Video on Trial
| Video on Trial | |
|---|---|
The opening title card for Video on Trial, starting mid-season 5 |
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| Format | Music, satire |
| Starring | Various "jurors" (see section) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 183 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Various (see section) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | CHUM Limited CTV Globemedia |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MuchMusic |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (2011-present) 480i (SDTV) (2005-present) |
| Original run | August 15, 2005 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Video on Trial is a Canadian comedy television program that airs on Canadian television network MuchMusic. The show consists of a panel of musicians, comedians, and entertainment columnists critiquing five different music videos in a courtroom-esque manner. The panel acts as the jurors, poking fun at and questioning each artist's behaviour in each video. Artists' personal lives and off-set behaviour are usually mocked by the critics in relation to the music video. They are shown in separate clips to use their opinions.
Since its debut on August 15, 2005 the show has broadcast a total of 183 episodes, and the seventh season of the show started airing on September 19, 2011. In October 2011, the show debuted on American television, airing on television network Fuse TV.
Contents |
Production
Videos
The show's producers usually pick the videos featured on the show. However, they are still required to get clearance from the copyright holders of the video to get the video featured on the show. Only after clearance is given can the video be featured on the show.[1] An episode usually features videos recent at the time of the episode's airing, with at least one of the five videos per episode still being in rotation. Some non-themed episodes feature older videos, though, mostly those from the early 2000s, and popular videos from 1997 to 1999 have been played on rare occasions.
Writing and shooting
The jurors' jokes serve as the majority of the show's content. These jokes are written by themselves. According to an interview with series regular Trevor Boris, the jurors receive copies of the videos for the episode, and are given a period of time to write jokes and prepare for the shooting of the episode.[2]
On her MySpace blog, juror Sabrina Jalees described the size of the room where the show is in as "the size of a large coffin", and that a laptop with a DVD of the videos is placed in front of the juror as a guide.[1] The five "jurors" usually shoot their scenes separately.[2] However, the show gives the impression that all five jurors shoot the scenes together, with jurors often shown engaging in interactive behavior with each other.
Format
The show's basic format involves a narrator starting the show by announcing its name, and introducing the five videos set to be "tried", referred to as "cases", as well as the jurors of the episode. Following this introductory sequence, the actual "trials" of the videos begin.
Videos are critiqued, or "tried" separately and consecutively by "case number". A short intermission separates the trials of each video; the show cuts to a commercial break after two videos' trials have been aired.
Each video is critiqued for around 3–4 minutes. Most of the videos featured on the show are generally given bad reviews, though this is to add to the comedic nature of the show. A video's trial ends with selected jurors from the episode giving his/her own verdict to the video's artist, though verdicts are occasionally given to a selected element of a video, such as a person featured in the video.
History
Elements of the show were introduced, altered, and discontinued throughout its run.
In the format used at the start of the show's run, the jurors' occupations were given, though sometimes fictional. Graphics for this format included CRT televisions and film reels. This format also included opening voiceovers (written by Tim McAuliffe and Ron Sparks, these explained what the video was "accused for", and information for "the jury" to know) and "final verdicts" given to the artists of each video, of relating to them in real-life or their behavior in the video. The 18th episode of the show's third season was the final episode to utilize this format.
The 19th episode of the third season introduced a new format for the show, giving its graphics a more modern look; for example, at the start of each episode, videos were introduced on flat-screen televisions instead of CRT televisions. This format was followed until the 21st episode of the show's fifth season.
With a re-run of the fifth season's 21st episode, the show once again altered its format. Graphics were once again modernized, to give them a more futuristic feel. With the introduction of this format, the verdicts and opening voiceovers previously given to each video were discontinued. It is this format that is currently being followed.
Special episodes
Special themed episodes have also been produced, usually focusing on a specific theme such as a particular decade, one-hit wonders, teen pop, music videos set on beaches, songs by Canadian musicians, and Christmas music ("Holiday Crap"). For example, there have been a series of "Totally '80s" and "So '90s" episodes where songs from those decades are featured.
The first Video on Trial special was a MuchMusic "Holiday Wrap" courtroom episode called Stars on Trial, which starred Sparks as "The Judge" and McAuliffe as "Rusty the Bailiff." Six regular jurors sat together as a jury and artists were put on trial in general, not for particular songs as is normally done on the regular VOT show.
In a similar manner to Fromage, a previous holiday special on the network, a special one-hour long episode aired during December 2008 as part of MuchMusic's "Holiday Wrap" year-end programming, counting down the top 20 "worst" videos of 2008. The special returned for a 2009 and 2010 edition in December of each year.
Cast
Producers
The show has seen various producers throughout its run.
- Timeline
Jurors
The panel of jurors critiquing the videos are randomly selected for each episode; the panel regularly consists of Canadian stand-up comedians. Although some jurors make regular appearances, by contrast, some judges have made just one appearance. Examples of jurors who have made multiple appearances on the show include Marty Adams, Sabrina Jalees, Eddie Della Siepe, Jemeni, Boomer Phillips, Laurie Elliott, Ron Sparks, Dini Dimakos, Sara Hennessey, Andrew Johnston, Debra DiGiovanni, and Trevor Boris; the latter two have been jurors the most times on the show, both appearing in more than 50 episodes of the show.
In some occasions, celebrities in professions as diverse as music, sports, modeling, and acting have appeared on the show, such as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Kardinal Offishall, Jimmy Pop and Jared Hasselhoff of the Bloodhound Gang, Perez Hilton, Russell Peters, Chris Jericho, Pauly Shore, and Jesse Jane. On one occasion, Josh Ramsay of Canadian rock band Marianas Trench appeared as a juror for his own band's video for "Shake Tramp".
Artists featured
The artists whose videos are critiqued on the show range from diverse genres, such as hip hop, rock, and electronic, but generally videos that have been aired by Much Music.
Many artists have had multiple videos of theirs critiqued; for example, 14 different videos by American singer Madonna were critiqued on the show; one of them was critiqued on 3 separate occasions. An entire episode was also dedicated to critiquing her music videos. Other artists critiqued multiple times include Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, The Killers, Beyoncé, Pink, Christina Aguilera, My Chemical Romance; and 50 Cent, to the point that Trevor Boris jokingly gave him a mock "Lifetime of Sucking Award."
Reception, legacy and achievements
Success and cross into American television
Debuting quietly in 2005 on Canadian music television network MuchMusic, the show slowly rose to fame, eventually becoming one of the network's highest-rated shows. For the show's first six seasons (and for a few episodes of its seventh season), its broadcast on television was limited to Canada. However, in 2011, American music television Fuse TV successfully obtained rights to air the show. Fuse started airing the show
Fuse started airing Video on Trial on October 20, 2011, marking the formal television debut of the show in the United States, as well as the debut of the show anywhere outside of its home country, Canada.[5] The show's American debut started with episodes from the late fifth season of the show.
Criticism
There have also been guests who complained about the show's compensation and/or production. Juror Hugh Phukovsky pulled all Video on Trial listings from his MySpace page, claiming on his MySpace blog that "[he] gave those fuckers some GOLD!" and that "[they] cut it all out with "humourless editing".[6]
On a Kelevision radio broadcast, guests Aaron Berg, Darren Frost and Boomer Phillips discussed the show and its shortcomings (the latter two had appeared as jurors on the show). Frost was especially upset about the show, particularly the small fees that comedian guests were paid; he has never appeared on the show again to date.
Juror Ron Sparks once joked, while pointing to a green screen behind him, "Can you say budget? We can't. We're actually contractually not allowed to bring it up."
Awards
| Nominations |
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Gemini Awards:
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Episodes
Related shows
References
- ^ a b Jalees, Sabrina (2006-11-07). "Video on Trial...Behind the Scene(s)". MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/sabrinajalees/blog/196725227. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ a b "Video on Trial Celebrates 100 Episodes". Dose.ca. 2008-11-03. http://www.dose.ca/tv/story.html?id=04c1f169-8e89-4c4a-8e2f-ac9532f7648a. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ "Video on Trial Cast and Crew on TV.com". http://www.tv.com/video-on-trial/show/74874/cast.html?flag=3&tag=container;cast_crew_list.
- ^ "Katya Diakow". http://www.bibbly.com/KATYA-DIAKOW-o-Email-o-Web-kdiakow-gmail-com-www-katya-ca_23999.html.
- ^ "Breaking News - Fuse Is Turning Up the Volume This Fall with New Shows and More Fan Favorites". Fuse. 2011-10-10. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2011/10/10/fuse-is-turning-up-the-volume-this-fall-with-new-shows-and-more-fan-favorites-822213/20111010fuse01/. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ Phukovsky, Hugh (2006). "Blog". MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/kkkomedykiller/blog. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
External links
- Official page for Video on Trial at MuchMusic's official website
- Video on Trial at MySpace
- Video on Trial at the Internet Movie Database
- Video on Trial at TV.com
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