on our side of the fence, we would rather have no promos. But that's not realistic."
Ok. I see what you're saying Kiefer, and I agree. But I still think they can put together enticing ads without revealing/spoiling key points of the story. Don't ask me how though, but surely they're clever enough to find a way. But yes, it's very frustrating. I've ended up limiting my exposure to FOX because I really don't want to see any of these adverts before I see the episode. I really love this show. It's like a fascinating book you just can't put down and you stay up all night to finish it. Seeing these ads is like having someone who read that book come in your room and tell you what happens in the next chapter.
I know what FOX can do. They can just show 30 seconds of BlueKiefer, BlueDennis and BlueElisha, all looking smoking hot and then end it with a clever tagline similar to 'If you're not watching 24, you don't know Jack.'
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Sneaky...
Something just occurred to me. In the past I've blathered on about how afraid I am that Jack's going to be killed off this season and one of those fears was that they are grooming Chase to be the 'next' Jack Bauer - God no. Please.. not that. I like Chase and all, but he's not Jack. Anyway, my fears were flamed by different interviews with Kiefer in which he says over and over that even Jack is expendable on this show, because the real star is the time format.
Now the thing that just occurred to me is that maybe Kiefer's planting that idea in our heads in his interviews in order to add even more suspense to the scenes where Jack's got a gun to his head. People who don't believe TPTB can kill Jack off (hehe, Jack-off. Oh the puns, the puns) will hardly feel any tension while Hector or Ramon is pointing a gun at him. They'll just say, "Well of course he'll get out of it, Kiefer won't be written out of the show." And the producers will know this is how we viewers think. I know when I read about some of the major stars of ER didn't renew a contract, it lessened their storylines for me. I distanced myself from their arc.
So what if they all got together and decided to plant this wicked little thought in our heads... maybe Jack isn't going to make it through this day. What if he pisses Ramon off one too many times? What if they force him to fix and he ODs? What if he gets exposed to this damn virus? What if Claudia's death was really just the final straw and he just says 'Fuck this.' and shoots himself? I don't think that any of this is going to happen, mind you. I'm just what if-ing. Wouldn't it be just like 24 to use the media in this outward way to help create more tension during these intense scenes?
Maybe I'm just wishful thinking though and Kiefer truly does believe he's expendable. I don't think so though. I still don't buy the whole 'how many bad days can one guy have' line I keep hearing because a) a bad day is when you wake up, your hair won't cooperate, a pigeon plops on your one good suit on your way to work, your car won't start, Starbucks is out of your favourite latte, your boy or girlfriend picks today to break up, your boss passes your work off as his own and laughs all the way to the golf course, and as you come home, weary and pissed off, you find you locked your house key inside. THAT is a bad day. Jack's days are bad for sure, but for the most part, all had something to do with his job. Who's to say Jack doesn't have many days like the ones we're being shown? What about all the crap he probably had to go through to bring Salazar down? What about his 'previous covers' they mention in S2? What did he have to do to put Wald in jail? Surely lots of pretty bad stuff - all relating to his chosen line of work.
So I guess what I'm saying is I hope Kiefer et. al. are just being sneaky bastards and using the media to help create tension by saying Jack could die so that we gasp even harder when he's in a life and death sitch. Or so we come close to tears watching Jack, our hero, beg for his life. Yeah, that's what I'm choosing to believe. They're all just sneaky bastards :)
Now the thing that just occurred to me is that maybe Kiefer's planting that idea in our heads in his interviews in order to add even more suspense to the scenes where Jack's got a gun to his head. People who don't believe TPTB can kill Jack off (hehe, Jack-off. Oh the puns, the puns) will hardly feel any tension while Hector or Ramon is pointing a gun at him. They'll just say, "Well of course he'll get out of it, Kiefer won't be written out of the show." And the producers will know this is how we viewers think. I know when I read about some of the major stars of ER didn't renew a contract, it lessened their storylines for me. I distanced myself from their arc.
So what if they all got together and decided to plant this wicked little thought in our heads... maybe Jack isn't going to make it through this day. What if he pisses Ramon off one too many times? What if they force him to fix and he ODs? What if he gets exposed to this damn virus? What if Claudia's death was really just the final straw and he just says 'Fuck this.' and shoots himself? I don't think that any of this is going to happen, mind you. I'm just what if-ing. Wouldn't it be just like 24 to use the media in this outward way to help create more tension during these intense scenes?
Maybe I'm just wishful thinking though and Kiefer truly does believe he's expendable. I don't think so though. I still don't buy the whole 'how many bad days can one guy have' line I keep hearing because a) a bad day is when you wake up, your hair won't cooperate, a pigeon plops on your one good suit on your way to work, your car won't start, Starbucks is out of your favourite latte, your boy or girlfriend picks today to break up, your boss passes your work off as his own and laughs all the way to the golf course, and as you come home, weary and pissed off, you find you locked your house key inside. THAT is a bad day. Jack's days are bad for sure, but for the most part, all had something to do with his job. Who's to say Jack doesn't have many days like the ones we're being shown? What about all the crap he probably had to go through to bring Salazar down? What about his 'previous covers' they mention in S2? What did he have to do to put Wald in jail? Surely lots of pretty bad stuff - all relating to his chosen line of work.
So I guess what I'm saying is I hope Kiefer et. al. are just being sneaky bastards and using the media to help create tension by saying Jack could die so that we gasp even harder when he's in a life and death sitch. Or so we come close to tears watching Jack, our hero, beg for his life. Yeah, that's what I'm choosing to believe. They're all just sneaky bastards :)
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Monday, January 19, 2004
Nicknames and Nitpicking.
Tony Tomato. My best friend has taken to calling Almeida 'Tony Tomato.' I don't know why she calls him that and she can't fully explain it herself other than to say she has trouble remembering character names and so associates names with things - most notably with vegetables. I don't quite get it because I don't think Carlos Bernard resembles a tomato but my lovely friend is a little weird so there you go :) (Sorry chickie! You know I love you really!)
The problem with Tony Tomato and some of the other nicknames I've seen for 24 characters (Cloudy-ah, Bitchelle, Crystal Gael - all tm TWoP forums) is that I'm unable to watch the show without hearing those name interpretations. It's an inner flaw of mine that prevents me from tuning that amusing stuff out while watching this serious show. Part of me wishes I'd never heard these nicknames because that's all I hear in my head when I watch the show.
Don't get me wrong though, I think the nicks, for the most part, are clever and funny although I'm not particularly fond of the nicks that make fun of a person's looks (and here I'm thinking of Chloe's nickname of 'potato face' - that's just not nice.) But the others that are clever plays-on-words are funny. And I understand that not everyone feels the way I do about nicknames and can watch and enjoy 24 just fine knowing Cloudy-ah will buy it between 10pm and 11pm. I'm envious of people who can do that. I'm just not one of them.
I can't explain how it sort of.. I don't know.. dilutes the impact of the show for me. It's like reading the nitpick threads (something I stopped doing very quickly due to my inner flaw) and then seeing the show. During some emotional or pivotal scene, all I can think about is whether the origins of Claudia's little brother, Sergio, are indeed Hispanic and are the Hispanics in the scene pronouncing it the right way. Argh.
So I may have to stop visiting fan forums after the show airs even though I do love reading fan reactions. But there's always a few fans who puncture my little bubble world (and of course they're entitled to their opinions of the show and far be it from me to denounce them - I just mean it's hard to read about a specific episode and skip the odd post in a thread that totally denigrates it) and it's beginning to bother me. I like my bubble world. I'm digging the show and I'm still in the beginning throes of my love affair with it since I'm a relatively new fan. Season Three is my first season watching it actually on telly and probably explains my desire to avoid the nitpicks from those more jaded and cynical than I about the show. I don't want to compare Season Three to Season One and point out the flaws. I just want to know how Jack will react to Claudia's death and whether or not he's able to convince Nina to work with the Salazars. I want to know why Palmer doesn't just let Wayne resign until his important healthcare bill passes and then rehire him. I don't care how politics work in the real world. This is 24-world and things are just different there.
Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this post. I do tend to run on you know. And I do hate these breaks between episodes. I had it pointed out to me that the prez always gives his State of the Union address on the 20th of January. I think that needs to be changed to 'third Wednesday in January' :)
The problem with Tony Tomato and some of the other nicknames I've seen for 24 characters (Cloudy-ah, Bitchelle, Crystal Gael - all tm TWoP forums) is that I'm unable to watch the show without hearing those name interpretations. It's an inner flaw of mine that prevents me from tuning that amusing stuff out while watching this serious show. Part of me wishes I'd never heard these nicknames because that's all I hear in my head when I watch the show.
Don't get me wrong though, I think the nicks, for the most part, are clever and funny although I'm not particularly fond of the nicks that make fun of a person's looks (and here I'm thinking of Chloe's nickname of 'potato face' - that's just not nice.) But the others that are clever plays-on-words are funny. And I understand that not everyone feels the way I do about nicknames and can watch and enjoy 24 just fine knowing Cloudy-ah will buy it between 10pm and 11pm. I'm envious of people who can do that. I'm just not one of them.
I can't explain how it sort of.. I don't know.. dilutes the impact of the show for me. It's like reading the nitpick threads (something I stopped doing very quickly due to my inner flaw) and then seeing the show. During some emotional or pivotal scene, all I can think about is whether the origins of Claudia's little brother, Sergio, are indeed Hispanic and are the Hispanics in the scene pronouncing it the right way. Argh.
So I may have to stop visiting fan forums after the show airs even though I do love reading fan reactions. But there's always a few fans who puncture my little bubble world (and of course they're entitled to their opinions of the show and far be it from me to denounce them - I just mean it's hard to read about a specific episode and skip the odd post in a thread that totally denigrates it) and it's beginning to bother me. I like my bubble world. I'm digging the show and I'm still in the beginning throes of my love affair with it since I'm a relatively new fan. Season Three is my first season watching it actually on telly and probably explains my desire to avoid the nitpicks from those more jaded and cynical than I about the show. I don't want to compare Season Three to Season One and point out the flaws. I just want to know how Jack will react to Claudia's death and whether or not he's able to convince Nina to work with the Salazars. I want to know why Palmer doesn't just let Wayne resign until his important healthcare bill passes and then rehire him. I don't care how politics work in the real world. This is 24-world and things are just different there.
Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this post. I do tend to run on you know. And I do hate these breaks between episodes. I had it pointed out to me that the prez always gives his State of the Union address on the 20th of January. I think that needs to be changed to 'third Wednesday in January' :)
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