Posts Tagged "internet"
Either NBC is Really Really Smart or Really Really Dumb
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In this age of Internets, it’s very easy to neglect our beloved television. Oh, TV, you’ve been there through the best times and through the worst times. Through the times when The Simpsons was the funniest show on TV to now when they’re a rip-off of a rip-off of their own show (Family Guy). However, the age of Internets has changed things drastically. Now things are all literally at our fingertips. I can Google search Mother Teresa and just as fast segue into a search for celebrity nipple slips. Never before has society had the power to have all their questions answered, even if those questions might be something along the lines of “what would happen if you stuck a firework up your ass?” Naturally, people would also use Internets to replace T.V. I mean, with sites like YouTube, just about any douchebag out there can have their own show (warning: this video will make you feel like you’re wasting your life away). Whether it’s good or not, is a different story, the point is we’re the ones who choose what we want to watch. I don’t have to schedule my life around TV anymore. No need to hurry up and finish my homework so I can catch The Simpsons. TV, on the internet, now happens at my leisure. I’m catching up on LOST thanks to the Internets.
If you’re an avid Interneter, then you’ve probably heard about the whole NBC fiasco between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. If you haven’t, Google it, and get up to speed. What’s happening is that NBC wants to move Conan to 12:05 to put Jay Leno at 11:35. The thing is, Conan refused to be moved to 12:05 which means that his days at NBC or on The Tonight Show might be numbered… or so it seems.
Pehraps with the chance in schedules, Conan moving to L.A. to take over the Tonight Show has probably caused a certain shift in ratings which didn’t please NBC. So, I’m guessing, they’re trying to revert to the way it was, kind of like trying to suppress the memory of walking in on your parents having sex. Or maybe this whole thing is deliberate. Think about it, I’ve never been more interested in watching Conan O’Brien’s show. I’m a fan of Conan O’Brien but I admit not watching his show regularly. I’ll watch if I manage to catch it but that’s about it. But with all this, I find myself wanting to watch his show rather than scouring the Internet for clips of Conan bashing on NBC. This whole thing is working in NBC’s favor cause it’s getting eyeballs off the Internet and onto the T.V. screens.
Here’s how I see the whole thing playing out. Jay Leno wants to retire, instead of shutting down his show and saying “that’s that”, they start up this controversy. And if there’s anything we could learn about Passion of the Christ or Hugh Grant, it’s that controversy gets people interested. Just look at the whole Tiger Woods thing, people feel the need to know every detail about the life of a man who spends most of his time smacking small white balls across a giant field with a big metal rod (this sentence sounds delicious). So, with this whole Jay Leno and Conan controversy, I’m sure NBC’s getting a nice surge in ratings as people tune in to support their favorite hosts. Conan seems to be the side that’s winning as his ratings have shot up recently.
I can see this going two ways. NBC keeps Conan where he is (and Conan stays) and he now has this new influx of ratings or Conan leaves NBC and while juggling networks he produces some online content that catches the attention of everyone and, BAM, another nail in T.V.’s coffin. Conan’s fan base is predominantly on the Internet, I say this, cause the Internet is ablaze with this story. People are showing support for Conan left and right. Whatever is happening, NBC is either doing something very strategic or is further pushing the demise of television.
As an audience, we tend to be loyal to the things we like and when the things we like are in danger, we tend to retaliate. Take Arrested Development for example, probably one of the finest shows of the decade (okay, not probably, it is the show of the decade), which was cancelled by FOX way ahead of it’s time. How did fans retaliate? Well, we purchased the DVDs of the seasons. Same thing goes for Family Guy, which got resurrected after FOX saw how well the DVD sales were doing. Even Futurama, which spun off into 4 original made-for-DVD movies, after FOX saw that DVD sales were high. Do networks make more money this way? Introduce a show everyone likes and then cancel it before it’s time so that people can retaliate by buying the DVDs? Then spin that show off into movies, made-for-DVD films, and even other shows?
I just find the whole thing very meta. It’s like a Television show brought to the fore-front of it all. Except, this Television show makes it’s way through our Twitter and Facebook streams, our News feeds and our YouTubes. This is the T.V. of the 21st century, with tentacles and eyeballs that reach out of the idiot box and into our phones and laptops. We’re watching a different show these days, one that blurs the lines between fiction and reality (I just wanted to say that line).
Read MoreDISCLAIMER: It’s hard to write a blog post like this making it seem like this late-night show fiasco (i keep using this word) is the biggest thing in the news, but it’s not. I wish it was, but it’s not. No, the biggest thing in the news is the devastation caused by the Haitian earthquake. The earthquake has shaken up one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, it has left thousands dead and thousands more injured, without shelter, food, or water. It’s easy to ignore this seeing as we’re thousands of miles away (depending where you live) but it’s a lot more fulfilling and human to do whatever is in your power to help out. An easy way to donate is to simply text the word “HAITI” to 90999, which in turn sends a $10 donation to the Redcross. You can also donate via the Redcross. Please, let’s try not to ignore this one. TV shows can battle it out all they want for our eyeballs but in the end, they’re doing it so they can provide us with entertainment and moments where we can shut off our brains and unwind. But when there’s an opportunity to help out humanity, I say take it on full force, do what you can cause there’s nothing more blissful.
Time Traveling and The Internets.
Late one night, I sat and I contemplated. I thought long and hard. I stared at my ceiling fan. I paced back and forth in my room. Then I asked the internet, “what is the internet.”
The internet (wikipedia) replied with this:
The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available servers and other computers by moving information from them to the computer’s local memory. The same connection allows that computer to send information to servers on the network; that information is in turn accessed and potentially modified by a variety of other interconnected computers. A majority of widely accessible information on the Internet consists of inter-linked hypertext documents and other resources of the World Wide Web (WWW). Computer users typically manage sent and received information with web browsers; other software for users’ interface with computer networks includes specialized programs for electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and file sharing.
Wow. Thanks Internet. You really answered my question… NOT!
No, I’m talking about what really makes the internet. It’s not computers, megabytes, or megapixels. It’s the people. It’s people like you and me. People like Kevin Rose and Mark Zuckerface. People who like to burp out the theme to Super Mario Bros. or stick jars up their asses. The internet is ALIVE.
Now, let’s go back to when there was no internet (it’ll be hard but bear with me). Let’s go back to ancient times when the natives roamed these lands and the Americas had yet to be discovered. These natives hunted, lived in tribes, made snow shoes out of racoons, etc. It has been said that when the first ships from Europe arrived at the shores of America, the natives didn’t see them because they didn’t comprehend them. Basically, to these natives, giant ships that sail across the oceans were something that was never fathomed or thought about. It was something unimaginable, mysterious. It would be as if U.F.Os are completely different entities then what Hollywood makes us believe they are. If we can’t comprehend or visualize something how could we manifest it in our lives? These natives studied the waters and saw the waves lapping in different ways, they felt a presence, and slowly they began to understand the ships and, therefore, be able to see them.
I think technology and the internet is presenting us with an equivalent situation that the natives ran into back when the ships hit their shores. Technology is allowing our ideas to evolve at a lightning pace. It is allowing us to evolve faster and faster. Eventually leading use to micro-evolve by the minute. Each minute would be a new epiphany, a new evolution. The internet is a perfect example of how ideas manifest. It’s my belief that when you get an idea it’ll manifest itself through any means possible. Perhaps it’s happened to you already that you thought of an idea and later saw that idea manifested in real life, making you point at your idea and say “HEY! I thought of you first!!” It’s kind of like when you start reminiscing about an old Simpsons episode and then you’ll find that episode playing on TV the week later.
Let’s talk a little about the brain now. It’s said that the brain and the subconscious cannot distinguish what’s real (happening in the present moment) from what’s not (being stuck in a memory). For example, right now, think of a vacation you went on and really try to put yourself there on that beach, in that pool, on the ski hill, wherever it was. Feel the environment around. Smell the air. Hear the sounds. Order another Sex on the Beach. See,when you think of a vivid memory and put yourself there, just because you’re not physically there your brain actually thinks you are. The same physical things that happened when you were on vacation also happen when you relive that memory. Here’s where I’m going with this: the internet can be seen as a possibility for time travel. Did I lose you? No, okay, good. Now, I don’t mean flux-capacitor equipped Delorean time travel, no, I’m talking about a mental time travel. Let’s take YouTube as an example. Ever been on YouTube and stumble upon a clip of an old TV show that you completely forgot about? What arises is that nostalgic feeling, you’re taken back to that place. Maybe you were a kid and your brother always used to steal the remote and would refuse to watch anything but “The Cosby Show.” Well, since the mind thinks this is real (and the ego or the secondary voice doesn’t) then wouldn’t that be seen as a sort’ve time travel? Now that everyone’s hooked up to cameras and media creation technology, we’re basically find ways to capture the moment. I’d like to think of this as adding points and moments to your past. You can travel to these moments any time simply by watching/listening/looking at them. Now, we’ve always had pictures, music, and video but with the internet you’re presented with the idea of looking at things from the perceptions of others. Going back to events that changed history. Watching things that make you relive your past. You can also run into new ideas (playing the Super Mario Bros. song with an RC car is one that comes to mind). So you have this ability to touch base with things that give texture to your past as well as run into completely new, unfathomable ideas (like why I guy would stick a jar up his ass).
I know I went all existential on your ass with this post but only because this really interests me. The internet is further proof of this collective conciousness that we all share. It’s as if it’s mapping it out.
Okay, I’m done. What are your thoughts?
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