My Ox Is Broken

Ox Notes: August 4, 2009

The Emmys are stirring up controversy with a decision to pre-record eight of the award presentations for writing, and then showing edited portions of those presentations during the live ceremony. Host Neil Patrick Harris defended the move, saying the editing will only remove things like the recipients walking to the podium.

The Writers Guild of America issued a letter of protest. The Chicago Tribune's TV critic Maureen Ryan isn't happy about the move either.

Emmy Awards producer Don Mischer says it's part of an effort to keep the ceremony relevant. TV's most popular shows are notoriously underrepresented in the nominations every year, giving people less incentive to tune in to ceremony.

Is the alternative keeping the award show format the same, but moving the broadcast from a major network to a cable channel? Since it seems like most of the nominations are for cable shows anyway, it might make sense.

The Television Critics Awards were handed out over the weekend. The only network show among the winners was The Big Bang Theory.

In Dancing with the Stars news, it sounds as if Lou Ferrigno is as close to a lock for Season 9 as you can get (or at least as close to a lock as Vera Wang is). Pro wrestler Kurt Angle is the latest celebrity to join the list of rumored contestants for the new season.

Good news, Futurama fans. The original voice cast has signed on for the new season.

The New York Times has an article about the long work days, sleep deprivation, and booze that reality show producers use to keep contestants on edge.

Taking the torture of reality show contestants one step further is E!'s new show, Reality Hell. Each week a new contestant will be tricked into believing he or she is on a new, legitimate reality show, kind of like Spike's Joe Schmo.

In non-TV news, go see the Bollywood movie Love Aaj Kal if it's playing at a theater near you. It's a great summer romance and a terrific introduction to Indian films, if you've never seen one before.

Also, watch this Special Comment about health insurance reform from last night's episode of Countdown. It explains why the reforms the majority of Americans want are being held up in Congress (hint: it's about money):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Posted by Kathy (myoxisbroken@gmail.com) on 08/04/2009.

Comments

Jen C wrote (8/4/2009 11:06:00 PM EDT) …
“We always give contestants the best conditions we can,” the executives said. “Our budgets are less than half what a similar network show would have, and that means very long days for cast and crew, but our contestants are fed at least every six hours, and there are always snacks and water available.”

Is it me, or does 6 hours between meals seem like sweatshop conditions to other people, too? I guess those reality show producers are banking on the "dizzy from low blood sugar" angle.

Every one of these articles I've read just cements it in my mind that the only show I would be willing to go through those conditions for is TAR... At least the Race doesn't sugar coat the conditions too much, the racers know what to expect even if they don't prepare as well as they should. But that would be the only one worth it for me!
Kathy wrote (8/5/2009 10:32:00 AM EDT) …
That's a really good point about The Amazing Race, Jen. On that show, the contestants can stop at any time to get food or water; it just might mean losing ground in the race. As far as I know, there's nothing to stop them from carrying energy bars or sandwiches in their packs and eating them on the go.

On other shows, contestants are at the mercy of producers for food, water and sleep. I don't know that the resultant footage is that much better for making them exhausted and hungry.

What really bothers me is that they don't feed the contestants properly but then give them tons of alcohol to drink. That's dangerous.
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