A first-hand encounter with the pinnacle of trash TV
Maury and The Jerry Springer Show are just as much part of American culture these days as anything else. But most people live their lives never seeing how this show works, if the fights are real, or if the baby daddies are actually the babies’ daddies. The great thing is, I do.
Festivus, Frank Costanza’s answer to what he perceived as the over-commercialization of Christmas, was bestowed to TV viewers a dozen years ago on a classic Seinfeld episode. Part of Frank’s ritual was something he called “the airing of grievances.” In honor of the upcoming holiday I’ve decided to make my feelings on the landscape of TV heard.
If Lawrence could have his way, I’m sure the new Scrubs would be its own show, with a name like “Scrubs Med School” and a different feel entirely. But when your show’s ratings have dipped year after year and you’re constantly losing money making it, you can’t always get what you want.
In 1983, NBC aired a two-part sci-fi miniseries called V. The story dealt with an alien invasion, but it was not a typical attack. Instead of showing up and shooting lasers, the aliens looked and spoke like humans, and promised that if we let them manufacture some resources they’d teach us their technological secrets. But as they gained our trust, a more sinister plan was revealed. Now the miniseries has been updated into a slick sci-fi show on ABC.
With the lineage of To Catch a Thief and brilliant actors with an easy repertoire, White Collar is bound to do well. It’s witty, fresh, and Matt Bomer (Caffrey) is more than easy on the eyes.
And all the while, Dunham stands next to these characters, speaking the vile words without moving his lips and pretending to be shocked. He’s a coward. He’s a mass-appeal racist who profits off the fears of white, God- and minority-fearing Americans while using some pieces of felt and a few puzzled looks to distance himself from his own hate speech.
When was the last time a TV pilot gave you chills? If you’ve seen ABC’s newest sci-fi serial FlashForward, then odds are you’ve had the experience pretty recently.
Last week’s episode of NBC’s The Office was six seasons in the making. Resident office couple Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (played by John Kransinski and Jenna Fischer) finally got married.
In the end, The Cleveland Show fails to live up to the caliber of Family Guy or even American Dad. It relies too much on recycled jokes, characters and themes. The Cleveland Show is a program that is best forgotten.
There’s a plethora of vampires out there today, from Twilight to True Blood, and they won’t be going anywhere for a while. To add to that list is the CW’s newest hit, The Vampire Dairies.
and 
