I’m not going to blog about how Hollywood doesn’t have any original ideas. That’s been talked to death. Besides, I think there is an ability to take an old show and reboot it. For example, I really enjoyed the Get Smart movie. They took a show based around the cold war, then adapted it into the 21st century and made it into a movie. Let’s not forget The Rock was in it… niiiice. The Batman movies have been brilliant, which says a lot coming from me since I’m a Superman girl.
The danger in rebooting a movie or television series grows with how kitschy the original was and how much it was loved. It is really hard to do it right. That brings me to two resuscitated shows I was excited to see: Beavis & Butthead and Fear Factor.
Beavis and Butthead
I was really looking forward to Beavis and Butthead, but Mike Judge has yet to live up to my expectations. Okay, maybe Beavis and Butthead shouldn’t grow because their stupidity is what drives the show. However, the REST of the characters have not only stayed the same, but regressed. Would you REALLY send B&B to make copies when you KNOW they are going to take pictures of their butts? Are there really that few people who live in Highland, TX that Burger World can’t find anyone else to work there? And why would you schedule them together? All the adults in the town are being outsmarted by the two biggest idiots that live there… and they KNOW IT! Mike Judge needs to revisit the movie, where B&B’s good luck coupled with people who don’t know the pair misjudging their intelligence allowing them to escape and make their way across the country.
Also I’m going to point out that MTV doesn’t show music videos anymore, yet Mike Judge still has them in there. Sure, several of the video bits have been MTV shows, but I was still annoyed with the length of the music video segments. I just went into my show guide and for the next 72 hours, there is exactly 4 hours of video programming – from 3AM to 7AM on Wednesday night. And the music videos selected? They are a joke and not representative of what is playing on the boys’ favorite channel. The commentary on the MTV shows has been amusing at best. Part of me thinks it could be the disdain that most actors/writers/directors have for reality television. Sad thing is that there is a lot of material for mocking. The stuff practically writes itself!
Finally, even South Park has changed their animation techniques to make slicker and funnier episodes. Mike Judge needs to do the same.
Fear Factor
I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to bother watching this time around. Then I saw a promo where the girl was sobbing while getting her head shaved. SIGN ME UP!
The show is almost exactly the same. It isn’t really based on fear as much as it is what will you put in your mouth and/or eat for $50,000. The stunts were interesting, but no one was afraid of doing them, although they were complex giving more opportunity for contestants to gas out. No, the genius in this show is with the casting and the host.
I’d like to say that I have no idea where NBC finds these people, but I’m sure they’re lined up outside their offices begging to be on television. Look at the first episode with the mother-son team who acted more like a cougar-himbo team. When they first walked out, sonny-boy put his arm around her shoulder and literally kept himself from resting his hand on her breast. I’m not joking. He wanted to do it so bad, but you could see he was fighting it. It was almost hard to watch, but you just couldn’t wait to see what they were going to do next. The best line of the night was when Joe Rogan said to the group, “I love my mom. I hug her every time I see her… and then I let go.”
The second episode was one of exes that were coupled up. We started with a douche-bag, self-professed “playboy” who has written a book on how to be a “showstopper”. He is a less-attractive, less-entertaining and less-intelligent version of Aziz Ansari’s character on Parks and Recreation. In fact I actually hate to compare the two since I LOVE Aziz Ansari. His ex was a girl he met at The Playboy Club (they didn’t say if she was working there or not). She was not “hot” but she wasn’t bad looking, which prompted Joe Rogan to say to her, “All the guys at The Playboy Club and this is who you picked up? Were you drunk?” To which she answered, “Yeah, actually I was.” Yeah, superstar playboy left his ex, who couldn’t swim, in the tank where she had to be rescued by the show’s divers, thus eliminating the couple.
Then there was a cackling woman who was paired up with her ex-husband. He clearly was still in love with her and she knew it, so she mocked him relentlessly. She thought she was something, but yeah… not so much. Her cackle irritated the other contestants so much that they actually cheered each other on to beat their time, which they did. It was a pleasure to watch her storm off, pouting.
A large part of the success should be credited to Joe Rogan. A stand-up comedian, he definitely knows how to stir up crap between the contestants. He also has the ability to insult them to their face, without them turning on him. Of course, that is also in part to their stupidity, but still, he makes it seem effortless.
So I think I’m about done with Beavis and Butthead, but am eagerly awaiting next week’s Fear Factor. Please let the head shaving episode be this week. Please.
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