Thursday, August 28, 2008

LTA Hiatus

Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm going to be out of town (out of the country actually) for the next two weeks, so there won't be any new posts from me for a little while. :) If anyone has something they'd like me to post please let me know by 3pm Friday, otherwise I hope to blog w/ ya when I get back!
Thanks,
SRG

21 comments:

uncle111 said...

Don't worry, SRG. Page and I will take care of things while you're gone.

Mooohahahahahaha!!!!

:)

uncle111 said...

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid!
(I'm already talking to myself. Not good.)

SRM said...

lol oh goodness, what will I come back to?!? :-P

Page48 said...

Who does your makeup when you're going to your makeup artist's funeral service?

JG looks likes she's coping as well as can be expected! Looks like the healing has begun.

uncle111 said...

There's a new twist in the Alias legend. Irina and Jack had another child. For some reason Irina's handlers wanted the child as early as possible. They arranged for a "miscarriage" so they could get the child once it was viable and make Jack think it dead. They carried it our while Jack was out of the country. They raised her and trained her to be their own version of Sydney. She has now surfaced and is now Sydney's "uber-enemy."
Here she is- (hope this link works)uber-enemy

Page48 said...

Keep your friends close and your uber-enemies closer. That's always been my motto.

I'll admit it. I'm jealous. I look at the effort FOX is putting forth in promoting JJ's "Fringe", and I wonder where ABC was when "Alias" needed a little push.

fringebloggers.com is a great source of promotional videos, interviews, official posters, etc...fringe-tv.com is no slouch either.

There are more official FOX posters for "Fringe" before it even debuts than I believe I ever saw during 4.77 seasons of "Alias". And what about comic book prequels, viral marketing and leaked pilots? Did "Alias" get any of that kind of treatment? Don't think so.

Was "Alias" born 7 years too soon, before the era of Youtube trailers and high octane fan blogs like those listed above were around to 'get the word out'?

Will this kind of pre-debut hysteria have any lasting impact on the series or is it more likely to create unrealistic expectations and result in a massive letdown after the budget-busting pilot is out of the way?

A similar effort is being put forth for "Dollhouse". Scads of promotional info is available on fansites like watchingdollhouse.com and it doesn't even debut till 2009.

I will be anxious to see if "Fringe" can generate 2nd or 3rd episode excitement, after what I consider to be a less than stellar pilot episode (remember, all pilots must be measured against the beauty of TBT). I hope so, cuz I'm running out of things to watch.

Page48 said...

Here's an interesting article about something we've discussed several times in the past, namely those pesky TV ratings and how relevant they are in today's age of "watch what you want, when you want".

This story is about dismal ratings numbers for the highly successful "Battlestar Galactica", but might need to be considered in the context of the decision to cancel "Alias".

uncle111 said...

Page,
I think Alias may well have been the victim of ABC's inability to track the nontraditional viewer numbers.

On another note- and please do not take this as a political statement-it is not one. It is strictly inspired by my love of Alias. When viewing some pictures recently of Sarah Palin, her hands, or at least the way she held them in several shots, looked very much like JG's hands. And then, the more I found out about her- she runs 7-8 miles a day, hunts and is very proficient with firearms, she's attractive and feminine, yet tough and will go toe to toe with men. And as I studied the glasses she often wears, I began thinking- another Sydney Bristow Alias? Hmmm.

Page48 said...

And, her daughter's name is B-R-I-S-T-O........L.

That's like getting 6 out of 7 numbers right in the lottery.

uncle111 said...

Oh, my. I didn't even catch that! That's freaky!!

Page48 said...

Like "Alias", "Fringe" will also be sporting some up-front Ford product placement.

In fact, FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, like Jack Bristow before her, will git around town in a Ford Escape Hybrid.

Hey, if it was good enough for Jack...

uncle111 said...

In the early days of TV much of the advertizing they did was by product placement. DVR's, skip and forward buttons are turn back time in advertizing.

SRG- aren't we being good?

Page48 said...

If I was the least bit cynical, I would suggest that a series like "Mad Men" was created to promote the hell out of tobacco products, since TV commercials can't touch that subject anymore.

If cigarette producers can't sponsor the show, like in the days of old, then why not just make a show about people who never stop smoking cigarettes. Let the TV viewer DVR his way around those crazy, seductive cancer sticks now.

See, cynical.

Bonkers for Bristow said...

So, do you think Michael Weston prefers Dannon or Yoplait?

:)

Page48 said...

I think Michael Weston's yogurt must have been rancid. I can't think of any other reason for a 3-week hiatus in a 13 episode season. Okay, I guess it's to make way for US Open Tennis, but let's face it, once the smoking hot Ana Ivanovic was eliminated (what, day 2?), who's still watching that?

My bad for throwing off 3 bogus links a few comments back. Not sure why they all have https instead of just http. I always game-test my links in preview mode before posting. Must be the sinister activities of K-Directorate or something.

However, in visiting one of those links, fringebloggers.com, I notice an advertising banner on that site, which immediately grabbed my full attention. It was the stunning Sydney A. Bristow successfully luring me to aliasauctions.com.

Oh sure, now ABC is interested in "Alias".

BTW, these links were also game-tested. Let's see if they work.

uncle111 said...

Page,
I kept meaning to comment on the links, but forgot.
I've been bidding on those auctions for the past month, but there are other people with more spare change than me right now because I haven't won any. At least I have Syd's turtleneck from "Ice" and the jacket Renee was killed in.

uncle111 said...

Page48,
What should we expect from Fringe?

Page48 said...

Uncle, I want "Fringe" to be the new "Alias", but JJ seems intent on making sure it's NOT the new "Alias".

He's hellbent on making a series of self-contained eppies instead of serializing it like most of "Alias", so that the reality-show-obsessed viewer can fill the odd void by taking in 2 or 3 episodes of "Fringe" each year and not feel like he/she has missed anything by not starting at the beginning. And yet it is supposed to be a show with a definite end game, apparently already mapped out in JJ's head. It now comes down to how many episodes will it take to reach the destination. So in that sense, it reminds me more of a "Burn Notice" format than an "Alias" or "Jericho" type of show.

That said, I did like the "X-Files", which was episodic for the most part, but give me a weekly cliffhanger anytime.

The pilot, IMO, was weaker than I had hoped for, considering some of the glowing tributes I read before watching it. It ain't no "Truth Be Told", that's for sure. However, according to Kirk Acevedo in this interview, "The pilot actually pales compared to the next two, three episodes," he says. "They read like movies." I hope he's right, because I never once moved to the edge of my seat during the pilot, something I truly hoped I would do.

So without giving plot details away, I will let you judge for yourself. I will watch the pilot again tomorrow to see if any changes have been made, and I'll definitely keep watching to see how it develops.

BTW, I believe JJ writes the 2nd episode himself, along with Jeff Pinkner, yet another writer of multiple "Alias" episodes.

Many members of Team Alias are in place for "Fringe", but can/will they deliver? Stay tuned, I guess.

I'll tell you one thing that is nice is seeing that "Bad Robot" blurb at the end. Brings back those memories.

Page48 said...

Minor tweaks in the aired pilot include the Stieg interrogation scene, which was completely absent in the un-aired version.

Additional audio on Stieg's recorder which Olivia listens to in her car. Both of these scenes involving Stieg were necessary to shed light on his involvement.

Note the "Blue Man Group" gloves that Olivia is wearing when she digs up the recording and notice how they are black by the time she returns to her car. Oooops!

This was promoted as being remote-free TV, in other words, limited commercials, but damned if there didn't seem to be the usual number of breaks, possibly because I'm watching on Canuckistan TV network. Maybe they didn't sign on to the almost-commercial-free deal.

"How long has he been dead?"
"Five hours"
"Question him".

Yup, that's fringe science alright.

uncle111 said...

I taped it and will watch it on Wednesday. I'll comment on it after.

Bonkers for Bristow said...

Just a quick comment. My TV Guide says Burn Notice is on again tonight. I assume it's new.