Hey, there! Log in / Register
ABC Family's "The Vineyard" premieres
By JohnAKeith on Wed, 07/24/2013 - 12:03pm
ABC Family's reality TV docu-series "The Vineyard" premiered last night. Per the ABCF press release, the show "is set against the idyllic backdrop of Martha’s Vineyard, MA [sic], and features the island’s iconic Black Dog Tavern."
Critics weren't kind - Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe disliked it so much he ran out of words to mock it and had to resort to using a thesaurus - although Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+.
Pretty much, it's an east-coast version of MTV's "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills" which, for a few of you, probably means something.
The cast is perfectly coiffed, with each archetype (I had to consult a dictionary for that one) represented - the pretty girl (well, all of them), the shy girl, the troubled girl, the ab-perfect boy (well, all of them), the boy with the past, the reunited couple ... and, of course, the token minorities, because why would you want to include a lot of African-American characters on a show about Martha's Vineyard? The cast includes a "Latin pop princess" - CD/TV series tie-in certain to come, if past Disney TV shows are any guide.
Any semblance to real life is coincidence (several, if not all the "cast" are actors, models, and other entertainment types). The conversations are stilted, the situations unbelievable (if you predicted a fist fight between two characters within the first 50 minutes, you were right!).
While there was much derision of the show on Twitter, there were many, many supporters - on first look, I found twenty gushing-with-praise posts in a row with the hashtag #thevineyardchat from girls with names such as Brianna, Lexi, Alexis, Ashlyn, Andreia, other Brianna, Briyonna, Madalyn, Montana, Katelyn, and Jennaaaa. (Ted and Johnny would approve.)
Did you watch the premiere of "The Vineyard"? Did you enjoy it? Have you spent time in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts? Do you own a "Black Dog" t-shirt?
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
i'm sure show stinks, but I'm confused about parts of your rant
An ABCFamily show is no good? Stop the presses!
But re: your rant...
I don't understand - what's wrong with that geo-designation?
Also, it's unclear what you're saying here:
Are you saying it makes no sense to have them? Or are you saying there should be more? Because you know...Oak Bluffs.
Finally - and this is certainly a more of a personal viewpoint thing - what does a media rant about an ABCFamily show set in MV have to do with a metro Boston news blog?
Because...
"Finally - and this is certainly a more of a personal viewpoint thing - what does a media rant about an ABCFamily show set in MV have to do with a metro Boston news blog?"
Sometimes we leave the basement. Boston is the Hub of the Universe. Everything is relevant if the admins say so...
But, on a softer note, Martha's Vinyard did change the name of a 300 year old town. It was called Gay Head, a prominominomiatory on the west end of the island.
I suggested 'East Bumf*ck."
No one listens to me.
And I'm off.
Yeah, they officially changed
Yeah, they officially changed the town's name from Gay Head to Aquinnah (its original Wampanoag name) about 15 years ago.
Jeff, I don't understand if
Jeff, I don't understand if you are really asking these questions or kidding around.
Also, old Adam can write whatever he likes on his own blog. If you want to start your own then get to it.
Clarifications needed
Hi. Thanks for your comment and for your close, very close, attention to detail.
First, disclosure. Adam didn't write this entry; I did. It's not often other writers take the opportunity to post on this site, but it does happen.
Regarding your last question first, I posted about a MV TV show on a Boston blog because MV is a place most people here know about, if they haven't even gone there. Also, several of the characters live in and around Boston when they're "off-island"(shout out to my new best friend Jon Franco!). And, Adam posted an entry about it back in February, so I figured I was on solid ground. Also, I thought it was a nice change from the who shot whom updates of the recent past.
Regarding the Martha's Vineyard, MA criticism, I was just saying that usually when people say City/Town, State, it's usually a city or town that's first, not an area or an island. There's no ZIP Code for Martha's Vineyard that I know of. They always say "Cape Cod, MA" on American Idol, which I also criticize. Just say Boston or the actual name of the town the contestants/characters are from.
Your question about race - yes, it was sarcasm, given the island's history as a vacation resort for black and African-Americans. If I'm not mistaken, there was even a scene where four of the housemates, including the African-American girl, put out towels in front of the Gingerbread Houses in Oak Bluffs(I think?) saying "What pretty houses" without anyone knowing its significance.
Now back to helping the elderly get out of their bathtubs ...
thanks
Well, I'm not sure my 'attention to detail' was so unusually 'close, very close' (although I guess a bit closer than some coughWhitcough ;).
But yes, my questions were sincere - I wasn't trouncing/trolling you - and I appreciate the followup. (Not that I'm likely to ever waste time watching ABCFam.)
Mv was historically the one
Mv was historically the one of the first major resort location for African Americans. Oak Bluffs still has a good number. Obama felt pressure to stay in OB, but for security reasons had to stay on the less populated side of the Island :-)
Thee once was a man from Nantucket...
From the linked article, "They’re broken into two basic groups. “The locals” were born and raised on the island and lift their eyebrows at vacationers disembarking from the ferry. The “wash-ashores,” as we’re told a number of times, have come for some hot summer lovin’. As bossy-needy wash-ashore Emily puts it in the premiere, “I’m looking for, like, a JFK Jr. type.” I’ve always thought “wash-ashores” were people who live on the island but weren’t born there, but “The Vineyard” prefers it otherwise."
So, of course:
This is a Nantucket joke, because that's how I heard it. No bitchin'.
A Nantucket woman, from an old Nantucket family, seriously with child, had to go to the mainland on some family business. She takes the ferry and on the return trip goes into labor and delivers a baby boy ten minutes from docking time.
Healthy young lad, goes to school on the island, spends his whole life there, works hard, makes a decent life for himself.
He retires, bounces his grandchildren on his knee, lives to the ripe old age of eighty-three.
At his funeral, the preacher, giving the eulogy, says with great emotion, "We all knew him, a good man, beloved stranger to our shores..."
Well, off to the hinterlands.
From a former islander
I was born and raised on MV, and half of my family still lives there, so I watched thinking it'd be nice to see familiar sights and maybe cameos from people I knew.
Man, do I want that hour of my life back. They should have hired better actors. I've seen better line delivery on Mystery Diagnosis reenactments. And I know they had to clean things up for ABC Family, but they showed them making s'mores at a beach bonfire. In my recollection (what little there is of it), that is NOT what we did at bonfire parties.
The vineyard
I have watched all the episodes of the Vineyard and I am
Disappointed on how bad the "acting" is. I also do not
Like the "reality" format they have chosen to film this
in. I would like it to be more in line with night tine drama's
The bad acting really shows because of this unscripted
Format and its disappointing and hard to watch.