ABC News
ABC News |
Nick Douglas |
Posted Wednesday December 13, 2006 at 04:57 PM
Videoblogger Amanda Congdon debuted today on ABC News.com, in a show that feels uncannily like Rocketboom, the high-profile daily online show Congdon hosted until a falling out with producer Andrew Baron this summer (last we checked, she said he fired her, he said she quit). In fact, the first episode of Congdon's new weekly show feels so much like her old Rocketboom episodes, it's unclear whether she actually knows she's got a new job.
- Amanda's dressed in a Steely Dan tee that shows off her much-discussed assets. The casual dress felt fine when Amanda sat at an Ikea desk with a map pinned up behind her, but wrapped in ABC News chrome, it's just sloppy.
- She's already establishing an awkward relationship with co-workers and employer (one that she and Andrew revealed after she left Rocketboom), asking why her co-producer is "such a big baby" and publicly calling out ABC for building her show's web page in Javascript. True, using ABC's ungainly proprietary player instead of something re-publishable like YouTube means she can't "go viral" (which seemed like the whole reason ABC picked up this show). But it's best to keep these squabbles off-air.
- When cutting from one angle to another, Amanda whips her head, causing her hair to twirl. The affectation is annoying to some, cute to others, but it's one that Andrew Baron claimed credit for when he once listed the show elements that were, like, totally his idea.
- Trenchant technical commentary: Spam, Amanda notes (citing a week-old NY Times story, has doubled over the last year. Her response? "Come on, Mr. Gates!" and an admonition to Microsoft.
- Amanda asks viewers to "take a little break, a little trip with me" -- just as Rocketboom's theme song "Zoom a Little Zoom" (mp3) said "Zoom a little zoom in a rocketship, off we go on a trip."
- After a few stories, Amanda closes with a days-old video clip of a girl playing the Nintendo Wii. Yes, it's just like the coverage on Rocketboom, but without the indie feel that made it fun.
It's not a total dud. Wherever Amanda goes, she brings a crowd of loyal viewers, and her friendly approach earns the love of fellow videobloggers. Also, Amanda says ABC is reworking the show's presentation. But if Amanda has access to all the talent at ABC, couldn't they try reworking her presentation?
