Posts: 580 Location: Pennsylvania USA
Fri 23 Jan, 2015 4:26 pm
| Nathan Robinson wrote: |
I watched the first show. I didn't like the people. They annoyed me. They seemed like yahoos.
The sword aspect of things wasn't really relevant to me since it hasn't much to do with swords, or weapons for that matter. They're more metal art... or something. |
I wasn't going to give this show even a chance - but the other day I did tune in for just a little bit to see if I could stomach it. I approached it much more how Nathan has stated here, its not about the historical or even functional 'sword' but art. the guy's an eccentric artist, he's building what he wants to build, and I can respect that. and if he's making a living doing it then he's pulled off something I can't.
however, i would much more have liked for someone to exhibit functional blades and the artistry and balance that it takes to build a functional blade with proper harmonics balance - not to mention all the other aspects of incorporated decoration heck, if you just had someone making different pattern welded blades you could make an entire season on that. but i guess pounding steel then hours and hours and hours of grinding then polishing is not going to give a lot of exciting content for a tv show. I'd probably watch it though.
Posts: 249 Location: New Zealand
Sat 24 Jan, 2015 11:06 am
The unfortunate reality is that most of these "reality" programs are bottom feeders, made at the lowest possible cost, and chasing viewership against all the other bottom feeders out there in order to survive. They do that with outsize personalities and conflict (much of it engineered or outright scripted) that can be used in "impact"adverts.
So I have almost zero hope that balanced, quality TV about the reality of sword making and the skills and engineering behind what a sword "good", will ever be made. A few years ago it might have happened, but even history programs are now mainly infotainment, sacrificing depth in order to grab the largest possible popular audience.
Posts: 645
Sat 24 Jan, 2015 11:19 am
| Greg Ballantyne wrote: |
| The time when the Discovery Channel programming made a pretense toward living up to their supposed charter for existence disappeared in the rear view long ago. |
When did documentaries fall out of favor? Everything they air now is reality tv.
Honestly the only documentaries I feel are worthwhile are BBC and Channel 4 ones.
Posts: 462 Location: Cape Cod, MA
Sat 24 Jan, 2015 1:29 pm
In Hollywood there was a writers strike a number of years ago. That's when the reality craze started. Producers discovered you could get just as many viewers and advertising money on a show that didn't have writers, actors, or a set.
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