Posts Tagged ‘Holidays’

Why Do TV Shows Always Jump The Shark On Holiday?

February 15th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in copy dvds
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“There’s no cure like travel to help you unravel the worries of living today” as Cole Porter once penned, not yesterday. But when a television show packs its parasol and heads for the metaphorical beach, why is it that so many end up launching themselves into a period of steep decline? The term we often use to describe the phenomenon, ‘jumping the shark’, betrays the link between holidays and the inevitability of decline for a TV show. Anyone up on their trivia will know that the term is in tribute to the ‘Hollywood’ three-parter of Happy Days. The lights of LA have called to the Happy Days cast, and the Fonz is challenged by a local hero, “The California Kid” to literally ski-jump over a great white shark. And well… he doesn’t end up as sharkmeat. That’s it.

There were actually one hundred and sixty four episodes after this one aired, but no matter how it clung on, the shark-jumping episode was always treated as a sign that something was very wrong in the writer’s room. In fact, clinging on is something shark jumpers are quite good at. A popular example from Friends’ 10 seasons happens with the case on Barbados Holidays , an already far out Rachel plot concluded with her completing her perpetual confusion cycle and kissing longtime romantic disinterest Joey. When it comes to running overlong, the Simpsons has them all beat and has reputedly jumped the shark at least twice every episode since about 1993. The common opinion is that the Simpsons was never quite as good after Principal Skinner was found out to be a fraud in ‘Principal and the Pauper’. But with at least one good Ralph Wiggum line (”When I grow up, I want to be a Principal. Or a caterpillar!”) I always felt that this episode ushered in one of the last truly great seasons of the show.

The jumping point was always Season 10 in my opinion. The episode ‘Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo’ is the ultimate low and yet again, a holiday episode: they head to Japan, ignoring Homer’s pleas for Caribbean holidays, and for no particular reason. The show’s daft portrayal of Japanese culture (seizure robots and paper-walled prisons) is offensive only to the viewer.

Why do TV shows so often fail on vacation? It’s the fact that it’s the ultimate gimmick. Even in the Simpsons, a new location requires a bunch of new assets and general expenditure, which all eats away at the usual priority of writing a decent script (not forgetting that though the shows above have all jumped the shark, they were once the best in their class on TV). Anyone considering a holiday episode for even the most successful of series’ would be best advised to reconsider: you may never be able to regain your credibility.

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How can you celebrate Easter Holidays, and how can you get the best Easter Cliparts and minatures

March 8th, 2010 by admin | No Comments | Filed in copy playstation games

Easter clipart can give you a different experience for your easter. Coming up with some Easter clipart will be a fun method to make some cards and if not, you can plainly get together with your children and have fun while drawing and painting. Easter is a season of good cheer, so the more colorful and brighter your clipart is, the better. The Internet is one of the most successful places in order to find some Easter clipart ideas. Easter bunnies in pastel blues, greens, yellows and browns, Easter eggs with rich designs and a touch of gold, plus silver on them, crosses decorated with flowering vines, chicks, baskets of goodies and colored backgrounds with  Happy Easter  written across it, are a few of the thousands of Easter clipart ideas. 

You can start your Easter clipart by penciling the design on the paper. If you are not too positive, you can do a couple of rough sketches beforehand. Easter clipart most often picture fun and good will. So, you can draw them with solid, well-defined lines and not worry too much about how good an artist you are. You are even free to copy some Easter clipart from the web, not merely by printing them out, but looking at them and drawing by yourself.

After you have the penciled picture you can start coloring it in all viable eye catching tones. Easter clipart is more like drawing cartoons. Still if you want to depict more serious subjects such as Jesus Christ risen from death, you can do so. An Easter clipart created by your very hands will add value to the cards you send rather than buying a printed card from the bookshop. The inner side of the cards can be filled by the poems you write for Easter.

As for children, let them come up with their own Easter clipart, or even a Nintendo Mii. You, as an adult can tell them a couple of Easter stories and give them ideas as to what they should draw. Matching bright tones is brilliantly done by the kids. Also, try decorating the clipart with silver and gold edgings. A bit of dust sprinkled will give an eye-catching effect.

Easter cliparts can also be used for decorating egg holders and gift baskets. The possibilities are infinite if you can use your imagination. After all, Easter is a vacation that is meant for families to get together and spread the love, hope and peace of Jesus  resurrection. This article was written by James Anderson he also writes regularly for Used Washing Machines

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