Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Outraged of Sockburn

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  • Craig Ranapia,

    Are there any nuanced male characters in it, for that matter?

    No, but they're so horribly put upon by the non-penis bearing half of the human race. Sex may well make fools of us all, but there's the merest hint of a possibility men have something to do with their own misfortunes. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I presumed that was the entire lesson of the show. It's not so unrealistic either - it seems to me that the men who insist on the most freedom from female influence in their thought patterns are by far the biggest slaves to women.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Of course, Two and A Half Men is based primarily on malice but it is such well-written and well-delivered malice--the kind of put-downs we wish we had thought of when faced with human self-delusion or stupidity?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • anth,

    To tie this into another recent discussion: OF gets higher ratings than rugby. Admittedly being free-to-air helps.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • Brodie Davis,

    For some reason I can never get into big bang theory, I guess the years of watching great british comedys (coupling, etc) means that I just can't stomach laughter tracks anymore. Unless its a standup/talk/guest show I don't need to hear what the audience found funny. And I sure don't need that harpy screaching away as well (there are always one or two laughs that are just painful).

    The good stuff these days always seems to be semi serious with dry humour on top (that could just be my tastes though), so chuck, castle and the amazing race tend to be all I need for my commedy fixes.

    But due to various circumstances Japanese drama shows tend to be getting some more viewing time, and most of them are remarkably good.

    Since Aug 2008 • 54 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    To tie this into another recent discussion: OF gets higher ratings than rugby. Admittedly being free-to-air helps.

    Are there numbers somewhere for this? Because I'm slightly surprised. Single sports events tend to do very well. Usually in prime time, usually on a weekend etc. So is that on average, or against all games or what?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Ratings, schmatings! Let's not subscribe to the idea that Peoplemeter measurements* are anything to do with accurate audience measurement, nor anything much to do with what television viewing might be.

    * which claim to measure "Presence in a room where a television set is on' in a sample of 500 NZ households.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • anth,

    Are there numbers somewhere for this?

    Oops, you're right. I'd searched the internet but unfortunately came back with a sample of well rated OF episodes and badly rated international rugby.

    Here are some more comprehensive numbers, giving 6 international rugby matches an average of 479.4k, and 10 OF episodes an average of 435.8k. That covers a period of June-September for both. Looks like 13-19 September repeated the previous week's data.

    And yeah, I've doubts about media ratings numbers too.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    i think they are showing everything from the very beginning starting next Tuesday.

    Actually they start repeating Outrageous Fortune tonight at 9.30pm on tv3.

    I presume it's right from the first episode, though they showed that series last year. Its hit-the-ground-running greatness fair blew me away at the time.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    @Sacha and Sue - thanks for that. May need to fill myself in, as it were.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Of course, Two and A Half Men is based primarily on malice but it is such well-written and well-delivered malice...

    So is Fawlty Towers -- and Sybil Fawlty may well have been the mother of all untameable shrews but 1) who wouldn't be driven insane by Basil, and 2) there was basically a level playing field, covered in offensive weaponry. Two and A Half Men feels like the Bros vs. The Hos, and the match is fixed from the start.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    No, but they're so horribly put upon by the non-penis bearing half of the human race.

    We must be watching a different show. I don't think either gender comes across in a particularly well-rounded light.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    It perpetually amazes me that The Big Bang Theory has enough of an audience to survive. Seems like it's directly targeted at me and my bestest friends. What is everyone else supposed to be seeing in it?

    My darling and I also have that feeling that it's made just for us, but we have an excuse.

    We were in fits over the most recent ep to screen here -- where Leonard's mother comes to visit and totally bonds with Sheldon -- because it's like one long Asperger's joke.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Me too.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    What is everyone else supposed to be seeing in it?

    We loved it, which is unsurprising given how many 'the physics are stupid in X fantasy series' discussions I've sat through (alright, led).

    Since it's been on TV we've been watching it with our kids, and our nearly-14 yo son thinks it's hilarious. It's not exactly difficult for him to identify with.

    Which is a long and involved way of saying that Geek is the New Black.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    We were in fits over the most recent ep to screen here -- where Leonard's mother comes to visit and totally bonds with Sheldon

    ...and the ep where Sheldon attempts to understand the etiquette of gift-giving. Brilliant!

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Brilliant!

    Leonard Nimoy's DNA. I squeed so bad.

    Also, know what Leonard (not Nimoy) sleeps in after sex? There's a t-shirt. And some boxers... Does nobody sleep naked in the States?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Nimoy probably does. Part of his strangeness..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Actually I've got a slightly legitimate reason for a greater-than-can-be-usually-mentioned-in-polite-company knowledge of porn - my day-job is blocking spam, and I've had to read an awful lot of it. I've also had to experiment with visual classifiers, which does involve having a 'corpus' of data.

    Speaking of which: Hart's Law states that as a Public Address discussion on any of Emma's posts grows longer, the probability of a work firewall blocking it approaches 1.

    Every single bleedin' time.....

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    There's probably a reason I shouldn't be this incredibly proud of that, but I can't think of one.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Stewart,

    Yeah, well the WebMarshall at work has blacklisted PAS now because of an earlier 'Upfront' thread so now I have to take the laptop in, connect to the interweb with a modem and have a sly read rather than just getting it up (ooh-err) on the PC via the company network.

    If it had been anyone else's thread I would have been a bit peeved, but not so much seeing as it was Emma's.

    (And I'd like to make a belated huggy moment For Emma after her recent brain business.)

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    Eh, I thought the sex scenes in The L Word were pretty good, actually. Sure, manicured and glossy, but no more so than the rest of the show. Seemed pretty realistic to me, in an LA-showbiz power-dyke kind of way.

    Now, talking about realistic lesbo scenes, Bound still wins for me. At least once I get past Jennifer Tilly's speaking voice, and I crank up the WSOD about Gina Gershon being a butch dyke (she does a not-too-bad job, considering).

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    And why didn't I look into Outrageous Fortune earlier? Obviously I've been away from home far too long. Am, erm, obtaining it now to check it out properly.

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • Judi Lapsley Miller,

    We love Big Bang too, which is another data point strengthening the correlation between degree of personal geekiness and love of the show. But it is a documentary, not a sitcom isn't it ;-)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 106 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    We were in fits over the most recent ep to screen here -- where Leonard's mother comes to visit and totally bonds with Sheldon -- because it's like one long Asperger's joke.

    Though its quite understandable how actor Jim Parsons and the producers of the show get rather twitchy at the idea that they're making "one long Asperger's joke" -- not least because I hope the world has moved on a bit from the idea that spastics, retards and senile old coots with serious neurological deficits aren't quite the easy figures of fun they used to be. (Just as, to get on a geeky tangent, I can love original recipe Star Trek and still cringe at the pervasive sexism and gender strereotypes because, damn it, it was made in the 60's.)

    Let me put it this way: Leonard's cold, near-emotionally abusive mother is on one level that stock figure of comedy: A very smart person whose understanding of people is all in her head. Put the label of Asperger's on her, and would the reading inevitably become open to something more distasteful -- that being on the autistic spectrum inevitably makes you a BAD person?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

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