America in Show Titles

You probably see it in TV shows here a lot: the use of the word America in the title. Is this a bad thing? One wouldn’t think so, especially since international ratings don’t matter. But it could still have some sort of issues with trying to get a show released internationally and getting those people to care about something in another country that they might not care about. What all is there to say about it? Well, here’s a brief post about it.

First, let’s start with examples of shows that have American in the title. There are enough of them. There is American Housewife, American Odyssey, American Crime Store, and others like it that I can’t think of right now offhand. Basically, they want to instill a sense of Americanism in the title for one sort of reason or another. They might not have better titles. Or they might not want to use others.

Is it a problem to use America in the show title? I don’t think so. They aired The Great British Bake Off in this country and people don’t seem to mind. Plus, America could more accurately describe the show when it is a reality show since contestants from the show are from this country. American Idol or the show America’s Got Talent are shows using Americans and thus have to be named that accordingly.

Honestly, there’s probably not much else to say about this. Sometimes they use America in the title of a show for whatever reason. This isn’t a problem and would only affect potential interest in the show when it airs in other countries.

What a Showrunner is

One of the most common terms in the television world is showrunner. Not everyone knows what that is. While it is likely that most of you already know this, I figured that I will explain this to you readers in case you don’t or want a refresher in what it is in case you don’t know for sure.

Often, the person or people who write the pilot episode of a TV show, the creator of it, gets to be the showrunner of the show if it gets picked up to series. They are largely in charge of the creative process of what will go down on a show and take care of other issues with it that might come up from time to time. With any showrunner, it is their duty alone to make sure the show goes a certain way that they think would be a good one in the end. That doesn’t mean that the end result will be good. But that will at least be the intent of theirs for the show.

Just because a show lasts doesn’t mean that a showrunner is set to keep their job controlling a show the whole time the show lasts. Designated Survivor was notorious at one point for having four different showrunners throughout its two seasons on ABC. Sometimes they are only gone for a moment and then return later in the show’s run. This isn’t always the case. I can often notice that a show has a new person in charge of it without even knowing for sure as it just seems that something is off about it. Again, this is not always the case as sometimes the show improves after a showrunner has changed.

Now a showrunner might be gone in that capacity, but still there in other ways on the show. That is what is true about The Simpsons as its creator is still there doing something. I think that he is a producer on the show still. He’s not the only one who is like that. It is understandable why most would not stay that way in some capacity if they don’t have the creative control they were used to. I don’t know just how common this phenomenon is.

Why would showrunners change on a show? It is hard to know for sure in some cases. When Brad Kern was fired as showrunner of NCIS: New Orleans, it was because of allegations of sexual harassment that had been made against him. I don’t know why the original showrunner of Bull isn’t there anymore. I do not think that they liked his work. But I don’t know for sure. Some things might not be made public.

That’s pretty much all I can think of for this post. Maybe there could be more to add, but I don’t think that any more is worthwhile. I hope that you understand more of what a showrunner is now. Of course, you probably don’t know much more about it than I do.

When Shows Switch Networks (but don’t always get your hopes up)

There is a known thing that can happen with TV networks from time to time. It isn’t often, but it is often enough of an occurrence that most people know about it and know that it happens. There are a lot of shows that have aired on more than one network. What can be said about it? And does that mean that any cancelled show could wind up on another network?

I have no idea offhand what was the first show that aired on one network and then moved to another one. Most of the time, this happens because it was cancelled by one network and then, for one reason or another, another network decides to pick it up for at least one other season. There are a lot of shows this has happened to that I don’t feel like mentioning them all. I will only use some as examples.

Of course, this can lead fans of one show thinking that it will survive if the show ends. This is not always the case. In fact, it is not often the case at all. Rarely does a show switch networks because of fans, even though it does happen from time to time. Often, fan campaigns to save shows aren’t successful. Other times, they only seem successful because that’s what happened, even if the fans had campaigns going on that helped others. An example of a show not actually saved by a fan campaign was Timeless.

One of the few campaigns to save a show I can think of that actually worked was Nashville. I was really annoyed that ABC had cancelled it because they chose to air a cliffhanger instead of an ending that would have wrapped everything up. But because of the fan campaign, CMT picked up the show where it lasted a good while longer until it ended for good.

Sometimes, a show moves networks for reasons other than cancellation. Supergirl moving from CBS to the CW was more about a mutual move to have it linked up better with the rest of Arrowverse that it then officially became part of. Other times, it is more of a downgrade of sorts or it just might seem like it would work better elsewhere on another network.

I don’t think that there is much else worth saying in this post. Sometimes shows switch networks, but it is often not something that happens. Cancelled shows aren’t always saved. I mean, they tried to save My Name is Earl and Suburgatory by getting them to switch networks, but neither of them happened. And they are not alone. Shows might switch network and will it happens, it is rarer than you think.

A Golden Globes Complaint

While I was not able to see the Golden Globes that aired yesterday, I do like them at times. I like to see it. But there are parts of it that I don’t like. And I figured that now would be a good time to complain about it since they just aired.

What are the complaints that I have about it? For one, they know nothing about what is a comedy versus what is a drama. While it is clearer to some that drama get more awards in the movie making industry, the Globes have a solution by letting there be two categories as there is one for comedy and one for drama. But, since dramas are more likely to win awards, the Globes decide that it is best to just nominate movies that are clearly dramas as if they were comedies. Giving them the wrong label is just a terrible decision. They have done that with the show Glee. Clearly a drama, they say that since a musical can also be a comedy, they give that the award instead of actual comedies.

Another problem that I have with it is that they constantly use Ricky Gervais as a host. While he has not always been the host, he is often too crass and kind of an ass. He jokes don’t always work and he is not a good form of entertainment hosting this show or often any other show. He is good at acting, but you should not let him be just a person talking about opinions. His tweets, for instance, have forever tainted my opinions of the man. Don't follow him if you want to enjoy him.

The awards can drag on too long and be full of strange moments. Not all of the awards seem like they are worthwhile in some way. There is a feud of sorts between the TV people and the movie people even though they are all performers and working for the same people doing the same thing, TV actor is quite different than movie actor in their minds even though people are often both, sometimes at once.

That’s all for this post. There’s not too much else to say. I wish that the Globes could be better in some ways and don’t have that many complaints about it in the end, actually. I might do one about this for the Emmys at some point. I doubt I would for the movie themed Oscars outside of my complaint that they do not air the TV actors or others in their dead actors montage, something that would be okay if the Emmys ignored movie actors, which they don’t. But I digress. Maybe things will get better with them in the future or maybe they will do whatever rules they want to.