Week 9

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Blog week 9

Nine characteristics of quality TV

I applied these characteristics to the series Twin Peaks (1990-1), which I recently watched on DVD.
One: Quality pedigree. The creator already has a record of quality production. David Lynch had already directed Eraserhead (1976), The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet (1986), all of which were quite unique from other films and from each other. Co-creator Mark Frost had made the night-time soap Hill Street Blues.

Two: the show has had to struggle against resistance from the broadcast company. Before the show went into production it had to prove itself with a successful pilot TV movie. Even after the pilot scored high ratings, ABC would only commit to an initial series of six episodes.

Three: a large ensemble cast. Kyle MacLachlan had already been in two of Lynch’s movies, Dune (1983) and Blue Velvet. He has appeared in many other movies since the 1990s as well as the big shows Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. Grace Zabriske, Lara Flynn-Boyle, Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee and Madgen Amik have also gone on to many movie and TV roles. Heather Graham and David Duchovny got some of their early exposure in Twin Peaks.

Four: Memory – characters remember things and viewers can see consistency and development of characters. Agent Cooper’s unorthodox methods originally create puzzlement, but as the show progresses even cynics like Agent Rosenfeld urge Cooper to follow his instincts.

Five: It creates a new genre by mixing old ones. There are elements of elements of the supernatural mixed in with the detective genre (this probably influenced the X-files). There are also the small-town gossip soap and comedy genre elements.

Six: Literary and writer-based. There is great attention given to the writing of the show. Twin Peaks is probably a negative example. The second season lost its way because the narrative was not held on track, especially when the two co-creators were absent for a time.

Seven: Self-conscious of itself and other texts. The characters in Twin Peaks watch a fictional TV soap called ‘Invitation to Love’ which mirrors the action in the main story.

Eight: Controversial topics. The show includes incest, and teenage prostitution and drug dealing.

Nine: Aspires towards realism – emotional realism at least. Some incest survivors have pointed out that Laura Palmer’s split-personality and rich fantasy world mirrors their own emotional experiences (Karen Legerman 1992).


What role do fans play in constructing cult TV? How is new media central to this?


Fans of TV shows can change the perceived genre of a show into that of ‘cult’ (Hills 2004). How?
One: inter-textuality – they compare a TV show with other shows or media productions and find similarities which the producers might not have intended.
Two: fans explicitly refer to their favoured show as ‘cult’, thus defining its genre.
Three: fans create a public ‘image’ or identity for the fan group. Fans can organise themselves into associations and hold annual conventions. These are highly visible and can be covered by the media. The image or identity of the group is further reinforced by the publication of magazines and books.
Four: fans create a market for merchandise (Hills 2004).
The new media of the internet changes fan groups in a number of ways.
One: it makes it technically easier for fans to get in touch and correspond with each other.
Two: it makes fandom seem less ‘anti-mainstream’ (Hills 2004). Nowadays the internet is used by all sorts of people to discuss or spread ‘trivial’ information (such as the facebook groups dedicated to trivial things).
I would add some other points about the internet. It allows for more focussed and more quality analysis of a particular series by international fans. Hills pointed out that some commercial ‘cult’ TV magazines kept their subject matter vague and broad, no doubt to keep the customer base broad, and relied on pretty-girl covers. Economic considerations might also encourage fan clubs to focus on sensationalism (such as costumes) in their conventions, to the detriment of analysis. Internet sites are so much cheaper that fans have the ability to concentrate on analysis. Sensationalism might well continue, but one can choose between different online sites or groups, regardless of where one lives.

APA References

ohrer, F. (2005). Saying no to London 2012. Retrieved September 02, 2009 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4272113.stm

Hille, K. (2009). China profits from Olympics. Retrieved September 02,2009 from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5f6f419c-5cee-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F5f6f419c-5cee-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fdelicious.com%2Fnzyy2008&nclick_check=1

64% of Londoners support Olympics. Retrieved September 02, 2009 from http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23724541-details/64%25+of+Londoners+support+Olympics/article.do

Meyer,H. (2008). could you be an Olympic winner?. Retrieved September 02, 2009 from http://money.scotsman.com/scotsman/articles/articledisplay.jsp?article_id=9958758&section=Life%20Insurance&prependForce=SM_

Bristow, M. (2008). Big Olympic spend, but little debate. Retrieved August 31, 2009 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7523235.stm

Beijing Olympics seem long gone. However it did bring a lot of financial to China. Like I said it created job opportunities, boosted tourism, it created new venues & sports facilaties for the Chinese people. The Olympic is like a catalyst to push the government to accelerate the process of building infrastructure which they might otherwise have taken years to complete. However, do not forget how much China spent on this global event.

Someone asked, did the Chinese people really care about the money the government spent? Actually, it attracted a little debate on this issue. A 26-year-old said "It's worth it because this is an opportunity for the world to understand China and for us to entertain them.” Another resident, 30-year-old Zhang Ke, said: "We ought not to be evaluating the Olympics by asking how much it costs." Just like what the London people said for their bid for the 2012 Olympics. This is because of the many long term continuous benefits that the Olympics delivers to which it is hard to attach a financial value to.

I'm in full agreement with both of these points of view, especially the latter one. It is far more beyond just earning some money. Olympics is a very unique global event that can brings people together to fulfill their "Olympic dreams" and brings much pride & glory to their country. It gives those athletes an opportunity or platform to show off their skills for which they have been spent years & years training for.

Also, let's not forget that the Olympics have helped boost growing Chinese pride. Excitement among local Chinese has grown throughout the country. The new wave of enthusiasm is driven by national pride and patriotism for China serving as the host nation of the Olympic Games. Also because it hosted a hugely successful & popular Olympics, Beijing's standing in the world has been improved immensely. Beijing’s voice is getting stronger and stronger in any kind of international conferences or activities. It truly embodied the comprehensive strength of China.
To the people of China, this was their "lucky Olympics" because it commenced on the 8th Aug, 2008. The No.8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture. In Chinese, it pronounces “ba”, it means prosperity. Because this number has such a great meaning, it seems as if it was China's destiny & good fate to host this event no matter what.

It is a very rare opportunity for any country to be awarded the hostings right for the greatest spectacle on earth, the Olympic Games. China certainly embraced this opportunity and, as I have highlighted, it produced a Games that will long be remembered by the world which delivered many benefits to the country and its people. The Olympics was definitely not a waste of money, certainly not for China

Benefits from Olympics for China

Officials have revealed that China made RMB1.16bn ($170m) operating profit from the Beijing Olympics. RMB 79.6 billion ($11.67 billion) from tourism revenue alone. Beijing has now replaced Shanghai as China's hottest tourist destination this year with its Olympic and post Olympic's appeal. Beijing registered a huge increase of 35 percent in tourists traffic during the past
National Day holiday. The Olympic venues became the most favourite places for tourists to visit instead of Forbidden City and Great Wall.


Not only has Tourism shown an increase in revenue, but also there has been a major increase in the Beijing's Job Market. It provided 430,000 jobs in major construction projects, the retail and wholesale industry also created 130,000 new jobs. Moreover, the financial, insurance, IT and telecommunications industries also earned significant revenues from the Olympic Games.

The Olympics promoted cohesion in society. China has not had national event since “cultural revolution”. The Olympics really brought the Chinese people together. People were learning basic English, no matter if they were a primary school student or a over 80-year old person, everyone was so passionate about learning English. Official statistics says, nearly five million Beijing residents (35 percent of Beijing's population) have a certain level of spoken English, and it also encouraged about 30 million foreigners to learn some Chinese. Also the learning of all kinds of exercises became popular during Olympic period. The whole country was unified and there was patriotism evoked in everyone’s heart, because they wanted to show the best side of China to the world. Not to mention that the Olympics accelerate the speed of the city and country‘s development.


According to these facts, I believe Olympics was certainly not a waste of money for China.

It is not a waste of money for China

I do not know what other countries think about this issue, but it is my opinion that it was definitely not a waste of money for China. I believe that 99% of Chinese were fully supportive of the Olympic Games. It is because Chinese people have the desire to show the pride they have in their city and country. The country was eager to show the world what they have become and what they have really achieved. What China achieved in staging such an incredibly successful Olympics will leave a great legacy to the world. 64% of Londoners support Olympic because of that.

“Stunning, spectacular” you can find many words to describe 2008 Beijing Olympic ceremony. “Modern & beautiful” to describe China's new national stadiums known as the Bird's Nest for the athletics, and the Water Cube for the swimming and diving competition. These are an example of some of the lasting impressions of what Olympics can leave for the country and for the whole world. Those fantastic sports facilities that they created really earned impressive face for the country and its people. I am the sort of person who really needs face if you know what I mean. From this point, organizing Olympic was certainly not waste of money.

The controversy about whether Olympics are a waste of money becomes a focus every time after a term. I saw an article says there are only 2 host countries made profit from Olympics which are 1988 Seoul Olympics and 1992 Barcelona Olympics after 1980. Seoul made profit of US $300million, US $5 million for Barcelona. So, what about 2008 China Beijing Olympics, how much Chinese government spent on Olympics? Just wait a moment, let me clear my throat. The answer is $42bn according to Wall street Journal’s report. However, China official announced US$2.3bn. It has a massive gap between these two figures. Somehow it still is a huge figure for either of them. I am not going to focus on which figure is more accurate, let’s put this aside first. My attention is to if Olympics are so expensive, why countries are still bidding for hosting the Olympics?

Are Olympics a waste of money?

Do you still remember 2008 China Olympics? I think 2008 China Olympics is one of the most memorable events, especially its opening with its creative and stunning scene really exhibit the prosperous side of China .

And also we all know it needs colossal amount of money to organize it and to operate it. Is it worth to put money into this 17 days event? Can organizing countries get profit out of it? I do not know maybe I will find answer while I am blogging.

However, honestly, I am inclined to put money into Olympics.