Acetio | Blogma

TV Tropes is a site that is easy to get lost in. Once you see what they're doing it's difficult to not be impressed with the exhaustive and comprehensive listings.

The idea is to list every device used in television scriptwriting, although it applies to all storytelling.

Examples: Applied Phlebotinum

Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and Green Rocks. And wishes. In essence, it is the stuff that makes the plot go. Without it, the story would grind to an abrupt halt. It's science, it's magic, it's strange things unknown to science or magic - the reader does not know how Phlebotinum would work and the creators hope he doesn't care...

Or: Crazy Enough To Work

In real life, when someone is in serious trouble, they, even on the fly, have to think of a logical, sensible and reasonable strategy that can get them out of it with as little loss as possible, in the best conditions possible as well.
In movies, the characters can make the most irrational, nonsensical or plain dumb decisions, and it works!
Why?
Because it's Crazy Enough To Work, that's why. Sometimes characters will even credit it TO it being crazy (enough to work). A possible example would be something along the lines of "What about patching up the nuclear reactor with a pack of gum and peeing on the fire from the top of the reactor? That's so crazy, it just might work!"
While heroes of every genre will come up with these, expect a lot of them from Badass Unintentionals, since they lack the knowledge, strength, and sometimes even the courage to come up with a better idea...

I really enjoyed the first season of Flight of the Conchords, although the last episode had me wondering if perhaps they had run out of songs. Season 2 confirmed that they had.

Season 1 had over 20 songs that had been polished and perfected by being performed in front of live audiences over several years. Season 2 was mostly original material that had been written hurriedly just for the show, and it's evident in the quality, which is a shame.

There were a few gems, however, that reminded me of the first season. For whatever reason, the songs I liked the most were in just two episodes: #2 and #5. They are all, or mostly, original songs that weren't in season 1.

Sugalumps

This song sounds like several song ideas stitched together, with a pattern something like: abcdaefg.
But it works and it's very catchy.

Youtube has an HD version:

The construction worker is oddly graceful.

You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute

It's like a parody, but not of any one song in particular. I couldn't get the tune out of my head for days.

Carol Brown

Like most of their best songs, the melody stands on its own and the lyrics are icing on the cake. The arrangement of this song is much nicer than the stage version which has just the male voices. Michel Gondry directed the video, which is also pretty cool.

I wasn't sure whether there would be a second season of Flight of the Conchords. It seems everyone I know has the DVD of the first season, which was great, but exhausted all the good songs that the two guys have been performing for the past several years.

The first episode of season two follows the same format as the other season, except there are three songs instead of the usual two per episode, none of which are as good as the ones from last year. High hopes, though.

I just saw episode 2, though, and it was hilarious and the songs have been swimming in my head ever since.

This is a coup for Joost, which is trying to compete with the better-known Hulu.

After greatly enjoying (years after the fact) the original (BBC) "The Office" I looked around for other projects by the same people and found that the writer and star, Ricky Gervais, had done another show called, "Extras".
It was a more polished show, although more bitter in tone. Both shows seemed to aspire toward making the audience cringe, which seemed like a new kind of storytelling, at least to me.

The theater used to be people's source of low-brow entertainment. The traveling shows of the 1890s, for example, would have some cornball songs, slapstick comedy, and burlesque.

When film became a popular medium, it initially relied on immitating the successful aspects of theater, and became the principal source of this kind of music, comedic, and otherwise titilating content. (The Three Stooges and others of that era had all been Vaudeville acts)