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John's Blog

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day....Teach him to use the internet and he won't bother you for weeks!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Drives Me Crazy



Every time this stupid ad for the Mohegan Sun Casino comes on TV it drives me insane, although be advised that's not a very long trip. It disturbs me on so many levels.

Seeing people just break into song and dance bugs me, since that seldom happens in real life. Sure, one of the guys at work breaks into "show tunes" all the time, but that's an entirely different thing. (And don't even talk to me about "Mamma Mia!" since I've been working to get those ABBA songs out of my head for years, and I'm not going to reverse that progress willingly!)

Using a cheesy Toto song and giving it new lyrics isn't in itself a problem. But hearing Toto reminds me that I've made many questionable choices in the past, since at one time I really thought the band was pretty good. The fact that they sold a ton of albums indicates that plenty of others made the same choice, but so little of it holds up well today. Fairly or not, I rarely find myself nostalgic for much of the pop music of that era.

What really bugs me the worst is seeing the main character sing the line "At the Sun". Fans of "The Wire" will remember him as playing the managing editor "at The Sun" in season five. I'm sure that had to have been a factor in the casting decision, but whatever cuteness they thought this brought to the commercial is lost on me. But after seeing a commercial for the remake of "90210" where I saw that Tristan Wilds (Michael from "The Wire") is in the cast did it become apparent to me why this bugged me so much.

The plot-lines, cast, and storytelling style in "The Wire" were unique and more original than most other TV series. With a few notable exceptions, most cast members were largely unknowns, so when you buy into the show you identify the actors with their characters much more than with other shows requiring less of a commitment. Seeing the actors playing other parts kinda' ruins the illusion; you know it's just a TV show but it felt far more real, honest and intimate than the other TV fare that's out there. It would be far more convenient for me if the actors just avoided taking other parts. I hear good things about regional theatre.
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|| JM, 8:52 AM

2 Comments:

My sister who does makeup for tv in the DC ran into 2 cast member of the wire. We are both HUGE fans of that show. Jamie Hector who played Marlo and Isiah Whitlock who play Clay Davis. She told them she was a big fan and missed the show. They told her to write letters and get it back on. I guess these previously unknowns need some work.
Blogger Mary, at 9:40 AM  
The only correct response to that is "No Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit!" I could easily see them spinning off Clay Davis into a sitcom. There actually WAS talk of doing a Carcetti spin off, but the disappointing ratings killed off that idea. I'm surprised to find that Jamie Hector was doing TV, since I thought he was some sort of kids' counselor.

But I didn't mean to imply that these actors shouldn't work just for my selfish convenience. I'd love to see more of them; till then I'll just wait for the release of the Season 5 DVD.
Blogger JM, at 10:31 AM  

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