MTV

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 5.16

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

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Dear Facebook…

I appreciate the “People You May Know” suggestions, but there are issues. Just because I have one or two friends in common facebook-147with someone doesn’t mean that I know that person. Perhaps we should set the bar a little higher…like maybe 10 friends in common?? Of course the flip side of that is that if I have 50 friends in common with someone the odds are that I do know them and there is a reason I’m not friends with them on Facebook. Perhaps we went to high school together and they were a popular kid that didn’t know I existed. Or maybe they were in a fraternity or sorority that I interacted with in college but I thought they were a jackass back then and have no interest in catching up two decades later. I understand that it is a complicated algorithm to perfect, but I think a billion dollar company that revolutionized social media can do better.

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head-scratch2So the History Channel, A&E, and Lifetime (Television for Women) have teamed up for a remake of Roots. Seriously?? Can’t we just leave the classics alone??

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I’m just gonna leave this right here…

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Speaking of social media, I have a pet peeve…

screenCitizens of The Manoverse will recall that as part of the annual Sammy Awards I do an RIP section dedicated to notable individuals who have passed on during the year. It began as a parody of the In Memoriam segment of the Academy Awards but has evolved into a responsibility that I take rather seriously. Because of this I am usually able to vaguely recall when a person died. Therefore it annoys me tremendously when someone on Facebook posts an article about a celebrity death as if it just occurred recently when in reality the person passed away several years ago. Come on folks…read the articles. Don’t just blindly post something and make yourself look uninformed & oblivious.

 

 

Yep…exactly…..

MTV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been refraining from too much sociopolitical commentary lately, a) because it’s a pointless endeavor in a world that’s gone toh Hell in a handbasket, and b) I’m already on a low dosage of high blood pressure meds so I’m trying to be prudent. However, let me just say this about Harambe, a 17 year old silverback that was recently shot to death by staff at the Cincinnati Zoo. Is it sad that Harambe is dead?? Of course. Nevertheless, the powers-that-be at the zoo made the right call. A toddler had gotten into the enclosure and was in danger. Anyone with a brain would choose human life over an animal any day…or atleast I’d hope so. I know there are a bunch of animal lovers out there claiming that Harambe was actually trying to be protective of the child, and video seems to support that notion. I also know that gorillas are said to be very intelligent. However, gorillas possess strength atleast 10x that of a healthy adult human male but not the means to understand that fact. The animal may not have had any intention of harming the child but likely would have if swift action had not been taken. The shocked crowd certainly had no intention of spooking Harambe and making the situation worse yet they undoubtedly did. The choice made was the only logical choice. As far as the parents of the child are concerned, I cannot be overly critical because I am not a parent myself and also because I was not there. Word on the street is that these might not be the most stellar caregivers in the world. Dad has a pretty long rap sheet and some say that Mom was being inattentive to the child. That being said, we all know that things happen. Kids can be sneaky quick. Hopefully the parents learn a valuable lesson from all of this, and the folks in charge at the zoo will likely re-examine safety measures and try to tighten things up a bit on their end. It is a tragic end for Harambe, but it could have been so much more horrific all the way around.

 

 

Because I am here not just to entertain but to educate…

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For a person trying to refrain from sociopolitical commentary I suppose I’m doing a lot of it today, but something must be addressed…

obama_dr_evilI think it was bad form for President Hussein Obama to do yet another apology tour…this time in Hiroshima, Japan…right before our Memorial Day here in the United States. And people wonder why so many hate this man?? To be honest I don’t understand why anyone with better than a grade school education respects him. He’s disgusting.

Reality TV vs. The Pursuit of Excellence

Out of the two dozen couples who have gotten together on The roseBachelor and The Bachelorette in the past decade only 4 are still together. That’s a less than 17% success rate.

 

kcThere have been 11 winners of American Idol. Only two of them…Kelly Clarkson & Carrie Underwood…have achieved what one could subjectively define as a sustained level of prominence & achievement. That’s an 18% success rate, although to be fair when one throws in non-victors such as Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, rocker carrie-underwood-606011928Chris Daughtry, television actress Katherine McPhee, & (since I’m feeling generous) Clay Aiken and considers the fact that Phillip Phillips is fresh out of the starting gate the accomplishments of Idol alums looks a bit better. 

I am not ambitious enough to research the relative successes from programs like America’s Got Talent, The Voice, Last Comic Standing, America’s Next Top Model, The X Factor, Top Chef, The Biggest Loser, or So You Think You Can Dance, but who really cares anyway??  And we haven’t even mentioned shows where the winner merely receives a cash prize like Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, or Fear Factor.

I could belabor the point, but I’ll just cut right to the chase. Reality TV is, for the most part, stupid. It in no way reflects actual reality and really only serves two purposes…it entertains the dumbed-down masses and makes a lot of people famous who A) did nothing to earn it, and B) aren’t prepared to handle it. My low opinion of reality television is nothing new to citizens of The Manoverse, but as the old saying goes “it’s all fun & games until someone gets hurt”. Well now someone has gotten hurt. In fact someone has died.

Back in January I stated my intention to not watch MTV’s new show Buckwild, which is just another way for Hollywood to laugh at my home state of West Virginia. I must admit that I did end up watching it once…for about 15 minutes…several weeks ago. As I suspected it was idiotic and not worth my time. I also saw two Buckwild cast members being interviewed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon right before the show premiered. The young lady was articulate and quite lovely. The bwyoung man was the quintessential redneck hillbilly and embodied just about every negative Appalachian stereotype. That young man was Shain Gandee. A few days ago Shain Gandee along with his uncle and a friend, were found dead. Reportedly the men had been at a bar at 3am then decided to “go muddin’”. No one knows for sure what occurred, but the theory being floated around is that their truck got stuck in the mud with the tailpipe submerged and the three men sat there revving the engine until the fumes overtook them. It’s the kind of freak accident that one might see in those Final Destination movies, only this was all too real.

The reaction here in West Virginia has been mixed. No one is happy that these people are dead. Everyone agrees that the situation is sad & tragic. But some are acting as if it is a calamity on par with The Day the Music Died or when Dale Earnhardt got killed, while others have the “well that was predictable” attitude. Personally I come down somewhere in the middle, and it is precisely because Mr. Gandee was on an asinine reality television show that I feel the way I do.

My feelings about the whole thing were encapsulated perfectly by something I saw on Facebook and decided to repost (which I rarely bookdo). Essentially what was said in this meme was that we have become a nation that is entertained by watching people act like idiots. There are people that have figured out…as someone always does…how to make money from that fact. Thus the proliferation of TV shows about nothing but people acting like idiots. It laments the fact that we have gone from a nation that “used to celebrate brilliance & seek wisdom” muddinto a populace that makes Honey Boo Boo a star and enables the antics of drunken morons on Jersey Shore. One wonders how many people could tell you anything you need to know about Duck Dynasty or the adventures of the Kardashian clan but have never read Hemingway, enjoyed Shakespeare, or spent quality time with Chopin, Mozart, & Gershwin. The point is not that MTV or Buckwild killed Shain Gandee. He may or may not have died like this anyway. Only God knows the answer to that. The point is not that Gandee or the other two men deserved to die because they were dumb rednecks. Maybe there are some folks out there that feel that way but not me. The point is that the mere fact that this is a national story is a sad reflection of our society. These deaths should be properly mourned by the families & friends and their community of Sissonville, WV, but the fact that musicanyone outside of that town even knows about the situation is a direct result of our diminishing appreciation for excellence. The little ditty I saw on Facebook mentions the poor state of education in the United States in comparison to other more studious nations and assumes that in countries like Japan children aren’t “blowing off their homework” for the kind of idiocy of which we Americans have grown so fond. I don’t know if that is true or not because I don’t know what kids (or adults) in other nations do for fun, but it is likely a valid point. It also asks a rhetorical question about our lack of familiarity or concern for soldiers killed every day in the line of duty as opposed to our intimate knowledge of the most minute celebrity trivia. I didn’t take that inquiry to be a commentary on the relative value of one human life versus another, but rather an astute observation about skewed priorities.

Was this thing that I read, agreed with, & reposted a little harsh?? Maybe. Maybe not. Death is a sensitive topic, and the circumstances of this particular situation are so full of questions that no one will ever karknow what really happened. Is it proper to seize upon such a tragedy to rail against an ancillary issue?? In this case I believe it is to a degree. Two cast members of Buckwild have ended up in jail and now one is dead. The show has only been on the air a few months. Maybe it is time that we ask ourselves what is happening to our society. When did we become so voyeuristic?? The suits in Hollywood understandably like reality television because it is cheaper to produce and requires less effort & creativity. But when did we as a society segue from being entertained by professional actors who have been properly trained, work hard, and are well compensated to utilize their talent to portray characters in fictional stories that make us laugh, cry, and think to getting our kicks by watching a bunch of actual people that have allowed cameras into their “real” lives to capture their most intimate, embarrassing, and vulnerable moments?? I don’t know how much money reality stars Duck Dynasty 560make, but you can be sure that it’s a whole lot less than what your average actor in a sitcom or one hour drama is paid. And many of these “real” people aren’t mentally & emotionally equipped for the sudden fame & fortune…even though it is probably the whole reason they signed up in the first place. I admittedly cannot relate to that thought process because I make a concerted effort in my own life to keep to myself, fly under the radar, and not draw any unnecessary attention. The mere thought of cameras following me around makes me cringe. Your mileage may vary.

At any rate, regardless of whether or not there is any direct correlation between the existence of Buckwild and the sad death of Shain Gandee, I believe it is time to pull the plug. I did read that MTV is paying the young man’s funeral expenses and they deserve kudos for doing the right thing. But they need to take the next logical step and end this ridiculous show. Furthermore, we all need to reassess our priorities and possibly invest our time in better hobbies. There’s nothing wrong with a little harmless fun. We all need to chill out occasionally. I just think there are better ways to approach that task.

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Points of Ponderation…..Episode 1.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

 

I had originally planned to do an entire piece about the on-again gun control debate, but I honestly just don’t have the stomach for it at the present time. Between liberals who are hellbent & determined to spit all over The Constitution & do whatever it takes to take away the freedoms that our Founding Fathers deemed so important that they specifically enumerated them in the Bill of 2ndRights, and sanctimonious Christians who take passivity to a whole new level because their idea of Jesus is some sort of easygoing, “It’s all good. Just chill out & let it go dude”, submissive milquetoast who wouldn’t want us to stand up for what’s right…well, I’m just kind of exasperated by the whole thing. I had mentioned in the State of The Manofesto that I had decided to pretty much steer clear of sociopolitical debates at the moment, but I was going to make an exception on this very important topic. Not now. I think it is best for my mental & emotional buddyjesuswell-being if I just keep my opinions to myself, which kind of sucks since the charm of…dare I say the whole point of…writing a blog is to express one’s opinions, and when I feel restricted in my ability and/or desire to do that it kind of paints me into a corner.

 

 

MTV’s new show Buckwild has been a big topic of conversation here in West Virginia. It is generally not my protocol to condemn something without giving it a fair chance, but in this case I have no intention of ever watching the show. First of all, MTV wasn’t even my thing when MTV was cool & popular, and since now it has strayed completely away from its original purpose & openly caters to wvthe lowest common denominator it definitely isn’t worthy of my time & attention. Secondly, Buckwild has been compared to Jersey Shore, which is kind of like trying to get someone to taste your cooking by comparing it to vomit. No thank you. And finally, you must understand that I am born & bred in West Virginia. I am well aware of the positives & negatives of my home state. I choose to concentrate on the positive and try my best to ignore the negative whenever possible, but unfortunately pop culture rarely utilizes that tactic. West Virginia is usually the butt of the joke. We are portrayed as a bunch of illiterate hillbillies who do nothing but drink, smoke, party, listen to country music, go to the bathroom in an outhouse, and sleep with our relatives. I won’t deny that there is an element of our population that ratifies such stereotypes, but most of the folks I know are somewhat educated, dress well, drive decent cars, have jobs, speak clearly, and frown on inbreeding. That is my West Virginia, and so I will not give credence to a “reality” show that once again allows us to be a punchline. Your mileage may vary.

 

 

So the Oscar nominations have been announced. Of the 9 nominees for Best Picture I have seen only Lincoln, which is a very good film. I have a level of interest ranging from mild to moderate in seeing atleast 5 of the others but likely will not catch them until they are available on PPV or video-on-demand. It has always struck me as odd that apparently no great films are released for about the first nine months of the year in the eyes of The Academy. I realize it is kind of a “Which came the_dark_knight_rises_2012-t1first…the chicken or the egg??” kind of thing. Studios now just kind of follow the “rules”. They release their big budget action flicks & sequels in the summertime, and wait until late fall to unleash the more cerebral “Oscar worthy” films. But when did those rules come into play?? Who came up with them & why?? As tongue-in-cheek as The Sammy Awards may seem because of the way I present them thru the prism of my quirky sense of humor, I take them seriously to a certain extent and meant it when I said that The Dark Knight Rises is a true epic. I also said that it is “too good to overlook”, but apparently The Academy doesn’t share my tastes. It is disqualified from being considered “artistic” because it’s about a comic book character and was in theaters during the summer. That’s a load of poppycock in my humble opinion.

 

 

I have commented in the past about how much I enjoy the occasional haircut. Besides being a rather sensuous experience it also can provide an opportunity for a bit of innocent flirtation, a skill I like to practice whenever possible (although since I am 40 & single I’m obviously doing it wrong). However, I seem to have inadvertently developed the wrong ability. Now even though I am openly non-PC it is also never my intention to be mean-spirited or offensive, so that is not my goal here, but I must be honest. On atleast three occasions in the past several months…at different hair salons…I have eagerly anticipated some social interaction & meager physical contact with a lovely young lady only to be Hair Cutting Scissorswaited on by the one stylist that isn’t going to do anything other than provide (hopefully) a decent haircut. Yes, I am talking about the one male employee in the place…and he usually isn’t batting on my team if you catch my drift. Let me be perfectly clear…that person’s orientation is their own personal choice and has nothing to do with anything except the fact that it really kind of defeats part of my purpose. If I wanted a dude to cut my hair I’d go down the street to Joe Bob’s Barber Shop and get a fine haircut, as well as some stimulating conversation about sports & politics. When I choose the more…feminine…shop at the local mall or shopping plaza my intent has a broader purpose, and when I get stuck with a guy with frosted blonde hair who loves musicals & thinks Channing Tatum is OMG HOT it seemingly confirms my belief that God has a sense of humor and is really messing with me. Plus I end up with gel in my hair and look like a cross between Nathan Lane & the crippled kid on Glee. Yes I actually did watch that show once. It was horrifying, as if Saved by the Bell and Cop Rock had somehow crossbred and produced the worst TV show of all time.

 

 

Long time West Virginia U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller has announced that he will not seek a 6th term in 2014. I know this will cause a lot of sleepless nights, upset stomachs, & nervous tics throughout my home state, but personally I am glad. I have never understood West Virginia’s love affair with rockyobama1Rockefeller, a wealthy carpet bagger who has simply used our state as a tool in his quest for power. It is a strange dichotomy that, in a state where most people detest “the rich” and can’t stand anyone who has more than they do (which is pretty much the entire rest of the country besides Mississippi and maybe Kentucky), a significant majority of people here have spent the past four decades voting for a man (first for Governor then for Senator) who is the very definition of an affluent, out-of-touch trust fund baby born with a silver spoon in his mouth that has never had to actually work a day in his life and cannot possibly have the slightest clue about the kinds of issues that most of his constituents face on a daily basis. Of course that description could fit almost the entirety of both chambers of Congress nowadays.

 

 

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50 Favorite TV Shows…..50-41

I ran some numbers on this list just for fun.

As far as network representation, NBC has 21 shows, ABC 11, CBS 9, The WB/CW, ESPN, and HBO have 2 each, USA & MTV each have 1, and there are 2 shows that are/were strictly first run syndicated. Curiously enough Fox has apparently never produced a show that frosted my cupcake all that much.

18 of my choices were mainly 80’s shows, 14 were 90’s shows, 4 came and went before I was even born (ahhh…the magic of reruns), and only 5 shows emanate from this century (2000 and beyond for those of you in Wyoming County, WV who might be having a friend from civilization trained in the literary arts reading this to you). Only 8 are still in production.

27 of my selections are comedies and 11 are dramas. A couple of shows are the difficult to pigeonhole hybrid dramedy, and then we have a game show, a couple of soap operas (thanks to my childhood babysitter), four late night comedy talk shows, two sports talk shows, and a few shows that simply cannot be categorized.

This information may not interest anyone but me, but I found it thought-provoking.

Now, onto the first ten selections!!

 

 

50     Dawson’s Creek

          WB 1998-2003

I always found the crew from Capeside, Mass. To be far more interesting than those other high schoolers on the left coast that resided in the 90210 zip code.


 

49     Sanford & Son                      

          NBC 1972-77    

My Dad and my Papaw Jim loved the adventures of junkyard magnate Fred Sanford and his son Lamont. I always got a kick out of the banter between Fred and his sister-in-law Aunt Esther. This show was cancelled when I was 5 years old, but reruns were so ubiquitous throughout the 80’s that it was never really off the air.

 

 

48     Three’s Company

          ABC 1977-84

As a red-blooded American pre-pubescent boy I had an appreciation for “jiggle TV”, a term which makes me laugh now. The explicit, craptastic vulgarity so pervasive on television today makes this show seem like religious programming in comparison. In an early season of the 90’s hit Friends the characters are watching an old rerun and someone sardonically says “Oh…I think this is the episode of Three’s Company where there’s some kind of misunderstanding.”, which pretty much encapsulates the show perfectly. It wasn’t exactly Shakespeare, but I think maybe it flies under the radar when looking back at past great comedies.

 

 

47     The Waltons

          CBS 1972-81

The vast majority of this show’s original run came when I was too young to appreciate good quality television, but reruns were plentiful throughout the 80’s. One would not think a family drama about a large family’s triumphs & tragedies during The Great Depression would be all that entertaining, but I must say, television would be much better off if more family friendly, morally upright, well written shows like The Waltons were still around.

 

 

46     The Golden Girls

          NBC 1985-92

Here we have another premise that would seem to fly in the face of conventional wisdom but proves that maybe all that mumbo jumbo about target demographics and appealing to a younger audience isn’t always accurate. Who would think that a teenage boy would enjoy a show about a group of female seasoned citizens relishing the autumn of their years with the vitality (and libido) of women half their age??

 

 

45     Batman                                  

          NBC 1966-68

Spiderman is okay. Superman is…well…super. But for my money the coolest superhero of all time is Batman. He’s not from another planet. He isn’t the result    of some lab mishap. He doesn’t have any super powers. He’s just an ordinary guy that happens to be filthy rich, psychologically damaged, and dresses in a cowl & cape to exact vigilante justice on bad guys. And while the big screen versions of the story (both the 90’s Tim Burton flicks and Christopher Nolan’s gloomy vision) are more in line with the gritty tone of the comic books, I really love the campy, kitschy cheesiness of the 60’s TV show starring Adam West & Burt Ward (with the well-known rogues gallery of villains played by folks like Burgess Meredith, Caesar Romero, Eartha Kitt, and Frank Gorshin). It was on before I was born of course, but when Burton revived interest in The Caped Crusader two decades ago old reruns started showing up on television and I was instantly hooked.

 

44     The Love Boat

          ABC 1977-86

I’ve not been on a cruise…yet. But when the time comes how cool would it be to find love with another passenger, have dinner at the Captain’s table, and get drinks from a bartender as cool as Isaac?? Love Boat served as a side job for many past-their-prime TV & movie stars, who played passengers. This concept kept the show fresh for a few years longer than it otherwise may have been since the main cast were actually just supporting players on a weekly basis. And let’s talk about the disco infused theme song!! I’ll admit publicly that I still…25+ years later…randomly belt it out (badly) on occasion.

 

43     Full House

          ABC 1987-95

Cute babies?? Check. A saccharine sweet TV Dad no real father could ever live up to?? Check. A lil beefcake for the ladies?? Check. Conflicts that were all easily solved and wrapped up with a very special life lesson in less than 30 minutes?? Check. This wasn’t anywhere near the cutting edge, but rather a show that knew exactly how to push all the right buttons and did so with reasonable success for nearly a decade. It’s what we all seemed to prefer back in the day.

 

42     Newhart                                 

          CBS 1982-90

Some from an older generation might prefer comedian Bob Newhart’s previous effort, the 1970’s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, in which he played a Chicago shrink hilariously interacting with co-workers and patients. However, I lean toward Newhart’s second foray into TV in which he played a Vermont innkeeper & author hilariously interacting with employees and townsfolk. This show produced undoubtedly one of the greatest series finales in the history of television on May 21, 1990 (less than 2 weeks before my high school graduation).

 

41         Coach

          ABC 1989-97

In 1983 Craig T. Nelson played a hardnosed high school football coach in the film All the Right Moves, one of Tom Cruise’s early stops on the upward climb to superstardom. Six years later Nelson would again play a football coach, this time at a fictional Minnesota college in quite possibly one of the more underrated sitcoms of the 1990’s. Curmudgeonly Coach Fox’s interactions with his two blundering assistant coaches, Luther & Dauber, were the centerpiece of the amusement, as was the relationship with his classy, way out of his league girlfriend.

 

 

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