Mom & Pop Culture

whatever happened to family hour tv?

I was warned last night not to watch My Name is Earl because the episode was sleazy and disgusting, taking place in a strip club and featuring Burt Reynolds (enough said). I thought I'd take the opportunity to check out the Critic's Darling -- Ugly Betty.

I was not impressed. The acting was all over the place. I should say "over-acting" was all over the place. I can't even understand the point of the show.  Betty and her family are shown realistically, but every other character is a CARTOON.  Except for Betty's boss who is the BLANDEST MAN ON TV, who somehow has constant sex with supermodels.  This show is trying too hard to be funny and dramatic and soap operish and witty and hip and the new "Desperate Housewives".

dear steven spielberg...

PICK ME, CHOOSE ME, LOVE ME! (Yeah, I stole this from Grey's Anatomy, so sue me)

Usually, I want nothing to do with Reality TV, but I really want to send something into this show, because -- It's freaking Steven Spielberg! And I could be discovered!  You know, along with the 5 million other wannabe filmmakers who think they have what it takes.

I actually pitched a very similar show to The Lot, two years ago at Pitchfest, but I didn't have an agent, or Spielberg attached, or Burnett's luck.  But it was the same basic concept: choose from a pool of wannabe filmmakers and assign weekly filmmaking assignments, weeding out the losers, eventually crowning a winner.

did desperate housewives live up to the hype?

I'd say no, it didn't.  The worse part is that they had each of the four leads tell us that SIX MONTHS had passed since the lame finale, as if we already didn't know.

Susan:  I know Mike has been in a coma for SIX MONTHS but he still could wake up.
Lynette: Do you know how tough these last SIX MONTHS have been on me?

is anyone else getting tired of high-concept tv?

Thank goodness that the new TV shows aren't living up to their hype or potential. If they did, I might be a zombie watching TV non-stop.  Instead, after viewing several pilot episodes, it becomes apparent early on which shows I'm going to officially "date" in the upcoming months, and possibly years.

I have to say that the CASTING has been incredible this year.  Most of the new stuff I'm checking out is purely for the casting.  Skeet Ulrich and Gerald McRaney drew me to Jericho.  Ray Liotto made me check out Smith. Jeremy Listo, Dana Delaney, Timothy Hutton, Delroy Lindo on Kidnapped.  Ron Livingston on Standoff. I somehow missed James Woods on Shark's premiere, so I still have to check that out.

what i'm watching

This is a pop culture blog, so I should probably comment a little bit about pop culture.

I love this time of year for many reasons. But besides the kids going back to school, I love that the serious art films hit the cinemas and the Fall TV season begins.  TV has started with a trickle, which is kind of nice because I can check out some stuff I wouldn't necessarily watch (like "Men in Trees" and "Til' Death") while waiting for my must-see powerhouses like Grey's Anatomy, Lost, My Name is Earl, ER, Scrubs.

remembrance

This weekend I watched anything I could regarding 9/11. I saw the widows and the babies they gave birth to after 9/11. I saw the air traffic controllers tell their part of the story. I watched details about the terrorists and the final hour of Flight 11. I watched experts explain the structural failure that caused the the towers to collapse. All of it was fascinating. All of it pieces of a puzzle that I somehow need in order to put that day into perspective.

Last night I took my daughter to see World Trade Center at the movies. Five years ago, Olivia was just beginning school, really still a baby. Tomorrow she turns 10. Life has not stood still for us. Five years have flown by in a flash. We are lucky. Our life is not defined by that one day. And yet, we do not forget.

Several years ago, I wrote about that day. It was "A Day Like Any Other" only it wasn't.

And so we remember.