TV & Blogs: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together?

So, my last post of
the day (please, please make it my last post of the day), is inspired
by (which is to say, directly rips off) a
USA Today article from
Tuesday:

TV
goes to blogs: Shows add extra information as treat for
fans.

(The photo of the 'Grey's Anatomy' cast is the same photo as in the article,
but I didn't steal it -- I got it from our photo guys, who got it from
the ABC publicity folks.)

This is going to be a long
post, with a lot of links, but it's about our friend
TV, so that's okay.

Now, as with any
decent craze, TV shows and movies are always trying to cash in.
(Remember the internet-themed movies like 'Hackers' and
'The
Net'?). Blogs are no exception, though they're not just being
used as plot devices -- they're meant to try to get people
more invested in a show, and bring them closer and
get them more involved.

When it comes to TV
blogging, there are your three basic types of
blogs:

* Blogs by outside
commentators: Fans, critics, haters, anyone who wants to get
on a soapbox and grind their axe or sing a show's praises to the world.


* Blogs by show insiders: Blogs
done by people involved with the show, whether it's on-air talent or
behind-the-scenes folks.

* Blogs by show
characters: Blogs written from the viewpoint and voice of
characters featured in the show, which may reference events on the
show. (This is an extension of TV & movie Web sites that teased
or expanded on elements used on screen, to try to build interest and
provide additional information or
backstory.)

Commentator blogs
(say, our own TV
Squad, or blog/forum Television Without
Pity) are pretty straightforward; blogs are just a new venue
for the kind of online community that had been going on in Web pages
and message boards, though the blog format makes it real easy for the
entire community to realtime blog during the show (as in the '24'
show category of Dave Barry's blog).

Blogs
by show insiders can be either really
interesting or really
self-indulgent (or sometimes both) -- it can be kind
of like getting a directory's commentary without having to wait for the
DVD.

One of the first shows to really take advantage
of the blog format (and I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong) was
'Battlestar
Galactica' -- creator Ron Moore was in his blog early and
often, and his forthrightness and candor probably helped him
win over a lot of original series purists who were angry at him for,
say, turning Starbuck into a female character.

Mr.
Moore's blog was followed by producer David
Eick's video blog, which is to say it's video and not really
a blog, but it's a quibble, really.

The Sci-Fi network's blogs are
great examples of show insider blogs; for example, their 'Stargate' blog is
done by Alex Levine, a script coordinator, who is blogging because
everyone else is "too darn busy" putting out two TV series. And they're
very upfront about that. (Is it actually written by
a group of interns? Who knows, but it seems very
authentic.)

(Now, their other blog right now is for
'Tripping the
Rift', which I guess I'm supposed to watch because it's got sci-fi, pottymouths and big CGI boobs, though I don't -- it's done in the voices of the
characters. Or was done, I should say, it seems to have stopped
updating back in October. More on character blogs in a
bit.)

The other behind-the-scenes blogs mentioned in
the USA Today article are for 'NCIS'
(by actress Pauley Perrette), the 'CSI: Miami'
Writer's Blog, 'The
Unit' (by producer and Delta Force founding member Eric L.
Haney), Grey
Matter (the 'Grey's Anatomy' writers' blog), and Out on a Limb, by
'Sons and Daughters' creator Fred Goss.

Of this
bunch, only the last two take comments, which leads
to that philosophical question, is a blog without comments really a
blog? Personally, as I've said before, I think a blog that doesn't take
comments is kind of bloggy, but isn't really a
blog.

The last of my arbitrary categories is the
show character's blog. Of the ones listed in the
article, I've seen the Nigelblog of 'Crossing
Jordan' used on the air. Of the rest, whose shows I watch even less
of:

* The 'Medium' Dream
Journal isn't really a blog (even as these things
go).

* Neither is the 'Boston
Legal' site

* Of 'The Office' blogs, one
is a MySpace of
receptionist Pam, the other is Dwight Schrute's
blog.

* 'How I Met Your Mother' has Barney's
Blog (the Neil Patrick Harris character,
apparently)

* 'Grey's Anatomy' (I did see that one
with the bomb in the guy's chest) also has Emerald City Bar and
The Nurse's
Station, two blogs that supplement the stories presented
on-air, using locations and characters used on the
show.

One thing that I saw about the ABC show blogs,
is that poking around with the URL led me to http://blogs.abc.com, which
redirects to http://www.drrobinscorpio.com,
which is Robin's Daily Dose, from 'General Hospital' (not 'All My Children', duh -- or did she also have a role on AMC? -- either way, I note that the
soap got no love in the article).

Now, I don't want
to offend any of you soap fans, but one thing I found pretty
darn creepy about this last one was that the comments, presumably
left by real people, are written as if the characters are
real. (I had to check IMDB to make sure "Dr.
Scorpio", as improbable a name as it is for a
non-supervillian, wasn't some kind of technical
adviser.)

Shared fictions, roleplaying and created realities are
all well and good, but I mean, yikes.


Of the three types of TV blogs, I
probably like the behind-the-scenes blogs best,
since commentary is everywhere and the fictional character blogs aren't
really compelling unless you're a fan of the show. Maybe I just want to
be in show business. There's no business like it, after
all.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks --
Joe

Tag: television