We have wild beagles nesting

Tim, you should totally adopt them, but make it a big celebrity-with-heart-of-gold risks-life-saving-wild-beagles deal in the press, and plug The Inside, while you're at it.

Can we have cake afterwards?

Yes. And we should have a live band. And champagne.

What kind of cake do you want, Allyson? I assume you don't want that raisins-masquerading-as-chocolate "cake" ita made.

We have wild beagles nesting

...and now we turn our cameras to the feral, majestic Snoopy...

It's kind of funny, except how it's not. The super's efforts to get them used to people don't seem to be making them any friendlier, so they're now brave enough to come up to the apartment entrances and defend "their" territory from the trespassers that just live here. The littler one has graduated to making little bitey lunges at people's legs tonight.

At this point, I kinda doubt they can be domesticated. Mike's going to have a tough time finding anyone willing to put up with them.

I don't normally watch cop shows, I don't watch much horror, except for certain kinds, which generally means they have to end with some sort of hope, even if the whoever-survivor may be is fooling him or herself, because...that's what we do. We pretend this world isn't a great big old ball of pain, and that's how we can have more children, and eat ice cream, and go to the park on Sunday afternoons. I like my horror with a dash of fun, Shaun of the Dead rather than The Ring.

I am Deena. Also this reminds me of a discussion the BF and I were having about zombie movies vs. vampire movies. (I loooove vampire movies but hate and fear zombies, and he is all Team Zombies and is indifferent to vamps.) Vampire movies are usually end hopefully - the vamp is staked, order reigns again, a more Manichean view of the universe - while Zombie movies are existentialist - everything sucks and eventually everyone will be a zombie. Also with Vamps there is an element of choice and rational thought - you could choose to not become one, or if you were one you could refuse to take human life (c.f. Angel) or take your own life (c.f. Louis in Interview) - whereas with zombies it's just like a horrible epidemic where there is no romance, no epic battle over your soul, just 'oops, you got bit, now you're one of us' and you become a mindless inhuman thing. ETA the two things that scare the shit out of me about zombie movies is 1) your friends don't know you and 2) there's no hope. (Shaun of the Dead being one of the few exceptions.)

And, since I wiffed on The Untouchables, let me replace it with The 4400. At least, I Peter Coyote was an FBI guy in that one.

I've been watching the 4400 and finding it quite enjoyable. I have no idea why - it's formulaic and silly, but there's just enough eye candy and not totally laughable premises that I forgive a lot - ironically more than I would for a better show.

She just loses me in that final paragraph, where she seems to be saying that shoutouts=an attempt to stick it to Fox execs. I don't see the basis for making that connection; in my mind, shoutouts=giving fans (and/or friends) a happy.

I don't think that's what she's saying - it's more like making shows more obscure for the sake of the fans makes it harder for the execs to make $, so the creators get their jollies twice. It's not A=C, it's A=B=C (intransitive property).

My shout outs are more along the lines of casting, anyway.

My favorite kind.

Kiss-ass.

I have no idea why - it's formulaic and silly, but there's just enough eye candy and not totally laughable premises that I forgive a lot

It's like if the X-Files had much less attractive stars and writing not quite good enough to make me care about it. It's...relaxing.

I don't think that's what she's saying - it's more like making shows more obscure for the sake of the fans makes it harder for the execs to make $, so the creators get their jollies twice. It's not A=C, it's A=B=C (intransitive property).

But...how does sticking the title "Once More with Feeling" in the background without ever calling attention to it (or, you know, using blue gloves or naming a cat Angel) make a show more obscure? The shout-outs are entirely superfluous; they go right over the heads of those who aren't looking for them. I don't see what the Big Evil is, and how it affects executives at all.

A Wired article on the leaked GF pilot, and what it might mean for the future:

Meanwhile, Global Frequency creator Ellis has chimed in on his own website, noting that "the TV pilot (is) all over the net right now, on that filthy BitTorrent thing which is illegal and nasty and I certainly don't use it to watch The Daily Show or anything.... I don't have the torrent link, and I haven't seen the pilot, so don't ask. But feel free to buy the book."

Whether all the internet buzz ultimately revives the show, Rogers said he has learned much from the leak and about the power of the internet.

"It changes the way I'll do my next project," said Rogers. If he owned the full rights, he said, "I would put my pilot out on the internet in a heartbeat. Want five more? Come buy the boxed set." He urged other creators to do the same.

"It's a model and a reminder to the next guy who comes along," he said.

It's...relaxing.

Exactly. It tickles some of those buttons without the angst and drama and investment both when it was good and when it was really, really bad, as XF.

how do [shout-outs] make a show more obscure?

P-C, not saying I agree with the conclusion she came to. But I can kind of see how she got there. I think the point is supposed to be that the energy spent in creating all those shout-outs would be "better" served by making the shows more accessible.

The only thing I kind of agree with is the First Impressions Effect in terms of Rachel/Rebecca. I was intrigued by Rebecca but I didn't like her or identify with her pretty much right off the bat the way I did with Buffy, Veronica and Jaye. (The BF says his problem with Wonderfalls was that Jaye was too unlikeable but I liked her a lot - but then I am frequently a snarky bitch as well.) And Rachel really bugged at first. Web was the one that hooked me on the Inside.

Not to be too OT but I love VM to death and would have a million of its babies. Last fall Lost and VM were neck and neck in terms of my investment, and over the season Lost ended up in the "barely watchable" category while VM became app't tv.

Signed, still wishing for a VM buffistas thread