Why all the rapid-fire dialogue on TV today?
In shows like ''The O.C.'' and ''Gilmore Girls,'' the characters talk very fast and there's a lot of dialogue. Do you think this is
because this is a smart generation or a result of the talk-fast-or-they'll-change-the-channel syndrome? -- Duncan
Um, both: The shows you cite credit their young demographic with
the quick-edit sensibility that MTV, movies, and pop fiction
have bred. Those shows do snappy sass talk well, cramming the
chatter with low- and high-culture references. They're also not
unprecedented -- fast chatter is a hallmark of the great screwball
movie comedies of the '30s and '40s (rent ''His Girl Friday'' now).
Sometimes, though, I wish TV moved even FASTER: I could easily
listen to just three bars of anything any ''American Idol''-ist
sings, and I'd know who would get my vote.
What's your favorite TV movie, and do you think any are as good
as feature films? -- John
My all-time fave is ''Lonesome Dove,'' the 1989 adaptation of Larry
McMurtry's novel, starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones as
cussed, itching, horny cowboys on a cattle drive from Texas to
Montana. As directed by Simon Wincer, the eight-hour, four-part
miniseries lifted the game of the late TV vet Robert Urich (as
raffish gambler Jake Spoon) and rebirthed the career of onetime
kid star Rick Schroder, who played the callow Newt Dobbs. That
was every bit as good as any feature film that year, as well as
one of the best Westerns in any medium. I think most TV movies,
though, are uplifting or downbeat schlock; they either aim to
teach you a life lesson like 1977's ''Roots'' (with its
record-breaking ratings and profoundly serious subject matter
reduced to likable victim-heroes and florid, hiss-boo villains)
or exploit common fears -- thus the rise in the '70s and '80s of
the ''disease of the week'' or ''women in jeopardy'' telepics. One
more lesser-known but great TV movie, though: ''Boycott,'' the
thrilling 2001 HBO biopic starring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
About the Nielsen ratings: Do they count people who tape or TiVo
shows for later viewing, or event shows like ''Survivor,'' which is
often watched by groups of people, in bars or dorm rooms? -- Darwin Bell
Well, sort of. And it's a problem that Nielsen is working on:
They know that people gather together to watch the climax of a
reality show and that viewers tape or TiVo ''Joan of Arcadia'' while
on a Friday-night date. Nielsen does measure VCR tapings and
plans to start including TiVo taping in 2005.
(Got a TV-related question for Ken Tucker? Post it here.)
