MetaFilter posts tagged with recap

Nobody tuned into Dynasty to watch Alexis & Krystle tweet at each other

nadawi — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:02:46 -0800

You Can Be Better Next Season, American Idol. Here’s How. By Dave Holmes Dave Holmes hilariously recaps American Idol and The X Factor for Vulture. He first got into the public eye by not winning Wanna Be a VJ and still landing the job. He spends most of his days with his podcast or showing up on others, like this one or this one or this one or these or (my personal favorites) these. For the last three years he's also been a part of Mapping the Heavens with Dave Holmes & Rob Delaney at the Upright Citizens Brigade.

TV show recaps, recappers, and TWoP

flex — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:52:24 -0800

Taking the seen-it route: Sara Morrison talks about the rise and influence of television show recapping; recapping's advantages for writers; and the origins and evolution of Television Without Pity (<--- time suck warning: TVTropes link!) Includes lots of links and a handy chart of recappers. *Gawker - Tune In, Recap, Drop Out: Why I’ll Never Recap a TV Show Again by Rich Juzwiak

No more thankless work that posits the writer as an entertainer while the readers demand accordingly. (The emails come regularly: "Where is it?!") No more being bound to the whims of a show that could at any moment take a turn for the shitty, and will, if nothing else, thwart my social life. I want to be a normal person who's watching TV, not some frantic note-taking instant replayer. No more regularly scheduled forced digestion in a period of time that gives my brain and writing cramps. It's fatigue, plain and simple, that comes from within but is informed from without. The limitless ubiquity of recaps makes writing them a challenge. Competition is stiff and deadlines are brutal, typically requiring just a few hours for turnaround to remain relevant.

*Storyboard: How Recappers Re-Invented TV Culture

“I hated tonight’s episode of Mad Men, but I’ll probably read something on the Internet tomorrow that will change my mind.” So IM’d my girlfriend, and she’s not alone. Over the last decade — but especially its latter half — entertainment sites hired scores of writers tasked with the seemingly enviable responsibility of watching TV and writing about it online. TV criticism at a micro, episodic level has exploded, with content ranging from utilitarian descriptions designed to fill in those who missed last night’s episode to fanciful diversions into absurd fan-fiction and searing cultural criticism. We call it “recapping,” and it’s one of the most culturally potent forms of art criticism of our time... ...even our “dumb” TV is getting better. As Stephen Johnson argued in Everything Bad Is Good For You, the least nuanced reality shows like The Bachelor serve up a more stimulating mental exercise than the lowbrow fare of the 1980s. With dozens of interpersonal relationships and imperceptible social cues, these brilliant shows about stupid people are more interesting than, say,The Love Boat, and are thus way more fun to talk about.

*HuffPo - To Recap or Not to Recap, That Is the Question

What's the point of all of this? Are we going to miss the show and then run to the web and read what I missed the night before? That's not the same as watching the show, people! The real reason these recaps exist all over the web is: These recaps drive a lot of traffic to these websites. Why? Because people love to complain and obsess over their favorite/least favorite shows. We, the people of the Internet, like to feel a connection with our stories. We like to talk about these shows with our friends and feel like we are part of a community.

*Macleans - Recapping Our Top Story *NY Observer - Rise of the Recappers: For a New Class of Struggling Writers, It’s Time To Watch TV *Slate (from 2002) - Confessions of a Spoiler Whore: The Pleasures of Participatory TV by Emily Nussbaum *a series by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic on BlogHer: part 1: Recapping for Television Without Pity Turned Me Into a Writer part 2: Television Without Pity Sucks Dot Com: What It's Like to Be Really, Really Hated Online part 3: 9 Years, 13 Shows: Why, Yes, I Invented the Word "Cheftestant" part 4: Star Trek Fans and Editors: What I Still Miss From Television Without Pity *Janelle Harris - So What Do You Do, Richard Lawson, Senior Writer for The Atlantic Wire? The best TV recapper in the biz discusses his process Some unusual methods of recapping: - Each episode of Buffy, recapped as a limerick (previously) - American Horror Story, recapped with stick figures - Glee & American Idol episodes recapped in song - Saturday Night Live sketches recapped predictively the night before SNL airs

Sunnier Than Sonny And Cher!

The Whelk — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:25:30 -0800

What is Pink Lady? In Japan they are remembered for a string of pop hits in the 70s, but Americans might remember them either from their disco single "Kiss In The Dark" or from an attempt to sell them to the US market in 1980 via a short-lived NBC variety show Pink Lady & Jeff (TVParty summary) with comedian Jeff Altman. (Opening). The show featured their Japanese hits, UFO, MONSTER (a bit more rock and roll), and SOS along with US hits like Boogie Wonderland, McArthur Park and the occasional guest star. (with encore) Also, Roy Orbison. Sadly, the show failed to break out and the two returned to Japan for a series of farewell concerts and retrospectives. Much, much more available at this charmingly retro, utterly exhaustive fan site devoted to them. Or just read the recaps. Bonus from their last concert, Pink Typhoon, a cover of In The Navy

Getting ready for Fringe

hippybear — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:16:59 -0800

The new season of Fringe begins on Friday, Sept 23, and Fox wants to tease and prepare you. Teaser playlist (5 videos): Where Is Peter Bishop?. Recap playlist (12 videos): Past + Present + Future [hosted by John Noble]. The recap playlist is recommended for anyone needing to catch up or anyone wanting to start now without watching 3 seasons between now and Friday.

Brave New Beige

The Whelk — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:22:25 -0800

Ever wonder how many variants of jumpsuits there can be? Do mock turtlenecks belong in space? Why is brown the color of respecting alien cultures? Fashion It So takes on the couture of the 24th century one Next Generation episode at a time.

I gadda push dis button every hunredunate minnits!

miss lynnster — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:46:04 -0800

The Antonucci family of Long Island recaps all five seasons of Lost.