Thursday, July 29, 2010
"Where The White Wimmen At?"
A famous question once raised by Cleavon Little:
...is implicitly asked once again today by Barack Obama, as he becomes the first sitting president to appear on daytime television, chatting with the ladies of "The View." It's an event that draws a heart-surgery-recovering Barbara Walters back in front of the cameras, well before her for-real September return date. But it also shows how nervous the White House is about its collapsing support among, not just women, but Caucasian ladies in particular:
Let's hope Secret Service was on high alert and got the president out of the taping unscathed.
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...is implicitly asked once again today by Barack Obama, as he becomes the first sitting president to appear on daytime television, chatting with the ladies of "The View." It's an event that draws a heart-surgery-recovering Barbara Walters back in front of the cameras, well before her for-real September return date. But it also shows how nervous the White House is about its collapsing support among, not just women, but Caucasian ladies in particular:
Winning back white males, especially working-class ones, may be impossible unless the economy turns around. But his visit to The View indicates the candidate of hope has not given up on white women. Nor can he afford to.Of course, Baba Wawa's appearance is interesting as well. Should Michelle Obama been a little worried about yesterday's taping? After all, as she admitted in her autobiography (confessing to one of the worst-kept secrets in DC), Ms. Walters bedded former Sen. Edward Brooke. Call it her "Where the brothas at?" phase.
Mr. Obama attracted the support of 46 per cent of white women in the 2008 election, compared to 41 per cent of white men. But the latest NBC-Wall Street Journal poll puts his current approval rating among white women at an abysmal 35 per cent.
Proportionately, white women in their 40s and 50s are expected to vote more than any other group in the Nov. 2 midterms. “And they’re the women watching The View,” [American University Prof. Jennifer] Lawless added.
Let's hope Secret Service was on high alert and got the president out of the taping unscathed.
Labels: Barack Obama, television, women voters
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Law & Repetitive Disorder
Josh Marshall takes note of the continued dropping murder rate in New York City. It is on track to be fewer than 500 for the entire year -- and a small fraction of those are random, "stranger"-connected incidents.
Josh, however, points out how different the reality of New York City is from its televised counterparts:
It's not just "unrealistic" -- it's increasingly unoriginal. Should anyone care if the Hollywood writers return to any television shows? Creativity has hardly been their strong suit on the small screen this year: An interesting un-interesting pattern has developed. Let's just say that there seems a certain level of redundancy in plot lines. Or one could say that there is a lack of originality in crime drama. Or that the shows are repeating themselves.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI:NY and Numbers (an FBI procedural set in Los Angeles) have all had episodes this year set in cyberspace where one of the characaters adopts an avatar to track down a murderer.
Shark (unprincipled L.A. prosecutor), SVU and Without A Trace (FBI missing persons unit in New York) have all had episodes set in the world of ultimate fighting.
CSI:Miami and CSI:NY both had Halloween episodes centered around the plot of "weird occurrences hamper investigators as they track a serial killer/mass murderer." (Perhaps the shared DNA of these two shows is causing them to become virtual clones: In another recent week, each show's episode centered on the death of a model in the middle of a shoot/promotion.)
Time Warner cable's TV guide preview also tells us that this coming week's "Miami" and "SVU" center around the death of a wealthy family's nanny.
This trend extends beyond the procedurals. Witness the "nerd-fest" that exploded this year.
Chuck -- affable geek working in an ersatz Best Buy ends up becoming reluctant undercover agent foiling bad guys for the NSA vs. Reaper -- affable geek working in an ersatz Home Depot ends up becoming reluctant underworld agent tracking runaway demons for the devil (the devil, the U.S. government -- same diff, right?) Both shows have the hormone-overwhelmed sidekicks who manage to accidentally mess up the hero's mission -- while the good guy's heart gets broken because of the pressures of the job.
Sad as it may be to consider, is it actually possible that the reality shows might be showing a bit more creativity in TV land? Again, if the writers never came back, would they really be missed?
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Josh, however, points out how different the reality of New York City is from its televised counterparts:
As an aside, I think this gives more credence to a suspicion I've had since the late '90s: that the current low murder rates in this country -- particularly in New York City -- probably make the whole concept of the TV police procedural unrealistic. Can the two detectives at Law & Order really have one murder case to solve once a week? And all three series? Or what about the old NYPD Blue? The structure of the show was based on murders right and left for just the single precinct.Josh could actually replace NYPD Blue with CSI:NY as the latest in the "NYC-murder-a-minute" category.
It's not just "unrealistic" -- it's increasingly unoriginal. Should anyone care if the Hollywood writers return to any television shows? Creativity has hardly been their strong suit on the small screen this year: An interesting un-interesting pattern has developed. Let's just say that there seems a certain level of redundancy in plot lines. Or one could say that there is a lack of originality in crime drama. Or that the shows are repeating themselves.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI:NY and Numbers (an FBI procedural set in Los Angeles) have all had episodes this year set in cyberspace where one of the characaters adopts an avatar to track down a murderer.
Shark (unprincipled L.A. prosecutor), SVU and Without A Trace (FBI missing persons unit in New York) have all had episodes set in the world of ultimate fighting.
CSI:Miami and CSI:NY both had Halloween episodes centered around the plot of "weird occurrences hamper investigators as they track a serial killer/mass murderer." (Perhaps the shared DNA of these two shows is causing them to become virtual clones: In another recent week, each show's episode centered on the death of a model in the middle of a shoot/promotion.)
Time Warner cable's TV guide preview also tells us that this coming week's "Miami" and "SVU" center around the death of a wealthy family's nanny.
This trend extends beyond the procedurals. Witness the "nerd-fest" that exploded this year.
Chuck -- affable geek working in an ersatz Best Buy ends up becoming reluctant undercover agent foiling bad guys for the NSA vs. Reaper -- affable geek working in an ersatz Home Depot ends up becoming reluctant underworld agent tracking runaway demons for the devil (the devil, the U.S. government -- same diff, right?) Both shows have the hormone-overwhelmed sidekicks who manage to accidentally mess up the hero's mission -- while the good guy's heart gets broken because of the pressures of the job.
Sad as it may be to consider, is it actually possible that the reality shows might be showing a bit more creativity in TV land? Again, if the writers never came back, would they really be missed?
Labels: television, writer's strike
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Who's The Mannix? Where's The Mannix?
Great Washington Post article on the lack of a DVD collection of the great 70's private-eye show "Mannix."
While the piece touches on what made Mike Connors such a cool, punch-'em-in-the-face, character, the most poignant part centers on Gail Fisher, the lovely actress who played Mannix's secretary Peggy. Along with other trailblazers such as Diahann "Julia" Carroll and Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols, she opend the door for many African American actresses -- and fired up the hormones of more than a few young men of various backgrounds.
As the article notes, she died last year, after bouts with drugs, diabetes and emphysema -- sadly forgotten by most of the entertainment community.
Aside from the show's many other pleasures, allowing younger generations to catch a glimpse of Gail Fisher, is as good a reason as any to release an official "Mannix" DVD collection.
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While the piece touches on what made Mike Connors such a cool, punch-'em-in-the-face, character, the most poignant part centers on Gail Fisher, the lovely actress who played Mannix's secretary Peggy. Along with other trailblazers such as Diahann "Julia" Carroll and Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols, she opend the door for many African American actresses -- and fired up the hormones of more than a few young men of various backgrounds.
As the article notes, she died last year, after bouts with drugs, diabetes and emphysema -- sadly forgotten by most of the entertainment community.
Aside from the show's many other pleasures, allowing younger generations to catch a glimpse of Gail Fisher, is as good a reason as any to release an official "Mannix" DVD collection.
Labels: DVD, television
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Summer Reflections
I agree -- these were the best TV had to offer this summer.
In fact, they were good TV -- regardless. I would also add Damages and recurrent fave Rescue Me on FX. Nikki's wrong though that Burn Notice would make for a good replacement on broadcast networks. We now live in a niche entertainment world. "Burn" and Mad Men work well in a cable environment, but there's not enough of a lowest common-denominator element for them to survive in the ratings obsessed cultural wasteland of the "real" TV season.
If you missed any of these shows, pick 'em up on DVD when you can. Highly recommended.
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In fact, they were good TV -- regardless. I would also add Damages and recurrent fave Rescue Me on FX. Nikki's wrong though that Burn Notice would make for a good replacement on broadcast networks. We now live in a niche entertainment world. "Burn" and Mad Men work well in a cable environment, but there's not enough of a lowest common-denominator element for them to survive in the ratings obsessed cultural wasteland of the "real" TV season.
If you missed any of these shows, pick 'em up on DVD when you can. Highly recommended.
Labels: television
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Summer Distractions, Cont'd
Bruce Bartlett discusses his current favorite summer TV series on cable (which are becoming increasingly popular), "Mad Men" (about the 60's-era advertising industry), particularly the creators' attention to detail.
I have to agree; it is a good show.
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I have to agree; it is a good show.
Labels: Mad Men, television
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Why Architects Need To Watch More TV
Some embarrassment in downtown San Diego...
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They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and two beholders – one of them a government agency's architect – have very different views of a 40-story residential tower proposed at a gateway to downtown San Diego....could very well have been avoided this controversy had the architects only been fans of CBS' "How I Met Your Mother":
Sandor Shapery says his design is like a flower. A consultant to the Centre City Development Corp. says it looks like a giant phallus.
The Shapery proposal, a 160-unit hotel and condominium tower, was supposed to go before the downtown redevelopment agency for initial feedback this month. But the developer asked for a postponement, saying he will “revisit” and perhaps “tone down” the design because he doesn't want to offend anyone.
The firm is about to unveil a design for a skyscraper to a big client, and Druthers is very excited about it. Druthers unveils it to the client, and the client automatically announces that the building is a penis. Everybody in the office knows it looks like a penis but Druthers, who did not see it at all. The client refuses to build a penis, and asks for other ideas. Druthers doesn't have any ready. The client is angry, and decides to leave. Ted stops him, and shows him his design.Here's some amusing risque (or juvenile, depending on your humor tolerance) dialogue from the episode:
Ted: Here they are.So who says TV can't be educational?
Boss: Hmm, too green.
Ted: Too green?
Boss: The leaves should be more of a natural brown color, almost brunette. Think bushy. I want this tower to rise from a thicket of wild ungroomed brunette shrubbery. Can you picture it, Ted?
Ted: I can’t unpicture it.
Labels: architecture, How I Met Your Mother, phallic symbols, television
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Summer Distractiions
So, if you happen to be a TV addict, which I freely admit to being (admitting you have a problem is the first step) -- especially now that I have a DVR -- here's a list of some good summer options. I'm a watcher/fan of four of them: "Entourage", "Rescue Me" (a favorite from the beginning), "The Closer" (just got into it at the end of last summer) and "Flight of the Conchords" (a new HBO show).
A few other favorites:
Kyle XY (Mondays, 8 p.m., ABC Family) -- "Smallville" meets "The O.C." with this strange-teenager-with-odd-powers moves into middle-class home.
Burn Notice (Thursdays, 10 p.m., USA Network) -- former CIA operative gets canned and while figuring out why, he doubles as private detective.
Eureka (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., Sci-Fi Network, starts July 10)- a strange town populated by most of America's super-geniuses.
Yeah, I realize I am flying my geek flag in a major way. But that should hardly come as a surprise to long-time readers!
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A few other favorites:
Kyle XY (Mondays, 8 p.m., ABC Family) -- "Smallville" meets "The O.C." with this strange-teenager-with-odd-powers moves into middle-class home.
Burn Notice (Thursdays, 10 p.m., USA Network) -- former CIA operative gets canned and while figuring out why, he doubles as private detective.
Eureka (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., Sci-Fi Network, starts July 10)- a strange town populated by most of America's super-geniuses.
Yeah, I realize I am flying my geek flag in a major way. But that should hardly come as a surprise to long-time readers!
Labels: pop culture, science-fiction, television
Friday, March 02, 2007
24 Politics
Is the Kiefer Sutherland suspense-drama as politically "conservative" as some claim? Michael Rosen surveys the evidence.
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Labels: 24, television, torture
Friday, February 23, 2007
California, Here We Come
OK, so my most inexplicable guilty pleasure, The O.C., closed up shop last night.
No more silly teen brawling, no more cool comic-book geek references from Adam Brody, no more general trash. C'est la vie. The show jumped the shark a couple of years ago (which would have been midway through its second season), but great casting choices such as the aformentioned young Brody, Peter Gallagher and the underappreciated Rachel Bilson (Summer) made the whole thing still have a few sparkling moments in subsequent seasons. (Bilson was given the best line of the finale: Talking about "The Valley," the hit TV show that exists in The O.C. universe, Summer says, "It's been renewed for another five years; those teen soaps go on forever.")
Anyway, as this piece points out, the real star of The O.C. was the music. When I was in DC, I was a part-time DJ for several years and managed to stay "plugged-in" with the latest sounds. However, after moving up to New York in 1999, I lost track (so to speak) of the music --- after being an alternative music fan for decades.
The OC helped bring to light some pretty cool tunes and artists that I would have otherwise missed. Yeah, much of it could be considered relatively "mainstream" considering the broad parameters of today's disjointed music scene. But, it also helped expose to a broader audience some relatively overlooked modern classics such as the decade-old, yet now-ubiquitous "Hallelujah" by died-much-too-young Jeff Buckley. And, of course, the show's theme -- Phantom Planet's "California" hooked you from the get-go.
And now, four years later, it's over. Smallville may now be the best option for a weekly dose of nice, atmospheric music mixed with teen sturm und drang. Alas, only its first season is available on CD -- whereas The O.C. spawned six "Mixes" in its four short years. A good guide to the music is available here.
Bye, bye, Newport.
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No more silly teen brawling, no more cool comic-book geek references from Adam Brody, no more general trash. C'est la vie. The show jumped the shark a couple of years ago (which would have been midway through its second season), but great casting choices such as the aformentioned young Brody, Peter Gallagher and the underappreciated Rachel Bilson (Summer) made the whole thing still have a few sparkling moments in subsequent seasons. (Bilson was given the best line of the finale: Talking about "The Valley," the hit TV show that exists in The O.C. universe, Summer says, "It's been renewed for another five years; those teen soaps go on forever.")
Anyway, as this piece points out, the real star of The O.C. was the music. When I was in DC, I was a part-time DJ for several years and managed to stay "plugged-in" with the latest sounds. However, after moving up to New York in 1999, I lost track (so to speak) of the music --- after being an alternative music fan for decades.
The OC helped bring to light some pretty cool tunes and artists that I would have otherwise missed. Yeah, much of it could be considered relatively "mainstream" considering the broad parameters of today's disjointed music scene. But, it also helped expose to a broader audience some relatively overlooked modern classics such as the decade-old, yet now-ubiquitous "Hallelujah" by died-much-too-young Jeff Buckley. And, of course, the show's theme -- Phantom Planet's "California" hooked you from the get-go.
And now, four years later, it's over. Smallville may now be the best option for a weekly dose of nice, atmospheric music mixed with teen sturm und drang. Alas, only its first season is available on CD -- whereas The O.C. spawned six "Mixes" in its four short years. A good guide to the music is available here.
Bye, bye, Newport.
Labels: alternative music, television, The O.C.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Serial Killers*
The Times talks about how the TV networks -- all eager to copy the success Fox has had with "24" -- jumped on the extended one-story-arc bandwagon in the 2006-07 season.
With predictable results:
This creates a frustrating set of circumstances. Viewers (even a low-rated show can still have an audience of several million people) feel betrayed because they have been roped in and asked to commit to a 23 week regular "appointment."
Only to discover that the commitment is one-sided. A few brief weeks later, the shows are off the air.
Some of the shows -- and their resolutions -- exist online at the network's web-site -- and they are often not usually easy to find.
I do give NBC some props for this. Even though certain shows are canceled, they do keep the greatest treasury of episodes up on the web of any of the four networks (including full seasons of the still-live-and-kicking, "30 Rock", "Heroes", "Friday Night Lights").
By the way, one show that was not a one-story season-long arc but was canceled nonetheless was Fox's "Justice." Too bad, good ensemble cast -- led by Victor Garber, late of "Alias.")
Unfortunately it's not easy these days to make defense attorneys attractive (last year, ABC had on a show modeled after The Innocence Project, which frees wrongly-convicted violent felons; it lasted for 13 episodes).
"Law and Order" has replaced "Perry Mason" as the preferred trial show standard. Evidently, the public wants to see defendants found guilty -- rather than be told that the "wrong person" is on trial.
Which may say something about the world in which we live.
Yes, I know: I watch too much television.
No, I don't think it keeps me from being productive in other areas. And no, it doesn't needlessly distract me from...uh, hmmm...did you know it's only four days until the new season of "24"?
Um, what was I saying?
UPDATE: Regular Commenter Bill Barker took exception with my statement that "the public wants to see defendants found guilty rather than be told the 'wrong person' is on trial."
Bill said, "I'd say it's much more accurate to write, "The public wants to see GUILTY people found GUILTY and INNOCENT people found INNOCENT."
I don't disagree with that statement: No one wants innocent people to be found guilty. However, in the above, I was noting the proliferation of police-and-prosecution shows while newer defense-attorney shows have been failing. It wasn't always this way: While cop shows have long been the rage, invariably when the action moved into the courtroom, TV has tended to focus on the defense: Perry Mason, Matlock and L.A. Law are three of the most notable.
I probably should have said that, "It might say something about our times that the public seems more interested in seeing the prosecution side of the legal system than the defense side." (ABC's Boston Legal -- a spin-off of The Practice -- is the notable exception as a legal drama centered on the law firm).
It is interesting that one of the successful new shows of the current season -- Shark -- stars James Woods as a defense attorney who switches sides and goes to work for the L.A. district attorney. That conscious artistic decision suggests the creators may be keying into a cultural shift in the audience.
*Damn! I'm on a pun-header roll today.
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With predictable results:
Each of the five major broadcast networks has already canceled one new serial drama that it introduced last fall with blaring publicity and endlessly replayed promotional snippets. Come and gone in a few short weeks were several interchangeable series featuring an unexpected crime and plenty of shoot-’em-up violence: “Smith” on CBS, “Runaway” on CW, “Kidnapped” on NBC, “Vanished” on Fox and “Day Break” on ABC.Yep, nearly all the serial shows have been canceled -- including my personal favorite, "Vanished" (not to be confused with either NBC's "Kidnapped" or the CW's "Runaway") because of low ratings. Want to figure out what happened in the central mystery's story arcs? Good luck.
This creates a frustrating set of circumstances. Viewers (even a low-rated show can still have an audience of several million people) feel betrayed because they have been roped in and asked to commit to a 23 week regular "appointment."
Only to discover that the commitment is one-sided. A few brief weeks later, the shows are off the air.
Some of the shows -- and their resolutions -- exist online at the network's web-site -- and they are often not usually easy to find.
I do give NBC some props for this. Even though certain shows are canceled, they do keep the greatest treasury of episodes up on the web of any of the four networks (including full seasons of the still-live-and-kicking, "30 Rock", "Heroes", "Friday Night Lights").
By the way, one show that was not a one-story season-long arc but was canceled nonetheless was Fox's "Justice." Too bad, good ensemble cast -- led by Victor Garber, late of "Alias.")
Unfortunately it's not easy these days to make defense attorneys attractive (last year, ABC had on a show modeled after The Innocence Project, which frees wrongly-convicted violent felons; it lasted for 13 episodes).
"Law and Order" has replaced "Perry Mason" as the preferred trial show standard. Evidently, the public wants to see defendants found guilty -- rather than be told that the "wrong person" is on trial.
Which may say something about the world in which we live.
Yes, I know: I watch too much television.
No, I don't think it keeps me from being productive in other areas. And no, it doesn't needlessly distract me from...uh, hmmm...did you know it's only four days until the new season of "24"?
Um, what was I saying?
UPDATE: Regular Commenter Bill Barker took exception with my statement that "the public wants to see defendants found guilty rather than be told the 'wrong person' is on trial."
Bill said, "I'd say it's much more accurate to write, "The public wants to see GUILTY people found GUILTY and INNOCENT people found INNOCENT."
I don't disagree with that statement: No one wants innocent people to be found guilty. However, in the above, I was noting the proliferation of police-and-prosecution shows while newer defense-attorney shows have been failing. It wasn't always this way: While cop shows have long been the rage, invariably when the action moved into the courtroom, TV has tended to focus on the defense: Perry Mason, Matlock and L.A. Law are three of the most notable.
I probably should have said that, "It might say something about our times that the public seems more interested in seeing the prosecution side of the legal system than the defense side." (ABC's Boston Legal -- a spin-off of The Practice -- is the notable exception as a legal drama centered on the law firm).
It is interesting that one of the successful new shows of the current season -- Shark -- stars James Woods as a defense attorney who switches sides and goes to work for the L.A. district attorney. That conscious artistic decision suggests the creators may be keying into a cultural shift in the audience.
*Damn! I'm on a pun-header roll today.
Labels: 24, Fox, NBC, television
