May 07, 2004
Chewing Gum for the Eyes
Via
TV Tattle -
Kill Your Television Before It Kills You, an angry
Pop Matters editorial on the depths of TV trash, focusing on two of the worst -
The Swan and
I Want a Famous Face.
It's tempting to think our vid-culture's at an all-time low, but is that really so true? There's a lot of junk out there -- but when it comes down to it, I'm willing to take the good with the bad. Scanning over the programs we TiVo'd recently, it's really amazing how much great stuff is on the tube, week after week. In our case, it's not the media-grabbing shows, either. A fascinating PBS documentary on Henry Luce. Another one on the Golden Gate Bridge. Two James Cagney pre-Code pictures - Taxi and Picture Snatcher - on Turner Classic Movies. Twin A&E and VH1 specials on the perils of child stardom, epitomizing each network's unique spin on the subject (A&E's take was overlong, plushly produced and focused on touchy-feely issues; VH1's was fizzy and fast-paced, dwelling on scandal and tragedy). The hilarious episode of Carol Burnett where she parodies Joan Crawford in "Torcy Song". Marge battling a gambling addiction on The Simpsons, circa 1994. The goo-backs' invading South Park. The consistently brilliant CBS Sunday Morning. And lots of other stuff.
Television. I think I'll keep it.
Posted by mhinrichs at May 7, 2004 06:19 PM
You're gonna love the Golden Gate bridge special. It was terrific from start to finish. Really inspiring, as I'm sure you can imagine it would be.
In a not too entirely unrelated subject. I recently received the Marx Brothers box set from amazon. Including their best---night at the opera. The rest aren't their greatest, but it's still the Bros.!! (if you are a fan...plus they come with extras like an our gang short, and some crazy black and white warner bros cartoons, and commentarys etc...) Why I tell you this I don't know! I guess I wanna share with someone who might appreciate!!
Those look nice, Michael! I like how Warner Home Video puts vintage shorts on those DVDs as extras. Somewhere I read that a set of the earlier, funnier Paramount Marx Bros. is in the making.
Wow, I hope so. With all the ridiculous dvd sets out there, (I mean Giliigan's island!?!....c'mon!)it's great to finally see my personal faves finally coming around! Including Northern Exposure finally! By the way, thanks for your reply and friendliness as well. It's stuff like this that keeps me coming back to this blog!
awwwwwwwwwww......
