A lot of people ask me how I'm able to watch so much TV. I first explain that I have no time, but instead I make time. That doesn't make much sense. But let me explain. High school is pretty hectic with extra-curricular activities and homework. So the only time I have to watch television is over weekends or during breaks. But how does the work, especially because I don't have Tivo? Well, it's a little something I like to call the internet. A teenagers best friend. With the help of various websites, I'm able to catch up on all the latest television and start and new shows that I've been wanting to watch.
So what websites do I use? This post is going to be short, but here are some of my favorite websites that enable to catch up on everything I want to watch.
First off is the amazing Hulu.com. It's free, it legal, and it's quite awesome. They did change their policies a tad so that now some things you have to pay for, but most episodes that I want to watch have remained free.
Next is Netflix.com. It may be startling due to the whole business disaster they are going through. But the instant DVDs are awesome. So many shows, so little time!
Lastly, is cucirca.com. One, not many of heard of. It's a great website. It may be a little sketchy but it gets the job done. I've spent many hours trying out new shows and watching all of their seasons on this website. It's simply amazing, and let's you watch shows that you have to pay for on Hulu.
In all, if you're as busy as me, don't watch television live! The internet is there for a reason. Use it! It's simply amazing.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
My Weekly Wonders: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
I might have mentioned this once or twice on my blog, but I absolutely love Jimmy Fallon. But I'll go more into that later. First off, I love his late night talk show. If you've never seen it, which would be a surprise, as I mentioned last week it's kind of hard not to see talk shows because they're on so often. But anyway, if you haven't seen it Fallon and his writers are hilarious. They are so creative and original with their jokes and random skits that they integrate into this sort of traditional institution. It's interesting because most hosts kind of do their own thing but stick to this tradition. But Jimmy is so unique! And funny! Ah don't even get me started...
So you're probably wondering, why the heck is she that obsessed with this one man? I'm not obsessed. I just really enjoy what he does and maybe once in awile I get a little too excited when I see him in something. No matter what though, everyone should go watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 11:35 every weekday night!
Anyway, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is my weekly wonder this week because it does not get enough credit. Yes there are a lot of talk shows. And yes a lot of them are good too. But people don't see the comedy genius that is happening at 11:35 at night. Bits such as Wheel of Carpet Samples, Slow Jam the News, The Real Housewives of Late Night, and the famous thank-you notes Jimmy writes every week. The show is so young, and yet it's never safe. It's always trying new ways to find a voice and increase viewers. So maybe it doesn't succeed sometimes, but come on! At least it's not Jay Leno! (Which by the way, that will probably be the last time you ever see my talk about Jay Leno. He's not worthy of this blog.)
So the show is great. So why is Jimmy Fallon great? He's just one of those people that you have to love. He's genuinely a good person. But how do I know this? I mean he is an actor, so therefore he must be faking... Well person who thinks every celebrity is shallow, think again! Time and time again I will see guests on the show come on talk about how nice Jimmy is. Not to suck up, but just because they are so impressed with how nice he is. If you get this impression from people like Ellen Degeneres or President Obama, yocu're not alone. I get these weird vibes from people on television, and it's almost as if I know that they are good people.
I've been following Jimmy Fallon recently. No, I haven't been stalking him. And no not on twitter. I mean I watched a lot of what he did on Saturday Night Live (yes he was on there! doesn't that make you love him more?) and keep tabs on what he does other than Late Night. A couple years he ago he hosted the Emmy's and that was amazing. This year his is finally going to host SNL! I am super psyched to see this wonderful Christmas episode, and I literally cannot wait. In fact, I'm so nerdy that I actually created a countdown to it.
So you're probably wondering, why the heck is she that obsessed with this one man? I'm not obsessed. I just really enjoy what he does and maybe once in awile I get a little too excited when I see him in something. No matter what though, everyone should go watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 11:35 every weekday night!
The Collegehumor What?
There once a small television show on MTV called The CollegeHumor Show. You've probably never heard of it. It expanded from a website called collegehumor.com which wrote comedic articles and posted funny videos. As the website grew in success, they got an offer to put together a show. Unfortunately, the show only lasted about a year. Does this mean that it sucked? That it wasn't funny? Absolutely not. Although I've never watched the show, I know for a fact (I've watched hundreds of their videos, yes hundreds) that they are very funny.
So before I tackle why it didn't succeed, let me first give you a little background. Collegehumor, formally know as CHTV, began as a website mostly writing articles and creating a few books. As they grew and hired more writers and editors, many of them began starring in their own web videos. This began very popular webseries such as Jake & Amir and Hardly Working. These episodes are mostly just shot in their office, where their coworkers continue to work as if no one was shooting an online video. This is the exact feeling that Collegehumor portrays. The business is very laid back, and they mostly just write and make videos to make each other laugh. But the website also produces more professional videos which they call Collegehumor originals. Many of these are writen by the writers and then real actors are hired (but most videos include many of the prominant writers and editors that star in the webseries as well).
Here's the first Jake & Amir I ever watched. Let's just say it hasn't been my last... Also, this one's kind of old so the quality isn't as good. Enjoy!
How do I know so much about this random webiste that you've probably never heard of? I'm absolutely obsessed. All the information I stated earlier was just off the top of my head, I know that Jake & Amirs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday and I have seen every episode of that and also Hardly Working. I can recite all the cast members first and last names, but I won't bore you with that... Oh you want me to? Streeter Seidell, Patrick Cassells, Amir Blumenfeld... just kidding. I don't have very many friends that have watched Collegehumor, but when I find someone who hd seen a video or two, I always get very excited to discuss it in detail.
So why didn't the website successfully switch over to television? I have a few theories. My first thought is the transition from small internet videos to a full length thirty minute show. This isn't always a successful endeavor. The writing, producing, acting, and editing are all completely different. I believe although this was a completely different format they still shot it in their offices. One, this seems kind of crazy. I would not appreciate it if all day my coworkers were shooting episodes for their own TV show. Also, this kind of set them up for failure. Maybe not that extreme, but it gave that feeling of internet videos instead of a classy television show. This may not have been a factor at all, but it probably gave the show a feeling of being not good or not, or not trying hard enough. I know this sounds weird, but it just seems like it wasn't really put together very professionally. Let's not forget that all of the actors and writers were part of the staff and did not have much experience anyway.
This brings me to my other reason, which is the actors were not actors! The writers and editors I mentioned earlier who starred in Hardly Working wer the ones who wrote and starred in this show. I know how much I love them, but other people don't understand this hidden talent that they pocess. Plus, none of them had been formally trained in acting and honestly a lot of them are lot funnier in just comedy itself than in acting in comedy. Not to say that they are bad actors, just inexperienced. In fact, one of my favorites, Amir Blumenfeld, is starring in the next Harold and Kumar movie that is coming out I believe sometime this month?
This post may not be much about television, but it expresses the idea that not everything is made for television. This year, a new show came out called Charlie's Angels. It didn't even last a season. Although a pretty popular film, the transition to television was a bit rocky. Although I will mention it has been a few years since the movie came out (the first premiered in 2000). College humor may not have had the greatest run on television, but their comedy website is booming! They have a very large fan base, which continues to grow as they expand in their experience and knowledge of the art comedy.
Here's a video of one of my favorite Hardly Workings. The content may be a bit explicit, viewer discretion is advised!
So before I tackle why it didn't succeed, let me first give you a little background. Collegehumor, formally know as CHTV, began as a website mostly writing articles and creating a few books. As they grew and hired more writers and editors, many of them began starring in their own web videos. This began very popular webseries such as Jake & Amir and Hardly Working. These episodes are mostly just shot in their office, where their coworkers continue to work as if no one was shooting an online video. This is the exact feeling that Collegehumor portrays. The business is very laid back, and they mostly just write and make videos to make each other laugh. But the website also produces more professional videos which they call Collegehumor originals. Many of these are writen by the writers and then real actors are hired (but most videos include many of the prominant writers and editors that star in the webseries as well).
Here's the first Jake & Amir I ever watched. Let's just say it hasn't been my last... Also, this one's kind of old so the quality isn't as good. Enjoy!
How do I know so much about this random webiste that you've probably never heard of? I'm absolutely obsessed. All the information I stated earlier was just off the top of my head, I know that Jake & Amirs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday and I have seen every episode of that and also Hardly Working. I can recite all the cast members first and last names, but I won't bore you with that... Oh you want me to? Streeter Seidell, Patrick Cassells, Amir Blumenfeld... just kidding. I don't have very many friends that have watched Collegehumor, but when I find someone who hd seen a video or two, I always get very excited to discuss it in detail.
So why didn't the website successfully switch over to television? I have a few theories. My first thought is the transition from small internet videos to a full length thirty minute show. This isn't always a successful endeavor. The writing, producing, acting, and editing are all completely different. I believe although this was a completely different format they still shot it in their offices. One, this seems kind of crazy. I would not appreciate it if all day my coworkers were shooting episodes for their own TV show. Also, this kind of set them up for failure. Maybe not that extreme, but it gave that feeling of internet videos instead of a classy television show. This may not have been a factor at all, but it probably gave the show a feeling of being not good or not, or not trying hard enough. I know this sounds weird, but it just seems like it wasn't really put together very professionally. Let's not forget that all of the actors and writers were part of the staff and did not have much experience anyway.
This brings me to my other reason, which is the actors were not actors! The writers and editors I mentioned earlier who starred in Hardly Working wer the ones who wrote and starred in this show. I know how much I love them, but other people don't understand this hidden talent that they pocess. Plus, none of them had been formally trained in acting and honestly a lot of them are lot funnier in just comedy itself than in acting in comedy. Not to say that they are bad actors, just inexperienced. In fact, one of my favorites, Amir Blumenfeld, is starring in the next Harold and Kumar movie that is coming out I believe sometime this month?
This post may not be much about television, but it expresses the idea that not everything is made for television. This year, a new show came out called Charlie's Angels. It didn't even last a season. Although a pretty popular film, the transition to television was a bit rocky. Although I will mention it has been a few years since the movie came out (the first premiered in 2000). College humor may not have had the greatest run on television, but their comedy website is booming! They have a very large fan base, which continues to grow as they expand in their experience and knowledge of the art comedy.
Here's a video of one of my favorite Hardly Workings. The content may be a bit explicit, viewer discretion is advised!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)