Who's Running This Show Anyway?!

So, my wife is watching HGTV's reality television show "Design Star" which, in its second season, has gained enough popularity to begin its "kiss of death" karmic run into oblivion. But that's besides the point. To say my wife is watching means that I, with intermittent glances over my laptop, catch several moments during the episode while my wife is watching it at warp speed on our Digital Video Recorder (DVR).



Well, besides being a source of high unintentional comedy, this show's producers baffle me and are proof that my suggestion they are on their way to irrelevancy is sound. Why? Because the first episode that debuted- i.e., the "casting special" was really more like "special ed" for producers. Besides having a repeated hack job on the opening sequence (ooh wait, that may have been the second episode- more incompetence, yay!) the idiots made the biggest faux pas in television, especially reality TV.

They gave away the ending.

OK, so whoopee, the revelation of the show's 2 biggest draws, "who" and "where" was literally after the next commercial break, but come on people!

So what happened? Well, it's simple. From minute one the "Design Star" casting special was touting: a) who makes the cut? and b) in what city/state/design-needy locale will they be designing? They continued to play this angle up in virtually every fade out to commercial and during commercials. Until the last commercial break.

What did they do that was so dumb? The frickin' producers ran a promo spot for the upcoming season of their own show! OK, so? Well, it would be OK except for the fact that said spot showed, um, well... geez ALL the finalists during upcoming episodes and THEN proceeded to tout the "secret" location via host Clive "I'm so British and so... well, British, I simply must be overly dramatic so you know I'm, um, British. OH, and gay!" Pearse. (This author, blog and site do not in any way, shape or form condone expressions, actions, or any form of public scrutiny, bias, or mockery of other people's biological, ancestral or geographic origin, personal preferences such as religion, gender and sexual preferences, or others' personal and public opinions and the previous comments are simply meant as innocent jesting. If you do not believe me, go and ask several of my best friends who are, indeed, gay men and women, but unfortunately, not British- which is OK because EVERYONE makes fun of the British.)

So, my wife was fast forwarding through a show that's purpose was to create drama by highlighting 30 some-odd contestants that were being screened down to 11 finalists and finding out the "surprise" location the show would take place all to very quietly be scooped/spoiled by its own commercial right before the shocking/dramatic/suprising reveal at the end? What a mockery of itself!

Now granted, because of the wonderful invention of DVR (if you don't have it, or your cable provider does not offer it inclusively, get it) this revelation probably only cost my wife about 10 minutes instead of the hour she would have wasted, but still it's hilarious (and somewhat pathetic) evidence that you don't need to be a genius to work behind the scenes in Hollywood. Still, at least knowing how to edit your promos would help.