Via Matt Jeppsen…via Scott Simmons…

7 ways to save THE LOT.

I don’t like reality shows. Especially stuff like AMERICAN IDOL. When I started watching The Lot…I liked it. Not only because I am in the film industry, but because it treated the process…the contest of making films…right. At least, in the beginning. It gave the people the task of coming up with a pitch…then threw at them a “24 hour film festival.” And the best part, WE GOT TO SEE THE PROCESS. This was like PROJECT GREENLIGHT, where it followed the people thru the process. You saw them agonize over the pitch…you saw how they shot their films. Saw the brilliant…and stupid…decisions they made. Demystified the process a little…showed what was involved. You could tell who the talented people were by watching them work. Saw them make decisions. This is what I want to see…and what the judges should see. In this respect the first two episodes were great.

Then it turned to CRAP. Utter…total…complete crap. Bringing in “blockbuster” directors to comment? I groaned when I saw Michael Bay up there. Even Brett Ratner. Sheesh. Carrie Fisher and Gary Marshall I can see…they had long successful careers, working on quality films. The host? Yeah, she’s pretty. But that doesn’t a host make. What happened to the blonde lady from the first two shows? Why did they axe her? For the more “ethnic” demographic? Should have thought of that to begin with.

AND WHAT IS IT WITH THE FAKE TOTALLY STAGED F*&#ING TENSION? “And the person eliminated is……….something we’ll find out after this commercial break.” Or there is a good 10 second pause. Stupid stupid stupid…

Live on stage…that’s what we get. Someone standing up going “here is my film.” We see it…the judges…who have NO bearing on the outcome (note the films they said were awful that somehow not only made it, but one was in the top 3…proving that the average American who votes on these stupid things is a moron)…then we wait until next week to see who was eliminated…with as long of a pause as possible. Wasn’t there a time when dead air was a BAD thing?

They keep saying that they put Hollywood crews and actors at the disposal of the filmmakers, yet we keep hearing how they had to “pull favors” to get films made. Some shot on film, some on video…I thought they were given talented crew and were to direct them? Is this NOT the case?

The format is cheap…cheap to produce and cheap theatrics. I tried to stick with it (thanks to the wonders of TIVO and the ability to skip a LOT of crap)…but I won’t be watching anymore. They had a good idea…they started out right…giving people tasks and resources…and following them as they did it…then they descended into cheap cookie cutter TV. I for one am GLAD the show is failing. Shows that just because Burnett and Speilberg have their names on something…it isn’t gold. Talent, thought and EFFORT go a long way.

OK…rant done. Man…three…four posts today. Bedtime.