Real Home Theatre
JournalNews column
I had a lot of people give me the “Amen” from last week’s column when I lamented having over a hundred television channels, but never being able to find anything good to watch.
“Seems we had it better when there were only three or four channels to choose from,” said one person not so much older than me.
I remember those days, but I’m not so sure the programming was any better. We just weren’t so spoiled and television was still enough of a novelty and luxury that we weren’t as particular about what we watched.
I can look at most of the shows I grew up watching and see how hopelessly dated they were — and are.
There are a few exceptions. I still think “The Andy Griffith Show” is one of our entertainment industry’s finest accomplishments, a weekly show that was story-driven and that its humor arising from rich, solid characters, not snappy one-liners and put-downs as so much of the so-called situation comedies are today.
But over the weekend, I watched an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore” show with my kids, and even though it was a popular show during its day, it now seems pretty thin, the characters lacking depth and warmth. I saw a few minutes of “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” too, one of the favorite shows of my youth, and couldn’t tolerate more than a few minutes of the corny and infantile jokes.
I guess what bugs me most about the television industry today is that most programs seem to be based on some kind of formula or trend. Why have there been so many shows lately, for instance, with a family in which the father is a fat and/or dumb guy and the mother is smart and beautiful?
The technology has advanced so far to allow so much more potential than is being realized, but we can hope. What I hope for is that the cost of producing a documentary or narrative video and having it streamed into our homes on demand will go down enough to let anyone with a story to tell have a venue, just as anyone now with a computer can launch a web site on the Internet. The television producer of the future will only need a digital camera, a home computer and a group of willing and talented friends.
While it’s true that there will be a whole lot more garbage to wade through, it will also allow writers and directors to have their say without having to convince a TV executive that it will attract so many millions of viewers. It could bring a sense of artistry to the medium of television that it has never had.
But we really needn’t wait. I read a news story a few weeks ago about a guy in New York City who brings new meaning to the words “home theater.”
Every night, Ed Schmidt admits and audience into his Brooklyn apartment for a performance of “The Last Supper,” playing a variety of characters in a one-man show that presents a modern take on the New Testament, putting the Gospel story in the context of a murder mystery. He charges $25-$40 per person, including dinner of gourmet cheese appetizers, Belgian beer, home-cooked lamb stew and good wine.
That’s the kind of trend I’d like to see people pick up on, to have live theater right in your home. Or to take it a step further and create a home-invasion theater company, in which the cast comes to my house and puts on a show for me and my friends.
In a culture that values the enormity of things, we need to find ways to step back and personalize our experiences instead of relying on those who cater to the lowest common denominator.
I had a lot of people give me the “Amen” from last week’s column when I lamented having over a hundred television channels, but never being able to find anything good to watch.
“Seems we had it better when there were only three or four channels to choose from,” said one person not so much older than me.
I remember those days, but I’m not so sure the programming was any better. We just weren’t so spoiled and television was still enough of a novelty and luxury that we weren’t as particular about what we watched.
I can look at most of the shows I grew up watching and see how hopelessly dated they were — and are.
There are a few exceptions. I still think “The Andy Griffith Show” is one of our entertainment industry’s finest accomplishments, a weekly show that was story-driven and that its humor arising from rich, solid characters, not snappy one-liners and put-downs as so much of the so-called situation comedies are today.
But over the weekend, I watched an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore” show with my kids, and even though it was a popular show during its day, it now seems pretty thin, the characters lacking depth and warmth. I saw a few minutes of “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” too, one of the favorite shows of my youth, and couldn’t tolerate more than a few minutes of the corny and infantile jokes.
I guess what bugs me most about the television industry today is that most programs seem to be based on some kind of formula or trend. Why have there been so many shows lately, for instance, with a family in which the father is a fat and/or dumb guy and the mother is smart and beautiful?
The technology has advanced so far to allow so much more potential than is being realized, but we can hope. What I hope for is that the cost of producing a documentary or narrative video and having it streamed into our homes on demand will go down enough to let anyone with a story to tell have a venue, just as anyone now with a computer can launch a web site on the Internet. The television producer of the future will only need a digital camera, a home computer and a group of willing and talented friends.
While it’s true that there will be a whole lot more garbage to wade through, it will also allow writers and directors to have their say without having to convince a TV executive that it will attract so many millions of viewers. It could bring a sense of artistry to the medium of television that it has never had.
But we really needn’t wait. I read a news story a few weeks ago about a guy in New York City who brings new meaning to the words “home theater.”
Every night, Ed Schmidt admits and audience into his Brooklyn apartment for a performance of “The Last Supper,” playing a variety of characters in a one-man show that presents a modern take on the New Testament, putting the Gospel story in the context of a murder mystery. He charges $25-$40 per person, including dinner of gourmet cheese appetizers, Belgian beer, home-cooked lamb stew and good wine.
That’s the kind of trend I’d like to see people pick up on, to have live theater right in your home. Or to take it a step further and create a home-invasion theater company, in which the cast comes to my house and puts on a show for me and my friends.
In a culture that values the enormity of things, we need to find ways to step back and personalize our experiences instead of relying on those who cater to the lowest common denominator.
