The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Series 7′ Tries Too Hard

By Jeremy Mathews

?Series 7: The Contenders?USA FilmsWritten and Directed by Daniel MinahanProduced by Jason Kilot, Katie Roumel, Christine Vachon, Joana VicenteStarring Brooke Smith, Glenn Fitzgerald, Marylouise Burke, Michael Kaycheck, Richard Venture, Merritt Wever 2 (out of four)

Ever heard a lame joke twice? Ever had someone insist on telling you a joke even though you already get it and it isn’t well told? That’s the feel of ?Series 7: The Contenders.?

The film is meant to be a satire aimed at reality programming. Six randomly selected contestants must kill each other until only one is left. Then, next week, the survivor must do it again with five new people.

The best-drawn character is Dawn (Brooke Smith), a pregnant woman who is the longest-running reigning champion in the show’s history. If she survives this ?series,? she gets to go home safely.

The five people she needs to kill are Connie (Marylouise Burke), the ER nurse who preaches morality; Franklin (Richard Venture), the crazy guy who doesn’t want to be on TV; Tony (Michael Kaycheck), the recently laid-off family man; and Lindsay (Merritt Wever), the 18-year-old with aggressive parents.

Writer/director Daniel Minahan creates convincing graphics, teasers and camera work. And the film was more radical when it was shot three years ago, keenly predicting the “Survivor” phenomenon.

The problem isn’t its societal observations, but its satirical hooks. The joke is repeated over and over again. A movie is in trouble when it’s shorter than 90 minutes and still seems too long.

Also, the murders serve to distance the tale from the real shows too much to criticize them. Better over-the-top stabs at television can be found in ?Being There? and ?The Truman Show.?

The movie’s most interesting element is its study of what people are willing to say about their personal lives to get on TV. A more hard-hitting commentary would focus on this aspect.

But people who want to watch those attention-starved people can just watch real reality television, which has already reached the point of self-satire.

And at least the self- centeredness of the subjects will be more apparent than that of the joketellers.

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *