Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Writing A Blog On A Show You Hate. Now That's Different: A Project Run(A)Way Hater's Perspective

Anybody can write a blog on a show they like.

That's easy. You're a fan of a show. You love a show. You refuse not only to miss an episode, but insist that you watch it when it first airs (TIVO and DVR be damned). You watch every move, nuance, flaw. Nothing escapes your eye. Then, you excitedly go onto your computer and share your thoughts with the world via your "enter your favorite show here and let me tell you what I think" blog and then proceed to read 5,000 other "enter your favorite show here and let me tell you what I think" blogs that essentially say the same thing.

If you're a fan of a show, you will involve yourself in this scenario every single week, and happily so. It's not work. It's a hobby. And you love it.

Fan blogs: It's been done the world over.

This is what I was in the process of explaining to my girlfriend, L.A. Daily News sports columnist Ramona Shelburne, recently when she suggested that I start a fan blog on a TV show I like. I'm a writer and editor and already host a blog (http://www.nevdogg.blogspot.com/) and podcast (http://www.mikeandnev.blogspot.com/), so this idea of me writing a fan blog wasn't a bad one. But I hesitated. What could I possibly say that hasn't been said? What approach could I possibly take that hadn't been done?

And then...

"Hey babe," I said, "when does Project Runway start?"

"Project Runway?" she replied. "I thought you hated that show."

"Exactly," I said. "It's boring, pretentious, snobbish, deals with ugly fashion and stupid hairdos, and it would be a miracle if I was able to watch an entire episode without wanting to chuck my head through the television set.

"Now that would be a blog."

And here we are.

My name is Nevin Barich. I'm from Los Angeles and grew up in California's San Fernando Valley. I enjoy chili cheeseburgers and anything wrapped in bacon. I like sports, action movies, and the only reality shows I like are Survivor, Apprentice and Hogan Knows Best. My fashion sense includes holes in my socks and shirts I still own from the seventh grade. To this day, I wear my high school gym shorts to sleep because they're roomy and I look good in them.

I've seen approximately 13 minutes of Project Runway in my lifetime and hated every second of it. Nonetheless, I am going to watch every episode this season and give you an entirely new perspective: The Hater's Perspective.

This...is Project Run(A)way.

God help us all.

--------

(The idiocy of thank-you cards. The de-evolution of Super Bowl parties. And how Beverly Hills 90210 showed us...the way. These all-too-important topics, and many more, are tackled every week at http://www.nevdogg.blogspot.com/)

(Lindsay Lohan's lebanism. How robots are portrayed in Hollywood. And Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer sharing a ham sandwich. These subjects are stupid, pointless and irrelevant. In short: They're the things that matter most. Listen about these topics and more on the podcast "Things That Matter With Mike And Nev," only at http://www.nevdogg.blogspot.com/)

3 comments:

Ramona said...

Wow, you're brave Nev. Project Runway is very, very popular. Prepare yourself for the unfurling of a lot of very angry gay men and teenage girls.

golfwidow said...

I love meeting Jewish people (I was one myself, before I decided I preferred rolling my own religion) who like bacon and cheeseburgers as much as I do.

I am a straight woman. My husband, to the best of my knowledge, is a straight man. We watch Project Runway more for the "holy crap that's so bad it's funny" factor than for any sort of love of reality shows, fashion, or made-for-camera conflict.

Anonymous said...

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