Ushiroyubi wrote:

haha yah. M2, so I thought, would be a lifesaver... but to no avail. They teased us then yanked the rug from under us here in NYC by pulling the station a couple of years back. MuchMusic is trash and there really isn't much out there that I'd want to see these days anyway. Japan is still on the ball though. ...it's the little things.

Ah. That's really great to hear that other countries' MTV hasn't marred their programming with "Let's pretend that we're living the real life in an apartment that we'd never even consider living in w/the myriad of personalities that we're going to anyway just to get on MTV" programming. Or, YIKES, is that next???

Oh, this is a great exchange here. But . . . to go back on the topic, I think another major difference has to do with how acteurs tend appear on TV or movies in Japan. In the U.S., there are still a buncha' film actors who will probably NEVER appear on TV (i.e., Nicholson, Beatty, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Ben Affleck, Halle Berry, Meryl Streep, et al.). Oddly enough, a good number of acteurs on TV want to break into film (case in point, the cast of Friends, who don't seem to be doing a good job of breaking through, if you ask me; Denzel Washington, though, is a great example of a TV star who successfully conquered cinematic roles).

Also . . . J-dorama tends to be shot more in studios; U.S. TV dramas go on location, as well as use sound stage.

A good music channel is Much Music..too bad I don't have it anymore..awesome channel!
American drama series that I love are Alias and 24..season 3 of 24 is so tense right now, I love it! Jack Bauer kick ass!
I also love Xena. Oh I forgot about Dark Angel..storyline was good, acting was decent but Jessica Alba makes up for that..she's so HOT! I have the season boxset dvd for all of these.

Ushiroyubi wrote:

MTV has music videos?

Only sometimes. So I watch Direct Effect and stuff. I hate all of those Reality show crap. Real World and Road Rules. Then they have Made and Pimp My Ride. And Diary. Bleah. And like you said, MTV 2 is yanking off their MVs and putting on crap rather. In fact, MTV is playing Diary right now.

VH1 is ok, but they're becoming more like MTV.
_________________

ahochaude wrote:

Only sometimes. So I watch Direct Effect and stuff. I hate all of those Reality show crap. Real World and Road Rules. Then they have Made and Pimp My Ride. And Diary. Bleah. And like you said, MTV 2 is yanking off their MVs and putting on crap rather. In fact, MTV is playing Diary right now. VH1 is ok, but they're becoming more like MTV.

I was being sarcastic.
_________________

Quote:

MuchMusic is trash and there really isn't much out there that I'd want to see these days anyway.

Did it go bad? I haven't had the channel for 2 years..when I had it it was awesome..they played alot of music, not bullshit stuff like MTV and MTV2..plus they played videos of unknown bands/artists.

Ushiroyubi wrote:

I was being sarcastic.

I know. Maybe I shouldn't have put in that first sentence. Didn't mean anything by it, really. Just venting about all of the shit that they play, that's all.
_________________

IkematsuSosuke wrote:

Quote: MuchMusic is trash and there really isn't much out there that I'd want to see these days anyway. Did it go bad? I haven't had the channel for 2 years..when I had it it was awesome..they played alot of music, not bullshit stuff like MTV and MTV2..plus they played videos of unknown bands/artists.

yeah... it's graduated to being called "MuchNoise" by myself. lol
_________________

I dunno... I used to love loud riffs and a violent hardcore sound...

but these days I'd prefer bubblegum, a little trance, and/or some classic jazz to round out my days and evenings...

my life has become like this and I'm content....
_________________

Oh, I have another "noticeable" difference. I mean, speaking objectively, there tend to be 2 or 3 different ethnicities in U.S. drama while J-dorama has only one. No?

Oh I see not into the band thing..I like the 80s and 90s rock and alternative stuff better than whats out right now. My favorite band Incubus..released a crappy album..They went from S.C.I.E.N.C.E and Make Yourself..which I think it's there best albums..to Morning View and something Crow.. All these new bands all sound like or copy another successful band's style

The Man wrote:

Oh, I have another "noticeable" difference. I mean, speaking objectively, there tend to be 2 or 3 different ethnicities in U.S. drama while J-dorama has only one. No?

Japan on occasion will throw in an Indian here and there and a Korean or Chinese or American
_________________

The Man wrote:

Oh, I have another "noticeable" difference. I mean, speaking objectively, there tend to be 2 or 3 different ethnicities in U.S. dorama. Japanese only one. No?

lol... "Friends'" first four seasons don't count right? (joke)

I dunno... there have been some 'gaijin' creeping into a few J-doramas recently. Other than that... what do you expect from the most homogeneous country in the world?
_________________

Ushiroyubi wrote:

I dunno... there have been some 'gaijin' creeping into a few J-doramas recently. Other than that... what do you expect from the most homogeneous country in the world?

Yeah. They seem to like Indians for some reason.
Especially on their somewhat reality/variety shows.
_________________

ahochaude wrote:

Yeah. They seem to like Indians for some reason. Especially on their somewhat reality/variety shows.

Not only Japanese dramas, but manga/anime too. Koalla Su from Love Hina is supposedly of Indian descent. And she always cooked extra spicy curry for Keitaro.

I remember there was a black guy on the GTO drama that made some cameos. And on the drama Sakura, there were a group of gaijin IIRC. I remember because there was this funny scene when a girl from the group claimed she was Japanese when it was obvious she wasn't.

eightysix wrote:

Not only Japanese dramas, but manga/anime too. Koalla Su from Love Hina is supposedly of Indian descent. And she always cooked extra spicy curry for Keitaro.

Yeah, I noticed that too. They always in some fashion, find a way to associate the Indians that they feature with curry. Hella stereotyping (IMO). But at least it's better than them not even being able to open up to the idea of having a gaijin featured in a show, or manga for that matter.
_________________

You know what might be neat? An Odoru Daisosasen/Law and Order or CSI crossover.

The Man wrote:

You know what might be neat? An Odoru Daisosasen/Law and Order or CSI crossover.

Sounds good! I can just imagine Gil Grissom & Aoshima trying to communicate with each other!

ahochaude wrote:

Yeah, I noticed that too. They always in some fashion, find a way to associate the Indians that they feature with curry. Hella stereotyping (IMO). But at least it's better than them not even being able to open up to the idea of having a gaijin featured in a show, or manga for that matter.

I dunno, sometimes having more stereotypes is actually worse than not having them in there at all. I've noticed that Japanese dramas and anime will usually 1) play off of foreigner stereotypes, or 2) show foreigners being inculcated into or obsessed with Japanese culture.

I think the drama "Friends" was a significant step in bridging misunderstandings between Japanese and Korean cultures.

In terms of American v. Japanese dramas, I find that American drama is usually better at the 'serious' drama. ER, Law and Order, etc. Japanese dramas are better at love stories/melodramas.
_________________

"...but it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us...but within that inch we are free." - V for Vendetta

thetenken wrote:

In terms of American v. Japanese dramas, I find that American drama is usually better at the 'serious' drama. ER, Law and Order, etc. Japanese dramas are better at love stories/melodramas.

Yeah, gotta second this one.

The Godfather had DeNiro and others... while Sopranos... *yawns*

the thing I like most about doramas compared to the standard US made stuff is simple... japanese doramas are DONE after 12-15 episode, the story's told and the thing's over... no second season, or even more *looks at... Falcon Crest and the other shit around* I mean... *shakes head*

And the stories make sense too... at least most of the time...