jPod’s mixed blessings
Preliminary reviews of CBC TV’s jPod are in, and so far critical reception of the new hour-long comedy-drama series – based on the novel by Douglas Coupland – is decidedly mixed.
The only wholeheartedly favourable review is by Toronto Star critic Vinay Menon, who says the series’ premiere episode, which airs tonight at 9 pm, left him “craving” the second. At the other end of the spectrum is fusty National Post columnist Robert Cushman, who confesses his befuddlement regarding the series’ title (“You might guess that a jPod would be the next thing up from an iPod. Guess again.”) and offers a wholesale rejection of its premise, which unites a rag-tag group of eccentric video game producers on the basis of a random computer glitch. As Cushman puts it:
I mean, by my simple arithmetic the show’s co-workers, employees of a huge Vancouver company called Neotronic Arts, have been herded now for seven years, time enough for even the most intransigent organization to have acknowledged that its computer had bungled and to have done something to put it right.
In the past, the CBC’s attempts to appeal to the under-30 demographic have often been disastrous (Freestyle, here’s looking at you), so producers are clearly looking to the series for big things. If it catches on, it could benefit Canadian publishing as well, by directing TV viewers to Coupland’s novels and even promoting an image of CanLit as urban and contemporary – a view that’s not exactly widespread.
That trickle-down effect might be too much to hope for, however, if an interview with actor Alan Thicke is anything to go by. Thicke, who is most famous for playing Jason Seaver on Growing Pains and has a supporting role on jPod, says that he hasn’t read the book and isn’t planning to either. “Nothing against Douglas – I don’t read books,” he tells the Post.
jPod - an obvious attampt to be hip falls flat and muddled as a result of ham-handed direction, predictable jargon-infested writing, and even bad lighting. Oh, how funny it is to experience the cynical loser/slacker/geeky/tecnogoofs and the inane murder parallel plot device… not really.
Sit back and watch the Canadian media fawn over the CBC for this simply because LMOTP has viewers - a new dawn for the public broadcaster! Ouch.
I did manage to sit through the first episode but by the second epsiode I could no longer stand being talked down to and so obviously fed every litte thing from how to Google someone, grow ops and ‘offshore’ owners. Please, it’s 2008 in Vancouver and this may, and I stress may, have been cutting edge at one time but it’s long passed its best before date. And by the way I’m over 40. And jPOD is so not cool.
Alan Thicke may not read books but the rest of the folks working on jPod certainly do. Making TV in this country is fraught with compromise — enjoy the fact that we (Canucks) have a show set in an urban work space. Let them work out the kinks. jPod holds promise.
Here’s a link to a conversation I had with a couple of the creative people working on the show. Believe me — they read the book.
http://web.mac.com/judeklassen/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html
Under 30? That’s me.
“Hip” and “Urban”? Yup.
Work in information technology? Oh yes.
In other words, I’m _the_ target demographic, yet I could barely make it through the first episode. The initial comment above pretty much says it spot on. Somewhere between the “hipness” of it all I found myself cringing in embarrassment (for the actors? for Coupland? for Canadian television?).
Here’s some advice for the CBC: If you find yourself developing something that could potentially sound good in an elevator pitch (”Arrested Development meets Friends, but more Canadian!!”), drop it immediately. Nurture talent and passion — even if you can’t quite sell it at a board meeting — and good things will follow.
I want more Hot Type, more Avi Lewis, more Passionate Eye, more Correspondent… hell, even more Antiques Roadshow. Just no more of this. Please.
Being a fan of dougles coupland and having just finished reading jpod, i was stoked to hear that it was being turned into a TV series (even though im in england and it prob wont ever get aired over here, ahh, thank god for the internet)… and i have to say, even though i know the plot, i was very impressed with it…each ep’ gets better and better…..
I cant understand why people feel the need to bad mouth it….its cool for what it is…. the acting is good….its based in my favourate and ‘the’ coolest city. in the world…….
its for a niech market…but i think if people give it a chace they wont be dissapointed…
No surprise here. jPod has been cancelled. http://www.tv-eh.com/2008/03/07/in-the-news-jpod-cancelled/