Highlights vs. Recap...tWWL gets it wrong again  

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I always kick myself for not using mlb.com's videos more. If I had the time, I'd watch the recaps of all their games. I say recaps, because not only do they show the highlights, but they also tell the "story" of the game.

tWWL, on the other hand, gets it all wrong. Sure, they talk about the story, but it's just a voiceover while the highlights are being shown in quick succession.

Take, for example, last night's fake fieldgoal by Michigan State over Norte Dame. Clearly, when they got to this play, they should have built it up beforehand, and then gone silent. I want to see the tension as the players are waiting for the snap...to see each second in real time. Even though I know it's going to be a fake, I want to experience the moment on the field when it stops being a field goal attempt and starts being a pass play. Those few seconds are key.

But all we got is a sprint to the finish of the higlight reel.

I don't like brown M&M's in my TV shows.  

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As a kid, I barely knew who Van Halen was, but I was acutely aware of their "demand" for brown M&M's to be removed from backstage at their concerts. Like many, I mistook this as the ultimate in prima donna behavior. It was only years later that I understood their motives: it was their litmus test to see if the venue had met their more important requests in their rider. Such demands were often complicated and involved equipment and safety, and the band's confidence rested on their ability to see that this minor detail to candy was attended to.

When a TV show has continuity errors, relies on deus ex machina, or fails to adhere to the rules that they've created in their own universe, it makes me fear what lies beneath. These brown M&M's, a glaring admission to lazy preparation, deny me the ability to trust the writers. In the end, whether a vampire has the ability to glamor their way to a human-invitation into their home is meaningless. But if the writers don't care about that, do they really care about about staying true to the nature of their characters? Is there really anyone manning the ship?

In a behind the scenes look at Six Feet Under, we got to witness how the stories develop. A dry erase board had a list of characters, with potential story arcs and writers attached. Those writers were interviewed, and explained how they wrote for each character; it was quite obvious they viewed them as "real people". And as a result, you never saw Claire or Nate eating brown M&M's.