Amazon REBELS From Good Content

Article first published as Amazon REBELS From Good Content on TheTVKing.

One of Amazon's new comedy pilots is The Rebels. Julie Levine's (Natalie Zea, Justified, The Following) husband dies and she inherits a football team called The Rebels. Unfortunately, she knows little to nothing about the sport, complaining about the team's "costumes," but after a few sad words from her son, Chris (Aidan Potter, Playing for Keeps), decides to keep them, much to the dismay of other owners. Now if she can only figure out how to turn the losing team around...

Right out of the box it seems a little odd that Julie's husband is so beloved for having a team with such a poor record. He must have really been one special person in order for everyone to forgive him for his lack of wins. So the premise is a little off.

The team itself is ridiculously cartoonish. After Julie appoints her inherited bumbling assistant, Danny (Josh Peck, Drake & Josh), to General Manager, something that could or should never happen, we see him go through the roster of inept players, including Lamont (Affion Crockett, This Means War), who avoids getting let go through tears. It's a Bad News Bears-esque situation, a bunch of misfits who were somehow hired to play professional football, but surely don't act like the athletes we're familiar with.

Because of rights issues, The Rebels can't mention the NFL. Instead, they choose other letters, even though they seem to keep the same sportscasters, cameoing as themselves. I know this is an unavoidable logistics issue, the same reason a fake team is chosen, but it's distracting and will confused some viewers, who will likely assume the team is not in the national league.

This series is also set in L.A. Why L.A.? It's not like they're known for their football, so I guess perhaps that's why the writers think they can get away with putting a terrible team there, if there was any thinking behind the decision at all. But it's a setting I've recently complained in other reviews has been done to death, and it sucks they're using it again. The only benefit of being in L.A. is that it makes the drug parties and monkey with a gun seem just a tad more realistic, as that is about the only city in the country such shindigs would take place in without anyone blinking an eye.

The male romantic lead introduced in The Rebels is Rick Massella (Hayes MacArthur, Go On, Perfect Couples). He's a washed-up player whom Danny approaches to play quarterback after the ego of their draft pick, referred to as "Jesus" (Alan Ritchson, Blue Mountain State), proves a bad fit for the group chemistry. But of course Rick has already had a bad run-in with Julie, making his plot as rote as it is predictable, and setting the two up for an eventually messy relationship.

And that's really the whole problem with The Rebels. As much as I like Zea, Peck, and MacArthur as actors, and they lend as much authenticity as possible under the circumstances to the roles, the story is a familiar movie formula from last century, and there's little originality to be found. The Rebels may be enjoyable, certainly better than the similar freshman baseball sitcom Back in the Game, but far from anything groundbreaking.

Halfway through Amazon's current batch of pilots, I'm disturbed by the lack of freshness in this round. After a great initial launch last year, one might assume Amazon aimed to compete with the premium and cable channels willing to take chances in their offerings and do something different. The Rebels is not a good step in that direction.

The Rebels "Pilot" is available now for free streaming on Amazon.

The Trouble With Football

Article first published as The Trouble With Football on Blogcritics.

 It's been a frustration of television fans for a long time that sometimes sports, mainly football, runs over into the favorite programming, pushing the broadcast time later. In the days before DVRs, one tuned in when the show was airing, anyway, and aside from possibly having to stay up a bit later, it wasn't that big a deal. But now that many record their shows, and don't check in on them when they are on, this has become a problem.

One side of the issue is that DVR technology has just not caught up with the real world. It's great to be able to record things, but often the schedule updates maybe once a day. Because the DVR does not track what is airing in real-time, it cannot make adjustments when the NFL teams take a bit longer than is scheduled.

I assume that the fix will ultimately come from DVRs being able to tell when this occurs. Until this happens, though, we are liable to miss the second half of The Good Wife, and I don't see that as an acceptable concession.

On a side note, if CBS would join the rest of the broadcast networks in the modern era and make their shows easily available to stream online, the problem would be less urgent. But since they focus on the older viewership, their main audience, they don't seem to be in any hurry to catch up with the times. And CBS has been the main offender for this problem lately.

One solution some DVR owners choose to pursue is to set their recording times a half hour or an hour longer. There are a couple of problems with that, though. Sunday night is arguably the biggest night of the week for TV, with cable channels such as HBO, AMC, and Showtime running their new installments mainly on this night, and ABC, CBS, FOX, and PBS competing, too. Most DVRs record two shows at once, and it takes away from other channels if you let one show record at double length. Also, unless you have one of the massive TiVos that can record hundreds of hours of HD programming, you might be concerned you don't have the space to hold more. (Disclosure: I do have a massive TiVo that can record four shows at once, and I still run into both of these things.)

But I think the sports run-over runs deeper than this. We, as a society, have decided that sports is the most important of all of the television programming, especially NFL football. It gets more viewers than anything else, makes more money from ads, and thus, gets the top priority. The network isn't about to cut off the end of the game for fear of angering the source of their income.

 Why is football so popular? Isn't it basically the same thing week after week? Guys run at each other and try to move a ball down the field. There won't be any exciting plot twists, and the memorable moments come few and far between. What is the draw?

We see this in scripted television, too, with CSI and NCIS topping the ratings, even though they virtually always stick to a single formula, with stand-alone installments. Is the point here that people want mindless escapism that they don't have to think about, and can tune in or not at their convenience, rather than scheduling their lives around it (for the most part)?

Why doesn't the cream rise to the top? Why don't the higher quality, more complex shows draw football ratings? This is a phenomena I will never understand, nor really have any desire to. It just disappoints and frustrates me that this is the reality we live in.

However, considering the two points this essay has made thus far, that DVRs aren't ready to adjust, and that football will always be given first dibs on the airwaves, isn't there something that can be done to solve the problem now?

The simple solution seems to be to schedule the football air times longer. Afterall, it's not unusual for the game to run longer than schedule. It's the norm, rather than the exception, for this to happen. Why not pad the time a little bit, and just let the post-game commentators ramble on a bit longer if the competition should end early? I really don't understand why this hasn't happened yet. It's so obvious!

That being said, if you do know why this can't be done, please weigh in on the comments below. Seriously.


This situation arises to my thoughts this week because of the Super Bowl. Yes, I'll TiVo it, like many, but I plan on fast forwarding through the game and just watch the commercials. However, more important than ads is the brand new episode of Elementary that airs after. I definitely do not want to miss any of that clever show! If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's very good.

Sure, this is the Super Bowl, and perhaps this is the one time of year that run-over can be excusable; after all, this is the Big One. But what is the excuse the rest of the year?

Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!

If a Tiger cheated in the Woods...

     Everyone in America is obsessed with Tiger Woods right now.  He's been all over the news, talk radio, late night chat shows since his car accident and subsequent adultery revelations.  There are articles about him in every newspaper and on every online site.  Examiner.com already has plenty, and they top the popularity list.  Though I thought I was about to enjoy my weekend, I guess I am jumping into the fray and joining the band wagon before I relax.

     I am the Lexington TV Examiner, and as such I feel I need to tie this story into my topic.  That's easy.  The one place Tiger Woods is not right now is on television commercials.  While sponsors have just begun to drop Woods, many are still sticking behind him, but none are running ads featuring the golfer.  According to CNN, there has not been a single commercial aired this month yet with Tiger Woods in it.  I, for one, am equal parts relieved and disappointed.  Relieved, because Tiger is not totally dominating my world.  Disappointed because commercials are the one thing on TV I pay very little attention to.  That's why I have two TiVos.

     It bothers me quite a bit that everyone is talking non-stop about Tiger.  I couldn't care less that he had an affair, or many.  I don't follow sports, so maybe I just don't understand the need to keep up with athletes.  However, I really don't care when any famous personality has an affair.  It's not that I support going outside the marriage.  Quite the opposite.  I just don't understand how this is news.  How does this story affect you in any way, except that you don't get to see Tiger pop up in between scenes of your favorite television show?

     I realize I have no hope of changing the culture.  Throughout human history, the masses have always been obsessed with the well known personalities.  In the internet age, where information is instant and constant, it's only gotten worse.  And if you are reading my article, it's probably because you were searching out the topic, and may have already clicked away, frustrated at my condemnations.  Let me say, I do not think ill of you if you have been one of the many thus far.  However, I beg of you, reconsider how you spend your time.  I think it likely I may regret the few minutes it took me to type this up.  I could have been watching Bones instead.