farnovision

Taking on Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is an author and cultural commentator of increasing influence, witness the success of his books "The Tipping Point," "Blink," and his latest, "Outliers."  Blogger John Kelvie of takes Gladwell to task for some of his pithier observations , most notably his conclusion a a 2002 book review for the New Yorker that Philo Farnsworth should have gone to work for David Sarnoff:

1) His piece on the inventor of the TV, Philo T Farnsworth, and his “failure” to bring the TV to market, something the large corporation RCA later succeeded in. The piece concludes that the individual inventor is often insufficient (as the subtitle of the article asserts: “The Myth of the Lone Inventor”). On it’s face this point is fair enough, though a bit obvious: obviously sometimes individual inventors are behind bringing new technologies to market, sometimes corporations are, and sometimes a sort of long-distance collaboration between the two does it....

Kelvie quotes Gladwell's article at some length, but arrives at his own more enlightened conclusion:

Either way, to suggest that corporations invent better (or at least are the only way to invent) is demonstrably untrue: after all, it’s Farnsworth that invented the Cathode Ray Tube, not RCA. Could RCA have invented it? I guess (Gladwell says they were never “more than a step behind” though apparently a step means approximately two years), but I think the fact that Farnsworth did it on his own is pretty compelling evidence of the efficacy of individual inventors.

I think part of the problem that I had with Aaron Sorkin's play The Farnsworth Invention stems from it's tendency to arrive at pretty much the same conclusion as Gladwell.  I guess there is something that happens once your prosperity becomes dependent on the largesse of a corporation:  you start to think that's the only path to success.

Maybe Television...

...ain't so bad after all:

While many of his peers spend rainy afternoons watching cartoons, Lance sits in front of the Military Channel learning.

Other children in his grade really like Hannah Montana, but Lance's favorite shows have titles like Weaponology.

He defends television.

"People say TV makes you dumb, but it doesn't!" Lance said quite emphatically.

Perhaps this is the kind of  viewer Philo had in mind when he said television would help eliminate war.  Let's hope he gets the message that 'war is hell' without having to experience it first hand.

The Farnsworth Confession

You've heard of The Farnsworth Invention, now you can watch The Farnsworth Confession:

Mr. Farnsworth here should take heart from the Broadway version of the story.  According to the play, Philo Farnsworth's invention was flawed by a fatal "light problem," and really wasn't very useful.  And the Farnsworth character says near the end that an unnamed engineer at RCA (who left something baking in an oven too long) really "made the first television."  So, according to the play, the Farnsworth family is off the hook for the scourge of television.  It's really The Sarnoff Invention.

Philo T Farnsworth Emmy Award Announced

Personally, I've always found it ironic that the TV Academy elected to name their award for Corporate Engineering Achievement for the lone inventor who spent his career fighting one giant corporation after another, but I guess that's better than the "David Sarnoff Award for Individual Achievement"...

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the recipients of the 2008 Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards. The recipients will receive their awards during the Engineering Awards ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles.

The Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award will be given to Evertz Technologies Limited. The company designs, manufactures and markets video and audio infrastructure equipment.  The Farnsworth Award honors companies whose contributions over a long period of time have significantly affected the state of television technology and engineering.

Thank God Somebody Noticed

I haven't even looked yet to see who actually won the Tony Awards last night, but this came across my Google Alerts this morning:

9. Jimmi Simpson in The Farnsworth Invention. Another much overlooked performance was Simpson's Farnsworth in The Farnsworth Invention. He held his ground valiantly against Hank Azaria in the competition over who could first invent what we know as the television. He deftly handled all of Farnsworth's up and downs from his disappointments to the loss of his son to his occasional drunken episodes. As the season unfolded, Simpson's was one of the first to catch my eye.

So, uh, Aaron, you ever get that e-mail I sent you last month?  The one entitled "Priority of Invention"?  Or should I just post it here for you and all to see?

But Theater World Awards Come Thru

Link: Theatre World Awards Home.

At an annual ceremony and during an afternoon party attended by former winners and invited members of the theatre community, six actresses and six actors are presented with a Theatre World Award for their Debut Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production.

The Theatre World Award remains the oldest one given for a debut theatre performance on On or Off-Broadway.

The contribution the Award has made to the theatre is incaluable. It is not a competition and is only given once. Because it is given for a debut performance, it encourages and inspires newcomers to the stage to continue to pursue their dream. It is freely given at a time when encouragement is so necessary in an industry known more for rejection than reception.

This year's award winners are:

de'Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Cassie Beck, Drunken City
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Hoon Lee, Yellow Face
Alli Mauzey, Cry-Baby
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Loretta Ables Sayre, South Pacific
**Jimmi Simspson, The Farnsworth Invention**
Paulo Szot, South Pacific

The Theatre World Award winners are chosen by the Theatre World Awards committee, which is comprised of Peter Filichia (Theatermania.com), Harry Haun (Playbill), Matthew Murray (TalkinBroadway.com), Frank Scheck (New York Post), Michael Sommers (Newhouse Papers), Doug Watt (Critic Emeritus, New York Daily News), Linda Winer (New York Newsday), and coordinated by Peter Filichia, Theatre World Editor John Willis, and Theatre World Associate Editor Ben Hodges.

Tony Stiffs Philo

The 2008 Tony Award nominations have been announced. The Farnsworth Invention is not on the list.  Anywhere.

"Farnsworth" Gets Nominated

In what some will no doubt regard as a precursor to the Tony Awards, The Farnsworth Invention has garnered a number of nominations for the Drama League Awards:

Among new plays, “Eurydice” is the sole Off Broadway offering on a slate of nominees that includes new Pulitzer Prize winner “August: Osage County,” “The Farnsworth Invention,” “November,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “The Seafarer,” “The 39 Steps” and “Thurgood.”

Included among the nods is "Distinguished Performance of a Play," and "Distingquished Peformance of An Actor" for Jimmi Simpson (Farsworth) and Hank Azaria (Sarnoff).

Nothing against Azaria, but we're rather pulling for Jimmi Simpson, who was positively riveting in the title role.

Philo, We Hardly Knew Ye

I guess that's that:

The new Aaron Sorkin play The Farnsworth Invention, which explores the battle for the patent for the invention of television, will play its final performance at Broadway's Music Box Theatre March 2.

"Slipping" Into Oblivion?

According to Variety, Broadway box-office grosses slip this time every year, but apparently "The Farnsworth Invention's" box-office drop could be construed as more than just "seasonal."

The seasonal slowdown on Broadway continued last week, with B.O. slipping by around $1.2 million to an estimated $14.3 million for 31 shows on the boards.

Receipts dropped for nearly every production on the Rialto. In terms of percentages, the biggest dip was seen by "The Farnsworth Invention," down by 31% to $186,342, with "Chicago" ($245,076), "Avenue Q" ($233,723) and "The Phantom of the Opera" (dropping $120,000 to $475,303) all off about 20% each.

Of course, over here at "fact -v- fiction" HQ, we might like to think that the loss of interest in Aaron Sorkin's play is directly attributable to it's factual failings, but I suspect there is probably more to it than that. Audiences no doubt forgive all kinds of historical transgressions so long as the play itself is adequately engaging. So there must be something missing besides historical accuracy.