quote:

Originally posted by bored striker:
Moment of truth...
9:20 PM...
A man admits to having sex in a church...
America says, "click"!

I didn't even make it that far -- I left after the first break: it was too gruesome to watch. It follows Fox's pattern of having shows that tear people down -- they start off quick because of the fascination but usually don't last more than a season at most. I'm afraid that this show will actually be successful out of AI though -- what would it say about our society?

You know, some people were really rough on Zitrone, and I can't see why--it's a fact that TV is whiter than the country is, on average. Not as disproportionately white as it used to be, and we'll continue to see it become less and less of a big deal to have a show with a lot of nonwhite people in leading roles, but aside from the fact that Euro-Americans are still the largest group overall, there's another problem.

Ethnic minorities would rather watch a show about white people than a show about a DIFFERENT ethnic minority.

It's the same way when color isn't an issue. When I visited Ireland, I'd watch the news on RTE, and complain to one of my cousins that the anchors all sounded like English people. She informed me the accents were actually Anglo-Irish, and that the reason for that was that Cork people wouldn't want to see someone with a Galway accent getting to anchor the news, Galway people wouldn't want to see someone with a Dublin accent, etc, etc, etc. They may all sound alike to you, but the accents are actually quite distinct, and for somebody with a specific regional accent to broadcast the news to the whole nation would be considered rank favoritism. The guys who report on hurling and Irish football are allowed to have regional accents--just like New York sportscasters can talk like Noo Yawkahs, but even Dan Rather had to tone down his southern drawl to be an anchor.

The Anglo-Irish accent--the accent of the people who had rackrented their ancestors, forced them to pay taxes to support the Episcopalian Church of Ireland, and who (with many honorable exceptions) had blithely watched them starve to death during various famines without lifting a finger to help--was now considered the 'neutral' accent, even though the Anglo-Irish ascendency is a thing of the past, and hardly anybody in Ireland talks that way now.

And that's why there'll continue to be a disproportionate number of white people in TV and movies, even after white people are no longer the majority.

So don't sweat it, my honkie brothers and sisters.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveAllen99:


The contestants were already asked the questions earlier. Why do they do it like that? It ruined it for me knowing the contestants weren't really being surprised by the questions.

If they sprung the questions on the contestants for the first time on TV, we'd get a chance to see a real, unfiltered reaction. Instead, they do this end-run and ask them the questions in advance, and deny us the chance to see that. Am I missing something?

I agree with you that knowing they were already asked the questions spoiled the surprise factor, which I think a lot of people expected was going to be a major part of the show. But technically I don't know how else they would do it -- they had to do a polygraph in order to get the answers, otherwise they could have no way of knowing if he was indeed telling the truth. I guess the only way to do what you are suggesting would be to hook the contestants up to a polygraph machine and ask the questions live -- probably in a few years, someone will do that...

There are cultural references on some of the shows I don't get and I don't relate to and therefore, they are not funny to me. To me Everybody Loves Raymond was hysterical because there were a lot of things that I related to with my family life growing up. The Office has a lot of workplace humor that I've experienced.

Shows like Girlfriends however, the "humor" (although it's more like a drama as I saw it) was totally unrelatable. It didn't touch me because my life was nothing like that nor did the situations interest me. But it's less a white or black thing and more what you can relate to.

quote:

Originally posted by Holly:
I agree. My point was never that a show with a primarily non-white cast could not work, just that it is harder to get a wide audience because people tend toward shows with people that look more like them (black, white, hispanic, or whatever).

In a couple of years, they will probably hook up the contestants live and give them a shock whenever they tell a lie. The more lies they tell, the more intense the jolt. The contestant who makes it out alive, gets the dough.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimera:
.... the only way to do what you are suggesting would be to hook the contestants up to a polygraph machine and ask the questions live -- probably in a few years, someone will do that...

I agree with x. There were parts of the Office that I related to, but overall, not because I'm not in the work force and after a while Carell just got old for me. Raymond I completely agree with. My Grandmother was just like Doris Roberts character to my uncle and treated my aunt the exact same way as she treated Debra. In fact, my uncle and aunt couldn't watch the show because it only made them mad.

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
There are cultural references on some of the shows I don't get and I don't relate to and therefore, they are not funny to me. To me Everybody Loves Raymond was hysterical because there were a lot of things that I related to with my family life growing up. The Office has a lot of workplace humor that I've experienced.

Shows like Girlfriends however, the "humor" (although it's more like a drama as I saw it) was totally unrelatable. It didn't touch me because my life was nothing like that nor did the situations interest me. But it's less a white or black thing and more what you can relate to.

quote:

Originally posted by Holly:
I agree. My point was never that a show with a primarily non-white cast could not work, just that it is harder to get a wide audience because people tend toward shows with people that look more like them (black, white, hispanic, or whatever).

He said he has a "sexual fantasy" in church not actual sex. I couldn't take that 2nd guy though, so annoying with all the goofy facial expressions, obvious hair restoration and overly white teeth. I'm surprised I made it through the whole hour because the show was quite tedious.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimera:

quote:

Originally posted by bored striker:
Moment of truth...
9:20 PM...
A man admits to having sex in a church...
America says, "click"!

I didn't even make it that far -- I left after the first break: it was too gruesome to watch. It follows Fox's pattern of having shows that tear people down -- they start off quick because of the fascination but usually don't last more than a season at most. I'm afraid that this show will actually be successful out of AI though -- what would it say about our society?

There is some truth to this even in America. Newscasters in the south all talk like us in the midwest (as do news anchors everywhere that I've been). However, that isn't to say there isn't distinctions between different parts of the midwest. Some of it has a southern twang like in Southern parts of states while the Dakotas, Minnesotas, and yes even some of us Iowans get our slow Norwegian Minnnnesooota accents going when we've had a bit too much to drink (or liquid warmth as we've been calling it here lately as its so darn cold).

quote:

Originally posted by pisher:
You know, some people were really rough on Zitrone, and I can't see why--it's a fact that TV is whiter than the country is, on average. Not as disproportionately white as it used to be, and we'll continue to see it become less and less of a big deal to have a show with a lot of nonwhite people in leading roles, but aside from the fact that Euro-Americans are still the largest group overall, there's another problem.

Ethnic minorities would rather watch a show about white people than a show about a DIFFERENT ethnic minority.

It's the same way when color isn't an issue. When I visited Ireland, I'd watch the news on RTE, and complain to one of my cousins that the anchors all sounded like English people. She informed me the accents were actually Anglo-Irish, and that the reason for that was that Cork people wouldn't want to see someone with a Galway accent getting to anchor the news, Galway people wouldn't want to see someone with a Dublin accent, etc, etc, etc. They may all sound alike to you, but the accents are actually quite distinct, and for somebody with a specific regional accent to broadcast the news to the whole nation would be considered rank favoritism. The guys who report on hurling and Irish football are allowed to have regional accents--just like New York sportscasters can talk like Noo Yawkahs, but even Dan Rather had to tone down his southern drawl to be an anchor.

The Anglo-Irish accent--the accent of the people who had rackrented their ancestors, forced them to pay taxes to support the Episcopalian Church of Ireland, and who (with many honorable exceptions) had blithely watched them starve to death during various famines without lifting a finger to help--was now considered the 'neutral' accent, even though the Anglo-Irish ascendency is a thing of the past, and hardly anybody in Ireland talks that way now.

And that's why there'll continue to be a disproportionate number of white people in TV and movies, even after white people are no longer the majority.

So don't sweat it, my honkie brothers and sisters.

From what I saw it simply looked boring and I don't think it will be able to hold up at all without the Idol lead in. If it falls below 10 million, I suspect Fox will try something else and they should imo. Why not a full hour of Til Death or Back to You for a while and a new reality show for later on or even give Rules of Engagement a chance.

quote:

Originally posted by tvchtw:
He said he has a "sexual fantasy" in church not actual sex. I couldn't take that 2nd guy though, so annoying with all the goofy facial expressions, obvious hair restoration and overly white teeth. I'm surprised I made it through the whole hour because the show was quite tedious.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimera:

quote:

Originally posted by bored striker:
Moment of truth...
9:20 PM...
A man admits to having sex in a church...
America says, "click"!

I didn't even make it that far -- I left after the first break: it was too gruesome to watch. It follows Fox's pattern of having shows that tear people down -- they start off quick because of the fascination but usually don't last more than a season at most. I'm afraid that this show will actually be successful out of AI though -- what would it say about our society?

Don't give them any ideas wiseguy...I would have said that I hope this show goes over like a lead balloon...but Mythbusters last night showed a lead balloon can fly...

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
In a couple of years, they will probably hook up the contestants live and give them a shock whenever they tell a lie. The more lies they tell, the more intense the jolt. The contestant who makes it out alive, gets the dough.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimera:
.... the only way to do what you are suggesting would be to hook the contestants up to a polygraph machine and ask the questions live -- probably in a few years, someone will do that...

Rules of Engagement? I don't think CBS is going to be selling that to FOX anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Why not a full hour of Til Death or Back to You for a while and a new reality show for later on or even give Rules of Engagement a chance.

Since so many of us seem to have at least sampled Moment of Truth, I expect that it will open up to good numbers, with a huge drop off at 9:30, and continuing drop offs each week. But I think we'll be surprised by initially good numbers, at least for the first 30 minutes.

Mythbusters was pretty cool last night. I really like the solution they came up with to allow them to build the balloon without any destruction caused by the build.

Smash Lab's second episode was better than the first, but the 4 hosts are still a little too dry. They need some help in the personallity department.

quote:

Originally posted by weaklink75:
Don't give them any ideas wiseguy...I would have said that I hope this show goes over like a lead balloon...but Mythbusters last night showed a lead balloon can fly...

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
In a couple of years, they will probably hook up the contestants live and give them a shock whenever they tell a lie. The more lies they tell, the more intense the jolt. The contestant who makes it out alive, gets the dough.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimera:
.... the only way to do what you are suggesting would be to hook the contestants up to a polygraph machine and ask the questions live -- probably in a few years, someone will do that...

Sorry. Return of Jezebelle James or Rules for Staring Over (or whatever they've renamed it this time).

quote:

Originally posted by xwiseguyx:
Rules of Engagement? I don't think CBS is going to be selling that to FOX anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Why not a full hour of Til Death or Back to You for a while and a new reality show for later on or even give Rules of Engagement a chance.

on www.pifeedback.com


JANUARY 24, 2008
The Programming Insider

Marc Berman

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Fox Victorious, Huge Sampling for Moment of Truth

Wednesday 1/23/08

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 14.2/21, NBC: 7.4/11, CBS: 6.5/10, ABC: 4.2/ 6, CW: 1.1/ 2

----------

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007)
NBC: +40, ABC: +11, CBS: + 2, Fox: -30, CW: -48

----------

Note: The fast national results for Wednesday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008.

----------

-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Moment of Truth (Fox), Criminal Minds (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
CSI: NY (CBS), Law & Order (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):
Power of 10 (CBS), Wife Swap (ABC), Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (CW), Cashmere Mafia (ABC)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by American Idol and the stellar debut of Moment of Truth, Fox got over the “hump” in grand fashion, almost doubling the No. 2 network in the overnights, NBC. American Idol opened the evening with a 15.3 rating/23 share in the metered markets at 8 p.m., followed by the launch of Moment of Truth at a very dominant 13.1/20 from 9-10 p.m. Retention of 81 percent out of the second half of American Idol (16.2/24 at 8:30 p.m.) makes Moment of Truth the biggest launch out of the blockbuster reality/competition to-date. As good as American Idol is, though, year-to-year it was down by 16 percent (18.2/28 in the overnights from 8-9 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2007).

Second-place NBC kicked-off Wednesday with Deal or No Deal at a healthy (and second place) 8.8/14 from 8-9 p.m. Last night featured a female contestant with nine million dollar cases at her disposal. (I missed is…how did she do?). Next on NBC was Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 9 p.m. (#3: 6.0/ 9), which continues to get squashed by CBS’ competing Criminal Intent (#2: 8.8/ 14), followed by Law & Order at a second-place 7.6/13 at 10 p.m. Comparably, Law & Order built from spin-off Criminal Intent by 27 percent.

CBS’ just benched Power of 10 (see TV Tidbits below) limped out of the starting gate, with a fourth-place 3.0/ 5 in the overnights at 8 p.m. That led into the aforementioned Criminal Minds (#2: 8.8/14), followed by CSI: NY at 10 p.m. (#1: 7.8/13). Compared to one year earlier (9.4/14 on Jan. 24, 2007), CSI: NY declined by 17 percent. Criminal Minds, meanwhile, built from lead-in Power of 10 by a mammoth 193 percent.

ABC remained out of the competitive Wednesday loop as a result of Wife Swap (#3: 3.6/ 6), Supernanny (#4: 5.1/ 8) and Cashmere Mafia (#3: 4.0/ 6). But the one positive worth noting was growth of a hefty 42 percent for Supernanny out of Wife Swap. Keep that in mind for adults 18-49 once the fast affiliate results are posted at PIFeedback.

Last, and very least, was the CW’s pathetic Crowned: The Mother of all Pageants (1.1/ 2) and a repeat of soon-to-relocate Gossip Girl (1.1/ 2). If you have not seen Crowned, you really should check out that “desashing” ceremony. Oy!

Source: Nielsen Media Research data