So the buzz today is all about how American Idol is back for a seventh season. Why is it such a big deal? It has always been popular, but is probably more so this year because of the writer’s strike putting most of network TV into rerun hell. I am getting so tired of seeing the same shows over and over again, and I only get to watch TV when the babies aren’t crying (which is rare) so I know it is even worse for everyone else. I might watch AI during the auditions to see if they discover the next William Hung, but after we get through the folks embarassing themselves I just don’t find it that entertaining.

So what are we to do until the strike is finally over? If you don’t care to spend more time with the family and catch up on your reading, there is always new user-generated content online at places like YawpBox . User-generated content is often very entertaining just because you never really know what the expect. One of my all-time favorites is the video showing the guy beating Super Mario Brothers 3 (Nintendo 8-bit, baby!), taking all of 11 minutes to do what I spent a good part of a childhood summer trying to do 15 years ago. To me that is awesome!

There are a couple of neat contests over at YawpBox right now. In the TV section you can create content that will be used in a real television show. The world may have the opportunity to see if you can create better content than the late night talk show pack, who without their writers are doing miserably. The other cool contest is the Lex & Terry challenge. On their nationwide radio and TV shows they give a specific assignment to viewers to generate their own content in a certain category. You can find the categories that have been used on the site in the Lex & Terry section. Using YawpBox you can create your own content and put it out there for the world to see. You gotta love the power of the Internet! Thanks Al Gore! =)

User-generated content may not have the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood production, but at least it will pass the time until there is something good to watch on TV again.

This entry was posted on January 15, 2008 at 12:26 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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