RavishingRickRudo

The run ins and cheap finishes are a result of them trying to get everything in to help put heat on the PPV. The problem is, stuff like that hurts television. I wrote a post on the subject on another board, I think it's applies well. -- TNA is in this really tough position with their television. They use TV to build their PPVs, which is supposed to be the objective of the TV since they make their money off PPV. However, they need to start building TV because the past few weeks have been so PPV-centric that, for someone who isn't going to buy the PPV such as myself, how they build their shows isn't very interesting. It's not that the shows are boring or particularly bad, it's just they feel so rushed because TNA is trying to get over every angle for their PPV. They cram so much into 40 minutes of television that there isn't anything captivating, and they don't let anything breathe. So do they continue to follow the "PPV Building" format and risk losing some of their TV audience, or should they put more emphasis on TV and try to get that 0.8 higher? Yes, a balance can be struck, but IMO, with monthly PPV's and only -what- 4 hours to build them, I think it's pretty futile to follow the PPV Building format. Even though PPV is their main source of revenue, at this stage in their television life, IMPACT! should be their first priority with their PPV's being secondary. They have way too many wrestlers, period. Compared to the WWE -who has 2 hours a week to build their characters-, they have the right amount, but compared to most shows on television, the cast of characters is absurd. There are too many faces to remember, too much stuff going on, and a lot getting lost in the shuffle. TNA would benefit greatly if they trimmed the fat and tightened up the show. Granted, this is their first month in operation and there will be a learning curve. They want to get all their characters over with the audience as fast as possible, plus they have 2 or 3 years of history that hasn't been presented on national television and are continuing storylines that started before IMPACT!. It will take a while before they 'start fresh' so to speak with brand new storylines. But this is television, and the audience -even if they are wrestling fans- are fickle and won't stay long. They need to learn quicker, in my view. They need to structure their shows better and come up with their own formula rather than using the WWE's to build their shows. They need to build next weeks show rather than next months PPV, they need to start delivering on television to show that they can deliver on PPV. The last show had 3 of the 4 matches ending the same way -with the heels back-peddling on the stage while the face was in the ring. That's unacceptable and is indictative of their PPV-focused approach. They can't sacrifice TV for their PPV, not at this stage in the game. I will also say that PPV's don't need to be stacked for people to want to see them. The UFC model has been pretty successful of building 2 fights with an undercard meant to build challengers in the future. I know there are lots of factors involved that makes the two scenarios different, but I think if TNA just focuses on 2 or 3 storylines to build 2 or 3 matches for their PPV - and makes the fans want to see those 2 or 3 matches - then they will get more buys than trying to build 5 or 6 matches with much less effort and force behind them.

Just finished the Wedding Vows episode. "You and me, we're through" OH COLD BLOODED!

Just your own.

The UFC is a 3rd tier niche sport... the WWE is what? A 3rd tier niche fake sport?

Ok, Season 5 may just be my favourite season - and I ain't even done. The 5.10 episode is FANTASTIC. Luke and his dark day (November 30th!) and his fathers boat and Lorelai buying it. The scene in the classroom with FINN~! telling Rory to "Give them back their balls!" Marty getting CRUSHED. Paris and Jonathan gettin their dirt on. The end with Richard and Logan (CLAAAAAASIC! I was buying it for a while too!). Fanfuckingtastic.

Oh snap. Rory. Dressed as Go Go Yubari. Finn dressed as Vincent from Pulp Fiction. Oh. Oh. OOOOOOOOOH YEEeeeEEEaaaAAAAAAH.

That's because the people have an out-dated view of sports entertainers, you see. That's their fault. And the medias. I truly feel sorry for the WWE. They have to fight this uphill battle to try and change the perception of their organization and their sports entertainers, and in reality, they have to fight against decades of fashoin faux pas.

Because in wrestling, appearance = reality. If WWE wrestlers look like they're rich and high class, then hey, the WWE is a high class organization that is making lots of money. Of course, watching a second of their programming would prove otherwise. But you have to remember rule #1 in the WWE: Never blame the product.

Have you SEEN what they wear? People don't respect other people who wear fanny packs and acid wash jeans. I know I don't.

No, you want the wrestlers to look professional so when people see them in the airport they say "Wow, those wrestlers must make lots of money if they can walk around in suits like that. They're legitimate."

My season 5 viewing has been sporadic. I saw an episode on TV last night that has Lorelai and Luke broken up because of something Emily did/said. One of the last episodes I watched in season 5 had Emily and Richard discussing Luke and how he is unsuitable for Lorelai. Now I really, really, really need to fill in the gaps. And I missed the last episode, so I need to dl that too.

3) Anyone get a little vibe from Echo's inquiring about Sun? You know, its been rumored that Sun's Father had someone on the plane... Yeah, there will definitely be something in the future between Echo and Sun. Maybe Echo is a bounty hunter, which would explain why he's so good at tracking. Lastly, on a personal note: Jack might have been the one that took down Ethan, but anyone that thinks that Locke couldn't have is fooling himself. Locke just knew that it wasn't his action to take. Locke could take out just about anyone he wanted ... except maybe Mr Echo. Locke couldn't have. When the group took on Ethan, Locke was taken out pretty quickly (not shown in the show, but there was a picture on the website that had Locke down and out during this episode). Jack is King of the Island.

Yeah, what Nash says and what Nash does are two different things. That doesn't mean I won't listen to what Nash says, cause the guy has one of the better minds in the business and clearly has put some thought into what he has been saying so he's worth a listen, but I won't necessarily believe what he says.

You _need_ filler episodes when you are writing for the long term. A second season and a first season are (and should be) handled differently. The first season had them introducing the characters and keeping us on our toes. The second season is trying to enhance the characters and lulling us into a false sense of security cause the bomb will be dropped. That bomb is The Others, which this episode helped get over and build towards. If you expect them to blow their wad in the first few episodes, then I'd hate to break it to ya, but it's not going to happen. I am happier with them going into a break without a cliffhanger because they did that way too much last year and it got frustrating. As a fan of both Sun and Jin, I enjoyed this episode. Jin showed strength, Sun showed weakness. Play it backwards and watch their other episodes and think of why Jin went on the raft and Jin becomes a sort of tragic character. It also showed how coincidentally (or not?) lucky the survivors were to have a guy who could catch fish. To have a guy who could catch boar. To have a doctor. To have a lifeguard. To have a guy who could build a raft. Meanwhile, the other survivors didn't have any of that. They're all pretty useless, it seems. They seem to be made up either very strong willed people, or very weak willed people. I would love to see how that group got widdled down from 23 to about 4 or 5. Plus they're totally building Mr. Echo (I prefer "Echo") up for something. I'm betting he gets killed by an Other to help establish that other as el totale badass (Which Jack must fight and beat, of course.) They also allude to Echos wife dying on the island, which will probably come into play (light spoiler) . Lockes coversation with Sun was also very revealing. It showed how Locke is viewed by people who aren't Jack. It also showed that Locke is keeping up a facade because he clearly has broken down in the past while on the island. Kate knows about the bottle, sorta revealed her feelings about Sawyer. And it also brought some light on Michaels desire to find Walt - it's not just because Walt is in danger, it's because Michael failed in his primary duty as a father, which is to protect his child. Michael coming to terms with not being able to save Walt quite yet is a good hurdle to clear, because one of these days Michael will get Walt back and he won't be acting so irrationally. Which means that bomb will 'splode somethin huge. This episode may haven't given everyone the answers they were looking for, but it wasn't useless by any stretch of the imagination. It set things up, it furthered things, it developed things. It let things breathe. These small episodes are just as necessary as the big episodes.

Yeah, it was a buffybot. I don't necessarily think it was in tribute, however. It was a device to convey the needed information, and Whedon drew upon a previous idea to get er done.

Locke ain't beat nobody. Jack beat Ethan, motherfucker. Ethan was an other, which automatically puts Jack atop the food-chain.

I really enjoyed this episode. Yunjin Kim is ridiculously hot and DDK is the man, so any episode that focuses on them rocks automatically. The Sawyer stuff was good, Mr. Echo vs. Jack © for the King of the Island title must happen.

Rich says to Rashad “this is forever bud” and I don't know what that means…but it sounds pretty motivational. - Forrest says what we all were thinking. This round goes to Griffin

I would actually like someone to explain what happened on The X-Files. There was a point a few summers ago (98 or 99) where I watched a fair amount of it through reruns/syndication on SPACE, and was interested in the storyline. I lost track of it, though, and the scatted bits and pieces I have seen in the later-seasons doesn't make any sense to me at all.

But that's an integral part of the show. It suggests something bringing them together - be it fate, or something more conscious. Or it could be one big fucking coincidence. The show balancing the supernatural with the real and letting you decide on your own (until otherwise stated), as best shown with the Hatch, is very important.

It's hard to say whether or not Rashad is good, because he looked good tonight, but it was against a guy who looked really, really bad.

What was shown on Unleashed??

I coulda swore the shows only serious weakness was the bad writing and bad wrestling.

Whether they would have outright fired JR -as in, removing him from the payroll- or not, we'll never know unless they don't bring him back at all. Rumour was they were going to keep him on WWE.com. But they were going to remove him from the announce position. JR would have played along if they intended on firing him, though. The dude knows the politics of the situation, the dude has done anything and everything for the company. They've fired him twice already and brought him back, so he knows there's opportunity for him in the future if he doesn't burn bridges. WWE could care less about the quality of announcing, though. The announcers they've hired over the past 10 years is indicative of that. Getting rid of JR wasn't a quality issue.

Not from what I've heard. He's been a few years removed from his position as VP of Talent. The scouts are much lower-level guys like Tommy Dreamer. The closest JR comes to talent relations is talking about various guys in his Ross reports and dropping hints that indy workers should start perfecting their tag work. On the side he does football announcing and maybe is still involved in his BBQ sauce business. That, and working on WWE.com are about it, from what I can see.