On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 12:36 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > I can't believe this is true Kevin. I don't watch these programs myself > (actually, with the exception of Top Chef DC, which a family member got a > job writing snarky recaps of) but my wife watches almost nothing but, and > the TiVo in our bedroom is always stuffed with a variety of what seem to my > untrained eye to be mostly straight cooking shows - by which I mean 1 or 2 > people (a southern woman or a black woman or a white guy or whatever other > hook) standing at a stove or kitchen table cooking and talking. She also > watches a few of the reality or competition type cooking shows, but she > watches many more real cooking shows
Those would be what I consider Ray clones (Paula Deen, "Arty Party," et al) on during mid-day. Prime time "cooking" shows are battles to the death with tears and losers and cooking with ingredients like aged squid anus. I've just never understood the need for a "dramatic element" to how-to programs. I prefer to watch a professional teach me something -- I consider that entertaining. I used to enjoy watching the ballroom dancing competitions on PBS, and never in a million years would I have thought, "You know what would make this better? David Hasselhoff!" I was a lifelong fan of "This Old House" and never thought to myself, "I wonder if Norm Abram could do such a crappy renovation job that the homeowner was reduced to tears?" And if there are those out there who do feel the need to have those elements, why must they consume the lineups of every f-ing station on the planet? Back when I was an NBC page, I was working on "The Tonight Show" and I was given the task of opening a door for Tyra Banks who was supposed to make a cameo appearance during Jay's monologue. But it was taking Leno forever to get to the specific cue so Tyra amused herself (and I) by teaching me (a moderately overweight, moderately balding, red-haired man) how to walk up and down a runway like a model. To watch her do it was entertaining for oh-so-many reasons. To watch me do it was just sad and pathetic. And whenever I have had to endure "America's Next Top Model" (which coincidentally airs in Kazakhstan with Russian subtitles), that's what I think of (and now, hopefully, so will you). I would rather watch a TV series where Tyra posed and strutted for an hour than endure amateurs who (while they most likely look better than me) get voted off and throw hissy fits and cry. Professionals and experts used to dominate news and entertainment programing, and now they are hard to find. I think the world still has need for educated and talented people presenting information, and I believe such people can be entertaining. But reality TV is cluttered with non-experts flopping around. Why I want to see "An Idiot Abroad" is because it appears to be making fun of this phenomena, by sending a literal idiot around the world to be completely clueless while facing monumental segments of history, geography, and humanity. Biographies of brilliant people now have to be narrated by the kid who played Screech in "Saved By The Bell," and "Globetrotters" features hosts who couldn't assemble one concrete sentence to save their lives. Why? Why can't smart people be intelligent on television? We can't talented people who have proven themselves in their respective professions demonstrate their talents on television? -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
