Comments on: Too Old For CZ TV?

By: Paranormal Magazine

Paranormal Magazine — Mon, 22 May 2006 17:11:58 +0000

As a technology fan my eyes gravitated to your mention of your appearance on G4tv’s “Attack of the Show”. There’s an interesting tale here. Attack of the Show was originally the program “The Screen Savers” on TechTV before TechTV merged with G4. The Screen Savers was an excellent and very popular television show that talked tech and covered nearly every innovation on the Internet for years. You would think that dealing with such cutting edge subjects like tech and the web, it would be hosted by young people. Not at all. The show was hosted by Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton. Neither of them old by any standard, but well beyond their twenties. Having mature hosts gave the show a credibility that made it one of (if not the) top tech show on television. When the show switched to younger hosts (in their 20s) it bombed and faded out entirely, being replaced by Attack of the Show. So, basically television executives would be wise to have a mature authority when dealing with subject matters that go beyond simple pop culture. Even MTV has Kurt Loder.

By: r.lee

r.lee — Sun, 21 May 2006 05:51:46 +0000

This is sadly accurate. Since I’ve turned 52, I’ve been noticing — in spite of myself — how almost all of media is aimed at, and depicts, people under 40. You’d think no one over 40, let alone 50, exists. If they do, they’re cranks, coots, or crazed menopausal women . . . great item Loren, and that journey with your sons sounded great.

By: Tabitca

Tabitca — Sat, 20 May 2006 13:40:11 +0000

Things have changed greatly at the BBC,I’m afraid. I can’t say more than that without getting into politics. However interestingly enough channel 5 showed a programme last night(Friday night) about the alligators in Florida becoming man eaters. They have shown a couple of programmes about Fortean subjects recently too.I understand they are a Europe wide company so may have funds for this sort of programme. Don’t give up Loren. From Oct 2006 in the UK,it against the law to discriminate against someone because of age.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Sat, 20 May 2006 03:58:39 +0000

Well, I have to say that as much of a Star Trek fan as I am, for me, Mr. Nimoy was always the guy from “In Search Of”…That’s probably where I first saw him, to be honest, although I know that probably dates me somewhat (Somewhere between Star Trek and the Next Generation). “In Search Of” was a powerful force in shaping my interests and my passions, and I must also thank the Margate and Absecon, NJ school libraries for having a decent spread of young reader books on the paranormal. I would have been one of the few kids who actually READ them, rather than just look at the pictures. It is perhaps telling that Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster lived in my closet, not the boogie man.

When someone mentioned Arthur C. Clarke, my immediate thought was, “Well, that’s British TV anyway, of course they’d do a series with him.” In my opinion, British TV is far more enlightened than the bread and circuses eye candy we get here in the states. Some of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen have come from the BBC. Surely if anyone could see the merits of your series, it would be someone there. Then again, the Sci-Fi Channel has done great things with their Ghost-Hunters series, maybe they’d be interested in a CZ equivalent. Regardless, keep trying…

By: Tabitca

Tabitca — Thu, 18 May 2006 22:05:27 +0000

traveler ..that means you will still be here long after we have gone and I hope carrying the torch. I have tried to instill in my daughter the stuff I have learnt but as a biologist, she is more concerned with pure scientific proof than I am , and so will probably not carry on what I have started. I shall however donate all my notes etc. to whoever is still here .

By: traveler

traveler — Thu, 18 May 2006 21:08:31 +0000

wow seeing all these ages makes me feel young..im 24. what i hate abuot these shows is that they never show anything anyway. i was into watching the original animal x on discovery( it was on usually at like 3am or so) and was dissapointed when i didnt see it on anymore. it was the first time i had heard of the salawa. Immagine my excite when flipping through some channels a couple years later and seeing animal x again. i was highly dissapointed at what i saw. it was like some spy show, with the director giving assignments to field agents who went out with technology and stayed at the sight for 3 days trying to get something on camera, or heat sensors or other things. what a fluke!! i think we need a great show that is educational, and uptodate on whats going on, with relation to the news and other things…hmm sounds familiar..maybe we could call it cryptomundo and have u science guys host it?

By: Tabitca

Tabitca — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:12:47 +0000

You are only as old as you feel…like you Loren I am a 20 year old in a 50 year old body.My last trip to loch ness I had to stay in a hotel…my back isn’t up to camping anymore..ouch!
All I can suggest is you try some UK TV channels. Channel 5 has shown a few cryptozoological programmes recently..they are always looking for ideas. The have a web page I believe.
My only contacts are at the BBC and they would probably say budget restraints etc.

By: lamarkable

lamarkable — Thu, 18 May 2006 12:12:30 +0000

Television is a self fulfilling prophecy. It appeals to the lowest end of the curve. Beyond ratings, which are an arbitrary measurement of interest, no one knows what the public wants, beyond an educated guess, focused soley on consumerism. If the television expert’s narrow bandwidth
framed communication with quasi humanoids, we would appear to be fantasy prone sociopaths fixated at the age of 12 with trinkets.

By: Vigus

Vigus — Thu, 18 May 2006 06:55:27 +0000

My first thought, well, that is what society has become. MTV generation? I’m only 27 and I remember when MTV actually showed videos and meant something to the youth (in a good way). Now MTV attracts “today’s youth”, which is super sad.
Next thought, did you see the last installment of Animal X? It had a cute girl and some other guy doing investigations, with a creepy old guy doing the narrating and commentary. Even on message boards, people were asking what the point of the creepy guy was. (honestly, I don’t know what his credentials were. I wasn’t familiar with him.) Loren, in no way do I see you as that creepy old guy.

I’m surprised the Discovery Channel (and all its offshoots), haven’t kept a full-fledged investigative show going. They have money to do the backing, and I would guess they have the resources to get something accomplished. They seem to only air spurts of shows on CZ. They seem to take CZ seriously to a point, but not beyond that. (Once it’s fact how else can they make money?)

Loren, as per what you were mentioning before, you are totally right. Where would the youth be without the knowledge from the elders? (not just in terms of CZ) When I got into Cryptozoology, it was because the books. Many were written towards the juvenile genre and that got me hooked ( plus, they often gave sources for the material, thus giving much credibility to the work being done).

If they can keep a show going in a proper rotation, the show could become ongoing. Video is the main median for today’s learning, which is something that can be “marketed”.

By: jjames1

jjames1 — Thu, 18 May 2006 02:54:57 +0000

twblack, you’re a perfect example of what I’ve mentioned. You said “In Search Of was a great show although yes we all new MR. Spock that is not what any of us here watched the show for. I think we watched it because it gave even more news about the things we are all interested in.” The key point being you’re part of the built in audience. You would have watched the show if Nimoy hosted it or if Big Bird would have hosted it.

The network knows it has you. Their challenge is to draw in other viewers who have little to no interest in the overall topic.

On the other hand, as Jeremy shows in #26, I suppose there are some people with a built-in interest in a topic who might tune out due to the host/production values. However, that’s where the real number crunching comes in, e.g. is the number of built-in audience members likely to tune out greater than or less than the number of new viewers that we’ll attract with the addition of element X to the show? Market research can help in this area!