Category Archives: Television

WandaVision’s Re-Stream of Our Consciousness

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Kevin Walsh

Check out our WandaVision Roundtable podcast.

I’m still processing the remarkable WandaVision and its re-boot of the role of television on our culture, the metamorphosis of its consumption and digestion–and thankful for some friends to help me get some perspective on this tragedy wrapped in familiar sit-com sets with a laughing audience.

The Fonz, Kunta Kinte and Darth Vader’s paternity claim. My first three thoughts while processing WandaVision. Marvel and Disney+ actually had the nerve/guts to stretch out its nine-episodes over NINE weeks, reminding me of my first television cliff-hanger, many years before JR was shot.

Three moments of delayed gratification jump to mind from my childhood–triggered by the weird time-warp that WandaVision so accurately displays–making one week cover 50 years of jokes, hairstyles, … Read More… →

Destroying the Decepticon in My Living Room – Cutting Cable TV’s $1K Umbilical Cord

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Kevin Walsh

Our electric bill had jumped so much, I thought maybe three or four neighbors had run extension cords off the back of my garage.  We walked all around the house, examining every outlet, toaster, stereo and toothbrush charger–right past the culprit hiding in plain sight.  We were so used to its soft roar that it had become almost therapeutic–like a wave-machine in a sauna.  But, to quote Ross Perot, we finally identified “that sucking sound…” the cause of our depleting bank account–it was a Decepticon–the cable company’s Swiss army knife of doom–our modem/router/DVR/corkscrew.

IMG_6023

Apparently, according to my friend Scott Sowers, these bad boys draw more energy … Read More… →

Emmy Schools Oscar: 5 More Tips to Make the Academy Awards Less Eternal

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Kevin Walsh

A film’s producer was asked about his DP—or “director of photography”—or “cinematographer” in case he’s nominated for anything. “He should be great,” he laughed. “But this is his first non-television gig. He might be too efficient!”

Sunday’s Emmy Awards was a perfect example of the terrible crime of being too efficient. The Oscars are notoriously always late–– a tiresome joke that probably began with “Wings” in 1929. Last February I discussed kicking Oscar out of the bingo hall (link).  Not sure if anyone at ABC read it, but perhaps they noticed the show from the Fox producers of the Emmy Awards–Oscar’s “little brother on the little screen”–that now produces more quality filmmaking then any 10 hour epic created by Peter Jackson.

The big winner was once again HBO.  “Olive Kitteridge,” “Veep” and “Game of … Read More… →

2015 Tonys: Don’t Sell Your TV Audience Short

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Daniel Marcus

Welcome to our newest contributor, veteran Broadway performer, Daniel Marcus!

LDavid

First…Anybody else notice that the schtick that Larry David obviously wrote for himself was the only genuinely clever, smart, slightly daring and actually (I laughed) funny material of the night?

For me the high point was easily “Ring of Keys” – the low point-maybe cutting off the applause for “Ring of Keys” to do an E.T. gag that was there to patronize a tv audience who let’s face it-know what they’re turning on. The Tonys are always (and always have been) the lowest rated of the big 5 tv award … Read More… →

New Podcast on 2015 Oscars: Our Experts on Birdman, NPH & Hanging Lightbulbs

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Kevin Walsh

Following a contest on MyMediaDiary.com, the top three winners guessing the 24 categories from the 2015 Academy Awards, Collin Ward, Melissa Balan and Steve Palizzi, were invited by hosts Kevin Walsh and Kale Davidoff to discuss the following:

  • Best and Worst of the Show
  • Bad Clips Shown for Good Actors
  • Underwhelming Films
  • New Categories such as:Neil Patrick Harris and the Hosting Curse–Too Naughty/Too Nice
    • Best Picture–5 Years from Now
    • Best Trailer
    • Best Stuntwork
    • Best Voice-Over Work
  • Recommended Changes
  • The Academy Voters Country Club/US Senate
  • Snubs
  • Joan Rivers
  • Popularity of Hanging Lightbulbs
  • Birdman and Hollywood’s Love Affair with Itself

In the podcast, Melissa … Read More… →

Kicking Oscar Out of the Bingo Hall: Creating February Madness for the Academy Awards

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Kevin Walsh

I knew last night seemed familiar as the Academy Awards dripped by.  I was once again trapped in the living room of my grandmother’s 1974 Florida mobile home.  The room was stuffy; there was nowhere to go, even shuffleboard or laps on the awesome giant tricycles were forbidden to all under 65–and the pond had gators, reportedly.

Last night I watched my 40th consecutive Oscars.  It began when I was in fifth grade with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sweeping the major awards.  With the advent of cable TV’s 400 more channels, Twitter-feeds and on-demand viewing a lot has changed.  Except for the Oscars.

Stuck in Lawrence Welk-Land

It still starts at 8:30 pm, still runs past midnight due to the the Death Valley of songs, oddball tributes and eternal commercials somewhere half-past “It’s-gotta-be-over-soon” o’clock.  There is still the same generally awkward monologue/opening … Read More… →

Pick the Oscar Winners and Become the Next MMD Podcaster!

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Kevin Walsh

GuySmiley_RedCarpet

Predict how tonight’s ceremonies will go! Will it be a laugh-riot or a slow-motion train wreck? At least this year, there’s less certainty of the 1-2 front-runners.  But with John Travolta’s famous mispronunciation last year along with Kim Novak’s awkward moment, there’s always more to watch than the happy and pretending-to-be-happy faces of the nominees.

The winner (or winners) will be invited to join us on our post-op podcast this week!
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For some other Oscar-related posts…

“God, I Love My Job!” Welcoming Mistakes and Exploding Stuff – The Life of Sound FX Guru–Ric Viers

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Kevin Walsh
Listen to Kevin’s podcast with Ric Viers…[powerpress url= “http://traffic.libsyn.com/mymediadiary/MMD_SoundFX_Expert_RicViers_Dec22_2014.mp3″ length=”14313591″ type=”audio/mpeg”]

 

Perhaps it’s osmosis, but Ric Viers has noticed that his son seems to have his dad’s ear.  In the middle of The Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies, there is a Foley mistake–a sword that didn’t clash to the ground.  “And I saw it and I just kind of smiled, but before I could even say anything, my kid leans over and says, ‘Dad, they forgot one of the sound effects.’”

After years of on-the-job training, sound effects expert Viers has learned valuable lessons for not just audio but life, not the least includes keeping ones car keys in the refrigerator.

Owner of the world’s largest collection of sound-effects, The Detroit Chop Shop, Ric Viers was a guest speaker in November … Read More… →

New Podcast – Life Lessons & Sound FX with Ric Viers

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Kevin Walsh

 

 

Veteran film and TV sound expert Ric Viers, author of The Sound Effects Bible and The Location Sound Bible, joins Kevin Walsh following a workshop Ric gave to Michigan high school students on his 10 Location Sound Commandments, which offer important life-skills as well.

They discuss:

  • Soft Skills and Reputation-how the most skilled person on the set may not be the one who stays on the set.
  • How Does One Begin as a Sound Guy?
  • Fatherhood and the osmosis of sound-awareness
  • Gathering sound-effects (and where to leave your keys)
  • Publishing a book (after finding a niche)
  • The “Oh Crap” Kit

Check out Ric’s page on Amazon as well as his own website, Read More… →

“If a Tweet Falls in the Forest…” Life without Applause-Signs, Laugh-Tracks & Likes

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Kevin Walsh

It’s often not so much what happens in our lives—as what we figure ought to happen.  If no one likes this post, did it fail?

I started noticing  camera-angles and how they manipulated the audience far too early in my life–especially for the poor bystanders who were stuck in a living room, basement or movie theater with me.

The Cosby Show, for all of its garish sweaters and too-good-to-be-true charm of a doctor/lawyer upper-middle class family, was a breakthrough on many levels—it revitalized the sit-com and finally placed a TV African-American family out of the ghetto—if you bypass George Jefferson moving on up.

But what I noticed immediately, from my hero of a dozen scratched LP comedy albums, was the cutaway to Clair—Cliff Huxtable’s long-suffering wife who managed … Read More… →

Propaganda, Potholes and Pensions: Political Ads & Business Clichés During Election (Hunting) Season

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Kevin Walsh

It wasn’t supposed to be this close of a race in Michigan. To get Rick Snyder re-elected governor may take more checks from United Citizens like the Koch brothers to create more subtle ads like the following…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnPG2iW3cqU]

This cringe-worthy moment was a response to Mark Schauer’s surprising “too-close-to-call” campaign—perhaps riding on the bumpy road of last winter’s potholes and angry pensioners whose fixed incomes become less-fixed with Snyder’s new tax on their retirement.

Even GOP legislators weren’t happy with this tax…

Republican Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, who introduced the repeal bill on March 20, said he did so in response to constituents in his district who have called his office or approached him in coffee shops to complain about the pension tax as they prepare their returns.

… Read More… →

“Who is the Tall Dark Stranger There?” James Garner, My First Man-Crush

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Kevin Walsh

“I’m getting a little jealous of James Garner,” my wife informed me as I headed down the basement with my burned DVDs.  I was in the middle of  a bit of binge-watching a few months before Netflix appeared on our horizon.  It involved setting our DVR for a series of old Maverick episodes on the Starz Western channel.

I’d finally figured out how to burn a bushel of the episodes to a DVD and was taking them downstairs to put by the dusty exercise equipment to induce me to get hooked on a show and lose pounds at the same time.

I knew the  Maverick theme song years before I finally saw one of the old episodes…

Who is the tall, dark stranger there? 
Maverick is the name. 
Read More… →

Yucking Up “The Walking Dead” to a Few More Emmys: Comic Tips from Three Great Dramas–“Justified,” “The Wire,” and “Breaking Bad”

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Kevin Walsh

Granted it’s a zombie apocalypse; granted it’s exhausting peeking around every corner; granted Atlanta in the summer without air-conditioning is brutal.  But come on, let’s have a little levity.

There’s a fine line between tragedy and comedy.  Shakespeare knew this as he preceded the haunted and soon to be hysterical Hamlet in the graveyard with a pun-contest with a local gravedigger.  Even Mercutio, after he was stabbed, found time to squeeze out a groaner:  “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”

And what works for the Bard, certainly bears true for three of my favorite dramas.

Justified (FX)

In Justified, Timothy Oliphant is sentenced to his home town of Kentucky after going all Dirty Harry in the opening scene of the opening episode.  … Read More… →

There Be Dragons in Minnesota: A Late Review of the Series “Fargo”

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Robert Phillips

unnamed-1

The season finale of Fargo aired last night, and what better time to review it than when it’s off network television? Of course, you may find it on Hulu, on Amazon Prime, or any of the other online venues.  And you should. For the past ten weeks, it was one of the two best shows on television with dragons.  OK, no dragons really.  No vampires…no ghost hunters and no real housewives of Bimidji, Mn. (where the show takes place). Every episode begins with the caption “This is a True Story,” which it is not. Yet despite all these outward … Read More… →

Unintentional Vanity Plate: Revenge of the DMV Gods on a New Ass-Man

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Kevin Walsh

I’ve always chuckled at people who order vanity plates, but secretly wanted one since I watched an episode of “Dallas” and saw JR pull up in in his Mercedes proclaiming to the world that “EWING 3” had arrived.

JR

But like the cell phone and personalized M&Ms, vanity plates no longer require great wealth or vast oil-connections in the Texas legislature.  States realized the extra windfall and for $10 more, even without a genie, you too can be Larry Hagman.

But I was always too cheap, too lazy to think far enough ahead or, I suspect to be the main reason, too self-conscious.  I didn’t have the nerve of one Dr. Kosmo Kramer…

But the … Read More… →

Fracking, Rat-Packing & Heart-Attacking: Opening Pandora’s Box of Ads

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Kevin Walsh

It is better to give than receive–particularly homework.  But for one weekend my high school students didn’t mind, at first, being asked to watch the Super Bowl and its commercials.

The quickly frowning class soon realized it would have to count the number of edits, how a narrator was used, the use of graphics, music, celebrities, etc.  But my favorite column read, “Intended Audience.”  I started the assignment back when the agencies realized they could had grab the same audience that didn’t get a sandwich during a timeout for the first Macintosh ad in 1984–and the Bud Bowl began.

Generally, a football game will not be the correct forum for Mop & Glow, pet food or feminine hygiene.  (Someone on Madison Avenue once gave birth to the strange descendant of … Read More… →

Hollywood’s Spring Training – Saturday’s 46th Michigan Student Film Festival (Great Seats Still Available–and They’re Free!)

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Kevin Walsh

Two events, besides roller coasters,  when people don’t mind long lines:  movies and sporting events.  People will drive 24 hours through the night to get a glimpse…

Pitchers

Spring training.  Your team’s undefeated…

SpringTraining1

There’s sunshine, plenty of seats available, a great overall vibe…

Autograph

And it’s the only time you can get close enough to some celebrities–some even … Read More… →

New Podcast: The Hoops & Hype of March Madness

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Kevin Walsh

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[powerpress url=”<enclosure url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/mymediadiary/MMD_HoopsHype_March25_2014.mp3″ length=”19185142″ type=”audio/mpeg” ></enclosure>” /]

Contributing writer, Kale Davidoff, joins Kevin Walsh and media professionals Aaron Lebovic and Matt Moss to analyze the opening weekend of March Madness.

Topics include:

– Why is this event so special?

– What non-basketball part of the event do you like/dislike most?

– Review of brackets busted and intact

– Best/Worst of CBS coverage

– What changes would you make to either the tournament itself or its programming?

New Podcast: The Oscar Post-Op Show Starring Kim Novak, John Travolta and at Least One Mispronounced Celebrity

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Kevin Walsh

Kevin Walsh is joined by Sheri Horwitz, Aaron Lebovic and Collin Ward as they dissect the  2014 Oscars, including…

  • Our Panel’s Prediction-Accuracy (and those pesky costume awards),
  • Cringeworthy Moments:  Kim Novak’s Vertigo, Travolta’s stumblings, etc.,
  • The Big Surprises:  Shutout for Hustle,
  • What Should Be Cut:  Montages of Heroes, what?
  • Ellen:  Too-low key and casual–or just right?

In Flipper’s Footsteps by Brian d’Arcy James

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Laura Kelly

From time to time, I help my cousin Brian d’Arcy James keep his website updated, and this recent post he wrote struck me as a perfect nostalgia article for “My Media Diary,” and for all those who grew up with 1960s TV (or its reruns).  So am sharing it with this blog’s audience.

—Laura

Brian Kelly-Prince of MiamiW. C. Fields is famously credited with this warning to all:  “Never work with children or animals.”

My Uncle Brian was more specific: “Never act with a fish.”

Let me explain. My namesake and my uncle, Brian Kelly, was an actor. He was a big reason why I do what I do … Read More… →