RTE Asks Us What We Think
March 18, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I dislike RTE because:
- Presenters way past their sell-by dates get paid exorbitant amounts to annoy us. Same presenters wouldn’t be employable outside of the state broadcaster. And why is Lucy Kennedy everywhere? I don’t know anyone who finds her amusing or even talented.
- The website uses Windows Players for video content. Mac users are unable to access. This flagrant ignorance really annoys me.
- They don’t take risks like UK channels do. I’m not talking ground-breaking risks, but just mild ones like actually allowing 20-somethings write comedy rather than 40 year old men who know nothing but just happen to be on the Montrose payroll (The English Class, Leave it to Mrs O’Brien, The Big Bow Wow anyone?)
But giving credit where it’s due, RTE is finally doing something that should be applauded. Acknowledging that ‘television is changing’ they put out a call 5 months ago for film makers to put forward new and creative ideas for drama. The finalists are now over on the Storyland part of the site and we the people of Ireland can vote for the ones we’d like to see produced into a second episode.
Amazingly, the videos can be viewed by all! They play as Flash videos. Now why can’t the good people behind Storyland have a word with their colleagues over on the main site?
You’ve got until 5pm on Monday 30 March to cast your vote. Go now.
I don’t want to sound like a whinger here, but the few I’ve looked at all look crap.
- Happy Slapper is just 29 seconds long and doesn’t reveal enough
- The intro to Pub World is too long, it took about 2 minutes (out of 4) before anything actually happened. Lots of overacting man looking surprised in pub before that.
- Chez Spuds‘ description reads well, but I stopped it after 10 seconds as it looks like another attempt at humour not working
- Same for Rental Boys. I like the concept, but unfortunately it’s another bad example of stereotypes.
I applaud RTE for this ground-breaking attempt at user generated content. But it’s just not doing it for me.
PS – I don’t hate all of RTE’s stuff. Last year’s drama ‘Raw’ was worth staying in for. Excellent stuff.
Tags: RTE Storyland
Comments (8 responses)
Have a look at pysch ward. I think it is excellent http://www.rte.ie/storyland/finalists/psychward.html
Did you see Episode one of Rental Boys, or just the promo? I thought it was very funny. Due to techncal problems at RTE,it was only loaded yesterday. http://www.rte.ie/storyland/finalists/rentalboys.html
@Caelen I intend to watch all the others this weekend and vote.
@Kay I watched the Rental Boys this morning.
“Happy Slapper is just 29 seconds long and doesn’t reveal enough” –
Thanks for your interest – but if you take another look, you’ll find that the show was late being launched due to censorship difficulties with RTE. It’s online now, and a bit of Googling will reveal that the uncut version is on YouTube for comparison purposes.
@Paul With 9 entries to choose from I don’t think the average viewer will bother to Google or search on Youtube. I will though, so thank you for bringing this to my attention.
As I say, Mary, the show is online now at http://www.rte.ie/storyland, and Googling or searching on YouTube is only necessary for those who want to see the uncensored, fully uncut version of Happyslapper.
@paul Firstly my name is not Mary. It’s Maryrose. If you’re going to comment on my blog and promote your piece, you might as well get that right.
So what you’re saying is that the piece most visitors will see and vote on at the Storyland site is not the best version?
That’s a pity.
Yes, it is a pity, I agree. The upside is – due to the Internet, it’s not the only version of the programme available for viewing. I look forward to discovering how it fares in the public vote. As the originator of one TV show that continues to succeed on both sides of the Atlantic, I’m always open to new arenas in which to reach the public.
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