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It was tough to decide on what to rant on this month, but thanks to the likes of the Fox Network and the Oscar Awards, I think I have enough to fill a page before I get to my quick hits.
First up is the fact that the Fox Network, after what some might call success with their first reality show of the season "Temptation Island," is following it up with a new reality show called "Boot Camp." I have not seen it at all with the exception of the commercials that they run during their various sports and prime-time shows, and to me it looks stupid. I wonder what the meeting to come up with this show was like?
"We need a reality show, Survivor is kicking our asses," said executive #1.
"How about something to do with the military?" asked executive #2.
"That's something," Executive #1 said. "We'll offer money to the person who lasts the longest."
"That's an idea, let's do it," Executive #2 said. "Now, how can we pre-empt Futurerama more?"
Anyway, that is probably how the meeting went. The advertisements I've seen have been both stupid and comical. One of them that I can recall has one of the drill instructors yelling at a guy and mocking the fact that he does balloon animals. The first couple of times I saw this commercial I laughed because it is so absurd. Then they have the obligatory montage of scenes with them coming in and getting all yelled at and the haircuts and the like. The most interesting aspect of the game is the way they vote people out. You see, when one person gets voted out, they get to choose one person to take with them. If I was on this show, I'd make an alliance with another person so that if that person got voted off, they would choose me and vice versa. I think Fox might have a ratings grabber, but like the reality show that CBS did last year "Big Brother" it will fall in ratings as the weeks progress.
If you want to see something that is probably worse to go through than Boot Camp, be sure to start watching MTV this May when they air their own reality show "Tough Enough." In combination with the WWF, they have taken ten people (six men and four women) and stuck them in a house and are going to train them to become professional wrestlers. Only the winner of this one does not get money, but instead gets a contract with the WWF. With some really serious wrestlers training them (Tazz, Al Snow, Jacqueline and Tori) these people will be pushed to their limits. Tazz has already said that he will train the people hard and show them that it will not be a cakewalk. I actually entertained the idea of sending in a tape, but I passed on it because I know I cannot learn all about professional wrestling in only 12 weeks. If I ever get into professional wrestling, I'll work my way up instead of having it dropped into my lap like the folks on this show will.
Hollywood gave itself its' pat on the back for the year with the Oscar Awards that were on last Sunday (March 25.) Well, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. At least Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon walked away with the best foreign film (the first Chinese film to do that ever) as well as a couple of music awards. Some things bugged me though. First is the fact that in the actor and actress categories, the people that were hyped to the sky won. I guess if you put enough money into promoting someone in a movie, then you are bound to get something out of it. Steve Martin did a good job of hosting this year, and at least we did not have to put up with the interpretive dance numbers and Billy Crystal putting himself into various movies in an opening montage, those things were the worst things about watching them.
Quick Hits
The best gimmick of the month goes to Taco Bell. They had a tie in with the Mir coming down to earth. If pieces of Mir hit a twelve-foot by twelve-foot target in the Pacific Ocean then it would be free tacos for everyone in the United States. It was a great gimmick, but the pieces missed and no free tacos.
Fans of the singer Eminem in England will have to look elsewhere for the doll/action figure. Two major store chains in that country are refusing to carry it because they feel it is not an appropriate thing to stock. Frankly I think they did the right thing, but on the other hand, isn't this the same country a few months ago wanted to have him perform on their music awards?
The WWF has purchased WCW making the realm of professional wrestling all that much smaller. This has the potential of strengthening both companies. You can have cross promotion and bring some new faces to the fans of the other company. It will be fun to see how this plays out after Wrestlemania, if not during it.
Last weekend I rented the first video in the Mobile Suit Gundam series just to see what it was about, and I found out little more than what I learned over the months of reading magazines. Frankly I'm going to stick with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Rouni Kenshin because I can understand those stories better.
That looks like all for this month. Hopefully next month I will have stories to tell you from Wrestlemania.
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