On The Lot

As I mentioned last week, I wanted to check out the new reality show On The Lot which is being used to find America's next top director. Well, I've now watched most of 4 episodes and definitely have mixed feelings about the show.

I personally thought the first two episodes were good. They focused on cutting a group of 50 hopeful directors down to 18 and did so by giving them three challenges. The first was to fill in a plot and pitch a movie based on a single line story (i.e. A large box bound for a military base is delivered to a suburban home instead). The show followed some of the directors as they worked on their pitches and showed some of the pitches that were made to the judges. After some eliminations, the second task was to form teams of 3 and make a 2.5 minute film in 24 hours. Again, the show followed a few of the teams as they worked and interacted. Again, parts of some of the films were show and another round of cuts was made. Overall, I thought this part of the show (most of last week's episodes) was well done and really interesting to watch, but then things changed.

At the end of last Thursday's episode, the group was given a last task to create a movie in one hour and the episode ended with a few teasers about some of the issues that would pop up during this task. Well, when I tuned in to Monday's episode, it seemed like something was missing. I'm not sure if Fox cut an episode, but the directors had finished the 1 minute/1 hour films, been cut to 18 contestants and had already created new 1 minute action-comedy films. The entire 2 hour episode was spent being introduced to the directors, watching their movies (which can also be seen online) and hearing the judge's opinions. It was then the tv audience's job to vote for their favorites. I'm not sure if this change in the show structure was planned all along and just felt choppy or if low ratings caused the show creators to make what felt like American Idol: The Director. Anyways, the new feel didn't work as well for me, and while there is definitely some talent and interesting characters/directors, I'm not sure if the show will be worth tuning in to on a weekly basis this summer.

I guess I'll give the show one more week to win me over and report back again. Also, I plan on checking out and blogging about Pirate Master (which looks a Survivor ripoff but is created by the same guy), but I have very little hope for this series.