Last week, I offered a wish list of things I’d like to see on television. One of the things I didn’t mention was my idea to revamp awards shows like the Emmys or the Oscars. My suggestion is that producers take some cues from ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption (PTI). This fast-paced half-hour, hosted by Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, features a multi-split screen with sports stats and other information displayed during the show. The most important element is a timer and the episode guide displayed on the left of the screen. The guide shows the content of the show and a pointer indicates where the show is at in the line up. Once a subject’s time is up, a bell rings and it’s on to the next subject.
In an awards show version of this show, you could tune in and see what award they’re on, tune out for a while, then return in time to see the award you’ve been waiting for. But instead of turning to another network entirely, you could check out backstage events, pull up a director’s filmography, or get further details on trivia crawling along the bottom of the screen. But wait, isn’t that what Interactive or iTV is all about? If so, where is it?
Don’t look now, but it’s already here — in a sorta-kinda way.
The most prevalent way viewers “interact” with a TV program is through two screens — their computer screen and their television screen. In other words, they’re watching a show while connected to the show’s Web site. Although this isn’t true iTV, networks like the History Channel, PBS, and the Discovery Channel recognize that the viewer who goes to the trouble of tuning in and logging on at once may be in the minority, but is also a loyal fan. These networks have designed their sites to satisfy these special viewers, according to Terry Borst in a January article written for the Writers Guild of America.
Of course, if you subscribe to certain cable or satellite carriers, you already have access to iTV. Unfortunately, conflicting delivery systems means that you may be able to see an interactive version of one show, but not another. Enter OpenTV. The iTV software developer recently launched a new application making it easier for networks and producers to create iTV applications and make them accessible by set-top boxes formerly unable to support an embedded Web browser, according to Ryan Naraine, writing for Internet. com. Most set-top boxes are already loaded with OpenTV Core middleware. The new technology just makes it easier for boxes of various capabilities to decipher interactive content.
When will iTV be the talk around the water cooler? Maybe sooner than you think, if the following is any indication. Notoriously slow in keeping up with present trends, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the group that hands out the Emmy Awards, recently instituted an award for innovation in interactive content. The creation of this award, in addition to the American Film Institute’s Enhanced TV Workshop (which brings iTV developers and network producers together), may indicate that iTV is close to becoming a visible blip on the average TV viewers’ radar.
How’d They Do That?
Film fans have a new reason to watch television. The Sundance Channel’s Anatomy of a Scene features interviews with key collaborators on a film, discussing a pivotal or difficult scene from the perspective of the writer, editor, camera operator, etc. Each compact 30-minute episode demystifies the filmmaking process — which may appeal more to the true cinema addict than to the average filmgoer content to revel in movie magic. This month’s featured film is Peter Bogdanovich’s The Cat’s Meow. Anatomy of a Scene: The Cat’s Meow airs April 29, May 1, and May 5 on the Sundance Channel. Check local listings for various air times.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
The Independent Film Channel (IFC) recently launched Dinner for Five. Jon Favreau (Swingers, Made) created and hosts the series, which features him sitting down to food and conversation with four celebrities. The show is unscripted with cameras kept at an unobtrusive distance. Talk can range from experiences in show business to the texture of undercooked fish. Future guests include Jeff Goldblum, Ileana Douglas, Rod Steiger, Kevin Pollak, Marilyn Manson, and Ray Romano. Dinner for Five airs on Mondays, 7pm, on IFC. Parent channel Bravo will have a special airing of the series this Friday, April 26, at 9pm.
Westward Ho!
Three families relive life as homesteaders in 1880s Montana in Frontier House, a new reality series. The three-episode special airs April 29, April 30, and May 1, at 8pm on PBS.
The Fiction of Fact
Production has begun for The Real World: The Lost Season, an original TV movie inspired by MTV’s popular reality series. Unlike the real Real World, actors in The Lost Season are cast as housemates. The tongue-in-cheek take on The Real World is an effort to expand the franchise while taking a satirical look at the reality genre in general, according to Brian Graden, president of MTV entertainment.
The Real World: The Lost Season premieres on MTV on August 6. The 12th season of the regular series, The Real World: Las Vegas, is currently in production and debuts in July.
This article appears in April 26 • 2002.