Last night I was supposed to go see Eastwood's Oscar nominated pic Letters from Iwo Jima. Unfortunately I ended up leaving work about 10 minutes later then planned and that little bit threw off all my plans. So instead of sitting thru a movie for 2 1/2 hours, I ended up at home by 7. So what did I do? I replaced an Oscar nominee with a 2-hour block of new MTV programming. Since I was going to discuss my thoughts on Iwo Jima today you all will be subjected to my thoughts on MTV's new Tuesday night lineup instead. By the way, it's moments like these where the blog title earns its keep.
The Good: Two A Days
The best of the new shows has to be the second season of Two A Days. Back in fall I praised this show as one of the best MTV has put out in recent memory. It follows the Hoover Alabama high school football team throughout their season. Football in Alabama is like football in Texas except these folks have a slightly different accent. Last season the team won it's fourth straight state title and entered this season as the #1 team in all of the country. Last night's first episode was all about the set up. New year means new players and we got to meet them all (and the new cheerleaders as well). The producers decided to start off the show four games in and when we first get a glimpse of the Bucs on the field it's in a shocking loss. This leads to a genuine moment from Coach Rush Probst when he tells his team that he got caught up in all the hype of the national attention and he let his team down. It might be coach speak but as he says these words you see the players in the locker room empathize with him. When last season wrapped, I hoped the show would come back but focus on a different school in a different state but if Tuesday's premiere is any indication I'm glad we stayed in Hoover.
The Eh?: Bam's Unholy Union
Thanks to MTV's incessant repeats and marathons I've probably watched at least a part of every show Bam Margera has ever been on. Of course he started on Jackass and then was later given his own show Viva La Bam. This time around he's back and instead of annoying his mom, dad, and accused statutory rapist Uncle Vito, he's terrorizing his bride to be and her family. This shtick would get old real fast if it wasn't for the fact that Bam has a natural charm and wit that Tom Green would kill for. His fiancée Missy has been in the background on a lot of previous shows but has never really been a victim of Bam's pranks. This will give the show fresh legs for a while but in the end it's more of the same.
The Bad: Road Rules '07-Viewer's Revenge
MTV put the Winnebago on hiatus a few years back when they realized they got hire ratings recycling the old cast members on all the various Real World/Road Rules challenges. Eventually though they realized a good idea is a good idea so they brought back the Winnie and 6 strangers to travel across the US in order to obtain a handsome reward. Except they didn't. MTV has tried to make the show more "now" by adding an interactive option where viewer's will nominate who goes into a one on one challenge where the cast member will be facing a newbie fighting to get on the bus. Confused by that, try watching the cast members figure it out as the host explains it. Speaking of the cast members, MTV also thought better of putting all new kids on and instead recycled 6 "All Stars" from previous shows to start out the journey. While I'm glad it's back and lord knows I'll end up watching I wish MTV had just left the original formula alone.
The Ugly: Wrestling Society X
Most of you are aware that I'm a wrestling fan. However right now there isn't a single wrestling program on TV worth my time so I consider myself retired. However, I thought I'd give MTV's new foray into pro wresting a chance. The debut episode featured a group of has beens, could bes, and should've beens. The wrestling itself was ok but the set up was horrible. MTV plans to have a musical guest every week and that I can get behind. What I can't get behind is a ring announcer who belongs in a POD video and gimmick matches that have explosions and electrical currents. Really MTV is that what you think is missing in the wrestling world? If you've never liked wrestling then stay away from this show and if you do like wrestling I think you'd be better off watching Ric Flair's greatest matches on DVD.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment