# This American Life on TV:travesty or Ogsend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671 "2007-03-20T03:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/1 "2007-03-20T03:26:00Z")
Any TAL fans out there? What do you think? I don’t have Showtime, but I wish I did. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/2 "2007-03-20T04:09:01Z")
Sadly, I don’t have Showtime either, but as a long time TAL fan, I’m dying to see this show. However, I’m optimistic that it will turn out well based on the [youtube clips found on TAL’s website](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/) and especially by this [interview](http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kuer/local-kuer-561557.mp3) with the host (Ira, of course), the director, and the cinematographer for the show. It will perforce be different from the radio show, but I think it has a good chance of being something wonderful. I’m especially interested to see how the TV versions of stories from the radio show turn out. My main fear is that they will produce fewer new episodes of the radio show or that its quality will decline. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/3 "2007-03-20T04:21:10Z")
I’m a fan and have Showtime, so I’ll let you guys know how the show is. I got a preview dvd as a pledge premium and it looked interesting. There IS something really cool about just listening to it, though. Ira Glass looks exactly like I expected him to. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/4 "2007-03-20T04:22:54Z")
I don’t have ShoTime either but a local arty theater screened two episodes for free the other night in cooperation with the TAL and the local Public Radio station. It was good, not at all a travesty. As per always, the content is king and they seek to tell stories and the same sensibility carried through to video. It appears that the same creators are attached to the show, right down to Ira Glass hosting _(with his Monty Python “And now it’s time for something completely different.” desk)_, so it feels like a natural extension of the radio show. I think the key to the show’s success is that they tell stories in which a visual is important. Their piece on the _Improv Everywhere_ troupe did just that. However, they redid a _Mortified_ reading that was previously done on the radio show and it gained nothing in the translation. It takes a while to be _shown_ the people and events that until now we just imagined. I’m not saying it’s bad or good, it’s just not what I’m used to. I seem to think that there probably isn’t a whole lot of crossover between NPR audiences and ShoTime viewers and I think that’s probably intentional. Rather than airing it on PBS and possibly cannibalizing their radio audience, I think they are reaching out to an entire different audience. Likewise, ShoTime isn’t going to pass up a well-produced and interesting spot, so it’s a decent partnership in which both parties stand to gain. I’m not going to order ShoTime just to get the show, but you can be sure I’ll buy the DVD’s (if/when) they’re released or buy 'em on iTunes if they ever put them up there. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/5 "2007-03-20T04:26:06Z")
Anything that draws more attention to TAL is good. I know people who’d like it, but they think radio is only for music. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/6 "2007-03-20T12:21:26Z")
You couldn’t be more of a fan of talk radio than I am, and I find TAL the most boring show ever sent out over the airwaves. My local NPR bumped “Whattayaknow?” back in the day to put TAL on at noon, and I was pissed. Yo, Ira, they make radio studios for a reason!!! And most people aren’t the subject of radio & tv shows for another reason. . .they’re boring. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/7 "2007-03-20T13:49:44Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] You couldn’t be more of a fan of talk radio than I am, and I find TAL the most boring show ever sent out over the airwaves. My local NPR bumped “Whattayaknow?” back in the day to put TAL on at noon, and I was pissed. Yo, Ira, they make radio studios for a reason!!! And most people aren’t the subject of radio & tv shows for another reason. . .they’re boring. [/QUOTE] Well, thanks for stopping by and taking a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/8 "2007-03-20T15:20:49Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] Well, thanks for stopping by and taking a shit. [/QUOTE] Oh, was this _Sunshine Wednesday_, and I didn’t get the memo? ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/9 "2007-03-20T15:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] You couldn’t be more of a fan of talk radio than I am, and I find TAL the most boring show ever sent out over the airwaves. My local NPR bumped “Whattayaknow?” back in the day to put TAL on at noon, and I was pissed. Yo, Ira, they make radio studios for a reason!!! And most people aren’t the subject of radio & tv shows for another reason. . .they’re boring. [/QUOTE] So, uh, you won’t be watching, then? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/10 "2007-03-20T16:10:08Z")
[QUOTE=Hey you!] I seem to think that there probably isn’t a whole lot of crossover between NPR audiences and ShoTime viewers and I think that’s probably intentional. Rather than airing it on PBS and possibly cannibalizing their radio audience, I think they are reaching out to an entire different audience. Likewise, ShoTime isn’t going to pass up a well-produced and interesting spot, so it’s a decent partnership in which both parties stand to gain. [/QUOTE] Ira has said in interviews that the reason the show is on Showtime and not PBS is that Showtime came to them with the money and PBS didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/11 "2007-03-20T16:13:42Z")
I enjoy TAL on NPR, but wonder how the deliberate pacing and contemplative tone of the stories is going to translate to the TV screen. I personally don’t find TAL boring, but can understand the reasons why some people would. The TV format, I think, will only amplify those reasons and increase the entry barrier for those encountering TAL for the first time. Ira Glass is on Bob Edwards tomorrow morning (XM’s NPR channel), so I’ll be listening to see if he addresses this. He did [an interview](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F2061FFF355A0C778CDDAA0894DF404482) a few weeks ago in the NYT’s magazine; I wasn’t too impressed, but that may have been the interviewer’s “Ten questions” style more than him. Sadly, I don’t get Showtime, so I won’t be able to evaluate this first hand; it could go incredibly well or be one of the biggest blunders in cable TV; I really don’t see a middle ground here… ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/12 "2007-03-20T16:20:30Z")
I’ve seen the first four episodes. It takes a couple for the revised concept to really click, merging visuals with the TAL audio style, but click it does. (That said, I think the first trailer is better than any individual episode, but I really love that trailer.) That said, I don’t think it’s better than the radio show, but I’m glad to see them challenge themselves creatively. Oh, and **Trunk** , I have to confess I’m a little surprised that anyone considers “Whaddya Know?” a better show than TAL, but I guess it takes all kinds. And I fail to see how Michael Feldman isn’t making a radio show involving ordinary people. And of course, TAL isn’t talk radio, so it’s not a shock that it’s not your thing. That said, has it ever been good form to come into an appreciation thread and let everyone know how much you hate what they’re appreciating? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/13 "2007-03-20T16:20:42Z")
If they need a break from trying to do deliberate pacing and contemplative tone in the new medium, they could always just do a live action reenactment of “Squirrel Cop” instead! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/14 "2007-03-20T16:41:25Z")
Moderator speaketh: **Trunk** and **Hey you!** : kindly refrain from exchanging personal slaps in this forum. **Hey you!** : if you think someone is thread-shitting, please hit the REPORT button (little exclamation point in red triangle in upper left of post, for those who don’t know). Do NOT make the accusation yourself, let a mod make the call. In this case, I think **Trunk** is responding legitimately to the thread, asking “travesty or Ogsend?” and voting for the former in his opinion. That’s not thread-shitting. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/15 "2007-03-21T02:42:19Z")
[QUOTE=zagloba] … they could always just do a live action reenactment of “Squirrel Cop” instead! [/QUOTE] Heck, I’d settle for a recreation in the same animation style they used for the “kiddie TV camera” preview clip. It would be an instant classic! ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-american-life-on-tv-travesty-or-ogsend/396671/16 "2007-03-21T07:10:57Z")
Chris Ware, who’s done other illustrations for them, did that bit. It would be good to have some animated segments. Here’s the clip in question : [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271557392/bctid666401814](http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271557392/bctid666401814)