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Posts:
42
From:
Orlando
Registered:
12/3/08
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(46 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 28, 2009 12:28 PM
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Then there lies the problem, Matt is GEARED for 5 year old children, then the show being geared for such a YOUNG AUDIENCE with Matts style of antics SHOULD NOT:
#1. Be on the History Channel (It belongs on the Cartoon Network or A&E, maybe even Discovery Channel.
#2. It SHOULD NOT be aired at 10pm, when I was growing up and in school we were in bed NO LATER than 9pm, so if they are gearing this for VERY YOUNG AUDIENCES it should be on at a time when they can view it at home or in a classroom at school.
Otherwise, Matt "COULD" be a very decent host, but his antics NEED TO BE TONED WAY DOWN for the most part, otherwise there needs to be TWO VERSIONS of EXTREME TRAINS, one with MATT as the HOST called "EXTREME TRAINS KIDS"(which really should be on a KIDS CHANNEL!) and one for us adults that are more interested in having a little more historical facts, less viewing of Matt and his antics and MORE and LONGER views of the trains, consists and locomotives WITHOUT the fast cut aways and such that DETRACT from the very train/consist or locomotive they are showing and talking about. They need more in-depth interviews with the folks that work for the railroads as well, and this includes the folks most folks never hear about or see, dispatchers, who actually makes the business deal to use the railroad and why a railroad was chosen over other types of moving their goods/wares.
Sorry, but the very first post of this blog has it correct, and with a few changes here and there, Matt and Extreme Trains would and could be an excellent show, as it is right not, it's mediocre at best and I'm not even bothering to view the re-runs of it, once I've seen it once, that's enough for me.
If the show were like many others I watch, with LITTLE to NO HOST interaction during the show, I'd be watching the reruns of Extreme Trains, as it is, I just go watch something else or put on a Steam Train Video or some type of train video/movie from my collection or I just go to bed, even the 10pm NEWS on Tuesday night has replaced Extreme Trains for me. When a new show is aired, I'll probably go and watch it, but if it's like the first season, that may be the first and last time I'll watch "Extreme Trains".
--
~CSX5861~
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Posts:
486
Registered:
6/7/07
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(47 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 28, 2009 2:03 PM
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Actually there have been posts from people say their child as young as 2 and as old as 7 liking matt. If the show have more historical content it would fit in better with the name of this channel. It is better to thrive for better product, than a bad product only because it features trains
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Posts:
1
From:
Ft Lauderdale
Registered:
1/28/09
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(48 of 113)
Jan 28, 2009 4:03 PM
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Good day to you all,
Seeing that everyone has an opinion, I would like to share mine.
1) I love the way that these "supposed Train Buffs" pass on such criticism ...not nice. Did your mothers never teach you, that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all???? One of the bloggers mentioned that this show is the only show featuring trains...Well, that is because the newer generation cannot relate to these out of date hosts, that are too fact oriented, and create no excitement with the audience !!! What Matt Baum is trying to do is share his enthusiasm, along with his youth, to encourage and stimulate our youth to love trains the way many generations of people have in the past. We love the host, we Tivo his show, and watch it over and over again.
If you truly are Train enthusiasts, then please understand that today's generation needs someone like Matt, who is fresh, funny, and obviously loves what he does does.
If you still do not agree with me, and chose to be narrow minded about this topic, then think of it this way......Without this host, this show would have bombed. I am not a train enthusiast, but my husband and son are, and they love the fact that this guy is a real person, in a real job in Maine, and he has not sold out to the "actor" boring host persona. ONCE AGAIN, IN A TIME WHERE WE SHOULD PLACE ENERGY ON BEING UNITED AND EXTEND KINDNESS TO ONE ANOTHER, I FIND THAT SOME OF YOU MAY NEED TO JUST CALM YOUR CRITICISM A LITTLE AND SEE THE POSITIVE AND GOOD, NOT THE NEGATIVE....
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Posts:
486
Registered:
6/7/07
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(49 of 113)
Jan 28, 2009 5:22 PM
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Once again more people with little kids supporting this show. This is first and formost the History Channel. Which means it is a channel for historical programming and a show about modern railroading does not count. But I guess the History buffs have to move over for reality show fans, train buffs and little kids.
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Posts:
20
Registered:
12/9/08
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(50 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 28, 2009 5:42 PM
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This really confuses me, this debate over Matt Brown...er Matt Baum...I mean uh...Matt Bown!
Why has the world turned into a "keep yer mouth shut, look the other way and go along with the program " or "don't criticize anyone or anything because it's mean" society?
I realize the "great one" is in power now, and everyone is high on "Hope-ium", but give a thinking man a break! No one that has criticized the host has turned on the other posters here, if you like him then that's fine...what would you complain about? He's on the show and not likely to leave, so enjoy!
You can, however, leave those of us with a differing opinion alone. If we don't like the host, then our opinion is no less valid than yours. We are not trying to convince you to join us, and we aren't making fun of you for your opinions, so you can keep your sanctimonious comments to yourself.
Yeah, my Mother said a lot of things, and she was often wrong.
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Posts:
2
From:
Marietta, GA
Registered:
1/28/09
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(51 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 28, 2009 6:50 PM
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I'm not sure the host has got to go as much as the producer. One of the jobs of a producer is to make sure the talent does not detract from the show. The upshot of Matt looking in the camera talking, serves no purpose. If you can see past Matt's head all you see is sky. Walking and talking is very distracting especially on a tight shot. If he has something to say to advance the story, pick a decent background, stand still and say something that is pertinent. Matt is not the most important part of the story. The trains are. So if you need a cutaway, don't show Matt's face in a tight shot, show something interesting. The producers need to remind themselves of who the audience is and it is not the MTV generation.
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Posts:
2
From:
California
Registered:
1/29/09
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(52 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 29, 2009 1:41 AM
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I have to weigh in on Matt's side; the dour, just-the-facts approach would make train riding dull as dust for most viewers. There is nothing wrong with enthusiasm as long as it seems genuine. Most hosts of similar travelogue-style shows are far more histrionic -- put Matt next to Anthony Bourdain, for example. And ET is a travelogue more than anything else. The show doesn't seem to be designed primarily as a history lesson, and it definitely isn't trying to be a hard-core train buff show. Cinematically, it avoids the Ken Burns approach to history that I have come to loathe -- talking heads pontificating on the "meaning" of anything and everything that happens -- for which I'm grateful. I can put up with some film school shizzle as an alternative.
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Posts:
2
Registered:
1/29/09
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(53 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 29, 2009 3:11 AM
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You must be kidding. You're the only person in the world who can stand this guy
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Posts:
2
From:
Marietta, GA
Registered:
1/28/09
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(54 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 29, 2009 11:58 AM
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The sad aspect of all these discussions is the producers on the show probably don't read these posts.
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Posts:
42
From:
Orlando
Registered:
12/3/08
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(55 of 113)
Jan 29, 2009 11:58 AM
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> Good day to you all,
> Seeing that everyone has an opinion, I would like to
> share mine.
> 1) I love the way that these "supposed Train Buffs"
> pass on such criticism ...not nice. Did your mothers
> never teach you, that if you don't have anything nice
> to say, don't say it at all????
"SUPPOSED", Sorry to BURST YOUR BUBBLE, but I am FAR from a "supposed train buff", I am a railfan, I come from a LONG LINE of RAILROAD RELATIVES that worked the rails until they retired or died, I learned about trains and train safety starting around the age of 7, I actually got my very first train ride in a Caboose at the age of 2 on the Chesapeake & Ohio and in the cab of an Steam Loco at age 10 on the Louisville and Nashville! You talk about "nice", but insult the very people that are more knowledgable about what is going on with trains than Matt BOWN (not Baun, Bawn or Brown), B-O-W-N, and I have NOT attacked him, I have merely pointed out as so many others have, the ANTICS they have him do is CLOWNISH, Goofy and if one was working a REAL RAILROAD, chances are a person acting in said manner would be TOSSED RIGHT OUT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE or OFF THE TRAIN. Antics like his are NOT PERMISSABLE in A REAL RAILROAD ENVIRONMENT, they WOULD and COULD GET YOU, HIM or SOMEONE KILLED by being so overly hyper, especially INSIDE A SMALL CAB OF A LOCOMOTIVE. So IT IS NOT good PR, nor is it good for the show or the railroads!
And if folks with children are the ones yelling their kids love it, then the show needs to be MOVED to CARTOON NETWORK or some other network that does childrens television, NOT on the History Channel. That's NOT an opinion either, that's a fact!
There SHOULD be more historical aspects of the show and LESS of anyone seeing Matt Bown every few seconds, it IS annoying and it's "extreme" all right, EXTREMELY DISTRACTING from the trains, railroad workers and the locomotive that was shown for all of a 1/2 second before cutting to Matts head for another over-zealous antic.
And this is NOT condeming Matt as a person, it is however CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM that whomever is pulling Matts strings to act in this manner, even if it's Matt himself, needs to FOCUS more and TONE THE ANTICS DOWN. Then the show may have a better repoire(sp?) with everyone, including the "railfan community".
And as for the railfan community, even we do not put up with railfans acting in the manner Matt does, new railfans tend to get this way, but we DO try to help them to TONE IT DOWN, because acting that way near or around a train can very well get you killed. When one acts like that, they are NOT FOCUSED on their own or others SAFETY or where they may be standing or walking and could walk right in front of a moving train and be killed.
Sorry, it's not being mean, nor is it being disrespectful of anyone here, it's the truth and as MY LATE MOTHER USED TO SAY: "The TRUTH hurts" and to "ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, DON'T COVER IT UP WITH LIES." So it would seem that these "cliche's", both yours and mine put each other into a stand-off.
I'm not going to be silent because I happen to disagree with someone or if I do not like how a show is presented. If I had went to a theatre to see this show (as a movie), I'd have walked out and demanded a refund after the first antic, because I would have went in EXPECTING a movie about trains, not about seeing someone every few minutes acting overly-excited about the train or trains.
So sorry, again, NO ONE here is being "disrespectful", they are however, STATING THEIR OPINION AND SUGGESTUIONS to IMPROVE the SHOW! Nothing more and Nothing less. And that is everyones right do so, just as it was yours to make your statements above.
> If you truly are Train enthusiasts, then please
> understand that today's generation needs someone like
> Matt, who is fresh, funny, and obviously loves what
> he does does.
> If you still do not agree with me, and chose to be
> narrow minded about this topic, then think of it this
> way......Without this host, this show would have
> bombed.
No one is being "narrow minded", what happened to the "if you can't say anything nice?" See even YOU go against the very statement you opened YOUR RESPONSE to this post with.
As for agreeing, NO WAY, the show WOULD NOT have bombed if there would have been another host, NOR would it have bombed if Matt was not as animated with all the hysterics and antics he portrays. The show WOULD have probably had a BETTER and EVEN LARGER following if Matt was OFF CAMERA MORE and NARRATED BEHIND THE SCENES, not in almost every single one of the scenes, obscuring locomotives, train consists, etc. This show COULD have been better if MORE HISTORY was thrown into the mix as well. I agree not 100% history, a 50/50 mix of historical facts would have been just fine with me.
> I am not a train enthusiast, but my husband
> and son are, and they love the fact that this guy is
> a real person, in a real job in Maine, and he has not
> sold out to the "actor" boring host persona.
Key words here are: "I am not a train enthusiast", then you should leave the opinions to those of us that ARE REAL DIE HARD RAILFANS/TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS because chances are WE have a better understanding of railroads than you do, and since we do, we should post our opinions on how the show could appeal to a wider audience. In my area we have railfans of all ages too, from the very young to the very old and many of these same railfans have pretty much the SAME opinion of the person that started this particular post, even some of our "younger railfans (pre-teens) would rather see LESS of Matt and MORE of the trains.
> BEING UNITED AND EXTEND KINDNESS TO ONE ANOTHER, I
> FIND THAT SOME OF YOU MAY NEED TO JUST CALM YOUR
> CRITICISM A LITTLE AND SEE THE POSITIVE AND GOOD, NOT
> THE NEGATIVE....
Yep, sure, you say that but even YOUR OWN REPLY has "NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS", especially calling railfans "supposed train buffs"; "I {LOVE} HOW THESE SUPPOSED TRAIN BUFFS PASS ON CRITICISM", and then again when you insinuate that because "IF WE DON'T AGREE WITH YOU", then "WE ARE NARROW MINDED". So where's the positves in those statements? Eh?
As for your use of the word "criticism", WE ARE NOT CRITIZING, we ARE GIVING an OPINION of how this show could be better AND APPEAL to a LARGER AUDIENCE than it does now.
~Talk about calling the kettle black!~
--
~CSX5861~
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Posts:
98
From:
Scrap Yard
Registered:
11/18/08
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(56 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 29, 2009 1:03 PM
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Posts:
947
Registered:
12/31/07
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(57 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 30, 2009 1:18 AM
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"....... The show doesn't seem to be designed
primarily as a history lesson,.............
Cinematically, it avoids the Ken Burns approach to
history that I have come to loathe ........."
Lawrence- Then it shouldn't be on a channel called HISTORY ! A Ken Burns film on the "history" of Railroads is what you should expect to see on a channel that calls itself HISTORY.
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Posts:
1
Registered:
2/4/09
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(58 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Feb 4, 2009 2:39 AM
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I agree with many posters who say it may not be the hosts' fault, but it's annoying at any rate! However, it's a symptom of a much greater issue. Not just railfans "us vs. them" - it's a generation gap situation with twenty-somethings producing television that us older folks just don't understand.
The extreme camera angles & zooms, quick cuts, yelling host (Sham-wow, baby!), and faux gang-land hand gestures are all a symptom. (And please - ever heard of a tripod? A steady-cam?)
The same people producing this visual gymkhana are the people who think putting family UN-friendly advertisements on the air is acceptable. "Male enhancement", graphic scenes from upcoming horror movies, and gremlins burrowing under toenails for that matter are all perfectly permissible.
Did you catch the superbowl half time this year? They encourage families to watch the 3D kid's cartoon, then throw us a vivid 3D scene down a woman's shirt with a comment about a crowbar. "Hey kids!"
OK, so I'm straying from trains here, but it's all related. The "Build it Bigger" series has an equally obnoxious host who is always shouting over enthusiastic goofy lines. Another guy who would be absolutely unwelcome at a worksite acting the way he does for very long.
"Cities of the Underground" - how many times does the host need to tell us that there are people walking just above that have no idea this is here?
It goes on and on. The dumbing down of America. The extreme editing techniques. The shouting. The awful music. The split-screens with too much information crawling along the bottom and sides...
And it's only going to get worse friends. Watch today?s teenagers who can't disconnect themselves from their cell phones while walking, waiting for anything, eating, etc. They are going to be making the shows in another ten years.
Finally... Like a typical OldGuy - I'll complain loudly, but I'll continue watching these shows anyway.
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Posts:
17
From:
N E Florida
Registered:
11/15/08
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(59 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Feb 6, 2009 9:39 AM
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Yes, The real blame goes to the producers who furnish a package to the History Channel. The History Channel should insist on historical accuracy, and set some standards for the show.
Matt is acting as he's told to act, or he wouldn't be there.
Lets hope the History Channel is looking at these comments and will use them to improve the show
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Posts:
1
Registered:
2/6/09
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(60 of 113)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Feb 6, 2009 10:49 AM
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God forbid, a person should have some enthusiasm for what he likes doing and trying to get others as much as he is. Don't you show pride and enthusiasm for things you like? Another thing, I supposed some of you are the same people that stereotype police officers and firefighters.
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