Kyle Brady: Blog » TV

“The SyFY Conundrum” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:07:00 +0000

New column at Technotainment Revelations on True/Slant:

First, there was the name change. Then came the reassurance that science fiction would remain important to the network, despite wanting to appeal to larger audiences. And now, a lie revealed.

Go check it out.

“What Of Longterm Cached Video Streaming?” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:55:12 +0000

New column at Technotainment Revelations on True/Slant:

Hulu has long since reigned king in the streaming video market, and seems intent on growing at an outrageous pace until it reaches sublime market saturation – so long as its investors and parent companies don’t shut it down, or cripple it, long before the point of critical mass. But while 2010, and the foreseeable future, is considered part of the age of connectivity, there are often long periods without a network connection that could be better used: planes, cars, trains, buses, etc. In light of this situation, why should content delivery services not implement a longterm caching mechanism for streaming video?

Go check it out.

“All 3D Is A Horrible Idea” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:34:08 +0000

New column at Technotainment Revelations on True/Slant:

Despite the 3D lovefest at CES, by Avatar’s James Cameron, and numerous movies in recent history, not to mention the announcements of ESPN and Discovery/Sony/IMAX for new television channels with an extra dimension of depth, the cold reality is that not only is 3D not the holy grail of entertainment, it doesn’t need, or deserve to be, used in ever possible facet of modern consumer entertainment.

Go check it out.

“The Case For More Original TV Content” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:05:29 +0000

New column at Technotainment Revelations on True/Slant:

As media consumption has progressed over the last decade, the amount of original and scripted, not to mention interesting, works on television have steadily decreased – game shows, “reality” TV, talk shows, and late-night talking heads have canvassed the airwaves, to the anguish of many.

Go check it out.

“The Best of 2009’s Tech and Entertainment” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:36:05 +0000

New column on Technotainment Revelations at True/Slant:

The year is almost at a close, and everyone’s making lists – so here’s the “Best of 2009”, in relation to entertainment and technology, without any particular sorting order.

Go check it out.

“An Ode to Childhood Lost” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:48:47 +0000

New guest post at the Inquisitr:

The death of Fred Rogers in 2003 was a sad experience that dredged up memories of early childhood I didn’t even know I had, and I discovered I was still fond of the man and his commitment to well-rounded children. The recent cancellation of “Reading Rainbow”, due to a lack of funding, is no different: I knew intellectually that the show existed no longer, but it was not until I heard LeVar on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” that I discovered how truly devastated I felt by the loss of such a cornerstone of my childhood.

Go check it out.

Age Bias In Media Reporting/Journalism [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:05:31 +0000

There’s a disturbing trend seen over the last decade: age has become a critical factor for a television news anchor, valued reporter, or any other position that involves direct interaction between “the people” and news services, occurring across all forms of Old Media. This trend of believing age is a factor in talent, skill, believability, or overall trustworthiness is not only disturbing, but is both ruining the experience of younger talents and contributing to the demise of Old Media itself.

The age of reporters has been increasing steadily since the debut of television news, and can be clearly seen with the announcement of Diane Sawyer, at the age of 63, to take up ABC’s World News anchor position. There are occasions when a person is kept because of their talent more than age, such as Tom Brokaw, but these are few and far between – more often than not, an anchor is held onto due to name recognition and their familiarity and not any specific set of talents or skills that could not be found in slightly fresher faces. In looking across all networks, the age of those involved in primetime television news averages near 40, and often eclipses it, and the average increases if local news outfits become the focal point. Television is not alone in this bias, as their also-dying brethren in newspapers have the same issue of pandering to older generations, and in-between publications such as TIME or Newsweek have similar, albeit lessened, problems. Why, then, is this the case?

It would seem that the answer may lie in the audience’s comfort level with familiar faces, even when those familiar faces are aging, untalented, and lack any basic intelligence. But by chasing ratings over talent, the companies are feeding the cyclical nature of their own demise: younger generations are going to be less interested in individuals old enough to be their parents or grandparents for the delivery of news or opinions, if they’re even interested in the activities of Old Media at all. Evidence for this fundamental truth can be found not only in human nature, but in the fact that while individuals under the age of 30 increasingly flock to the Internet as a source for news and entertainment, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and Colbert Report continue to have wonderful ratings within that same demographic for infotainment - exactly what CNN, NBC, ABC, and others produce, no matter their higher minded claims.

Both of Comedy Central's news shows are spearheaded by men – Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, respectively - who are in their mid-40s, but appear to be much younger at heart and in mind than their network counterparts. But more to the point, their regular contributors and correspondents are typically younger comics, like John Oliver (age 32, debuted at 29), who are vibrant, full of life, and in touch with what the under-30 demographic are interested in – exactly opposite the major news outlets.

The fact that it takes a journalist an average of twenty years to reach any position of credibility or public visibility is quite likely a deterrent for many young journo’s interested in the field, who may choose to take their talents elsewhere. More importantly, by cultivating an increasingly older crop of journalists, those who are new or inexperienced are not allowed the very experience required for them to later reach exalted positions – a problem seen throughout most industries in today’s “need experience, not college kids” environment.

This bias is also pushing an increasing number of interested young-guns to New Media, where their age is seen as a perk and not a disadvantage, for blogging, Internet-video, and a number of other budding online news production outfits and methodologies. The rise of blogs, online news, YouTube, and others is no coincidence, and those who unconditionally embrace it are the future of media, no matter how hard Old Media outlets continue to push aged commenters on a passive audience – more specifically, this means younger, faster, and more savvy individuals will soon rule the journalism game, quickly turning the tables on their predecessors, bringing a new meaning to “journalistic age bias”.

Network news, newspapers, and magazines have created this culture where age is valued over talent, connections over ability, and name recognition over actual worth – now they must deal with its consequences.

“An Open Letter to the SyFy Network” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:25:07 +0000

New guest post at the Inquisitr:

Not many people will publicly admit this, but I will: there’s a soft spot in my heart for the SyFy Network (formerly “SciFi”), and always has been. But just because I’m sympathetic to the cause doesn’t mean I unilaterally support your decisions, which is why this is being written.

Go check it out.

The Triumphant Return of Sarah Connor [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:05:08 +0000

…maybe.

Potentially legitimate rumors have surfaced that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be returning to television, presumably with cries of joy from around the world, starting with a direct-to-DVD release prior to the next chapter in the Terminator movie saga, and a TV show potentially following – all starting some time in 2010 or 2011. The network sponsoring the direct-to-DVD process isn’t clear, although the WB was mentioned several times, not to mention the total silence on whether the TV show would appear on FOX. Either way, it seems that the important people in this dance listened to both the praise and wails of fans.

This news, if true, could prove to be a gamechanger for the future of television – TV networks that actually produce intelligent, thought-provoking, and deep shows that fans want, even if they don’t achieve the hyper-success of idiotic nonsense like American Idol. If the WB is the network for the future of Sarah Connor and her band of rebels, which includes one humanoid robot, FOX will be highly embarrassed should the show do well, but if FOX somehow manages to hold on to the baby they threw out the window, they will still have dirt on their face at the end of the day, and be subject to the emotionality of a rabid fanbase.

Even if the show continues thematically mostly on its own, despite rumors of being intertwined with the upcoming movies, TV as a whole will be all the better for it, and so will the Terminatorverse – Terminator: Salvation was a good action movie, and a halfway decent Terminator film, but it fell flat on the expectations of a smart and highly complex film that many hoped would have more in common with TTSCC than T3. The cast itself is critical component of the show's brilliance: Lena Headey is a much better Sarah than Linda Hamilton ever was, and Thomas Dekker has evolved from a whiny “emo” teenager into a very believable and intensely brilliant John – not to mention the characters played by Summer Glau, Brian Austin Greene, Richard T. Jones, and Garret Dillahunt that make a beautiful small-screen ensemble and help set the tone of the show.

Regardless of the acting prowess of Christian Bale, the simple fact is that barring an extreme change of pace and tone in the upcoming T5 movie, the Terminatorverse is likely to have a longer, smarter, and better future on television. All of that changes if the network behind the TTSCC decides to place demands on the writers, restrict the show’s budget, or act in other stereotypically ignorant behavior that is so often seen at FOX. However, if the show returns in “same or better” form than when it was canceled, fans will flock in droves to any network that cares to finance the triumphant return of Sarah Connor.

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Note: apologies on being a day late - on vacation and couldn't write this in time for early Monday.

Update (8/10/2009 12:20am PST): Reposted with permission at the Inquisitr.

Update (7/15/2009 11:10am PST): Another source confirms this, unrelated to the original by Lanie, courtesy of Lanie herself.

What’s Next for “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:28:13 +0000

The word on the street is that "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been canceled. As much as this absolutely sucks and is in line with the entire history of anything good FOX has ever produced, it was semi-expected because FOX is a network that cares more about obscene big-ticket ratings than the value they put out.

The way I see it, TSCC as a collective has three options for their future:

Suck up to the FOX execs and hope things change at some point in the near future, maybe coming back in Spring '10. While this has happened in the past (Family Guy, anyone?), it's similar to betting all your money on the exact time and date Jesus returns for the Coming of the Apocalypse. I'm not saying it's (Jesus) ever happening, but still.

Find a bunch of money from a group of rich people, self-fund a full production of Season 3, and release it to DVD. I think this is a great idea, and would pave the way for the further collapse of the TV network paradigm, assuming they could raise enough money to continue the same level of writing, production, special effects, acting talent, etc. However, realistically, this is improbable. Unlikely, even. (Pink Panther nod!) We're talking about a huge amount of money spent from idea to DVD printing, and the series would sell for $50, at most, per copy. The number of copies sold would have to be astronomical to even break even.

Pull up the tent stakes from the FOX battleground, and shop the idea to other networks. TSCC has proven to have a nothing-if-not-loyal fanbase, just not with the gigantic numbers that could compete with brain-addling crap like American Idol that is so inexplicably popular among the low-to-average IQ range of American citizens. HBO and Showtime produce shows for a much smaller audience (comparatively), but seem to have no problem doing so, presumably because they produce revenue directly instead of being "OMG we need a larger audience!"-advertising dependent. Writers, acting talent, and everyone else could move over... as long as FOX will release the rights to its production, which is the biggest "if".

Option 3 is likely the one with the best outcome, and I really hope it happens. NBC could even potentially be approached for another season, since they have their fair share of violent "speculative fiction" shows already, and have a history of being more tolerant in ratings swings.

Here's the takeaway:

TSCC Crew, please talk to some other networks about immediately continuing production for their network, without any changes. We will follow you to your endpoint, even if it's FX.

FOX, give up the rights to the show's future. If you don't want to do another season, at least be reasonable about it, and let someone else who cares about the people that are considered their customers.

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Update (4/15/2009 2:50pm PST): Apparently TSCC's producers are saying it isn't canceled yet, and that the information floating around the 'net is faulty... and the "reporter" has a history of bad-mouthing TSCC. Let's hope.