Friday, December 09, 2011

The Empire Strikes Back

The best part of reading blogs and online articles? The comments.

The crazies, the armchair academics and experts, THOSE WHO TYPE IN CAPS come out in one cyber playing field at all hours of the day to have at it. There are run-on sentences and typos. There are insults and rebuttals.

But once in awhile, someone says something interesting.

I've read interviews with actors who talk about how excited they were to perform in a play that they've always loved, or to take part in the film adaptation of a beloved novel. They know the story. It's become internalized in some fashion.

Tonight, I read comments that bemoaned The Office's subpar eighth season, and one person suggested that the new staff writers had probably been fans of the show before they joined, "and that's never a good thing."

I wonder: why is that? No problem if the actor has long admired a work and then has the chance to play the role, but an issue if a writer is a fan of the show's previous seasons and has watched previous arcs unfold?

Discuss.

...

Has an ample amount of time passed? I say yes.

#326: Fanny Lu, "Fanfarron" (Laurel, pienso que vayas a disfrutar esta cancion.)
#327: Milly Quezada y Juan Luis Guerra, "Toma Mi Vida"
#328: Mikail Aslan, "Xatune" (who can say no to a song whose name begins with "X"?)
#329: Pitbull ft. Kelly Rowland and Jamie Drastik, "Castle Made of Sand"
#330: Ahmed Romel, "Only For You" (Arctic Moon Remix)
#331: Further Seems Forever, "Snowbirds and Townies"
#332: 30 Seconds to Mars, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)"
#333: The Gaslight Anthem, "Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts"
#334: Kate Nash, "Habanera"
#335: Girls, "Honey Bunny"
#336: Karmin, "Crash Your Party"

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think it's that whole trying to prove yourself thing mixed with bits and pieces of mimicry. I'm still on Season 6, meself, but I feel if there's a change, it's the new writers attempt to live up to the success of the old. That kind of pressure is never a good thing. All you can do is observe the old, shrug, and forge your own quirky way. And sometimes, that's where the gold springs. Everyone called Parks and Recreation the poor man's 30 Rock, and now I think it's more regarded than its inspiration. Meh. Plus, I think Mindy Kaling can do wrong. And of course the show is going to be different given the departure of Steve Carrell. He has this charisma and appeal that can't be recreated. I don't know what it is. Zeal? (Lulz.)

Then again, it's probably some bitchy nerd sitting in front of their computer who probably also thinks that The Simpsons were waaaay better in '95. Not everyone deserves to have a computer and blog.

d.g. said...

Amen to your last sentence. In that vein, I look forward to our Glee-caps/dissections.

I also think part of The Office-ish is that all of the Pam and Jim dramz (say, 90% of the show's tension) culminated in a happy ending in Season 6. Now the writers seem to have no idea what to do with them. The duo didn't steer the ship on their own, but they played a major part. Now it's like, "Okay, what else is going to create season-long intrigue and suspense? Creepy new CEO? Another stab at a love triangle with other characters?"

As an aside, I have been watching The Hunger Games trailer and wishing I were an extra. Or Jennifer Lawrence.

Unknown said...

True Story! Pam and Jim gave me hope for love in the form a similarly sarcastic equipped to handle my life. I WILL FIND YOU. How can they hope to recreate that again?

Jennifer Lawrence is impressive. I want her to be my friend, irl. On or Twitter.