One of the buzzwords that became part of the American lexicon (and perhaps within the English language) since the start of this century is the term “multitasking” that generally means the act of doing more than one thing at a time. Women for some reason, seems to hold on to the state of performing a multitude of work assignments with the notion of getting more done in the same about of time. This also rings true to stay at home mothers aka stay-at-home-moms aka SAHMs. (The term that used to be called a “housewife”.) Many of the woman’s magazine titles are occasionally filled with articles and other timely tips on how to perform more that one duty at the same time, from the standard household chores (cooking, taking care of kids, etc.) to elements that are more of a personal nature.
But all genres participate (or try to participate) in some kind of act where doing multiple things all in the same time slot has some kind of busy factor to it. The more that one does, the more things get done. That’s the basic theory in getting more completed in lessor time. Depending on what one is doing, this duty can work out to a point. However, in many cases, it doesn’t pan out as well as it could!
Watching TV is one task that multitasking is not only easy to do, but seems fit to viewing a video program while doing something else. Since the beginning of TV, the act of viewing a program while attempting to do something else has been an accomplishment that some people mastered. Kids would do their homework while the tube was blasting away. Many times these kids would pay attention to what was blaring off the TV machine that what was printed in their textbooks or on their lined paper. (We’re speaking about when kids used to rely upon paper and pens or pencils to get their school stuff done while the TV set was the only participating electronics involved!) Daytime television scheduled their programming blocks where the TV networks would program game shows in the morning hours–the time where those “housewives” would do such other jobs as washing the dishes, sorting the laundry, paying the bills (with hubby’s checkbook no doubt) and other meaning things where it was possible to catch up on a game show’s play. The late morning and afternoon hours were loaded with the many soap operas where concentration was more in demand to follow up on what character was having an affair, who was pregnant, who wasn’t pregnant, and other plot points that would take months to line themselves out!
But in these post modern days, multitasking while “watching” TV is not only expected, it’s encouraged to a point! The programmers are fully aware that those tuning in on a program, be it from a traditional TV unit to a hand held device that sports a video screen, are not just staring in to the viewing area like a zombie (perhaps watching TV shows about zombies ‘natch), but they are doing more than one thing at a time, such as washing the dishes, sorting the laundry, paying the bills, and other assignments that only exist in the same post modern universe. Bloomberg Businesswek recently reported that ABC is adding elements to its Watch ABC app that are meant to be of interest to the increasing numbers of folks who multitask while watching the network’s programming. According to the release, this app “..lets smart phone or tablet users post messages or read comments on Twitter.com and Facebook.com, while watching a show on the same screen. Viewers can quickly post pre-edited clips from a show on social media with a tool called FastShare..”
The reason behind this multitasking on purpose is to allow the network to not only sell more ad time, but it caters to a much younger demographic. In their hunt for the “forever young” audience grab that advertisers seem to love, offering this kind of app will bring more millennials toward this old school network, while making a few more bucks by offering both free services and ones to one would pay for, such as downloading program content to one’s smart phones, pads, laptops, and whatever device one can view moving imagery. (The average age of a standard TV viewer is north of fifty, while one that views the same shows on a phone, etc. is in their 30’s!)
So as TV becomes everywhere, so will the things people can do (or must do) while the boob tube is blasting away! On a given day (or night), one can watch the latest episode of Selfie on their pad as they log into their Twitter account tweeting away on what’s taking place on the program while texting the results on their smart phone to their BFF while turning toward their lap top to google something about the show while sorting out the laundry! It’s just another day (or night) of vegging out in front of the ol’ idiot box!
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NEWS AND REVIEWS
LA Stage Alliance presented the annual Ovation Awards, bestowing the best in theater production within the Los Angeles area. The awards showcase took place at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse.
Among the many awards chosen for such categories in both large and intimate theater spaces were the AMA Theatre Company’s production of The Recommendation for Best Play in an intimate theater, The Country House at the Geffen Playhouse for Best Play (large theater), Floyd Collins at the La Mirada Theatre for Best Musical (large theater), and 110 In The Shade at the Actor’s Co-Op (intimate theater). Best Presented Production was Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty by the Center Theatre Group, the cast of The Country House (Geffen Playhouse) for Best Ensemble, and for Best Season was for The Fountain Theatre, located in Hollywood.
For a complete listing of all nominees and winners for each category represented, visit http://www.OvationAwards.com, or http://www.LAStageAlliance.com.
Use social media to become a “friend” via Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/LAStageAlliance, follow their “tweets” via Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/LAStageAlliance, and hashtag #OvationAwards.
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TIFFI’S FRIENDS SAY…
(As posted on her Facebook “wall”)
Lost every bit of my edits I did today because I forgot to save the file. Wondering how this happened. Feel like crying.
-Melaine
Mommy daughter tradition starts today-gonna watch @hallmarkchannel @hallmarkmovie 12 days of Christmas movies!!
-Karen
We’re 10 minutes from home. I can hear my recliner from here. My body hurts from being in the car almost 8 hours today.
-Lisa
I had to set my alarm and get up at 1:45 a.m. but I got all three kids Christmas presents for half off! Would you rather spend 150 or 300? I decided the extra 150 was worth a middle of the night wake up call. Back to dreamland.
-Katie
Flannel sheets and fleecy pj’s and my favorite quilt. Nighty night.
-Connie
As of November 3rd, Tiffi has 2,437 Facebook “friends” and counting!
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