RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media "Nightcourt" coming to the Silver Screen!!!

No. Not really. But it makes you think. When I was sending out letters of inquiry to various agencies, I would gripe about the lack of originality, and how Hollywood was using television shows as movies. You know, Mod Squad, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, Car 54 Where Are You, McHale's Navy, Charlie's Angels, yada, yada yada.

Let me get to the point. Hollywood is run by huge chicken shits. Probably Republicans. Scared to invest their money on something new and invigorating. Let's see what everyone else is doing, and copy it!

Go back to Jaws. Alligator came out soon after. It was the beginning of blockbuster summers. Then we can fast forward to the 90s, where special effects and big budgets were key. "We've got Dinosaurs!" Hmmm... let's try Space Ships and Aliens!

Television is the same. While theatres did the gross-out comedy thing--SOmething About Mary being the big pioneer, but it came after other Farelli Brothers flicks like Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. Television has the reality shows, then the reality contests. Now everyone wants to imitate Joe Millionaire.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Hollywood and television suck.

Seth MacFarlane is a bona fide brilliant dude. he's 26 and has already made Family Guy a cult favorite. his first cartoon appeared on Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoon, and also included a talking dog with an idiotic owner. In one of the episodes of Family Guy, television executives discuss making a reality show on the Griffins. Or maybe this was the Gumbel 2 Gumbel one. During a board meeting, one of the guys says "Why don't we try something new, original, and innovative?" The president walks over and pulls a frame advertising "Just Shoot Me" and beats the guy into submission with it.

I think there is something to learn from this.

I think you have it all wrong my friend.

The evil in Hollywood is money.

The reason these shitty TV to Movies movies keep getting made is.........


..that people (mostlty teens) flock to them, that and SNL players comidies.

For the most part the avarage teen movie goer doesn't really give a fuck what they are going to see it's more of a social occasion.

I believe people like me who enjoy surprises, and originality in movies like Memento, Fight Club, Zoolander are in the minority.

These shitty TV/Movie hybrids and SNL star films more often than not DO make money.

It's a formula they use to keep the cash flow coming in.

It's not that they are scared to back something, it's why deviate from what they already know is working for them.

My opinion on it anyhows.

Fight Club and Memento have at least built a reputation and cult following with Video and DVD release, if they weren't huge hits in the theater (although I was lucky enough to have seen Memento in the only theater in my region that was even showing it).

Word of mouth takes time, 'cause I sure as hell know more people that enjoy original and offbeat films than the shitty popular stuff. It's just the trick of finding them in time.

But Zoolander? Zoolander? That movie sucked.

Zoolander had its moments. "How can we teach people to read when they can't even fit inside the building!"

Lack of originality in Hollywood? King Solomon said it best: "There is nothing new under the sun."

I think, to some extent, Jaburg has hit the nail on the head. There always seems to be a bit of pragmatism in Hollywood films, i.e. "If it works, go for it!" It's like a cash cow - you milk it until it's dry... and then you milk it some more just to make sure. It's why the Harry Potter films were made. It's why comic properties were bought up like mad after X-Men was released. There'll be another new ship to sail in around the bend once people get tired of these things as well and Hollywood will once again switch it's focus to something else to target "demographic-X".

It's fair to say that movies geared toward teenagers sell better, because teenagers have low-income, minimum wage jobs and aren't required to pay a lot of bills, making them prime targets for merchandising and movie ploys. Why else would you cast Shane West (or even include the character of Tom Sawyer) in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Why make Ben Affleck Daredevil? Because teenage girls will go to see them and drag their friends, boyfriends, and parents along.

The same can apply with childrens movies. I remember a friend telling me the genius of making Transformers: The Movie a "PG" film rather than a "G" film. In those days, parents thought nothing of letting their children go to the theatres by themselves to watch movies. However, they'd only be able to get into "G"-rated films. Thus, if you make the film "PG", all those kids'll have to bring their parents, which means more ticket sales. It's a stroke of genius, really.

Hollywood's lack of originality, I feel, stems not from the execs so much as it does the American public. You seem to forget, Soy, that not everyone shares your love of movies that are new and interesting - though many of us here at Rob's very well may. The cold hard truth of the matter is that a vast majority of the American populace would much rather keep seeing TV shows made into movies and films featuring their favorite celebrities and regurgitated plots. And, as long as they're content to keep shelling out their moderately hard-earned money to keep seeing it, I'm sure the "powers-that-be" up in Hollywood will be more than happy to oblige.