Thursday, April 28, 2005
Cheek-Flap Frappingtons
I love TV. I'm more addicted than I like to admit. Years ago, Harlan Ellison, the brilliantly twisted Science Fiction writer, wrote a series of articles for a newspaper that became a book "The Glass Teat". It was all about the TV fare at the time. Great book. He followed it up with "The Other Glass Teat". They're still worth a read. You'll see just how far TV hasn't come.Oddly, there's one show I watch that I hate. It's "Judging Amy", which hopefully has been cancelled and is only on TNT or USA or one of those networks. It's an excellent show with tight, intense scripts, incredible family interaction, realistic life situations. Tyne Daly is nothing short of brilliant as an actress, as is Amy Brennerman. The entire supporting cast are superbly talented actors.Of course, the entire show is an ultra-liberal propaganda piece, praising and attempting to show the Politically Correct lifestyle is the only proper lifestyle. In an episode I recently saw, a kid comments to another kid off school grounds that he's "made my Columbine list". The school principal investigates, finds swastikas drawn in his notebook, goes to his home and manages to open a closet door and see a shotgun. The kid's lawyer argues the gun is his father's, who's a hunter, the swastikas are part of a report he's done on the Holocaust.Judge Amy, after questioning him and hearing from some half-ass school shrink that he's got anger issues, decides he's dangerous, even though he's exhibited excellent self-control, and turns him over to adult criminal court. Now those of us from the hippie era: Didn't WE have some extreme anger issues? Freaks and Blue Collars facing off all over the country? Riots?Protests? Confrontations everywhere? At the time, WE were the outlaws. Suppose this kind of Thought Police action were instituted then? I saw the inherent evil of that situation immediately; it scares me to think how many bleating sheep morons watched it and said, "Uh huh. She did right. Trash that kid's life in case he's dangerous." Yeah. I like "The Pretender" much better. Actually, I like Andrea Parker better. She's got anger issues. She smokes. She carries a gun. She kicks butt. And she's a hottie.I LOVE Law And Order, too. Well, not the court episodes. Except for Jill Hennessey and Angie Harmon. I still occasionally like Walker, Texas Ranger. It drastically improved after Nia Peeples joined. But Chuck's an inspiration. He's 65 and still doing karate at a level most people will never achieve.I've caught a few of the reality shows, Fear Factor, I've studiously avoided Donald Trump's show, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.You want a GOOD show? I've said it before. Sunday nights. Extreme Home Makeover. Drama, reality, and the most positive vibe I've ever seen on TV. Ty Pennington is both the leader, star, and comic relief. They got a gay guy. They got a Brit. They got a couple of hotties who are truly talented and totally dedicated to the cause. And you'll see Sears in a whole new light. You'll also see individuals, neighbors and entire companies pitch in with time, money, scholarships. Essentially, they find a poor but deserving family living in a hovel. They sent the entire family on vacation for about a week, and rip their house down. In its place, in one week, they build a new house. This is a finished, furnished house. One company that helped build a house for a family also paid off their mortgage. Another time, a company that wanted to be involved gave a college scholarship to a kid that had been taking care of his blind younger brother and deaf parents. A doctor treated the father and fixed him so he had partial hearing. A man with seizures who was skipping his meds to make them last got a lifetime free prescription, a new pickup, and his antique pickup restored besides an awesome house for him and his family. It's all about making a tremendous effort to focus in on one deserving group of people and totally changing their lives for the better.Watch it. Email the network and let them know you watch it. If any show ever deserved to be on for a LONG time, it's this one.
