Tuesday, July 24, 2007

So long Pirate Master

CBS has canceled Pirate Master. People who care about the show will still be able to watch the remaining five episodes on streaming video from the official web site with one new episode posted each Tuesday.

I'm not surprised. The show missed its real market by a full year. Last year was the Summer of the pirate. This is the Summer of Harry Potter.

Also, the show was kind of boring. Each episode started with a race to find the treasure with two randomly chosen crews. The rest of the show was devoted to politics and who would be given the "black spot". Three contestants were given the black spot and the remaining crew voted on which of them would be "cut adrift" (eliminated from show).

The show had thing to do with pirates except for the backstory on the treasure. Somehow the crew with the current captain and officers kept winning week after week which made it even more monotonous. Also, the format seems self-limiting. At some point there will not be enough crew to go around - the format calls for three officers, three people with the black spot, and someone to vote. Maybe that's why there are eight contestants left but only five episodes.

Regardless, I don't care for all of the back-biting and politics.

My idea of a good reality sow starts this week - Stan Lee's Who Wants to be a Superhero? There was no backbiting or politics in the first series. Everyone was making a serious effort to act like a superhero and there was little money at stake. People were eliminated according to tests, both formal and informal. Not all of the tests were what the heroes thought they were.

But the big networks know better than the cable channels how to run a reality show. That's why Superhero is back for a second season and PM is off the air.

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