Reviews

I like Ghost Adventures, even though Nick is gone and Zak has become increasingly given to pontificating and wearing art school clothing (black on black and thick rimmed glasses). That show is still interesting, both in the historical places they visit and the experiences they have. I guess it's not easy coming up with interesting places that are reputed to be haunted on a consistent basis, so they ventured into Aftershocks (which is okay) and Deadly Possessions. This show feels cheap and slapped together, and not authentic, a bit like the Ryan Buell paranormal show with Penn State students. People come in with objects they think are linked with the paranormal, and Zak sits listening, trying to ask overly provocative questions, and even with cuts to dramatic recreations of events, nothing really happens, it's just rather dull storytelling on the whole. If I had watched this show first and had never seen Ghost Adventures, I'd imagine GA must be a boring, hokey show and avoid watching it. It's a poor effort, and fails primarily because it has a premise that is hard to make interesting and believable. I don't know, what does a ghost hunter do in his spare time? Is it possible to make staying at home and talking to average people with objects they think might be bad interesting and worth watching? Not in this case, unfortunately.

Always expect a little cheesiness in paranormal shows, it's the nature of the beast. This show uses the formula from shows like A Haunting and Paranormal Witness. In those shows they have the actual people who experienced the events talking about them, and a separate set of actors portraying the people in the situations they describe to solidify what they are talking about. Fair enough, they take dramatic license but it's for entertainment. This show uses actors pretending to narrate their experiences, and then a separate set of actors to act them out. Seriously, what the hell? Why not simply use the same set of actors for both duties? And the actors are not great by any stretch- their narration is dull and flat, like watching a commercial where someone is trying to sell coffee or some new medication. The other shows may be cheesy, but at least there is some feeling of authenticity when the real people relate their experiences, and you can decide for yourself whether they are being truthful. This show is more like a con job, so fake it's irritating. Which is a shame, because if the stories are based on real events, they would be compelling if the real people were included. It is on Lifetime right now. After watching a few episodes, it just bugs me too much, and I'm changing the channel and won't be watching again.

I may be too hung up on trying to understand things, but Triptank is just a mess of half baked animated shorts that has no cohesive thing that keeps it together. It relies way too heavily on bloody/dismemberment gags and way too little on funny set ups or clever writing. I watch it and think of someone stitching together some of the more mediocre stuff produced as student projects at some animators' school. It's not ready for prime time. Are you listening, whoever organizes this show? Watch a few seasons of Robot Chicken, and then make your best effort at a knock off of that show, you know, a show with humor. And Comedy Central, you don't need to grab just any animated creation. Granted a duo like Parker and Stone don't come along too often, but there must be better animated shows available to air.

I wanted to like this show, but found it totally contrived. The intro is done by a narrator with what apparently is supposed to be a reassuring good ol' boy accent, introducing the cast of characters and explaining the special aspects of each of their personalities. Reminds me a lot of Waylon Jennings narrating Dukes of Hazard, except Waylon knew that his show was tongue in cheek, and this narrator was apparently told to take his duties seriously. The show itself consists mainly of the scruffy looking cast of Southern stereotypes bumbling around supposedly haunted locations, uttering the most banal and obvious observations on what they think they are experiencing. Makes me want to bang my head on a hard surface. It's so damned dull, there's no spark, there's no real reason to continue watching. And incidentally, there are plenty of smart people from the South. Why they would cast such a low voltage group of "personalities" who have so little to offer the audience is beyond me. Avoid this show. And I'd also avoid the super fake "Haunted Collector" show that precedes it. Though they can be hit or miss, I think Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth are far better shows.