Posts Tagged "TV"
It’s the Fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer
I had a moment the other day where I directly related a movie quote to a moment in my life.
This happens to me quite often, possibly because I keep a repertoire of quotes in my mind for just such occasions, but this time it happened to me all alone in a parking lot with no one around to hear the quote.
I still said it out loud and laughed to myself about the perfection of the delivery. You might have guessed the quote by now, it was: “It’s the Fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer!” from the movie Step Brothers. For those that haven’t seen the movie, it is an exclamation given by a number of characters toward the end of the movie to acknowledge a moment that was unexpected, but incredibly awesome.
For me, that moment happened in the parking lot because it had rained and the seat for my motorcycle was soaked, but I was prepared because I keep a small towel in my daypack and this was the first time it had ever been a useful thing to carry. My decision to include that towel as part of my “everyday carry” kit had immediately become validated!
The problem with using movie quotes is that, sometimes, when you think of something really witty on the spot, you get the laugh and then you get asked: “What is that quote from?”. Essentially, one can be seen as a one trick pony that isn’t creative enough to come up with their own stuff.
This got me thinking about what makes some things funny and others fall flat. My argument is that delivering one-liners, and just being socially funny in general, takes three things working in concert to create comedic gold:
1) The Writing – It’s got to be relevant and its got to be snappy. It needs to be easily understood and it needs to roll off the tongue smoothly. It needs to be relevant to the audience, even if that audience is just yourself. It’s the line or story that is funny, not the person who originally conceived of it in the first place.
2) The Delivery – You can’t blame your audience if you are working with the good writing. Whether it’s planned, quoted, or impromptu, good writing is good writing. Its all a matter of how you deliver the lines. There’s a technical aspect to consider with your individual ability and confidence to deliver and the choices that you make. Is it funnier to deliver in your normal tone, or do you use a character voice? Is your character voice going to draw a reaction? For example, do you use a “bigger” version of your usual voice or do you choose a voice that is so different from yours that it turns heads because its unexpected; or are you talented enough to mimic the exact line as delivered by the original character? Also, you need to consider the context of your environment. If you deliver an inside one-liner to a crowd you will get crickets from all of the outsiders.
3) The Timing – There are two elements to timing. First, consider that “there is a time and a place for everything”. The same story told at a funeral and around a campfire can elicit very different reactions so you need to have a social conscience to be funny, not offensive. And, of course, there’s the timing of your delivery. If you’re out with friends and have a great comment, but nobody hears it, you’ve missed your opportunity. Even worse, someone else can re-deliver your brilliant writing to pull great laughs moments later when the timing is perfect.
If any one of these elements is weak or missing, the hilarity does not ensue.
I may not be the best writer, but my timing and delivery are generally pretty decent. A stark comparison is my wife, who has incredibly smart and witty writing, but her timing and delivery can be hit or miss.
We often argue about which of us is funnier, but I realize now that we usually get the best laughs when I steal one of her one-liners and just execute it a little better.
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Read MoreMy Experience with Reality TV
Somehow Susie and I got roped into applying to be on a new television show that is premiering in September 2010.
It was easy enough … We filled out a form and sent it to one of the producers and we got a call back to arrange a screen test. They asked us to be available for 30 minutes and to be prepared to make something while we were being interviewed … Just to make sure that we could talk and cook at the same time.
We thought long and hard about what to make and, because we couldn’t decide, opted to make two versions of chicken bites.
Susie made one of her favourite recipes: chicken breast meat cubes, tossed in Franks Red Hot, then rolled in crushed up baked BBQ chips and Fibre One cereal. She served the bites with a honey-mustard dipping sauce.
I made a boneless chicken wing, which was inspired by Rousseau House in Ancaster. I didn’t have a recipe, but I knew what flavours I wanted to incorporate. I deboned the wings and stuffed them with sautéed garlic and shallots with a little fresh cilantro. The stuffed wing was placed on a hot BBQ. For a dipping sauce I made an emulsion of lavender honey and red vinegar with chilies and a little more cilantro.
Both dishes turned out great!
We were great on camera and were notified almost immediately that we would be on the show. Our filming week was July 19-23, 2010, which meant that we each had to reschedule the two different weekend getaways that we had planned. Susie was supposed to be heading to Miami and I was heading into Algonquin Park with some buddies.
Susie had a brilliant idea for a theme that would be sexy and fun almost immediately. We would make an entire menu of small dishes, each of which would include an ingredient that is a aphrodisiac. She has a book called “Intercourses“, which is filled with recipes using aphrodisiacs. We ended up using none of the recipes from the book, but we did take inspiration from the ingredients that were perfectly suited for the theme.
For the show we were to attend dinner parties held by two other couples on Monday and Wednesday, then we would host a dinner party on the Friday before being judged as to who threw the best shindig.
The Monday and Wednesday were easy because all we had to do was show up. At some point during each night the invited guests were individually taken away to a “confessional”. This would be the chance for every invited guest to criticize the hosts performance and send a message for the judges to consider.
The Friday was a whole new ball game. Cameras were rolling from about 10:00am and didn’t stop until after 10:00pm. Each of the other couples had already had that experience by the time we came around but, of course, nobody warned us about how intrusive the crew doing setup would be to our schedule.
We had everything planned for the day. In fact, we made up a game day schedule so that nothing could go wrong and we would always know what we needed to do and where each of us needed to be throughout the day. For the evening we actually planned down to every 15 minutes to make sure that our guests had plenty happening while still having a relaxed atmosphere. To be clear, only Susie and I knew about the schedule so the guests would have had to assume that we were going with the flow.
We made sure that we had plenty of time and were working with easy to manage ingredients with lots of padding added in so, at first, when the crew were calibrating lighting and camera angles, we were happy to relax and let them do their thing.
Then, we were told that we would be doing an afternoon interview with the judges that we had not planned for in advance. It took an hour or so to do the interview and re-record all of the pickups. (A pickup is when they like something that someone said, but they want to either hear it again more clearly or with a different intonation)
We were left scrambling a little, but there was still extra time in the schedule. Then Susie dressed the salads hours before the party and killed the spinach! I had to do a last minute grocery store run.
It came down to the prep for the final course … Dessert Pizza and I had to roll out the dough and toss it, but the kitchen was full of crew. I ended up having to prep it on a serving tray and toss it in a corner, but all was done on time before the guests arrived.
Susie was in charge of decor so she picked up some beautiful floral arrangements from Burst to finish off our room and she managed all of the transitions with our counter / table. Since we have only one surface big enough for guests to eat and for us to do prep with, this was a huge job to manage.
All in all, I am glad that we participated in the show. It was a great experience to share with Susie and something interesting to tell kids about in the future.
The one thing that surprised me the most was how the producers shape the show while filming. They don’t go out of their way to tell you what to say in as many words, but they definitely lead you to act a certain way and have specific responses.
First, we were told not to be “Canadian” with our responses, rather that to act more extreme would make for better TV. They said “If you like white wine and you’re asked; “Do you like white wine?” The preferred responses would be: “Yeah, I love it!, or “No way, I can’t stand the stuff!”
They also shaped our responses to fit the story. They would ask questions and then you would need to incorporate the question into your answer so that the audience could figure out the reason for the answer
For example, at one of the dinner parties I was asked about how the food tasted and I actually liked it, so I said so. Then they said that others had said that if one dish was slimy and over cooked and ask if I agreed with that assessment. This went on for a few minutes, until I said: “The food was okay, except the eggplant, which was slimy from being over-cooked and wasn’t spicy enough”
You aren’t exactly given lines, but the producers are pros at coming up with ways to create drama from the ordinary. I can’t wait to see they how they cut me together. I’m sure that I will come across as an over-confident, arrogant jerk, based on my memory of some of the things they were getting me to say. I guess that’s pretty close to my personality anyway.
We were sworn to secrecy when it comes to announcing the winners for the week so I cant share that quite yet. Susie wrote a very accurate account of our experience which I will be posting after the episode airs on the Food Network.
The show has been getting a lot of press in recent weeks, some of which you can read through below. They also used out place for some behind the scenes footage and pictures, which you can pick out in some of the articles if you’ve ever been in my living room.
Eat Drink Slay – The Globe and Mail
Dinner Party Wars: Reality TV judges the best soiree – The Toronto Star
Behind the Scenes of Dinner Party Wars – Food Network
Dinner Party Wars – Food Network
The show airs Wednesdays starting Sept 1, 2010 at 9:00pm EST on The Food Network.
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Read MoreThe LOST Finale
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock in Supai, you know that the final episode of LOST happened this week.
I had a master plan to watch the finale: alone, on the big screen in my living room, silently devouring every scene with my eyes and ears.
For me, LOST is a very personal experience because so much of the show is open to interpretation and I don’t want other folks discussing their perceptions while I’m trying to formulate my own.
Then, Susie found little serving vessels made from banana leaves and she got excited about all of the themed foods and drinks that would go well with LOST.
Now, Susie has seen many LOST episodes, but not all. She knows all of the major players, but not some of the nuances of the show. But I do enjoy her company at all times, and I realized that she knew it was important to me to watch the final episode.
So I altered my plan … I would allow her to join me, under the condition that she save all questions for the end of the show and allow me to pay attention as intensely as I intended.
Then, moments later, while excitedly telling someone on the phone about the banana serving vessels, she told the other participant that they were for her LOST finale party. After I shot her a quick look of concern, she continued: “which means just Nathan & I watching LOST”, with a smile.
One by one, people were added to the list, always with the caveat that they had to agree to total silence during the two hour pre-show and two and a half hour final episode. Then the calls started to come from some of the attendees to negotiate. In the end I agreed that there could be questions from some of the non-losties who were jumping on the bandwagon to be part of an event that pretty much defines the end of televisions best show, but only during the two hour pre-show.
When I got home for the event, I found that Susie and her helpers had already done everything that could be done to prep. She even had a menu so that we all knew what was coming. As usual, there was way too much food, but it was all delicious! I was welcomed at the door with a “I Survived Flight 815 – tini”, served in a half coconut shell.
She had chosen a whole series of dishes “inspired” by LOST. We started with Sayid’s Samosas and Sun’s Gyoza, moved on to Mr Cluck’s Fried Chicken and some marinated and grilled Tuna & Mahi Mahi steaks, served with a Cilantro and Mango Salsa. I was amazed at how fast the Sawyer’s Hot Dogs and the Coconut Coated Chicken Satays were gulped down. The finishing dessert was a sumptuous Caramelized Pineapple slice with Vanilla Ice Cream.
Despite being full beyond belief, we all had dessert.
Going into the evening I had already arranged a multiple option backup plan in case the LOST Party turned into the usual “drink’em up” with everybody talking and nobody watching the show, but it turned out that everyone really was there to watch the show. I am glad that I had the parachute, just in case this evening denigrated to what the same group turned a civilized night of food sampling and Julie & Julia into on a previous occasion. (ask me about it some time)
In the end the LOST Party was perfect. Great food, Great friends, and a great finale.
Family Guy #150
I just re-watched the 150th episode of Family Guy and really want to break down this episode a little bit to see if anyone else is left with the same questions and feelings that I am.
Be advised that the rest of this post may be a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t yet seen the episode.
The Family Guy team went with a very different structure for the show this week. First of all, it was an hour from beginning to end, including about 40 minutes of “story” and the remaining 20 minutes being a gamut of musical numbers that may or may not have appeared in previous episodes.
The “story” segment stands out as the real episode with the rest feeling like either filler or a purposeful series of scenes meant to uplift our spirits after the somewhat dark journey of the “story”.
The technique to telling this story was a very different approach for Family Guy. So much so that it felt almost like there was a guest director. There were almost no sounds outside of the voices of the characters. (Very little sound effects and no soundtrack whatsoever after the opening credits) When compared to the usual play-ins from commercials, there was a very different overall tone to this episode.
The story begins with Brian and Stewie getting trapped in a timed bank vault over night when visiting Brian’s safety deposit box at the end of the business day.
After becoming locked in, Stewie proceeds to soil his diaper and tries to convince Brian that the only way he can make it through the night is if Brian eats his feces to clean out the diaper as well as cleaning Stewie with his tongue. The way that the writers let this play out was brilliant. You knew immediately that it was going to be disgusting, but they built up suspense so perfectly that that you were relieved when they didn’t show you the actual act when it happened.
Throughout the episode it was hard not to hear the words and tones of the characters and not imagine the pair as a married couple where Brian was the husband and Stewie was the wife (even the example of Stewie buying a $3,000 sweater and Brian calling him a an idiotic and pretentious moron as you would imagine a husband who is displeased with his wife’s superfluous shopping might have in the 50s). You see them as two people who know each other very well and are hashing out some ongoing arguments.
Sure, the content of the arguments was, at times, farcical but the progression and resulting hurt feelings was like watching a couple work through marital issues stemming from individuals treating each other poorly after being together for a long time.
It’s only after Brian hurts Stewie’s feelings that he agrees to eat the soil out of the diaper, and once he eats a little poop … Everything is ok for a while. Eventually, we find out that Stewie didn’t really even need Brian to eat it, but rather was manipulating Brian for his own amusement.
Later, Brian gives Stewie some scotch, until Stewie feels like dancing in front of him, right after saying that he doesn’t want to drink too much because “I don’t want to get buzzed. People take advantage of kids who get buzzed *playfully* so don’t you try anything.” Brian sits back and tells him how good he is and how he’s really impressed. The whole scene seems like watching a pedophile seducing a little boy with the use of alcohol.
Once they are completely drunk, it’s like watching a couple of guys who are drunk telling each other how much they like each other before doing something stupid that drunk guys might do resulting in Stewie getting hurt physically.
The next part involved an emotional revelation by Brian that among his possessions inside the safety deposit box is a gun that he keeps, just in case he decides he needs it to kill himself with at some point. When pressed for a reason that he would commit suicide, he revealed that he doesn’t live with purpose and that maybe his life has no meaning. ”Is there ever a time when we’re truly in the present moment, and not looking to the past of the future.” The scotch that he had shared with Stewie was intended to be his last drink before pulling the trigger.
Of course, they wrap it all up at the end by declaring their love for each other and Stewie tells Brian that his presence give’s Stewie’s life purpose before they fall asleep in each other’s arms. The segment ends with the bank vault opening and Brian carrying Stewie out of the vault in silence.
Maybe I’m over-thinking the whole thing … maybe it’s a cartoon, intended to be entertaining and that’s it, but I don’t think so. I think that Seth MacFarlane and the Family Guy team are tricking people into realizing a little about themselves. By injecting a little of the common experiences people have had, good and bad, and in a variety of different ways, the show has much more to say than it really seems.
A man who has spoken down to the woman he supposedly loves may have noticed a similarity in Stewie’s reaction to that of his wife. A manipulative person may see that the way they treat their partner isn’t that nice. Someone who has ever thought about committing suicide may hear Brian’s reasoning and Stewie’s reassurance and be reassured themselves. And a pedophile may have noticed that society is watching, deterring them from acting on whatever urges they might have for fear of getting caught.
I know that Macfarlane has said he likes to hold a mirror up to society in the past, but never has it been more obvious for me than this past Sunday.
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