In fact, the American brain has been rotting away, right before our eyes. At present, "liberals" like Benen are working quite hard. To all appearances, we dream of the day when our fine tribe can be just as dumb as the other. In the process, your nation is dying. It’s dying in front of your eyes.
-- Bob Somerby, "Watching your culture die" (Daily Howler).
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Truest statement of the week II
I just scanned Pravda
and Izvestia, and there was literally nothing I wanted to post on. The pages were too complicated, and all the stories were obviously crap anyhow. And the editorials and Op-Eds were worse. Ditto Google news, where those whizzy new Web 2.0 filters fill up the page with useless controls, and make me conscious of what could be missing, rather than what's there. (Plus Google's page-rank algorithm for news floated the "travel advisory to Europe" mid-terms gaslighting story to the top, which means that it's been totally gamed by The Powers That Be. FAIL). Yahoo News is actually better organized than Google, but it's structured by source, not topic, making its function as a mere aggregator nakedly evident.
-- Lambert, "The link round-up as a form" (Corrente). And the community bloggers who blog nightly can really identify with that paragraph.
and Izvestia, and there was literally nothing I wanted to post on. The pages were too complicated, and all the stories were obviously crap anyhow. And the editorials and Op-Eds were worse. Ditto Google news, where those whizzy new Web 2.0 filters fill up the page with useless controls, and make me conscious of what could be missing, rather than what's there. (Plus Google's page-rank algorithm for news floated the "travel advisory to Europe" mid-terms gaslighting story to the top, which means that it's been totally gamed by The Powers That Be. FAIL). Yahoo News is actually better organized than Google, but it's structured by source, not topic, making its function as a mere aggregator nakedly evident.-- Lambert, "The link round-up as a form" (Corrente). And the community bloggers who blog nightly can really identify with that paragraph.
A note to our readers
Hey --
Early for us. Amazingly so.
Thank you to all who worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Bob Somerby.
This one won with many votes but primarily due to non-Thirders. That's not intended as an insult. But it is noting that Lambert's comments especially resonated with those who blog nightly in the community. Marcia, Mike and Stan were the ones nominating it and, after it was read, Betty and Ruth were among the most vocal in agreement with it.
Is this a good editorial? We don't know. C.I. didn't want to do it. She felt she'd already said her peace at TCI. However, that ("The Kirkuk question") resulted in an onslaught of e-mails and became the most requested highlight of readers of this site. So clearly there was an audience for it. If it's good or bad, I (Jim) really don't know at this point. Give me a few days to think on it. (C.I., Mike, Ava and Betty felt the editorial should be on Iraq. You'll note Iraq gets a mention in one sentence. That made the editorial 'liveable' for the four of them.) Oh, illustration is by Betty's kids and we thank them.
When Ava and C.I. told me they'd decided on Community to be the focus this week, I was disappointed. I couldn't think of a show less worth writing about. Then I read their piece and noticed yet again how they manage to zoom in on the problems and call out what no one else wants to. I also noticed how they have their own little Community parody going on in the article if you read closely.
This piece took forever. How long? Easily an hour and a half. Why? Looking up the dead and wounded on each day. Providing the links. Adding the dead and wounded on each day. Then adding the full total of wounded for the month. Then the full total for the dead. Then repeatedly checking those numbers. It's why we hate to do a monthly toll.
A postponed feature. But Dona uploaded the photo from Ava and C.I.'s cameras. And we figured we could do a short piece with it. (Ava and C.I. noted Seth's SNL comment.)
Barack truly is the starlet in chief.
And Nancy Pelois is a step-below as the Brain Dead.
These usually go much higher up in the mix but we weren't that jazzed on this. We think it will be remembered for two things: the section on Black Republicans and C.I.'s pick for whom to sleep with. Dona wasn't present for that and after we finished the roundtable and told her C.I.'s pick, she said, "That's what people are going to e-mail on, wait and see."
ETAN.
Mike, Elaine, Ann, Cedric, Wally, Kat, Betty, Stan, Marcia, Ruth, and Rebecca wrote this and we thank them for it.
So that's what we managed. Our e-mail address is thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Early for us. Amazingly so.
Thank you to all who worked on this edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Bob Somerby.
This one won with many votes but primarily due to non-Thirders. That's not intended as an insult. But it is noting that Lambert's comments especially resonated with those who blog nightly in the community. Marcia, Mike and Stan were the ones nominating it and, after it was read, Betty and Ruth were among the most vocal in agreement with it.
Is this a good editorial? We don't know. C.I. didn't want to do it. She felt she'd already said her peace at TCI. However, that ("The Kirkuk question") resulted in an onslaught of e-mails and became the most requested highlight of readers of this site. So clearly there was an audience for it. If it's good or bad, I (Jim) really don't know at this point. Give me a few days to think on it. (C.I., Mike, Ava and Betty felt the editorial should be on Iraq. You'll note Iraq gets a mention in one sentence. That made the editorial 'liveable' for the four of them.) Oh, illustration is by Betty's kids and we thank them.
When Ava and C.I. told me they'd decided on Community to be the focus this week, I was disappointed. I couldn't think of a show less worth writing about. Then I read their piece and noticed yet again how they manage to zoom in on the problems and call out what no one else wants to. I also noticed how they have their own little Community parody going on in the article if you read closely.
This piece took forever. How long? Easily an hour and a half. Why? Looking up the dead and wounded on each day. Providing the links. Adding the dead and wounded on each day. Then adding the full total of wounded for the month. Then the full total for the dead. Then repeatedly checking those numbers. It's why we hate to do a monthly toll.
A postponed feature. But Dona uploaded the photo from Ava and C.I.'s cameras. And we figured we could do a short piece with it. (Ava and C.I. noted Seth's SNL comment.)
Barack truly is the starlet in chief.
And Nancy Pelois is a step-below as the Brain Dead.
These usually go much higher up in the mix but we weren't that jazzed on this. We think it will be remembered for two things: the section on Black Republicans and C.I.'s pick for whom to sleep with. Dona wasn't present for that and after we finished the roundtable and told her C.I.'s pick, she said, "That's what people are going to e-mail on, wait and see."
ETAN.
Mike, Elaine, Ann, Cedric, Wally, Kat, Betty, Stan, Marcia, Ruth, and Rebecca wrote this and we thank them for it.
So that's what we managed. Our e-mail address is thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Faux leaders and faux activism
Yesterday on Weekend Edition (NPR -- link has text and audio), Mara Liasson reported, "And although the organizers of today's rally say they're not doing this in response to Glenn Beck, there will be the inevitable comparisons of those overhead photos of the crowd size to see who got out more people. There is a little problem. I've been getting a lot of emails in my inbox for doctors coming today who are going to march against Obama's health care plan. They want single payer. There are a lot of anti-war groups against the president's policy in Afghanistan. So they're not all singing on the same page as the Democrats, but I do think the net effect of these groups, unions, civil rights groups, et cetera, will be, if they succeed, to energize Democratic voters for November."
Another faux event from the weak, another wasted Saturday when Congress adjourned and went home Thursday. Another get-out-the-vote effort masquerading as 'activism.' Another so-called 'action' that forgets the Iraq War.
Why the hell would anyone in their sane mind gladly take part in that crap?
Answer: None would. (Many expressed no gladness or joy to reporters, only resignation.)
Margaret Talev (McClatchy Newspapers) reports talker Ed Schultz opened the proceedings yesterday insiting that Republicans were "forces of evil." With no apparent sense of irony or awareness, Peggy Brown's quoted by the same reporter stating that the right-wing "preach and spew out hate."
It should be noted that One Nation didn't just spew out hate, it also had a lot of stupidity. For example, how very pathetic (and telling) that this get-out-the-vote for Democrats in the midterm elections had the Green Party as one of its endorsers. Message to the Green Party, you'll never be more than Jan Brady to the Democrats Marcia until you find that spine and stop cowering.
And Democrats? Those participating demonstrated that whores can't stop whoring. You had the steam roller brigade who stole the nomination and gifted it to Barack in 2008, as led by Howie Dean party gal Leah Daughtry. The middle-aged, overweight and bald Daughtry wasn't content to deny the will of the voters in Denver, she also made it clear that those who do not believe in a god aren't welcome in the Democratic Party.
Unable to do much of anything, the useless gathered yesterday to, as Marilyn Robinson told USA Today, provide "cover" for Barack Obama from people "who criticize him." And you thought blind devotion died when Bush left the White House?
AP reports that blowhard Ed Schultz (a Republican until a little before the Democratic Party dangled money and a national radio career) insisted that the GOP was the one "shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms." Damn. That's one powerful party. They don't control the White House or either house in Congress, but they're controlling everything. Amazing. Barack Obama is president of the United States, he's the one claiming, for example, the right to kill people on his say so, the right to execute without even a trial.
Krissah Thompson and Spence Hsu (Washington Post) and Brad Knickerbocker (Christian Science Monitor) report that the crowd yesterday was smaller than the turnout for the Glenn Beck rally.
Glenn Beck's rally was the obsession of Saturday's organizers. Ben Jealous (NAACP) insisted to the crowd that they were "the antidote to the Tea Party" when, in reality, they were just the other side of the same coin.
Politico's Scott Wong featured the voices of attendees expressing dismay and it's in those comments that reality can be found. Instead of a rally for the Democratic Party, instead of providing "cover" for Barack, the left should have been making demands and threatening to sit it out or vote third party this November. Without demands, you get no concessions. Do none of our faux 'leaders' on the left grasp the principles of bargaining?
The next time the left thinks they want to get their act together. First, dump the anti-choice Ed Schultz. He's not needed, he's not wanted. His cable performance is a joke, he's not the image America wants or needs. Second, put people on stage like Libbyliberal (Corrente) who grasp issues and aren't blinded by personalities. Mainly don't spend so much time with political envy. Stop obsessing with what the other side is doing and step up to the plate ready to propose your own actions, your own programs. The political jealousy ensured that no message would get out other than the idiotic competition with Glenn Beck.
Another faux event from the weak, another wasted Saturday when Congress adjourned and went home Thursday. Another get-out-the-vote effort masquerading as 'activism.' Another so-called 'action' that forgets the Iraq War.
Why the hell would anyone in their sane mind gladly take part in that crap?
Answer: None would. (Many expressed no gladness or joy to reporters, only resignation.)
Margaret Talev (McClatchy Newspapers) reports talker Ed Schultz opened the proceedings yesterday insiting that Republicans were "forces of evil." With no apparent sense of irony or awareness, Peggy Brown's quoted by the same reporter stating that the right-wing "preach and spew out hate."
It should be noted that One Nation didn't just spew out hate, it also had a lot of stupidity. For example, how very pathetic (and telling) that this get-out-the-vote for Democrats in the midterm elections had the Green Party as one of its endorsers. Message to the Green Party, you'll never be more than Jan Brady to the Democrats Marcia until you find that spine and stop cowering.
And Democrats? Those participating demonstrated that whores can't stop whoring. You had the steam roller brigade who stole the nomination and gifted it to Barack in 2008, as led by Howie Dean party gal Leah Daughtry. The middle-aged, overweight and bald Daughtry wasn't content to deny the will of the voters in Denver, she also made it clear that those who do not believe in a god aren't welcome in the Democratic Party.
Unable to do much of anything, the useless gathered yesterday to, as Marilyn Robinson told USA Today, provide "cover" for Barack Obama from people "who criticize him." And you thought blind devotion died when Bush left the White House?
AP reports that blowhard Ed Schultz (a Republican until a little before the Democratic Party dangled money and a national radio career) insisted that the GOP was the one "shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms." Damn. That's one powerful party. They don't control the White House or either house in Congress, but they're controlling everything. Amazing. Barack Obama is president of the United States, he's the one claiming, for example, the right to kill people on his say so, the right to execute without even a trial.
Krissah Thompson and Spence Hsu (Washington Post) and Brad Knickerbocker (Christian Science Monitor) report that the crowd yesterday was smaller than the turnout for the Glenn Beck rally.
Glenn Beck's rally was the obsession of Saturday's organizers. Ben Jealous (NAACP) insisted to the crowd that they were "the antidote to the Tea Party" when, in reality, they were just the other side of the same coin.
Politico's Scott Wong featured the voices of attendees expressing dismay and it's in those comments that reality can be found. Instead of a rally for the Democratic Party, instead of providing "cover" for Barack, the left should have been making demands and threatening to sit it out or vote third party this November. Without demands, you get no concessions. Do none of our faux 'leaders' on the left grasp the principles of bargaining?
The next time the left thinks they want to get their act together. First, dump the anti-choice Ed Schultz. He's not needed, he's not wanted. His cable performance is a joke, he's not the image America wants or needs. Second, put people on stage like Libbyliberal (Corrente) who grasp issues and aren't blinded by personalities. Mainly don't spend so much time with political envy. Stop obsessing with what the other side is doing and step up to the plate ready to propose your own actions, your own programs. The political jealousy ensured that no message would get out other than the idiotic competition with Glenn Beck.
TV: We need to discuss your major
How about right now? That's our answer to Christopher Rosen's question "When Should We Start Worrying About Community's Ratings?" (Movieline).
Community is NBC's under-performing Thursday night sitcom which is set at a community college. A few years ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. Paired up with My Name Is Earl and assorted other failures, the show would have shined because it does include some actual humor and garner some laughs. But that was then. For over a decade, Jeff Zucker was allowed to destroy NBC's lineup. Back then, trashing Thursday nights was all the executive rage. However, today Zucker's finally (and thankfully) gone and, as if emerging slowly from a nasty bender, the NBC suits are wondering what happened to Thursday nights?
NBC owned primetime television on Thursdays starting in 1984 and continuing throughout the nineties. It owned Thursdays by being the home of funny. But funny wasn't good enough for Zucker. He wanted whimsy and, let's be honest, White performers, male performers. The success of Friends, the ratings domination of Friends for ten years didn't impress him because Zucker was threatened by a show where half the leads were women and where the women were actually funny.
Will & Grace was the last of funny on NBC Thursday nights for years and it's a sign of how much Zucker hated diversity (gay) and women that he refused to seal the deal for the Will & Grace spin-off. Megan Mullaly and Sean Hayes (Karen and Jack) were set to go for it. But Zucker wouldn't make the deal, couldn't close the deal. The performers wanted to be sure that the show would have a chance and Zucker refused to offer a commitment to airing even 15 episodes. Hayes and Mullaly won Emmys for their performances, won ratings and would be spinning these beloved characters off into a sitcom. It could have been NBC's new Fraiser (the Cheers' spin-off which ran for 11 seasons). Instead, NBC chose to continue the self-destruction of Thursday nights.
Community is an effort at rebuilding Thursdays and, in the 80s, it might have been a huge hit. You could, for example, easily see the show sandwiched between Cheers and Night Court. The show would, in fact, be perfect for the spring 1984 season. That's when NBC Thursdays was okay but not massive (The Cosby Show would debut in the fall of 1984 and turn Thursdays massive). That last season of struggling is when a show debuted in April of 1984 and didn't catch on for any number of reasons (static, single camera) but NBC was convinced (and some reviews in real time insisted) the show's lack of success was due to the lead being too attractive.
Did Loni Anderson get a WKRP spin-off that year? No. No, women are expected to be drop dead gorgeous on TV (and then they're attacked for that by the likes of Tom Shayles). No, the lead in question was a man, 22-year-old Jim Carey.
Community plays like a show following NBC's post-Duck Factory edicts: Slightly below average looking leading man, surrounded by at least one gorgeous woman, given the bulk of the laugh lines and, though morally ambiguous, allowed to set the standard for all the other characters.
Joel McHale is neither attractive nor funny and viewers are stuck with him as the lead character Jeff Winger. On the show, Jeff exists to be looked up to. As insulting as that would have been in the early eighties, it's all the more insulting today when there is actual diversity. Meaning, there's something rather pathetic about the charisma free performer playing an ethics free character and being looked up to by the female characters and the males of various races. Time and again, you're forced to wonder why Jeff is the leader and the only answer that comes back is: He's the White guy.
The series thinks they can mitigate the ingrained (not just built in, ingrained) racism of the show by forever making the other White male in the main cast, Chevy Chase's Pierce, the butt of the jokes. But while Pierce is prone to make sexist and racist comments, it's also true that Chevy Chase remains a charismatic performer. Your eyes naturally go to him and when he takes even a small step at awareness, you're happy for him.
Jeff just whines. And, in the seventies and eighties, this tired act might have worked. But on this show where you've got Chase and Donald Glover (Troy), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley) and Gillian Jacobs (Britta) who are all more charismatic than McHale, it's really noticeable how badly some real Affirmative Action is needed in TV comedies.
Instead of going with the four interesting actors and character, the show forever focuses on McHale. Will his Jeff choose Britta or Annie (Alison Brie)? Will he impart a semi-meaningful life lesson that Abed (Danny Pudi) will quickly turn into a pop cultural reference? Will he take anthropology so that the one-time Spanish study group can remain together?
McHale is Lyle Waggoner in that he smiles too much, is rather bland and -- judging by his many, many shirtless scenes -- some network exec finds him attractive.
The Office was NBC's struggling show. It still rarely achieves funny -- in fact, there are Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes with more laughs than the average episode of The Office; however, NBC did step in after the first season underwhelmed and 'explained' that John Krasinski's Jim was going to be the focus more. Krasinski is both very funny and hugely attractive. And everyone at NBC knows that it was the Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) angle that allowed the show to finally move up in the ratings.
America is not enamored with Joel McHale, no matter how many times he takes off his shirt or how many times he struts around in micro-boxers. Nor do they really care for Jeff Winger whose liabilities include being a one-time lawyer (now disbarred), morally ambiguous, vain and self-serving. Last year, the show was like Joel's mother working overtime to insist he was good looking and a catch. But pairing him with a college professor and Britta as well as having Annie announce on the season finale that she was in love/obsessed with him never made the viewers take the leap to: He's hot.
Because he's not.
Donald Glover is. He's hot and he's funny and he's stuck playing fawning admirer and Jeff Winger groupie. They could upgrade his role or they could add a new hot male. Otherwise, Community's going to continue to flounder.
The same way the storylines do. For example, one minute someone doesn't know who Sam & Diane were (lead couple of Cheers). But in another earlier episode, they do. One minute Annie is outing a college professor for not having a degree because that means they will all fail Spanish and have to take it over (thereby keeping the group together). In the next episode, she's planning to move off with her boyfriend. There's no continuity with any of the characters. Strong acting often helps cover that, but viewers who attempt to engage in the show will come away disappointed.
The ratings have been disappointing for Community and it's ability to generate laughs has remained doubtful due to each episode forever being tossed to McHale's Jeff. Probably an all time low was the season debut when Jeff declared, "Annie, all women deserve to be with me and vice versa." The sad thing was it appeared the writers believed that as well.
Last week saw the cancellation of Lone Star (Fox) and My Generation (ABC). The former was the best new show of the season, the latter one of the worst. And while there's plenty of more trash on TV, if we were Community, we'd be worried about, if not cancellation, at least academic suspension.
Community is NBC's under-performing Thursday night sitcom which is set at a community college. A few years ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. Paired up with My Name Is Earl and assorted other failures, the show would have shined because it does include some actual humor and garner some laughs. But that was then. For over a decade, Jeff Zucker was allowed to destroy NBC's lineup. Back then, trashing Thursday nights was all the executive rage. However, today Zucker's finally (and thankfully) gone and, as if emerging slowly from a nasty bender, the NBC suits are wondering what happened to Thursday nights?
NBC owned primetime television on Thursdays starting in 1984 and continuing throughout the nineties. It owned Thursdays by being the home of funny. But funny wasn't good enough for Zucker. He wanted whimsy and, let's be honest, White performers, male performers. The success of Friends, the ratings domination of Friends for ten years didn't impress him because Zucker was threatened by a show where half the leads were women and where the women were actually funny.
Will & Grace was the last of funny on NBC Thursday nights for years and it's a sign of how much Zucker hated diversity (gay) and women that he refused to seal the deal for the Will & Grace spin-off. Megan Mullaly and Sean Hayes (Karen and Jack) were set to go for it. But Zucker wouldn't make the deal, couldn't close the deal. The performers wanted to be sure that the show would have a chance and Zucker refused to offer a commitment to airing even 15 episodes. Hayes and Mullaly won Emmys for their performances, won ratings and would be spinning these beloved characters off into a sitcom. It could have been NBC's new Fraiser (the Cheers' spin-off which ran for 11 seasons). Instead, NBC chose to continue the self-destruction of Thursday nights.
Community is an effort at rebuilding Thursdays and, in the 80s, it might have been a huge hit. You could, for example, easily see the show sandwiched between Cheers and Night Court. The show would, in fact, be perfect for the spring 1984 season. That's when NBC Thursdays was okay but not massive (The Cosby Show would debut in the fall of 1984 and turn Thursdays massive). That last season of struggling is when a show debuted in April of 1984 and didn't catch on for any number of reasons (static, single camera) but NBC was convinced (and some reviews in real time insisted) the show's lack of success was due to the lead being too attractive.
Did Loni Anderson get a WKRP spin-off that year? No. No, women are expected to be drop dead gorgeous on TV (and then they're attacked for that by the likes of Tom Shayles). No, the lead in question was a man, 22-year-old Jim Carey.
Community plays like a show following NBC's post-Duck Factory edicts: Slightly below average looking leading man, surrounded by at least one gorgeous woman, given the bulk of the laugh lines and, though morally ambiguous, allowed to set the standard for all the other characters.
Joel McHale is neither attractive nor funny and viewers are stuck with him as the lead character Jeff Winger. On the show, Jeff exists to be looked up to. As insulting as that would have been in the early eighties, it's all the more insulting today when there is actual diversity. Meaning, there's something rather pathetic about the charisma free performer playing an ethics free character and being looked up to by the female characters and the males of various races. Time and again, you're forced to wonder why Jeff is the leader and the only answer that comes back is: He's the White guy.
The series thinks they can mitigate the ingrained (not just built in, ingrained) racism of the show by forever making the other White male in the main cast, Chevy Chase's Pierce, the butt of the jokes. But while Pierce is prone to make sexist and racist comments, it's also true that Chevy Chase remains a charismatic performer. Your eyes naturally go to him and when he takes even a small step at awareness, you're happy for him.
Jeff just whines. And, in the seventies and eighties, this tired act might have worked. But on this show where you've got Chase and Donald Glover (Troy), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley) and Gillian Jacobs (Britta) who are all more charismatic than McHale, it's really noticeable how badly some real Affirmative Action is needed in TV comedies.
Instead of going with the four interesting actors and character, the show forever focuses on McHale. Will his Jeff choose Britta or Annie (Alison Brie)? Will he impart a semi-meaningful life lesson that Abed (Danny Pudi) will quickly turn into a pop cultural reference? Will he take anthropology so that the one-time Spanish study group can remain together?
McHale is Lyle Waggoner in that he smiles too much, is rather bland and -- judging by his many, many shirtless scenes -- some network exec finds him attractive.
The Office was NBC's struggling show. It still rarely achieves funny -- in fact, there are Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes with more laughs than the average episode of The Office; however, NBC did step in after the first season underwhelmed and 'explained' that John Krasinski's Jim was going to be the focus more. Krasinski is both very funny and hugely attractive. And everyone at NBC knows that it was the Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) angle that allowed the show to finally move up in the ratings.
America is not enamored with Joel McHale, no matter how many times he takes off his shirt or how many times he struts around in micro-boxers. Nor do they really care for Jeff Winger whose liabilities include being a one-time lawyer (now disbarred), morally ambiguous, vain and self-serving. Last year, the show was like Joel's mother working overtime to insist he was good looking and a catch. But pairing him with a college professor and Britta as well as having Annie announce on the season finale that she was in love/obsessed with him never made the viewers take the leap to: He's hot.
Because he's not.
Donald Glover is. He's hot and he's funny and he's stuck playing fawning admirer and Jeff Winger groupie. They could upgrade his role or they could add a new hot male. Otherwise, Community's going to continue to flounder.
The same way the storylines do. For example, one minute someone doesn't know who Sam & Diane were (lead couple of Cheers). But in another earlier episode, they do. One minute Annie is outing a college professor for not having a degree because that means they will all fail Spanish and have to take it over (thereby keeping the group together). In the next episode, she's planning to move off with her boyfriend. There's no continuity with any of the characters. Strong acting often helps cover that, but viewers who attempt to engage in the show will come away disappointed.
The ratings have been disappointing for Community and it's ability to generate laughs has remained doubtful due to each episode forever being tossed to McHale's Jeff. Probably an all time low was the season debut when Jeff declared, "Annie, all women deserve to be with me and vice versa." The sad thing was it appeared the writers believed that as well.
Last week saw the cancellation of Lone Star (Fox) and My Generation (ABC). The former was the best new show of the season, the latter one of the worst. And while there's plenty of more trash on TV, if we were Community, we'd be worried about, if not cancellation, at least academic suspension.
Violence didn't drop in Iraq
Oh how they do whore. September ended and it was time to spin and fluff. Reuters declared that the dead and wounded tolls for the month in Iraq were down: 273 dead and 485 wounded. They weren't the only ones to offer those Ministry of Health figures, but they were the first we saw.
Are they right?
Have they ever been?
Setting aside US service members and focusing on the day the deaths were reported, we note the following tolls. Tuesday September 2nd 17 people were reported dead and 40 injured, September 3rd 3 people were reported dead and 12 wounded, September 4th three people were reported injured, September 5th 18 people were reported dead and 56 wounded, September 6th 6 people were reported dead and 19 injured, September 7th 6 people were reported dead and 2 injured, September 8th 13 people were reported dead and 46 injured, September 9th 7 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 10th 1 person was reported dead and 1 wounded, September 11th 2 people were reported dead and 8 wounded. September 12th 18 people were reported dead and 25 were reported injured, September 13th 22 were reported dead and`18 injured, September 14th 12 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 15th 19 people were reported dead and 31 injured, September 16th 12 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 17th 6 people were reported dead and 11 injured, September 18th 10 people were reported dead and 28 wounded, September 19th 36 people were reported dead and 122 injured, September 20th 3 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 21st 5 people were reported dead and 30 injured, September 22nd 6 people were reported dead and 113 wounded, September 23rd 4 people were reported dead and 5 injured, September 24th 7 people were reported dead and 17 wounded, September 26th 9 people were reported dead and 18 injured, September 27th 7 people were reported dead and 15 wounded, September 28th 4 people were reported dead and 26 wounded, September 29th 3 people were reported dead and 20 injured, and September 30th 2 people were reported dead and 3 were reported wounded. Check our math but we get 252 dead and 697 wounded for the month of September.
Those are reported deaths and reported injuries. That's Reuters, McClatchy, Xinhua, New York Times and CNN mainly. The Ministry's figures are 21 higher on death and much, much lower on the wounded (212).
As we have asked many times before, why aren't news outlets keeping their own tallies? They report deaths and wounded, why don't they have a tally? When McClatchy Newspapers was Knight Ridder, they were required to keep a tally. No more.
Violence is not down in Iraq. It's spin and it's as fake -- yeah, we're going to go there -- as news outlets deciding to take September 1st off from violence to give Barack a golden 24 hours of 'peace' after he declared combat operations over (violence continued on September 1st, news consumers just had to wait a day or two for news outlets to report it).
And maybe it's time to talk about some realities of war. The death toll? It's the end of the story for those who die. That's awful. But the wounded? Many of them won't be able to earn their livelihoods and, if you haven't notice, Nouri's been prime minister for over four years now and the Iraqi government has demonstrated no real inclination to offer assistance to victims. In other words, the wounded toll, that's the one that's going to determine Iraq's future. (The brain drain early in the illegal war long ago decided that the death toll would be less important.)
Nearly 700 people were wounded last month in violence -- reported wounded -- there are always many more deaths and injuries that never get reported. Of those 700, a significant number will be unable to join or rejoin the Iraqi work force now or when the illegal war is finally over.
Are they right?
Have they ever been?
Setting aside US service members and focusing on the day the deaths were reported, we note the following tolls. Tuesday September 2nd 17 people were reported dead and 40 injured, September 3rd 3 people were reported dead and 12 wounded, September 4th three people were reported injured, September 5th 18 people were reported dead and 56 wounded, September 6th 6 people were reported dead and 19 injured, September 7th 6 people were reported dead and 2 injured, September 8th 13 people were reported dead and 46 injured, September 9th 7 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 10th 1 person was reported dead and 1 wounded, September 11th 2 people were reported dead and 8 wounded. September 12th 18 people were reported dead and 25 were reported injured, September 13th 22 were reported dead and`18 injured, September 14th 12 people were reported dead and 5 wounded, September 15th 19 people were reported dead and 31 injured, September 16th 12 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 17th 6 people were reported dead and 11 injured, September 18th 10 people were reported dead and 28 wounded, September 19th 36 people were reported dead and 122 injured, September 20th 3 people were reported dead and 9 wounded, September 21st 5 people were reported dead and 30 injured, September 22nd 6 people were reported dead and 113 wounded, September 23rd 4 people were reported dead and 5 injured, September 24th 7 people were reported dead and 17 wounded, September 26th 9 people were reported dead and 18 injured, September 27th 7 people were reported dead and 15 wounded, September 28th 4 people were reported dead and 26 wounded, September 29th 3 people were reported dead and 20 injured, and September 30th 2 people were reported dead and 3 were reported wounded. Check our math but we get 252 dead and 697 wounded for the month of September.
Those are reported deaths and reported injuries. That's Reuters, McClatchy, Xinhua, New York Times and CNN mainly. The Ministry's figures are 21 higher on death and much, much lower on the wounded (212).
As we have asked many times before, why aren't news outlets keeping their own tallies? They report deaths and wounded, why don't they have a tally? When McClatchy Newspapers was Knight Ridder, they were required to keep a tally. No more.
Violence is not down in Iraq. It's spin and it's as fake -- yeah, we're going to go there -- as news outlets deciding to take September 1st off from violence to give Barack a golden 24 hours of 'peace' after he declared combat operations over (violence continued on September 1st, news consumers just had to wait a day or two for news outlets to report it).
And maybe it's time to talk about some realities of war. The death toll? It's the end of the story for those who die. That's awful. But the wounded? Many of them won't be able to earn their livelihoods and, if you haven't notice, Nouri's been prime minister for over four years now and the Iraqi government has demonstrated no real inclination to offer assistance to victims. In other words, the wounded toll, that's the one that's going to determine Iraq's future. (The brain drain early in the illegal war long ago decided that the death toll would be less important.)
Nearly 700 people were wounded last month in violence -- reported wounded -- there are always many more deaths and injuries that never get reported. Of those 700, a significant number will be unable to join or rejoin the Iraqi work force now or when the illegal war is finally over.
Block busted
Blockbuster Video is run by Blockbuster Inc. Some would say "ruined by." Using several different online employment classified search engines, we finally found one result for Blockbuster. CareerBuilder.com lists a full time job opening at Blockbuster in Los Angeles for a "Content Operations Coordinator - Digital." And what are the duties on that one? "Manage the flow of content ingestion for the Blockbuster OnDemand catalogue. Coordinate content-related matters with vendors and the internal team."
Hey, if you need a job, it's a job. But we'd advise you against believing the hype ("We're a dynamic company where people who have a passion for movies and games really shine.") Most importantly, we'd advise you not to get too comfortable there because Blockbuster has serious issues when it comes to planning and vision.
Last month, Blockbuster went the Chapter 11 route. And there's no indication that they've learned a damn thing. Redbox and Netflix now outperform Blockbuster. And you hear that Netflix comes straight to the house which, honestly, sounds like so much whining.
Last month, Ruth hit upon the reason for Blockbuster's problems, the red tape required to get a membership. Once upon a time, when videotapes with new films on them sold for $70 and above, there might have been a need to treat a video store membership like a small loan. Those days are long gone. And too many people don't want the hassle and a lot of people can't meet all the requirements.
Or the heavy-handed Blockbuster tactics. September 25th on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, Seth Meyers waived a videocassette around and declared, "Blockbuster Video on Thursday filed for bankruptcy protection. Well, Blockbuster, seems our eight-year tug of war over Tango & Cash has reached its conclusion."
While not addressing that problem, Blockbuster continues to meander along. One thing they've apparently learned is that it's cheaper just to post signs in store windows and skip advertising clerk store positions.
Hey, if you need a job, it's a job. But we'd advise you against believing the hype ("We're a dynamic company where people who have a passion for movies and games really shine.") Most importantly, we'd advise you not to get too comfortable there because Blockbuster has serious issues when it comes to planning and vision.
Last month, Blockbuster went the Chapter 11 route. And there's no indication that they've learned a damn thing. Redbox and Netflix now outperform Blockbuster. And you hear that Netflix comes straight to the house which, honestly, sounds like so much whining.
Last month, Ruth hit upon the reason for Blockbuster's problems, the red tape required to get a membership. Once upon a time, when videotapes with new films on them sold for $70 and above, there might have been a need to treat a video store membership like a small loan. Those days are long gone. And too many people don't want the hassle and a lot of people can't meet all the requirements.
Or the heavy-handed Blockbuster tactics. September 25th on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, Seth Meyers waived a videocassette around and declared, "Blockbuster Video on Thursday filed for bankruptcy protection. Well, Blockbuster, seems our eight-year tug of war over Tango & Cash has reached its conclusion."
While not addressing that problem, Blockbuster continues to meander along. One thing they've apparently learned is that it's cheaper just to post signs in store windows and skip advertising clerk store positions.
Our chatty girl in the White House
Tuesday, Rolling Stone published online their interview with everyone's favorite chatty girl Barack Obama. In the long-winded spin, Barack reached and surpassed George W. Bushian levels when he declared: "When I was campaigning, I was very specific. I said, 'We are going to end the war in Iraq, that was a mistake,' and I have done that."
But you didn't end the war in Iraq, Barry. Not only did 7 US service members die in the Iraq War after, AFTER, you gave your 'combat missions' over speech August 31st, 50,000 US troops remain in Iraq and countless mercenaries.
Almost 700 people were wounded in violence in September.
The war hasn't ended.
But you know chatty girls, they love to gab. Facts? They're not so hung up on that. But did you hear what happened in study hall . . .
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