The viewers who knew too much.
by Her on Oct.09, 2009, under Miscellaneous
No question, there is such a thing as too much information. Nowadays, we’re not afraid to let someone know we’ve heard enough – all we have to do is write, speak or text the letters “TMI” and the recipient knows they’ve gone a little too far. So, in the spirit of those three liberating letters, I’d like to send out a great, big “TMI” to the media.
Yes, I know “the media” is a broad term, so I’ll be more specific: Hey, media outlets who feel it necessary to give us every little behind-the-scenes detail – put a freakin’ cork in it! You’re ruining it for me. Stop now before you go ahead and ruin it for everyone.
I’m not opposed to articles in EW that give us the inside scoop on what might happen next week on Desperate Housewives (as long as they preface it with “SPOILER ALERT”) or television shows that take us backstage and show us the green room where the performers hang out before the show (“Hey – they really do hate the brown M & Ms!”). My ire is directed at those who reveal stuff that ruins the fun, like the fact that, as I read earlier today, Tom DeLay’s broken bones may actually be 30% injury and 70% publicity stunt.
I don’t need to know what the ratings are for any given show at every given moment. Frankly, I don’t care to hear that a show I care about is falling behind others that are less important to me. That doesn’t inform me so much as make me nervous; no one wants to entertain the possibility that their favorite show might be dumped because of bad ratings. Let me just enjoy my show without worrying about how many other households are (or aren’t, as the case may be) enjoying it, too.
I unknowingly stumbled upon such information about DWTS because the article was advertised as being about Tom DeLay’s feet. I wanted to know how he was feeling and ended up reading that the producers may have played up his injury for the sake of the ratings, and when that didn’t work, they pushed him out the door. See, now, information like this just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I wish I could unknow this, but obviously I can’t, so now when I watch the show I’ll be asking myself about the validity of all of it – the voting, the drama, the little disagreements between the stars and their pro partners. Is it all a stunt? Is any of it real?
I understand the media feels the responsibility to report the truth. I admire that, especially when it comes to politics, war and the economy. But this is television – can’t the fourth wall remain intact, even in this information overloaded society? I don’t need to know the truth about everything on television. The great thing about watching a magic show is that you don’t know the secret behind the illusions, and moreover, you don’t want to know. You just want to sit back and be amazed and entertained.
So, I feel compelled to offer a solution for those of us feeling like we’ve been subjected to TMI: don’t make it so easy. I’m not opposed to the information being out there, but let us go in search of it. The internet is available to just about anyone, and it probably only takes a few keystrokes and a visit to Google to get ratings information, as well as the scoop on who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes. It doesn’t need to be screamed from every roof top, the lead story of an entertainment report or the fodder for Hollywood gossip rags.
Knowing everything about everything isn’t much fun. It kills the wonder (“How did they do that?!”) and limits our interest, which may just be the reason why the ratings for some shows are suffering. Let us stay in the dark a little longer, with nothing but the warm glow of our television screens and delighted smiles on our faces.
Getting it right. In a big way.
by Her on Oct.08, 2009, under The Office
Tonight’s episode of The Office was pitch perfect, as far as episodes of The Office go. It had a reliable and yet satisfying mix of the awkward, humorous and sweet moments that have made it a consistently entertaining program.
What was most right about tonight’s ep was the sweet and tender handling of Jim and Pam’s wedding. Sure, there were the usual crude jokes, awkward confessions and idiotic ramblings (most of it from Michael Scott alone) that we’ve come to expect from The Office. But when it came time for Jim and Pam to say, “I do”, the episode shifted subtly into greatness and lovingly united one of television’s most functional and fun-to-watch couples in holy matrimony.
I’ll admit it — I’m a sucker for love stories, and I’ll weep during just about any wedding episode of any show. But this one? This is one for the history books, my friends. There were no surprise guests, no old boyfriend showing up to shout his objections, no drunken priest or natural disasters. No — there was just a couple in love, so obviously meant for each other (nothing could have sealed that more than what Jim did to his tie), sneaking off to have their moment to remember and then rushing back to do it all again for their families and friends.
My hankie is damp with happy tears, my heart is joyful for Mr. and Mrs. Halpert and my hat is off to NBC for getting this TV wedding exactly right.
Tonight’s Letterman Apology-Non Apology.
by Him on Oct.06, 2009, under The Late Show With David Letterman
As promised I checked out Letterman’s monologue tonight. He did apologize to his staff, for causing an intrusion and disruption into their lives with his actions and what he said Thursday. He didn’t however apologize outright to his wife on the air. He touched on the subject and acknowledged he hurt her, and it’s up to him to fix it, and through some of his jokes admitted she’s pretty angry with him.
The more I thought about it though, I don’t have a problem that he didn’t apologize to his wife on the tube. When you get past the public extortion plot, he’s dealing with perhaps marital indiscretions (if the affairs occurred while married), or at the very least cheating on his then girlfriend if it happened before he got married. Which really, isn’t much better. As he said, he has to fix it, and while an acknowledgement that he hurt his wife on air may be part of the healing process for both of them… it certainly is only one very small part of the fixing he has to do. Most of which probably is better done privately.
It was also very interesting to watch how he handled his body language tonight when talking about it. It obviously was well thought out, and it very well may have been vetted by his lawyer. However, it didn’t seem as picture perfect as the story did Thursday. He seemed to look down at his desk a lot as opposed to looking at the camera. I interpreted what he was doing tonight to be much more about his feelings and thoughts and about the personal mess he found himself in. Thursday was about getting the story out before the headlines, Thursday was show business. Tonight, I think, may have been a little more personal.
Of course, what do I know. If only we could get Lie To Me’s Dr. Cal Lightman to interpret the tapes. Then we’d have some answers.
Letterman: It may be worth watching tonight.
by Him on Oct.05, 2009, under The Late Show With David Letterman
So I was futzing around on the computer after watching House tonight and ran into a report from Us Magazine that says David Letterman will apologize to his wife during his show tonight. Letterman’s show was taped Friday, so this will be his first show back since Thursday night’s bombshell.
I don’t know why I’m interested in this, and honestly, I feel a little sleazy being interested in it. But I think I’ll try to stay up and watch it. It will be interesting to see how the audience reacts, and how slick/prepared vs. heartfelt Dave will come across. Or will Dave come across as both? I’ll post my reactions after the show tonight or tomorrow. Please feel free to leave your comments and reactions to the show as well.
You can read the Us Magazine article here.
Here’s a quick preview of tonight’s show from CBS:
Tonight’s episode of House
by Him on Oct.05, 2009, under House
I enjoyed watching tonight’s episode of House, although I would have preferred to watch it with the Mrs. She’s out of town, and will return tomorrow so we can get back to our regularly scheduled dates of couch potatoing.
I don’t want to give anything away, but Dr. House really surprised me with his conduct on tonight’s show and it was great to see the old team together. If you saw tonight’s House, what did you think? Leave a comment.
Kasper remark sums up what watching Cubs baseball was like this season.
by Him on Oct.03, 2009, under Sports
Cubs announcer Len Kasper
While watching the Cubs soundly beat up the Diamondbacks today, at one point Cubs announcer Len Kasper blurted out that “today’s game is fun” or something along those lines.
Len’s comments really summed up this seasons viewing experience for Cub’s fans everywhere. Cubs baseball has been tough to watch, and it’s not because of Len or his broadcast partner Bob Brenly.
It’s because for most of the season, the Cubs have been an under performing team, that has seemed to find new maddening ways to lose and annoy us every time we tuned into watch a game. It was a neat treat to sit back, listen to Len and Bob call today’s game while enjoying a pizza with extra sauce and cheese!
Hopefully next year the Cubs won’t disappoint!
