Stupid TiVo Description

[DishSubLA]

OK, this is TiVo's Seires summary on the TV series Columbo:
"The Classic Whodunnit . . . " WHAT!! Further proof that the dingbats at TiVo who maintain the metadata DO NOT either WATCH TV nor have they every watched CLASSIC/OLD TV. That really is a big part of the problem and is even evident in the stupid or poor thumbnails that are choosen for a TV Series. As on example, Golden Girls had a thumbnail for the series that included Leslie Nielsen in a photo for the final episode with the wedding scene, as if Leslie Nielsen were a permanant cast member. Thankfully TiVo fixed that and now use the art used for the DVD release that has the slices of each Golden Girl who were all regualr cast.

Now, for further laughs (or outrage ), look up the TV seriesThe Invaders on MeTV and notice the most stupid thumbnail that has NOTHING to do with the content: a lone wolf (or coyote) howling in the wilderness. There have to be a hundred--no thousands more--OTHER more fitting artworks for this series. Any icon of a flying saucer will do or even an a My Favorite Matian art thumbnail would have more relevance.

All this is more evidence that TiVo have the wrong people tending the metadata. I have even found errors in the bios of the CAST info, and clear evidence that these people at TiVo do NOT watch TV. I think Edith Bunker was a Queens housewife not a "Bronx" housewife as the CAST info states about Jean Stapleton.

OK, y'all know tha Columbo was NEVER a "whodunnit," right? That kind of stuff does burn me a bit .

 

[HipKat]

OK, this is TiVo's Seires summary on the TV series Columbo:
"The Classic Whodunnit . . . " WHAT!! Further proof that the dingbats at TiVo who maintain the metadata DO NOT either WATCH TV nor have they every watched CLASSIC/OLD TV. That really is a big part of the problem and is even evident in the stupid or poor thumbnails that are choosen for a TV Series. As on example, Golden Girls had a thumbnail for the series that included Leslie Nielsen in a photo for the final episode with the wedding scene, as if Leslie Nielsen were a permanant cast member. Thankfully TiVo fixed that and now use the art used for the DVD release that has the slices of each Golden Girl who were all regualr cast.

Now, for further laughs (or outrage ), look up the TV seriesThe Invaders on MeTV and notice the most stupid thumbnail that has NOTHING to do with the content: a lone wolf (or coyote) howling in the wilderness. There have to be a hundred--no thousands more--OTHER more fitting artworks for this series. Any icon of a flying saucer will do or even an a My Favorite Matian art thumbnail would have more relevance.

All this is more evidence that TiVo have the wrong people tending the metadata. I have even found errors in the bios of the CAST info, and clear evidence that these people at TiVo do NOT watch TV. I think Edith Bunker was a Queens housewife not a "Bronx" housewife as the CAST info states about Jean Stapleton.

OK, y'all know tha Columbo was NEVER a "whodunnit," right? That kind of stuff does burn me a bit .

I don't know what you consider a "whodunnit" but the IMDB description begs to differ: Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo uses his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to winkle out even the most well-concealed of crimes.

Kinda sounds like a "whodunnit" to me

 

[rvvaquero]

What does this have to do with DISH Network?

 

[CyberSpock]

If like to know how these mistakes occur myself. No amount of complaining can fix them so, yeah, Dish Network washes their hands if it. Then what is the source? Does it end up being V'ger?

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[Tampa8]

Columbo IS a whodunnit show with a twist. You know who did it, Columbo has to figure it out and prove it.

I also don't know that anyone is actually picking the pictures. I see sometimes "The Fugitive" will have a picture of someone who later became a star, or sometimes a show at the time the Star was someone but another cast member went on to be be bigger and that bigger star is the picture. So I am thinking it is done by a computer and it picks a stars name sometimes or there is some algorithm.

For movies this happens all the time. A Star with a bit part is the picture, or someone who was in the movie but at the time was not the star is big now and that's the picture.
Also keep in mind some people look for movies with their favorite actor(s) in it so that may play a part.

 

[DJ Lon]

What does this have to do with DISH Network?

Uh, hello! It's the guide data we all have to deal with on a daily basis

 

[pattykay]

...
Now, for further laughs (or outrage ), look up the TV seriesThe Invaders on MeTV and notice the most stupid thumbnail that has NOTHING to do with the content: a lone wolf (or coyote) howling in the wilderness. There have to be a hundred--no thousands more--OTHER more fitting artworks for this series. Any icon of a flying saucer will do or even an a My Favorite Matian art thumbnail would have more relevance.
...

Well, at least it was not a picture of the Marvel Comics superhero team by that name, The Invaders.

 

[rvvaquero]

Uh, hello! It's the guide data we all have to deal with on a daily basis

Thanks. I knew Rovi bought Tivo, but didn't know they changed their name.

 

[DJ Lon]

All of it gives me a headache LOL

 

[DJ Lon]

Well, at least it was not a picture of the Marvel Comics superhero team by that name, The Invaders.

Not quite the thumbnail from the guide but pretty damn close

 

[pattykay]

 

[Howard Simmons]

View attachment 146881

Not quite the thumbnail from the guide but pretty damn close

The one I got is it howling.

 

[pattykay]

The one I got is it howling.

They must have gotten The Invaders mixed-up with The Howling Commandos. (Yet another Marvel Comics reference, if you didn't get the joke.)

 

[DishSubLA]

Columbo IS a whodunnit show with a twist. You know who did it, Columbo has to figure it out and prove it.

I also don't know that anyone is actually picking the pictures. I see sometimes "The Fugitive" will have a picture of someone who later became a star, or sometimes a show at the time the Star was someone but another cast member went on to be be bigger and that bigger star is the picture. So I am thinking it is done by a computer and it picks a stars name sometimes or there is some algorithm.

For movies this happens all the time. A Star with a bit part is the picture, or someone who was in the movie but at the time was not the star is big now and that's the picture.
Also keep in mind some people look for movies with their favorite actor(s) in it so that may play a part.

A "whodunit" is NOT from the character's perspective, but from the perspective of the audience.

"The reader or viewer is provided with the clues from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax"- Wikipeida

Well, even the late, great director Robert Altman never considered his movie The Player as a whodunit because he shows the crime being committed and clearly see and follow WHO committed the murder. Whoopie Goldberg (as the Pasadena Police Detective) does a Columbo by already suspecting the "Player" Tim Robbins, and within minutes of interaction, KNOWS he is the murderer and now has to prove it. The point of any story is for the reader/viewer. Not knowing who has commented the crime is the mystery for the audience to solve, and that is makes a whodunit, whether the character in the story knows whodunit or not is irrelevant because if we know who the killer is, it is NOT a mystery, but rather about the main character and the process.

In the case of Columbo, it is more of a "police procedural" drama, like some episodes of Law & Order where, in many episodes, we know who committed the crime, but now the story focuses on the process and flaws of the criminal justice system and will the guilty party get away with his crime due to that system. In Cloumbo, we are trying to figure out HOW--not WHO--Columbo will uncover the clues and find the mistakes of the killer to the final evidence to use as proof of the killer's guilt.

Of course, the "procedure" for Columbo, who immediately after meeting the murderer knows that he or she is the killer, is to dog his guest-star suspect and bait them and interact in humorous scenes hoping for mistakes from the killer while otherwise gathering the evidence to prove it for an arrest and prosecution. The point of watching Columbo is not in solving a mystery, but being entertained by the "process" of Columbo plying his craft of "Oh, one more thing . . . " and psychologically messin' with the one he knows to be the guilty party. Columbo is not a "whodunit."

 

[DishSubLA]

I don't know what you consider a "whodunnit" but the IMDB description begs to differ: Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo uses his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to winkle out even the most well-concealed of crimes.

Kinda sounds like a "whodunnit" to me

Well, since you asked, I shall attempt to answer.

Here is a portion of a Wikipedia page defines as a "whodunit":

"The reader or viewer is provided with the clues from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax"

And WIkipedia is no worse an authority than the IMDB, which does a better job of cast and facts than definitions of genres.

In Columbo, we are ALWAYS clearly shown not only WHO committed the murder, but also WHY they did it, often, in usually lengthy scenes (sometimes almost an entire 1/3 of the episode) providing all manner of details of the life of the killer and their detailed plot long before Columbo meets that character.

The climax in Columbo is not WHOdunit (we already knew that from the beginning), but WHAT clues and mistakes made by killer that Columbo will find to eventually prove it in the final scene to the consternation or chagrin of the murderer. Keep in mind, Columbo himself KNOWS who the killer is just mere minutes after first meeting the killer. That is why Columbo keeps hanging around and dropping by and barging in on who he knows is the killer throughout the remainder of the episode.

The phrase "whodunit" is just LAZINESS and hack writing by those at TiVo and IMDB. "Whodunit" is such an over-used phrase that people lost track of what it really means, and, ironically, writers are most often the guilty of its mis-use.

And even worse, the writer at TiVo probably knew nothing about Columbo and looked it up at IMDB and just echoed the error. This is one of the greatest faults of the internet: the amount of bad or WRONG information that just get repeated in website after website, and this probably explains TiVo's incorrect series description of Columbo.

And even the late, great director Robert Altman never considered his movie The Player to be a whodunit because he shows us the murder occurring and we CLEARLY see who it is--and seeing WHOodunit at the beginning is the point of the Hollywood morality tale--with the remainder of the movie playing out like an episode of Columbo with Whoopie Goldberg (a Pasadena Police detective) quickly focusing on Player Tim Robbins just after meeting him, and subsequently trying to prove it while TIm Robbins keeps trying to thwart her efforts with a very funny climax.

I don't know if you've ever seen an episode of Columbo (the original late 1960's TV Movie and the 1970's episodes are the ONLY GOOD ONES; not ANY of the 1990's later series), but it is not a mystery, but a psychological drama with humor that focuses on the interactions between the protagonist and antagonist, but it is not a "whodunit."

 

[DishSubLA]

Definition of "Whodunit" from Oxford English Dictionary:

"A story or play about a murder in which the identity of the murderer is not revealed until the end."

I think OED trumps every other source of definitions. Glad to see the proper definition still at the definitive source: OED.

Also Collins Dictionary agrees: "A whodunit is a novel, movie, or play about a murder that does not tell you who the murderer is until the end."

 

[pattykay]

Definition of "Whodunit" from Oxford English Dictionary:

"A story or play about a murder in which the identity of the murderer is not revealed until the end."

I think OED trumps every other source of definitions. Glad to see the proper definition still at the definitive source: OED.
...

Okay, DishSubLA, we all get the point. I am starting to think you have OCD.

 

[rvvaquero]

So, could someone please explain exactly what a "whodunit" is?

 

[Tampa8]

I do appreciate when someone counters and takes the time with facts or information. I would say you are technically correct but in the broader sense of generalizing a show in using a short term, whodunnit is ok.

 

[CyberSpock]

On a side note, I wouldn't mind if there somehow could be social based guide information so it could be corrected. But Imdb started out like that then look what happened. The founders sold it and now Amazon owns it. They have even integrated it into their app as Xray.

And as a bonus, here is the actual Coyote, the true form of... The Invaders!

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