December 24, 2007
Check out all our lists for BuddyTV's Top 7 of '07 to relive the best and the worst of the year in television.
How did FOX's On the Lot go so horribly wrong? I love the behind-the-scenes struggles inherent in the filmmaking process, and when you throw a bunch of crazy directors into a reality show produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, you should have television gold. Instead we got this boring, uninspired, seemingly endless reality series that left me longing for the glory days of Project Greenlight.
August 22, 2007
On the Lot felt like a slam dunk prior to its premiere. The concept (competitive reality show for up and coming filmmakers) was rock solid. The creative team behind the show (Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, along with Carrie Fischer and Garry Marshall) was more than formidable. When it was announced that FOX was producing On the Lot, who would've bet against the show's success? FOX has proved to be a master of shepherding reality franchises into the troposphere. After weeks of promos on FOX, most of which appeared during American Idol, On the Lot premiered and the let down was almost immediate. FOX, Burnett, and Spielberg had failed miserably in delivering on the promising concept of On the Lot, leaving audiences with a troubled, contrived, and arbitrary reality show.
August 21, 2007
FOX is so damn shameless, it hurts sometimes. Tonight, we got an hour of On the Lot that contained only three seconds of footage that anyone really cares about: who won the whole thing. There were no new films to be screened. So, then, what did FOX fill up the hour with? Montages and recaps. It was reported that Steven Spielberg would be appearing tonight's finale and, while technically true, he didn't make an in-studio appearance as I assumed he would. He merely welcomed the winner to the Dreamworks lot at the end of the episode in a pre-taped bit. Oh, yeah, that's another thing. Tonight's episode wasn't live. First clue: it was dark outside and it's not dark in LA at 5PM. Anyway, here's what went down.
August 21, 2007
All right. This is it, everybody. Steven Spielberg will be in the house tonight to preside over the final episode of On the Lot. In fact, there's a better than likely chance that this will be the last On the Lot ever, thanks to disappointing ratings. Nonetheless, it'll be fun to have Spielberg grace us with his presence. He's in the middle of shooting Indiana Jones right now, so it's kind of incredible that he fit this in. Will Bigham, Jason Epperson, and Adam Stein are the last three filmmakers standing and tonight we'll find out who wins the million dollar film deal with Dreamworks. I'll be here throughout the hour giving live updates as the show moves along and eventually announces a winner.
August 14, 2007
The finale for On The Lot begins with the elimination of one contestant, bringing us down to three potential auteurs. The selection is Jason Epperson, Adam Stein, Will Bigham, and Sam Friedlander. Did America make the right choice? Unless that choice was to change the channel to IFC to see real up and coming film makers, the answer is no. Seriously though, Sam makes the walk of shame, waxing about how the experience taught him more about being a director. Funny, I actually feel like I know less about film making since starting to watch this show, its like it is sucking the knowledge from my skull.
July 24, 2007
The best film of the night was a 30-second Mountain Dew commercial featuring a killer ferret brandishing a chainsaw. Now, you may think such a statement is a slam against the remaining On the Lot filmmakers. Really, it's not. The Mountain Dew commercial was just spectacular. We're down to six contestants now, and that means that two of the filmmakers from last week had to be eliminated. In another one of the canned segments, Adrianna Costa cleavage-ly arrived in the filmmakers' patio to tell them who America liked least. Mateen Kemet and Kenny Luby were then eliminated.
July 17, 2007
Tonight's On the Lot was a bad night for the ladies. As viewers know, two of the five filmmakers who screened their films last week would be sent home, just like two of the five filmmakers who screened their films tonight will be going home next week. Adrianna Costa, in a pre-taped bit from earlier in the week, shows up to give the bad news: Hilary Graham and Shalini Kantayya received the fewest votes from America and have therefore been eliminated. Those were probably the right choices, although I do think Shalini has potential as a filmmaker.
Tonight, the five filmmakers screened action movies. It's not the best genre for a short film, but they hadn't done it yet, so I was on board. Antoine Fuqua (director of The Replacement Killers, Training Day, and Shooter) acted as guest judge tonight and he was relatively insightful. Here's what we saw:
July 9, 2007
“When two worlds collide...”
That is the premise of the five films that were screened on tonight's episode of On the Lot. Before we get to the films, however, Adrianna sends us straight to the taped footage of this week's elimination. Based on last week, I thought Mateen should have been sent home, but America felt differently. Adrianna informs everyone that Shira-Lee Shalit has been eliminated from the competition.
So, this week, five filmmakers (Zach, Hilary, Will, Shalini, and Adam) got the privilege of making their films on the Universal Studios lot. Incredible opportunity. Before the films begin screening, Adrianna gives us one more very important piece of information. Next week, there will be not one, but two filmmakers eliminated from the group of five. And the same goes for the week after that. On to the films!