By
Lisa Lucas
Arizona Daily Wildcat
"Fast Forward" should hit rewind, students say
While TV3's new variety show "Fast Forward" was a big success with members of its cast and crew, it was less than satisfying for its student viewers.
Mike Camarillo, broadcast adviser for TV3, said the show was "well done" for the first of a series.
"It's a real good start," he said. "Technically we just have to be tighter on transitions - the audio was (also) a little high on spots. If we compare this tape to the fourth tape, there should be a difference in quality."
Technical quality was not the biggest concern for TV3 program coordinator Aaron Bilgrad.
Bilgrad, a marketing and entrepreneurship junior, said he thought the one aspect of the show that needed some work was content.
Student viewers generally agreed.
Siho Lee, a UA computer science sophomore, said after watching a clip on the show about an alleged ghost in the Modern Languages building, he accessed the related Web site mentioned in the segment because he wasn't particularly interested in the way "Fast Forward" had presented the subject.
"(I went to the site) during the show, because (the segment) was kind of boring," he said. "(But) I thought (the ghost story) was interesting because I never knew about that."
Students also displayed mixed feelings about the segment called Mall Interviews.
"I have no idea what the point of it was," said Victoria Emmanual, a molecular and cellular biology sophomore. "They (were asking) all random questions, and they didn't even really relate to each other."
Other students found the interviews amusing because they gave them a chance to laugh at their peers.
"The Mall interviews (weren't) that bad," said Vince Barbero, a physiological sciences sophomore. "That was maybe the best part."
A major concern of student viewers was the lack of humor in the segments.
"It was kind of like when you watch someone choke in a talent show and you feel embarrassed for them. That's how I felt for the people participating in the skit," Barbero said.
He added that the show could use more professionalism, no matter how trivial the subject matter. Contrasting "Fast Forward" with "Saturday Night Live," Barbero said even though "SNL's" skits are silly, they do maintain a professionally-produced sense of comedy.
Although many students felt the show's attempts at humor failed, some displayed a particular interest in the intramural athletics segment.
Julie Wilson, an interdisciplinary studies senior who worked on the Student Issues segment of the show, explained her motivation for the topic.
"I'm hoping to inform people living in the dorms about intramurals and maybe get them involved, if nothing else," she said.
Lee said he liked the intramurals segment because it presented information pertinent to activities on campus.
He described the rest of the show as an "attempt to be funny (but) it just fell and it didn't do very well."
Lee added that "because there are a lot of other things on (television) that are just a lot more funny," he would not be inclined to watch "Fast Forward" frequently.
"I missed 20 minutes of 'The Simpsons,'" he said.
Student viewers agreed if the show was more news-oriented, it would attract a larger audience.
"For a student-run production, it could have - it should have - been a lot better," Lee said. "If it was something amateur that these guys were just, like, walking around with some camera that they found, I guess it was OK. But it's still not really worth watching."
The show will repeat about 20 times within this week. A new episode, to be produced soon, will air in four weeks.
