On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Ben Scripps <[email protected]> wrote: > > In the 1:50 between Jay's entrance onto the stage and the point where > he started his monologue, there were 21 cuts. Nine cuts while the > band was playing, twelve more as Jay stood there and basked in the > ovation. ... > I freely admit, I'm probably the only person on this list interested > in such numbers, but it really hit (for me, at least) why I > don't/didn't/wouldn't watch Leno--it's like watching a show with a > hyperactive chimp at the switcher.
Watch a rock concert, standup comedy special, or halftime show from 1992 and then watch the same thing from 2009. It is not just Leno ir his director utilizing a more frenetic style of production... it is everyone. As much as I have enjoyed (to my surprise) the restart of the Bond franchise, I found the opening chase sequence in the most recent Bond film to be almost entirely unwatchable for the same reason. There were so many extreme closeups and jump cuts that it could have been me shoving two Hot Wheels cars across my kitchen floor and most would not have known the difference. On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 12:33 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > I have no problem believing this description of how he puts the bits > together. What bothers me about it is that Leno seems either not to > understand (hard to believe) or thinks he can get away with > bullshitting us (easier to believe) the real truth, which is that 40% > of people on the street in Southern California are eager to look > stupid if it means they can be on TV. I am quite sure that once people > at Universal Studios, or Venice Beach (or wherever he tapes those > bits) recognize that they are being interviewed for the JW bit, they > purposely try to give stupid answers that they think will be funny. I > am quite sure that at least half of the video Leno can't use is due to > this being so obvious it would creep out even his most loyal fans > (when he asks "who is buried in Grant's Tomb" how many people say > something like "Grant - oh no, I mean, Lee, I mean, I don't know"; or > "when was the War of 1812?" "1812 - no, 1811, oh wait, I think 1813 > would be funnier - can I try it again?"). No doubt when he brings > people in for the in studio bit they spend a lot of time polishing > their stupid act, and contrary to Leno's lame argument to the > contrary, it is not at all surprising that they are stupider when they > come back the second time. When I was an NBC Page, I saw them tape the gameshow bits. It was one of the few pretaped studio bits I ever saw done on "The Tonight Show," nearly everything else was live-to-tape. But the "Battle of the Jaywalking All-Stars" bits were pretaped to edit out the unfunny (correct) answers. From my vantage point, they were not acting, staged, or trying to be silly for screen time... these were people who didn't care that they looked like morons. I am sad to say it is a California thing. Ask someone to name the vice-president and they give a stupid answer. Ask someone to name the most recent American Idol winner and you get the person's name and their entire life story. > Why does Leno pander in this way? I know we are not supposed to make a > lot of "Dave is better than Leno" posts to this list anymore, but I > really do think this illustrates a difference between him and Dave... > When Dave used to do more of his "found" comedy or have "normal" > people come on, he would skewer anyone who came across as trying too > hard; his instincts were to go with people who were being themselves > (or, at least, who were more artful in playing something other than > themselves). In the mid 1990s, I met someone very high up in the Letterman camp (a name and a face that most on this list would recognize). And in the course of conversation, this person revealed to me that, at least at the time, Letterman didn't encounter anybody who hadn't already been screened, preinterviewed, coached, etc. In other words, the "found" comedy from "normal" people were all preplanned. Even when people were approached outside the theater with a camera, they would have been planted in the exact right spot for the camera to see them. The point was reinforced after Mujibur and Sirajul (sp?) signed with agents and demended money to interact with Dave on camera, at which point they were dropped and Rupert was brought on board. To me, it was another one of those industry secrets, like the fact everyone who has ever appeared on the Jerry Springer show was either heavily coached or, in many cases, a paid actor playing a part (there are AFTRA contracts on file that could easily prove that to be true). -- Kevin M. (RPCV) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
