very nice site about celebrities

35
Compare Online Movie and TV Streaming Servi Traditional cable television used to be the only means of watching modern day network front of your TV every week at a certain time, lest you miss the show you’ve been dying t Digital Video Recorder (DVR) systems were created to assist you in that, but it still mean fees for renting and installing new equipment. All of that’s changed, however, with the introduction of more modern means of getting y you can stream your favorite television shows with the aid of online streaming services, cable networks, all at affordable pricing. With dozen of options to choose from, you can and not be limited to one set of cable packages. Netflix – $9.99/month Netflix – $9.99/month CROWD BEACON FUN STUFF FROM AROUND THE WEB!

Upload: kulanmi

Post on 03-Mar-2015

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Very nice site about celebrities

Compare Online Movie and TV Streaming ServicesTraditional cable television used to be the only means of watching modern day network programming. It meant being stuck infront of your TV every week at a certain time, lest you miss the show you’ve been dying to see. Couldn’t be there at that time?Digital Video Recorder (DVR) systems were created to assist you in that, but it still meant expensive cable bills, and additionalfees for renting and installing new equipment.

All of that’s changed, however, with the introduction of more modern means of getting your television entertainment fix. Nowyou can stream your favorite television shows with the aid of online streaming services, equipped with a wonderful array ofcable networks, all at affordable pricing. With dozen of options to choose from, you can customize your television experienceand not be limited to one set of cable packages.

Netflix – $9.99/monthNetflix – $9.99/month

CROWD BEACONFUN STUFF FROM AROUND THE WEB!

Page 2: Very nice site about celebrities

When there was nothing to choose from but modern cable providers, Netflix was the beginning of the streaming industry. Thecompany serves as the standard to which many customers hold other streaming services, ultimately creating a morecustomer-friendly experience in general. Netflix makes use of an easy to operate interface that hosts thousands of titles,from Hollywood movies, to network cable television shows, to original programming created by Netflix with its customers inmind. Orange is the New Black and House of Cards are both popular Netflix originals that are available for online streaming,and those are just the beginning.

Netflix also makes use of commercial free streaming so that you’re free to binge watch as many episodes in one sitting asyou can, without having to sit through another cat-food commercial. Commercial-free streaming has always been a standardfeature with Netflix, and has consequently been praised highly by customers and critics alike.

Hulu – $7.99/monthHulu – $7.99/month

Page 3: Very nice site about celebrities

Hulu and Hulu Plus are both online streaming services that offer customers access to the newest, currently running televisionshows on cable networks. Unlike Netflix and Amazon (both of which have their pick of shows but typically only those nolonger running), Hulu has access to current television favorites. That means catching up on your favorite shows, without thehefty cable bill.

In addition to producing its own original content, with shows like Difficult People, Hulu is also responsible for re-broadcastingand continuing otherwise discontinued television shows, like Fox’s the Mindy Project.

While Hulu is an ad-run streaming service (meaning commercials in between and during the length of videos), they’verecently offered a new option that provides ad and commercial free content. This service costs customers a little more at 12bucks a month, but it’s still reasonably priced.

Amazon Prime Instant Video – $8.99/monthAmazon Prime Instant Video – $8.99/month

Page 4: Very nice site about celebrities

Amazon is best known for being an online shopping market, but it does more than get you the best deals on items you love.Amazon Prime Instant Video is the streaming service Amazon provides, offering thousands of titles in both movies and cabletelevision shows. The service offers additional benefits to customers who already use Amazon as their primary source ofonline shopping or who already use Amazon Prime as a service. Customers who subscribe to Amazon Prime have access tofree 2-day shipping of online purchases, Amazon Music and a host of HBO premium content, including shows like The Wireand fan-favorite, The Sopranos.

As Amazon works together alongside Viacom, Instant Video also grants customers access to an extensive array of children’sprogramming, as well as comedy specials, making Amazon Prime Instant Video a family favorite streaming service.

One of the major drawbacks to Amazon Prime Instant Video, however, would be its lack of a monthly subscription for the fullfeatures presented in Amazon Prime Instant Video. While other streaming services offer content for a monthly price, Amazonasks for a yearly subscription of about 100 bucks (a little over 8 bucks a month). Still, despite this monetary demand,Amazon’s streaming service fits well within the usual streaming service pricing.

Page 5: Very nice site about celebrities

Sling.TV – $20/monthSling.TV – $20/month

Cable television has come a long way in the modern day, but it packs a heavy punch financially. Still, there are plenty oftelevision shows available that you want to watch and so you fork over the 100 bucks a month for cable. You just wish youhad fewer channels to pick from. Sling TV knows exactly what you want, and offers it to customers with plans starting at just20 bucks a month.

Sling TV offers a pretty similar but alternative solution to your cable television woes, and at a fraction of the price. Basing itsmodel on that of the tradition cable company, Sling TV offers you everything you love about cable, without the hassle. Onpaper, Sling TV is a streaming company that promises no hidden fees and easy online cancellation, should you want. But withchannels like ESPN and CNN, channels that would otherwise be unavailable without cable box or satellite dish, chances arethat once you get Sling TV, you’ll want to keep it.

Of course, at 20 dollars a month, Sling TV is the upper end of the streaming services, and the most expensive of the highest

Page 6: Very nice site about celebrities

rated. Moreover, Sling TV is aimed less at larger families, and more at the single unit, as it doesn’t offer multiple devices touse the same service.

HBO Now – $14.99/monthHBO Now – $14.99/month

The first premium cable channel to market itself to the streaming community was HBO, presenting HBO Now as itscompetitive streaming service. Predecessor to HBO Go, the second interpretation of the service markets itself to those withand without cable service, unlike HBO Go before it. Totally separated from the cable service, HBO Now is truly a streamingservice worth considering.

Perhaps the most marketable aspect of HBO Now is that it allows subscribers complete and unlimited access to everythingHBO, including anything and everything that ever premiered on the cable network channel, and everything contained withinHBO Go’s digital library. That means shows like Veep, Game of Thrones and True Detective are all available for your viewingentertainment. Additionally, HBO Now offers same-day streaming of shows that aired on the cable network.

Page 7: Very nice site about celebrities

Unfortunately, the blessing is also its curse. HBO Now only provides streaming of HBO related products. For customersseeking a more well-rounded streaming service and with a larger pool of titles available for streaming, HBO is not the rightchoice for you. However, for those customers seeking access to premium channel content without premium channel cableprices, HBO Now is a wonderful complementary alternative to traditional cable premium channel bundles.

YouTube Red – $9.99/monthYouTube Red – $9.99/month

Not wanting to be left out of the video streaming industry, YouTube decided to up its services, creating YouTube Red in theprocess. Unlike its parent service, YouTube Red is a monetized streaming service that offers its subscribers access to all ofYouTube’s video collection commercial-free. To make itself more appealing, YouTube Red has partnered with major cablenetworks and YouTube celebrities in order to bring customers original content exclusive to YouTube Red.

Some of the benefits of switching to YouTube Red is offline access to videos, meaning that even without an internetconnection, you’ll never be without your favorite videos again. On the other hand, much of the YouTube community hadpushed back against this new feature, as it’s paying for a service that’s always been free. Still, it’s worth noting that YouTube

Page 8: Very nice site about celebrities

Red will be producing all new original content with the support of its YouTube contributors, including PewDiePie, The FineBrothers and Giz Modo.

CreedDirected by Ryan Coogler, Creed is a sports drama that stars Sylvester Stallone, who is also one of theproducers of the film. The movie shows Stallone as Rocky Balboa and was released on November 25,2015, in the United States.

Silvester Stallone as ‘Rocky’ trainning Apollo Creed’s son ‘Adonis’

The movie is part of the Rocky universe, but is not exactly a sequel to the Rocky line up. It follows thelife of Adonis “Donnie” Johnson, the son of the heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed. Donnie never reallyknew his father since Apollo died before he was born. Donnie has had a rough past and has done time injuvenile homes. He has come out of that life and is now working at a securities company. However, hisreal passion lies in boxing and he can do anything to make that dream come true. In this pursuit, he

§

Page 9: Very nice site about celebrities

tracks down Rocky, the world champion, to train him to become a professional boxer. His rivalry withApollo Creed in the boxing ring had given way to a friendship. Now, he is running an Italian restaurant inPhiladelphia that he has named after his wife, Adrian. The story is about how a young man who hasalways struggled in life and an old champion come together in the pursuit of greatness. They both needeach other. Donnie is in search of a father figure, who could be his mentor, something that he never hadin his life. Rocky too needs somebody to carry on his legacy. They come together because of their lovefor boxing and turn into a family.

Tessa Thompson plays ‘Bianca’

The character of Donnie played by Michael B. Jordon is impressive. He respects his lineage, but does notwant to use that to make a name for himself. The actor has delivered a great performance in the movie.He knew he had a tall order to match and he has proved his mettle. Tessa Thompson has portrayed therole of Bianca, who is Donnie’s love interest. Sylvester Stallone plays his iconic character Rocky in themovie. He was a great actor in his times, but his recent action movie releases have loweredexpectations from him as an actor. However, he has managed to capture the audiences with his stellarperformance in Creed.

Page 10: Very nice site about celebrities

Michael B Jordan stars in ‘Creed’

The movie has good fight scenes, but it does not completely rely on them to leave a mark. In fact, themovie is not as much about the fights as it is about the two main characters. It is the relationshipbetween Donnie and Rocky that gives this movie its intense emotional quotient. The movie is real. Thedirector, Ryan Coogler, has successfully created a great movie and brought the characters and even thecity of Philadelphia alive.

Page 11: Very nice site about celebrities

‘Creed’ is a sequel of the ‘Rocky’ series

Creed is certainly not a fast paced action drama. It is a fantastic character movie. It is a touchingportrayal of a man finding his identity. The movie, like Rocky, is about hope, determination, hard work,and perseverance. Creed has successfully captured the emotions like the very first Rocky movie did allthose many years ago, and it is a must watch. You can find other great entertainment options

Is the Cord-Cutting Movement Killing Traditional TV?

Over the past few years, the on-demand industry has been gaining momentum. With Netflix, Hulu, and new services poppingup every day, it seems like traditional TV is becoming a thing of the past. But is it? It’s true the majority of Americans say theywant to cut the cord and go to digital, on-demand streaming, but only 22% of them actually have. What’s holding them backfrom making the switch?

Despite the affordability and versatility of on-demand services, they simply don’t have the selection and variety thattraditional TV does. With cable or satellite, there are hundreds of channels always on, 24/7. With on-demand television, thepickings are slim for two reasons. First, they have to keep their cost down in order to compete, and getting networks to letNetflix and other services play their shows is expensive. Second, most networks want to stay exclusive to traditional TV, or(in the case of HBO) they plan to take their own path by creating their own subscription service.

If you can get past the selection of on-demand services, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of low-cost monthly fees, nolong-term contracts, and the convenience of instant-streaming, but most people realize that the majority of shows they enjoyare only available on traditional TV, at least for the time being.

So what choice do consumers have? Surveys found that apparently TV-lovers are choosing to keep traditional TV subscribe to on-demand services. While Netflix has nearly sixty-million customers, traditional TV still holds over 80% of the

§

Page 12: Very nice site about celebrities

American market, which leads us to an obvious answer: the approach of traditional TV and on-demand services need to be

combined. And luckily, many companies have realized this, too.

A lot of traditional TV providers have begun offering their own on-demand services, like Dish. Dish customers can watchtraditional TV whenever they want, but if they feel like switching over to a recorded show, they can easily start watching Dishon-demand. Dish’s service has thousands of shows and movies recorded and available at the click of a button, and someother TV providers are taking the hint and beginning to offer similar services.

Traditional TV providers may just be catching on within the last couple of years, but combining on-demand and traditional TVis proving to be extremely successful. Before, many households had to choose between keeping cable/satellite or switchingto on-demand, now with many traditional TV providers offering on-demand (usually for no extra cost), they don’t have tochoose. Combining the two services gives households everything they need. Traditional TV gives the ability to always findsomething to watch and discover new shows, and on-demand enables people to turn on their favorite movies and watch re-runs when it fits their schedule.

Page 13: Very nice site about celebrities

But, there’s one thing that combined services can’t compete with: the price of Netflix and Hulu. These services have done agreat job advertising their services for just $10/month. The idea of unlimited, instant streaming for all of your “favorite”shows and movies is very intriguing, and any frugal shopper would obviously be interested in the opportunity, but thedecrease in price also comes at the cost of variety.

Many families who have chosen to drop traditional TV and pick up an on-demand service have later chosen to rejoin theircable or satellite company. The selection of on-demand simply can’t compare, and with traditional providers offering theirown version of on-demand, they are truly leaving nothing to be desired.

And there’s another thing on-demand doesn’t have: live TV. Netflix, Hulu and similar services are perfect for watching classicmovies and older shows, but they don’t have any options for live TV. Sports and news networks are hard to watch without atraditional TV subscription, this fact alone has caused many consumers to stay with their cable or satellite provider. But, anew competitor has recently sprung up with the hopes of filling the gap: Sling TV. Sling TV brings the idea of channels andon-demand together to give you an affordable, cable-free alternative.

Sling TV has only a small selection of channels, as it’s a fairly new service, but the idea already has many consumersinterested. The cost is low, and they offer live TV. In addition to the few basic channels that come with the starter package,Sling TV also has add-on packages to fit the needs of families, movie-lovers, and sports fans.

While Sling TV might turn into something big in the future, for the time being, it faces the same problem as other streamingservices: little selection. Variety, convenience, and the fact that many traditional TV providers are jumping on board to on-demand streaming are what’s keeping consumers where they have been decades, and where they will likely stay for manyyears to come.

Page 15: Very nice site about celebrities

On June 19, 2010 FX began airing the TV series Louie. This comedy/drama which takes place in New York City revolvesaround the comedian Louis C.K. as a fictional version of himself; recently divorced and taking care of his two girls Lilly,played by Hadley Delany, and Jane, who is played by Ursula Parker. This series does not show a recurrent plot connectingeach show together or a stable cast seen in each, but rather goes with a couple of story lines for each episode and frequentlyshows characters throughout the 4 seasons it contians by this point. In most episodes there are snips of his standup comedybits. (The 5th season with 8 episodes to be shared began airing in April 2015.) Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, SarahSilverman and Chris Rock have been shown in many episodes playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

Standup comedian Louis C.K. brought a very loose idea of Louie to the FX network who accepted the idea giving C.K. fullcreative control. He wanted to have that control and be able to “just go with it”, which other larger networks weren’t so givingon. His budget with FX was $200,000 for the pilot and with the sum, Louis was able to cover the cost of production as well ashis costs. The first episode was awarded $250,000 for all costs. The second season’s budget was then increased to

Page 16: Very nice site about celebrities

$300,000. Amazingly, at the time C.K. was the sole writer and director of his show, editing many of the episodes on hisMacBook Pro. Dave Beck serves as the show’s executive producerwith Pamela Adlon at his side as consulting producer. In 2012 hemade the announcement that he would be handing off some ofthe editing duties to Woody Allen and his colleague Susan E.Morse. This began with the 3rd season.

Louie has been on various critics’ top ten lists of TV showsreceiving great reviews. In addition to the reviews, Louis C.K. has received several Primetime Emmy Award nominations forhis acting, writing and directing. During the 64th and 66th Primetime Emmy Awards he won for Outstanding Writing fora Comedy Series.

This TV show’s viewers have given superb reports on Rotten Tomatoes. An excellent 97% has been given for the 5th seasonas well as an average rating of 8.3 out of 10. The critics’ consensus: “A renewed focus on the show’s singular blend ofsincerity and hilarity keep Louie at the top of its game.” Most reviews claim the show to be valuable entertainment that issure to be comedic and amusing. It is commonly called witty and smart. While some critics argue that the acting isn’t thatgood others dislike the part of the show which involves Louie’s stand-up routine. Many reviews mention that the showis overall crude, offensive, and for an adult audience only, but they still think well of the Louie. There are a select few whodon’t find it funny at all, but overwhelmingly the response has been positive. Find great online entertainment opportunitiesat http://internet.realitytvcalendar.com/att-uverse-internet-plans.html.

Page 17: Very nice site about celebrities

Things You didn’t Know About ‘Vikings’

§

Page 18: Very nice site about celebrities

Vikings is an Irish-Canadian historical drama television series written and created by Michael Hirst for the television channelHistory (originally The History Channel). The show originally premiered in early March of 2013 in the United States andCanada. Filmed in Ireland, the show is an Ireland-Canada co-production.

The series is inspired by the legendary sagas of Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known mythological Norse heroes and

notorious as the scourge of England and France. Much of the story’s content comes from the 13saga Loðbrókar and Ragnarssona þáttr. Additionally, Saxo Grammaticus’s 12th century work Gesta Danorum lends content tothe overall story of the television series.

Vikings portrays Ragnar as a farmer who rises to fame by successfully raiding England, eventually becoming the King ofDenmark. His success comes from the air of his family, including his brother Rollo (played by Clive Standen), his son Bjorn(played by Alexander Ludwig), and his wives the shield maiden Lagertha (played by Katheryn Winnick) and the princessAslaug (played by Alyssa Sutherland).

In April of 2013, History renewed Vikings for a second, ten-episode season that premiered in February of 2014 to positive

Page 19: Very nice site about celebrities

critical reviews. In March of that same year, History renewed the television show for a third season, also ten episodes in

length, which premiered in early February of this year. A month later, in March, History renewed the series for a fourth season,likely to air early next year, if not late this year.

The show was developed and produced by Octagon Films and Take 5 Productions, a merging of Irish and Canadian filming.Michael Hirst, Morgan O’Sullivan, John Weber, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn and Sheila Hockin are the show’sexecutive producers.

The first episode garnered generally favorable critical reviews, with an average score of 70% according to Metacritic. AlanSepinwall of HitFix praised the series’ casting, notably of Fimmel as Ragnar, and observed that Vikings “isn’t complicated. Itrelies on the inherent appeal of the era and these characters to drive the story.”

Nancy DeWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal appreciated that Vikings wasn’t a celebration of gratuitous sex and needlessviolence but more “a study of character, stamina, power and of social, emotional and even intellectual awakening.”

Page 20: Very nice site about celebrities

The television series is careful to remain true to its source materials, and doesn’t rely heavily on overly action-packed scenessell their story. Instead, Vikings focuses on superb acting and commanding delivery of lines to continuously bring back theiraudiences for another week. Unlike other shows, which may depict the Viking people as raw, bloodthirsty savages, Vikingsdelivers them as people from a different time and nothing more, each with their own personal struggles and deliberations,each with their own wants and needs to be fulfilled and accomplished. It doesn’t make fun of the people the story focusesaround, but unravels their mysteries and lets their audiences come to their own conclusions without spoon-feeding themanswers or assessments.

New episodes of Vikings premiere on Thursdays at 9 pm Central on History. Click right here to entertainment opportunities.

§

Page 21: Very nice site about celebrities

4 Interesting Trivia Facts about Gone Girl

Gone Girl may just be one of the biggest hits of the 2014 film season. The film, which stars Ben Affleck as a man accused ofkilling his wife after she goes missing, is based on a bestselling novel of the same name. The film has not only receivedpositive press from the critics and positive reviews from regular viewers, but critical acclaim as well; it was nominated forboth Golden Globes and Academy Awards. But how much do you really know about this hit murder mystery thriller? Let’s lookat 4 interesting trivia facts about the film.

Fincher became interested in Affleck due to his smile

Director David Fincher was in the process of looking for actors who might be right for the role of Nick in the film. Whilelooking through pictures of actors online, Fincher came across some photographs of a smiling Ben Affleck. According toFincher, he felt that one of Affleck’s signature smiles captured the right “emotion” and “look” he felt Nick would have inseveral prominent scenes in the film. Affleck was later approached about taking on the role.

Page 22: Very nice site about celebrities

Affleck and Pike weren’t the only options for the lead roles

Although Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike were ultimately cast as the lead roles in the film, they weren’t necessarily the onlychoices on deck. At one point, Brad Pitt was up for the role of Nick, while Jessica Chastain was being considered for the roleof Amy.

The film could have been much longer

The film is already fairly long, even for a thriller—it clocks in at almost 2 and a half hours. However, earlier versions of thefilm’s screenplay were even longer. One particularly early screenplay was about 3 hours long. One of the reasons for thelength may have been that the screenplay contained more material from the book, such as more backstory for Amy, who inthe book is revealed to have been manipulative and potentially dangerous from a much younger age than the film implies.

Rosamund Pike had to quickly lose and gain weight for the role

Due to her character’s weight gain and weight loss, Pike embarked on a goal of gaining weight to film scenes where her

Page 23: Very nice site about celebrities

character was meant to have “let go “of herself; and then went on a strict diet and exercise regimen to lose the weight for theaftermath of her character’s weight loss. Check out other options for home entertainment

Would They Ever Kill Off Fan-Favorite Daryl?

Daryl is arguably the highest rated fan-favorite character on the Walking Dead. The character, along with his brother Merle,

§

Page 24: Very nice site about celebrities

were created solely for the TV show and do not exist in the original comic books. Despite this, Daryl quickly rose to becomeone of the most popular characters on the show—some say even more popular than the primary protagonist, Rick!

One of the questions most asked of the show’s writers is this: Will Daryl ever is killed off? Their answer is usually somethingalong the lines of “no one is safe on the show!” but just how true is that statement when it comes to huge fan favorites likeDaryl? Let’s look at the arguments for and against the writers ever deciding to kill Daryl.

Yea: It could be a catalyst for a huge shift in the show’s dynamics

If Daryl were gone, another character could rise to take his place as one of the strongest fighters in the group. Tyreese, Glenn—even Carol—could step up to take Daryl’s place.

Nay: Daryl is too good of a character to let go

Page 25: Very nice site about celebrities

Daryl is not just a great fighter, he is an interesting character. He has developed relationships with Rick, Carol, Beth andothers in the group that makes for great writing. Losing Daryl would mean losing one of the show’s most compellingcharacters.

Yea: It would be the most shocking moment in Walking Dead History

If Daryl were to die, it would easily be the most shocking moment in the history of the show. More shocking than Sophia’swalker reveal, more shocking than Hershel’s death, and more shocking than Carol showing up to save the day at Terminus.Most fans believe Daryl to be immune because of his huge popularity, and his death would cause shockwaves in the show’sfan base—something the writers would naturally savor.

Nay: It could cause a huge drop off in viewers

Daryl’s death would be shocking, sure—but it could also lead many fans to give up on the show and stop watching. Daryl is afan favorite, and some fans even cite him as their sole reason for tuning in every week to watch the show. Without Daryl,those fans could decide to stop watching, causing a catalyst for viewer drop-off. The writers may not be willing to risk losingviewers, even though his death could be great TV.

Page 26: Very nice site about celebrities

Everything You Need to Know About Milo & Otis

§

Page 27: Very nice site about celebrities

received after its release for English-speaking audiences. The following is everything you need to know about the film and itsfamous dog character, Otis.

The film is controversial due to potential animal abuse allegationsThe film, while positively received by critics, is not without its controversy. The main controversy surrounding the film isrelated to animal abuse allegations due to the fact that the film was not supervised by any recognized animal welfareorganization. There are several scenes in the films that organizations, such as the RSPCA, believe could not have been filmedwithout animal abuse—including a scene where a kitten falls from a cliff and where a pug dog is fighting a bear. All attemptsto find out the truth behind these allegations have proved fruitless.

Page 28: Very nice site about celebrities

actually JapaneseThe film was written, directed and produced by a Japanese creative team and was originally conceived as a Japanese familyfilm. Due to its success in Japan, however, the decision was made to adapt the film for English speaking audiences. Inaddition to altering the language used in the film, the English-language version of the movie cuts many scenes where animalsare clearly shown in peril, likely due to the controversy surrounding animal abuse during the film’s production.

Their names weren’t always Milo and OtisIn the original Japanese version of the film, Milo is called Chatran, and Otis is called Poosky.

The filming process took four yearsThe production for this film was notoriously long and took over four years to shoot. This was in part due to the fact that thefilm required lots of animals, which in turn required additional animal training, multiple scene takes, and natural sets whichincreased the production time.

It was a box office success in Japan

Page 29: Very nice site about celebrities

The film did modestly well in its North American and European releases, but its original Japanese release was verysuccessful in theaters; the film was even more successful once it was released on home video.

The Successful Formula of American Horror Story

§

Page 30: Very nice site about celebrities

American Horror Story is one of the hottest shows ontelevision right now. Its third season boasted incredibleratings that even the show’s producers seemed surprisedby it.

The success of American Horror Story can be partlyattributed to the formula by which the show runners havedecided to present the show. A typical television who willwork with a continuing series formula. In other words,they create characters and narratives that will continuethrough season one and—if they are lucky—season two,

season three, season four and so on.

American Horror Story, on the other hand, is doing something unique. Each season is its own separate story. The narrativesand characters are not connected, even though many of the actors and actresses in the series have taken roles in all threeseasons. In other words, each season is essentially its own series, connected only through the “American Horror Story” titlein its name.

But why is this partly responsible for the show’s success? I believe that one of the keys to the show’s success is the ability tocreate tight narratives that take characters through a journey—however horrific it may be—and then end that story. There areno sequels. Their story is not continued in season 2. When the story ends, the characters and their narrative are ended aswell.

Some viewers might find this frustrating, especially if they have come to be invested in a character or story. But thisfrustration is well worth the tradeoff: because their story ends with the end of the season, there is no potential for theircharacters or story to become watered down, written into oblivion or otherwise damaged by writers who must keep searchingand searching for ways to keep their characters on screen.

This particular phenomenon is especially noticeably in shows that have run on season after season after season. In theseshows, a character in season 1 might be unrecognizable by season 8 due to what the writers have decided to put thecharacter through. Although this is not always a bad thing, more often than not writers feel compelled to continue a

Page 31: Very nice site about celebrities

character’s story through any means necessary due to network pressure to keep a popular or hit series going.

thankfully, its characters are allowed to go into retirement.

Page 32: Very nice site about celebrities

24 = Relentless Television

§

Page 33: Very nice site about celebrities

There has never been a more pulse-pounding, relentless program to evergrace the small screen than 24. With its eight seasons and single two hourTV film, 24 is the pinnacle of white knuckle entertainment. I watched itfrom the very beginning, being intrigued by the concept of a show thattracked an entire twenty four hour day into one season, with each episodeconsisting of one of these hours. This is an espionage thriller but it ain’tyour grandfather’s.

Everything happens in real time. And in case you forget this fact, 24 has acountdown timer pop up every so often, especially at the front and back ofhis episode, to further add to the tension and “ticking clock” narrativedevice. 07:56:03 for example will hang in front of the screen, all the whileticking away.

Jack Bauer, played by the Emmy wining actor Kiefer Sutherland, is the main protagonist and there isn’t a single episode whereBauer isn’t featured heavily. Sutherland owns this show and is its beating heart. He’s a dare devil, a man who gets the jobdone no matter the cost. When terrorists are threatening the world’s safety with nuclear warheads, Jack is the man to takethem down and save the day.

There are tons of great characters on this show but don’t get too comfortable seeing the on screen for long because no one,absolutely no one is safe from death, not even Jack Bauer. Not to spoil anything but Jack does in fact die on the show! Andhe comes back from the dead of course because his level of badassery is just that high. He’s the most wound up, hardcoresuper spy that every lived. He would torture his own mother if that is what it takes to finish the job.

Could he take down James Bond? I think so. Bauer would fake a stomach cramp, pull out a paper clip and shank the Britishfop to death. How about Jason Bourne? Sure, Jack could snap his neck like a chicken’s. It’s really no contest. Jack Bauerreigns supreme and watching him no his thing week after week is unbelievably exciting.

It gets so you can’t wait to tune until the next episode, like it’s painful to wait. I’m lucky in that I own every season on DVD orBD but it wasn’t like that when it was on the air. You had to suffer a week to see what would happen.

Page 34: Very nice site about celebrities

Every episode leaves off at a cliffhanger. One good thing, though, is that after a few seasons they decided that 24 would air anew episode every single week, never repeating and never leaving a blank week. They ran 24 straight episodes for 24 straightweeks. Thank god for small favors.