Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

HCF in the Media: Who was the Perez Hilton of the 80s?


Recommended Posts

(edited)

The Perez Hilton or TMZ of the time was Entertainment Tonight which premiered in 1981.  It was the first modern daily tabloid show.  It was so shocking at the time...now it seems so common the news format for gossip.  

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Tonight  " first broadcast on September 14, 1981, and was the first syndicated program distributed via satellite"

Yea there was a lot of newspaper gossip columnists, but that was old school newspaper world.  ET with it's instant satellite program brought it to a new level.

 

I will never forget my HS history teacher at the time watch it one night and came into school the next day ranting and raving about how this was the downfall of society.  From the editing to the content of the show.   Trying to explain to us 14 year olds how the media was manipulating us.   He really was perturbed by the possibility that this would become more commonplace.   He must have been around 50 years old at the time.   I remember a lot the adults being very fearful the world had changed way too much since their youth.  I can't help comparing this to the first season of Mad Men which was set in 1960.  22 years later the world had change much more than it has from 1990 until today.  

Edited by cuecat
Link to comment

There's a lot of promising signs in there, I think.  Sounds like they looked into the characterization, pacing, and plot movement as issues.  While the included clip had its fair share of bad tech dialogue delivered in stilted fashion, the focus on Mutiny instead of on Cardiff and it sounds like a somewhat defanged Psycho Joe could make for a more watchable season.  I'll give it another shot, what the hell...

  • Love 1
Link to comment

From the Toby Huss interview;

 

 

To answer your other question, they haven’t let me be the jokey comedy relief, but I think they’ve been more aware of it this year. Last year was a pretty humorless year, and this year I think they’ve been letting me have a little fun and some other characters have some fun and there’s actual substance. There are a couple laughs in there. For my taste, it’s still not as funny as I want it to be. If there’s a third season, I’m going to really work on them then.

 

One of the things that leapt out at me after the finale was just how generally humourless this show is. I don't expect it to pander with cheap laughs, but those moments of humour are what can make a character, even a difficult, otherwise unpleasant one be endearing at times or at least relateable. I don't think it's a coincidence that two of the best-liked, well-rounded characters are Donna and Bos, both of whom are written with inherent humour in Bos' broad charm and Donna's dry wit.

Edited by yuggapukka
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this in, but I didn't see a "Cast in other roles" section.  

Scoot McNairy is apparently going to have a role in the newest season of "Fargo" starting April 19th- which if you haven't seen it is one of the very best ensemble dramas on TV these days (as you can see from the season 3 trailer, they tend to get some amazing casts).  Seasons 1 and 2 are out on Hulu if you want to watch, although each season is a self-contained story and unrelated to the others.

Link to comment
On 12/22/2016 at 8:29 AM, ganesh said:

Davis was in an episode of Black Mirror. Without spoiling, it had an 80s theme. 

best episode of the series no less - I definitely recommend checking it out 

  • Love 2
Link to comment

For another "cast in other roles"  comment, Toby Huss with his beard was on Brooklyn Nine Nine this week- playing a prison warden in South Carolina where Jake is.

It was a little jarring to see,  since his role on HACF has been so intense lately.

  • Love 1
Link to comment
On 3/30/2018 at 5:43 PM, paramitch said:

Hey all, just a quick wave that I published this piece on "Halt and Catch Fire" (and why it's more relevant right now than ever), so thought I'd share. Thanks to any who check it out!

Great article--loved it.  Thanks for telling us about it here!

  • Love 1
Link to comment
6 hours ago, crashdown said:

Great article--loved it.  Thanks for telling us about it here!

Thanks so much for reading it! I was just knocked over by how great the show was in the end, and I'd given up on it a few years back after the first season, then bingewatched joyfully this past winter. Taken as a whole, it's now one of my favorite shows lifelong -- I'm so glad a friend got me to reconsider. (And it was great chatting about it, however belatedly, here in the forums!)

  • Love 1
Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...