Fall 2008 broadcast television season

Next week starts the new television season. New shows and many old ones will be back, seeking to gain your attention. Now I rarely watch broadcast television these days because the general tone is mind-numbing programs meant to keep you in one place while you get to see the television commercials that are the real important point. But what will this season bring?

Well on Monday the big winner is the return of the Sarah Connor Chronicles. The continuation of the Terminator movies in a TV format. This should also receive and give a boost to the up-coming Terminator movie that takes place after the machines have made their first strike.

Of course there is Monday Night Football. Or you can watch celebrities dance.

For Tuesday hands-down House is the winner. This show has a great lead actors, intelligent writing, and is bitingly sarcastic. All winning parts in a television show to me. But this might be a bit too high-brow for some.

That means in the same time slot you can get comatose watching the new version of 90210 – which I despise – or families taking on questions about each other in a ‘revisioned’ family-safe version of the Dating Game. I’d rather watch the original Dating Game re-runs than these 2.

After that you have the choice of going to sleep, watching more celebrities dance, or try on The Menatlist. The Menatlist is basically a broadcast version of Monk, without the neurosis and adding in a lot more guilt. It may be good, but I always tend to prefer the originals to copycats.

Wednesday is the perfect night to work overtime, learn how to play GO, or revisit the coma inducing qualities that television writers these days excel at. Maybe if you are a complete car fanatic you might want to watch one episode of the new Knight Rider program. But I would suggest reading Wuthering Heights. You’ll get the same type of thrill.

On Thursday there is the chance to see CSI. With the addition of Laurence Fishburne there are so many interesting storylines that can be tapped into, especially if he becomes a serial murderer. But before that comes on, you can always have a late dinner.

Still some just will insist on watching TV from 8 til 9. So that means Ugly Betty or Smallville. But really, why not catch up on politics, or learn about investing. You’ll do better and save more brain cells.

On Friday you have just enough time to see Everybody Hates Chris, get dressed, and go out for the night. If you are sitting in the home and watching the drivel on TV this night you have to be 80. It’s the perfect time to go to the gym and excercise off the extra pounds you gained mind-melding with the couch earlier in the week.

Saturday you can watch college football, or fix the house like your significant other has been bugging you about. Again if you are in during this night you really have no life. Go bowling, or watch the grass grow if you hate football.

Sunday has 60 minutes and Sunday Night Football. The Simpson’s are too old, King of the Hill is not worth missing the opening kick off, Family Guy is good but can be caught on re-runs at Cartoon Network, and American Dad is too on and off.

Now later in the season Lost will return. I don’t see the excitement. Scrubs should be worth the time even on a new channel. Fear anything on the CW, and CBS as no winners coming in late.

24 is sure to be a great television show, and well worth the time. American Idol will sadly return to lower the collective IQ’s of America. Such is the fate of ‘reality TV’. Law & Order is a constant comfort, and a safe bet.

So this is my suggestion overall. Stop watching so much television. If 5 or 6 days out of the week you are watching broadcast TV you are in trouble. But if you have to watch something try this.

Monday – football of course.
Tuesday – Eureka
Wednesday – Mythbusters
Thursday – read a book, go out, or catch up on politics until time for CSI
Friday – Just go out
Saturday – enjoy real life, maybe have friends over for football and poker
Sunday – football and get some sleep.

Now this is not the perfect schedule. There is too much football. But it’s about as much television as anyone really needs. If you want to round out the missing or in-between hours I suggest the news.

Eureka! murders main character and love is in the air

Well when Eureka! says they will be removing a main character of the show they really don’t lie.

Long-time readers know that I am a major sci-fi fan. That does not normally translate into any desire to watch the D-grade revisioned 1950’s monster movies (or 1970’s natural disaster, or recent and far infereior remakes of current scifi flop movies) that populate the Sci-Fi channel; when it’s not pushing non-science fiction programs like wrestling or Scare Tactics. My dislike of the channel reached a peak after they abruptly ended the Farscape series, and lied to the public about the whole thing. No I still haven’t forgotten what they did.

But 3 seasons ago I gave the channel a chance with a new show called Eureka! I’ve written a bit about it, and I recommend the show. It’s humorous, not to techy, nor geeky – those those elements play into the program strongly.

Now in the beginning of season 2 they really too fans on a loop. In an almost J.R. Ewing-esque episode we got to see a future Eureka that had life going almost idealicly for most of the main characters. In fact Sheriff Carter and Dr. Blake expecting a child, Henry doing well with his love interest Kim, Zoey graduating valedictorian, Deputy Lupo romantically involved with Matt Frewer’s scientist of nature character (I can’t recall his name), and Dr. Blake’s son cured of his connection with the Entity and his autism.

By the end of that episode all the characters were reverted to a much different world, where almost all of those eventualities were impossible, and only Henry was left with a memory of it. Thus the drama of the 2nd season.

But one major loophole was the fact that the relationship between Dr. Blake and Sherrif Carter was never resolved. Tonight they started that resolution.

**spoilers will result if you read further**

Not only did this episode take care of the impending marriage of Dr. Stark it opened the door for Carter. It introduced another new character to the series, ‘Stretch’ the sister of Carter. And it deepened the mystery of what the new overseer, whatever the her name is (I’ll call her the shark til I remember).

Done in a style reminiscent of Groundhog Day, Carter is reliving the same 10 hours of Dr. Blake and Stark's wedding day. Except he remembers each loop, and as the days advance he is injured by the restart. And he has to go through the anguish of watching Dr. Blake marry Stark several times. Each time the day restarts right after Henry mentions that ‘love is eternal, and if anyone has an objection speak now or forever hold your tongue' while looking over at Carter.

It’s pretty funny watching Carter trying to convince everyone that time is looping, and knowing their reactions before they even speak at points. The best part is when he decides to give Dr. Blake a kiss to see if that would fix things (on the basis of his sister’s suggestion). It didn’t, but it did provide a nice insight to the fact she has been conflicted about the marriage for several episodes and has deep feelings for Carter.

The source of this is a guy in GD running his own experiment with light and time. Again. But in trying to fix the problem takes 2 lives. The time management scientist and Stark.

Stark, convinced in a different loop by Carter singing a memorized scientific theorem, is working on a fix before the next restart as it would result in the death of everyone. At the critical moment, an automatated piece breaks down requiring a person to set of the device to fix the timeline. Sheriff Carter volunteers, but has insufficient knowledge to run the device. Fargo, who had been working with Stark and was the only other person aware of the full ramifications, volunteered. Stark compliments him for his self-less guesture and then takes the critical role.

Just before the device gets triggered he asks Carter, by first name which he has never called him, to take care of Allison (Dr. Blake) for him because she will need it. Obviously he knows that fixed or not he won’t be around to brag, get married, or anything.

And when he does fade away in a mass of photons and gas he has the usual smarmy look on his face that is his penchant.

Carter then proceeds to the wedding grounds (for the 4th or 5th time) and this time the loop has been closed. He walks up to Allison and as she realizes the seriousness of the situation lays down crying, with him beside her.

Most series would only permanently kill off a character if there was some kind of major issue on the set or a pay conflict. Neither were rumored that I am aware of. So this may not be as permanent a death as it seems. Eureka is the home of the most brilliant minds after all, and several people have been brought back from apparent death before.

What might be most interesting is if the relationship between Carter and Dr. Blake grows as it had in the alternate future, and then Stark reappears to drive Carter nuts. That would be just like Stark too.

Overall it was a good, touching and at a couple of points funny episode. The series has matured well, and other than the inclusion of Zane (the new love interest of Deputy Lupo I don’t like) all the characters work well together.

But I wonder what the device is in the field, giving off all the odd radiation, in the shape of an O.G.R.E. (if you are familiar with Steve Jackson Games G.E.V. you will be familiar with that) and was responsible for an explosion like a nuclear bomb? My guess is that it is an O.G.R.E. – mach 1 – and the shark is trying to dig it up to try to use it’s circuitry for a business advantage. To bad it still is functional and has it’s own mind on what it wants to do.

Just my guess.

The honesty only the Boondocks provides - 10.16.2007.1

I just love the Boondocks cartoon on Adult Swim. The honesty that is contained in that is more than what is seen in a dozen programs throughout all television right now. Live action could never get away with the obvious facts one half hour of this program provides.

From the R. Kelly trial (which in real life has waited 5 years and still has yet to occur), to pimps, Oprah and Dr. Martin Luther King there is a direct honesty that would cause an uproar in another format. In the caricatures of the lead and recurring characters we get to see multiple aspects of Black Americans. That’s a diversity that is only approached by combining characters from the Shield, CSI, Eureka, Blade: the series and Mind of Mencia all into one program. It’s also interesting to note that that’s almost all the leading and major supporting African American characters on television (combining cable and broadcast) at this time.

I don’t know what is more alarming. That the Boondocks is not the most watched program by African Americans, that BET (Black Entertainment Television) was incapable of securing this program themselves, or that my allusion that the diversity in this program exceeds virtually all other programs with African Americans combined is almost accurate. And yet so few see the program while that most don’t get it.

Often social commentary is best stated in formats that are seen as the least confrontational. That’s why, when done by the best performers like Mr. Richard Pryor or Mr. Lenny Bruce, the greatest impact occurs without the direct confrontation a discussion often brings.

As Huey states in one episode, [I paraphrase]

“America has done a multitude of injustice to Blacks, but that does not mean everything is an injustice, or that this makes every African American a hero.”

R Kelly is not a hero, OJ is culpable, and Dr. Martin Luther King would be appalled with the state of the Black community today. It may seem funny when a cartoon character says it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s the truth. And it’s a shame the greatest honesty and diversity can only occur in an animated program in the year 2007.

Congress discusses gangsta rap music Part 2 - 9.26.2007.4

Continued from Congress discusses gangsta rap music Part 1...

Perhaps the funniest part of the Congressional hearings is the arguments made by corporations. I don’t mean funny ha-ha. Executives constantly like to say that they don’t control the content that gets out their. ‘It’s the other guys fault.’ Yet they spend millions to promote this exclusive form of rap music. The spend tens of thousands to create music videos of a particular style only. They flood airwaves with this singular format since 1992, and they have reaped tens of billions of dollars if not hundreds.

The other common excuses are that this is no different than the outrage against Elvis in the 50’s and the Beatles in the 60’s. What crap. Elvis may have wiggled his hips (which they found suggestive and objectionable back then) but you never saw him smoking a crack pipe. Elvis had bodyguards, but you never heard of shoot-outs between him and say Frank Sinatra. For all the wives, women and possible affairs Elvis may have had, you never heard him speak disparagingly about any woman. The only similarity was that when Elvis started, like rap, he was shunned because he was different. 15 years later he was treated as the norm, and some considered him conservative. Rap started out being called a fad, and until the emergence of gansta rap stayed that way. 15 years after gansta rap started it is not a fad, but it is nothing like Elvis either.

Executives like to say they maintain standards and support the community. I say where? Philippe Dauman believes

“We have a responsibility to speak authentically to our viewers”

His manner of authentic speech? Read-a-Book. Music videos of the most graphic nature – shown on BET - that are so extreme the other music video cable channels his corporation owns would not play them. Programming of such a poor quality it’s insulting to think anyone would watch it. When was the last time you saw a movie by Lawrence Fishburne, Denzel Washington or Morgan Freeman on BET? How many times have you seen a movie about rappers, drugs, violence and women barely clothed only seeking sex – like Soul Plane – on BET? I mean it’s not like BET own Paramount Pictures and has an entire movie library that they can access to provide quality movies with. It’s not like they are a multi-billion dollar international corporation that could afford to create original programming that stars or prominently features African Americans that are not drug dealers and rappers (Like the Blade series on Spike, Eureka on SciFi, or the Shield on FX).

Oh thank you Philippe Dauman and Viacom for deciding that the only original programming that should target African Americans are College Hill (laden with profanity and violence), Hot Ghetto Mess (I don’t care that they changed the name it’s still exploitative), and a never ending variations on ‘Flava Flav needs a ho.’ [I should apologize for calling some of the women involved in the various Flav programs ho’s – but I won’t.]

Continued in part 3...

What about Rocky? - 12.28.2006.1

Have you seen the latest Rocky movie? I haven’t, and I will probably pick it up as a DVD or from a bootleg. Given that I was watching a couple of programs and noticed a couple of things about the Rocky movies I started to wonder. The movies have been successful, and I have seen the first 4 in the series. I have enjoyed the ones I’ve seen. That said there are some things that I wonder about.

When I look at the latest movie trailers and I consider that there has not been a champion boxer that has been White in decades, is part of the success due to the dream (or wish) that it was true for the white patrons viewing the film? Is the entire Rocky series just wishful fulfillment for the millions of White Americans that have lost a connection with the boxers that have held titles for years now? It’s a deeper question than is seems to be. I think it also may be more accurate than it appears on the surface.

The ultimate way to view this is to ask ‘would Rocky still be the success it is if the lead character was black’? On top of that would the movies work if the black lead were fighting a white champion? Do either of these things change the movies?

To answer the first question the answer should be it makes no difference. But that answer would be rhetoric and untrue. It does make a difference. Envisioning the movies and placing a black lead does not fit, and it’s not because Mr. Sylvester Stallone was so great. There are many movies that anyone can envision another actor portraying as well if not better than the actual actor in the film. Only truly classic films, like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Godfather are examples of movies where either the acting or the storyline (or a combination of both) prevent seeing another in that role. Rocky is not a classic film, good but not classic and there are other actors that could have done it.

So why does that make a difference? Because it wouldn’t be an underdog story. If this were a movie done in the era of the 1930’s or so it wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work with a black champion or lead. It’s just too unbelievable. Which is sad because it should be able to work.

Yet I cab understand the need to feel connected. I would imagine millions of Black Americans have no connection to most of the programs on television, like I do. While there are good shows out there I’ve noticed that shows where there is some type of diversity tend to attract my attention more than others. The Blade series, the Shield, Eureka, House, CSI and other shows have character(s) that I can empathize with more and in part I want to see how those character fare in those series. Shows like Seinfeld, Friends, Will & Grace did not, and I viewed them occasionally but never felt a connection to them. [Shows like Cheer, Frasier, Moonlighting and others were favorites without connection to similar characters.]

This also feeds into the desire of connection with the film. An audience needs to feel connected to the characters and/or the situation. While there is no denying that fans of all races and nationalities enjoy boxing today, there is also no denying that many would like to see a White champion. It’s natural. They can connect with that character. It’s no different than the millions of African Americans that connected with Mr. Muhammad Ali, or Mr. Tiger Woods as they took the world stage by storm. Even in basketball this is true, though to a lesser extent, and in football with quarterbacks like Mr. Warren Moon and others. The fans can see themselves as that figure and can connect more completely with their success. It’s wish fulfillment.

In terms of Rocky, the success of non-White athletes is not an underdog story but somewhat of a given as there have been decades of champions without a White contender. I think the last real shot was Mr. Cooney some time ago. I could be wrong and please let me know if I am.

So Is Rocky really a great series of films, or a good film propelled by the desires that are unrealized in the real world? And what does that mean about the psyche of America? Does that mean a White champion would make more money just because of his skin color? That a so-so contender would be paid more, and propelled up the ranks faster just to give fans a new dream?

Given that there is no direct connection between reality and the movies, it’s interesting how close the character of Apollo is to Mr. Ali and Mr. Joe Frasier. The character of Clubber Lang (the début film for former bouncer Mr. T) seems eerily like Mr. Mike Tyson, thought the release pre-dates Mr. Tyson by 4 years.

I realize that the film is regarded as a classic by many, and that it won 3 Oscar Awards. I understand that it made over 100 million dollars in profit. Even so, it is not on the caliber of the Marathon Man, The Sting, and others. The question remains in my mind what is behind the great performance of these movies (the 3rd and 4th movies were not nearly as good as the first 2 and made more money). And what does that mean if I am correct.

Or am I just letting my mind wander too much?

This is what I think, what do you think?