Andy Samberg Loves The OC...And I Think It's Pretty Ok Too

A long time ago, while I attended a high school not so far away, there was once an existence without The OC. Then I remember being in the mall (yes, remember when that's all we had to do with ourselves?) and seeing a gigantic billboard with nothing but a beach sunset, a surfer, and a tag line emblazoned across the wall opposite the movie theater. Little did I know that that show would ultimately redefine the prime time-soap genre and make being a smart, nerdy, indy-music loving, pop-culture laden Jew cool again (or maybe for the first time, either way I'm all for it). And I'll even go so far as to say that season 1 of The OC was genius; I dare you to defy me (Annabiotics? Genius!). The fact of the matter is that, for at least one season, The OC had some of the wittiest banter on television and a semi-believable premise with well-written characters.

But I digress... it appears that I am not alone in my respect for The OC, for Andy Samberg has now proven to me in multiple ways that a little part of him too died when the show jumped the shark/nuked the fridge. Thanks to my ravenous love of Scrubs I couldn't help but notice that a particular web series on Andy's Lonely Island website featured none other than Sarah Chalke/Dr. Eliot Reid herself. The show? Why The 'Bu of course. You see, that's what young kids call Malibu now...or so says the series' tag line at least. The series is funny mostly for all of the tropes of teen soaps, dramas, and comedies of which it spoofs, in addition to some hilarious gags, most notably Frazzles the Squirrel's use of 3D glasses in episode 1 (trust me on that one).

As good as The 'Bu is, however, I was even more surprised to see that it is not alone among his OC riffing repertoire. Last season on SNL, Shia LaBoeuf guest starred in one of the greatest digital shorts of all time, Dear Sister, submitted for your approval below.


For comparison, the original source material is online here. The main gags here of course are just the farcical nature of the clip itself paired with its apt parody of the above-referenced love for indy artists (here Imogen Heap, also of Garden State soundtrack fame, though you may know here there as Frou Frou) by shows such as The OC.

Thankfully, we will not be running out of source material to parody any time soon either. Though The OC may have gone the way of the VCR, its spawn certainly have not. Not to get all "nodal" on you again, but let's think of what The OC and its creator, Josh Schwartz, have given us. There is it-show of the moment Gossip Girl, quirky spy-spoof Chuck, the Laguna Beach-Newport Harbor-The Hills-The City mega complex that airs on MTV, and even Baldwin Hills on BET (who knew?). The OC also popularized Death Cab for Cutie, Rooney, and countless other indy rock acts and enabled many to become mainstream successes (I mean come on, they dedicated an entire episode to attending a Rooney concert!). So enjoy all that The OC has given you and be thankful. And while you're at it, maybe watch The 'Bu also, it's pretty sweet.

PS- Sorry for the delay in posting, but I still do have to pass all of my classes here...And if you like Arrested Development skip to 4:00 in the following episode, love it.

PPS- Who is ready for Lost this Wednesday?

Season Premier of FOTC!

Unfortunately I think the episode is rather pedestrian with rather unspectacular songs. But if this is what it take to get Mel and Murray back after the Crazy Dogs...well I'll take it. Enjoy, hopefully.

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

What 10PM Leno Really Means

First off, apologies for the lack of posts for the past few weeks. Anatomy finals and tropical vacations have a way of cutting into your free computer time.

Now to the real business, which I have been planning to address for some time now. Over the past few years there have been two consistent trends in television. These are 1) Soaring cable ratings, and 2) Withering network ratings. Paired with the screen writer's strike last television season the net outcome has been devastating to network television as we all know and love it. For the most part, cable networks, with their repeat (CSI or Law and Order Marathons anybody?) and reality (Real Housewives of [name your city], The Laguna Hills City or whatever MTV airs, etc) weathered the storm well with ratings soaring and ad revenues continuing to flow in, many even showing record growth this past year. This is juxtaposed, however, by the catastrophic effects on the creative engines of network television. Not only did the writer's strike halt new episodes of already popular shows, but it prevented new series from ever being able to develop a fan base, and, quite noticeably this season, prevented new pilots and creative outlets to be developed.

The net result of these combined factors have been mixed. Okay, besides enabling Scrubs to be picked up for another season due to the fact that ABC cannot come up with a single halfway decent comedy show on its own, they're actually all bad. The most telling of all these signs, however, is Jay Leno's reassignment by NBC to the 10PM time slot, 5 days a week, in prime-time. What this means, in short, is that NBC has conceded the fact that it is unable to afford to develop or fund original programming for fully 1/3 of its weekly primetime schedule. The 10PM time slot has not yielded a bonafide hit since ER 14 years ago now and it's worth it to them to just pay Leno a fraction of the money it costs to otherwise operate that time (but still, $30M isn't too shabby for Leno) and to just rake in the ad revenue from whatever audience happens to tune in. No more "Must See TV", no more programming blocks, no more relying on a lead-in or lead-out show to anchor an entire night's worth of programming. NBC is acknowledging that the old model of network television simply does not work anymore. With the advent of DVR, internet, Hulu, torrents, and DVDs people watch shows because they are good, not because they're on after Friends.

This is one reason that explains precisely why cable networks have been so successful in capturing new audiences and develop ping shows. First, they invest intelligently in well-written, well budgeted dramas or comedies, such as Mad Men in the case of AMC or Monk in the case of USA. Second, they rerun them like it's their job to keep you watching and abreast of what is happening in the shows story lines so that new viewers can actually pick up mid-season. Third, they can focus on specific niches, for example TBS as the center for comedy and TNT for drama. It is this type of specialization that initially allowed cable channels to compete with network programming and now, thanks to the rapid proliferation of original programming on cable, has finally begun to cannibalize the audience of the big network channels. By trying to play a little bit to all audiences but completely to none, network television has effectively completed itself out of the business that it created. Leno at 10PM means network television finally can read the writing on the wall.

Of course we'll still have Lost and American Idol and all of the other shows people currently love on the big channels. But the hits will likely become fewer and far between as less money is available to finance expensive pilots and as networks begin to re-brand themselves within the context of their mini-cable empires (for example the NBC-Bravo-USA family or CBS-Viacom or ABC-ESPN-Disney), more equally sharing original programming between the existing channels. This does not mean the end of quality television. Only the end of television as we knew it growing up.