i guess this makes sense

it was announced that billy mays, that guy with the beard who will enthusiastically sell any product on tv, will be getting his own reality tv show. i am not sure how i feel about this but my initial reaction was a pretty even mix of "seriously? wtf?" and "yeah, i guess i would watch that".

i guess he does need to step up his game now that he has actual competition. seriously though, who wants a boring tuna?

state of television

i watch a lot of tv. i don't have a ton of shows that i love...and yet i still find myself watching a lot of it. this is besides the point. the issue i am currently thinking about is this writer's strike and how it affects my television viewing. i have read up on the issues surrounding the strike a little, but am in no way knowledgeable on any of it. (ir)regardless, as a fellow writer, i side with the writers. ok obviously i cannot put myself in the same category as the s.a.g writers since i think my writing is generally awesome 100% of the time. also, i still have it rooted in me that i am for the people and against the big evil corporation (or whatever entity), so i had really chosen sides before i knew anything about it.

so yeah, i guess the strike is serious stuff....but as i mentioned before, in the kevin-centric blog, i wanted to discuss how this affects me. i have 3 situational comedies that i truly enjoy.

• the office (version americana) - they stopped showing new episodes at least a month ago and with it they leave a gaping hole in my comedic heart
• 30 rock - there is apparently one episode left where i can be amazed by the crazy stuff that comes out of tracy morgan's mouth
• it's always sunny in philadelphia - their season is over and they were unaffected by the strike

there is only one dramatic show that i love.

• friday night lights - this is the show that nobody seems to be watching...but it's so good that i would watch it even if connie britton wasn't in it...well i think they also have one more episode left...and with their shitty ratings, who knows if it will ever come back...

late night shows are also affected. while snl is usually lame, it was generally a decent diversion if wasn't doing anything else. last night most of the late night talk shows came back after about 6 weeks of being off the air. conan and letterman sported the strike solidarity beards. i saw a little of conan's show and it was funny, if not a little more awkward, but equally retarded. didn't watch leno, but i heard he's in trouble with the guild. apparently, the hosts could perform, but couldn't prepare any material beforehand. they had to just make it up as they went. lamo admitted to writing his awful schtick before the show. he's so fucking lame. bwe.tv summed it best:

Late Night talk shows returned to the air waves last night, with Conan O’Brien and David Letterman demonstrating their “Guildy Consciences” with two very impressive strike beards on display. Jay Leno, however, refused to grow a beard, as it disguised his single recognizable feature: Having no sense of humor.

so now what does that leave me with? you guessed it...reality tv! i am a little ashamed by my enjoyment of certain reality shows. i get real excited when american idol starts airing. i believe it was last season where i was introduced to the yellow-shirted singer/entrepreneur flawless, who i thought was awesome. instead of enjoying the office and 30 rock, tonight will be the premiere of the apprentice. while the apprentice has been lame since the second season, this season the players will be "celebrities". while it looks like the use of "celebrity" to describe these contestants is very liberal, tito the apeman ortiz is on the show. and while i am not particularly fond of him, he actally seems pretty smart and i guess i will be rooting for him...at least initially. upcoming we also have the new american gladiators with mma beauty gina carano.
hopefully the writers' strike will be resolved soon so i can get the most out of my tv viewing. in the meantime, i think these reality shows will help ease the pain. we'll see.

kid nation live blog

7:50 pm

i am currently watching the wizards whoop up on the lebron-less cavs, but only for a few minutes because it's almost time for kid nation. i am going to attempt to live blog this show. (oh snap, the geico caveman is in the audience of the wiz game!) anyways, live blogging is a new venture for me so we'll see how it goes. i guess in the meantime i can continue my discussion of kid nation. now while i only named 5 kids i hate, i generally hate most of these kids...and that's part of what makes it a fun show for me to watch. phil seems to want to be motherly towards a majority of these kids. basically we had discussions like this:

me: man, what's up with that perv greg always picking up young girls and carrying them around like they're his personal perverted accessories for perverted pleasure?
phil: you shouldn't judge these kids. they're young and haven't formed their real personalities, and i bet that he has some problems at home and....blah blah blah, etc.


...wait, the book says it's not appropriate to pick up small girls and carry them around?







whatever phil. you always hate on everything else. why not join me in hating these kids? it's way more fun, trust me.

7:57

ok, so i will try to recap anything i find noteworthy and add any commentary that seems appropriate. i aim to finish everything by 9 pm, but will probably do a little cleaning up of the post before i publish it and add some pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

8:00

they are showing a recap from last week...ack! there's greg carrying tyler! oh i hope sophia doesn't do anything bad with her new power as sheriff.

8:02

hmmm...sophia has ceded from bonanza city and is claiming a patch of land as her own...sophia....you so crazy! but yeah...the forshadowing does not look good.

8:04

sophia is gonna be left in charge as the city council is leaving for some spiritual journey or something...many in the town are unhappy, mouths agape. they show a clip of mike bitching about it...he seriously makes the most annoying faces this side of dane cook.

8:09

sophia is checking to make sure all of the jobs are done before opening the arcade...this is looking to be a pretty sophia-centric episode. the council meet with a group of native americans and i think that maybe only michael should open his mouth...

8:11

kelsey speaks and i hate. hate hate hate hate hate.

8:12

sophia proves to be an excellent (i'm a little surprised) leader and motivator and whips the town into shape, gets the arcade open and even shares a sweet moment with taylor of all people. that's it...12 year old kevin would definitely have had an unrequited crush on her.

8:13

zach mentions his awesome goat milking powers (i think i like him a little bit more now) and i am excited to see alex and jared team up to dig up bones, accurately identifying a femur and nerdily talking about carbon-dating processes.

8:15

the council talk to the native americans about smart kids or something....i'm calling it now... gold star goes to alex this week!

8:19

it's showdown time and well these tend to be the more boring part of the show. hmmm...homestead act? alpacas? i'm intrigued. well kids are carrying parts of a house...and well when i was 12, i was basically as strong as i am now, i would do well in this competition. hahahaha some kid fell on a cactus! jared is leading the way for the red team...maybe he's the (nerd) kid who wins the g.s.

8:27

green district are the upper class, red district are the merchants, blue district are the cooks...and the yellow district...are the yellow district. mike spazzes out. yellow district finish in time for the reward!

• choice #1: a kid nation monument that commemorates the bonanza city kid nation...hmm...i hope choice #2 is better.
• choice #2: hot air balloon rides over bonanza city....meh. i guess they're both ok rewards, but kind of a letdown after last week's arcade. i think i would choose the balloon ride.
  

8:33

it's unrelated, and they are showing commercials right now, but i just found $60 in my old pajama pants pocket!!!

8:36

it's up to sophia to choose, and she decides on the hot air balloons. i think that was a wise choice and all the kids cheer. the kids have their rides and it looks like fun. i still hate you mike...stop making faces!

8:40

alex is cooking something and it is adorable. jared talks about winning the golden star to make a teleporter. i am intrigued jared...very intrigued.

8:42

council members are accepting nominations for the gold star and i hope i get to see jasmine nominate herself yet again...what a tool. zach cries and greg laughs. zach storms off and pulls a rodney dangerfield. zach looks like he's gonna fight someone. i know he wants to punch greg or blaine...but zach, seriously, they are a lot bigger...go for someone smaller that you could beat...i nominate mike...i heard he said your mom's not a hard worker.

8:48

zach pours his heart out and greg consoles him. greg gets called out by dk for saying zach was fake crying and then turning around and saying that he respects him.

8:50

town hall meeting time! lots of screaming over the arcade. the council decides to close it down for good...nice move guys. i guess for every obnoxious, bullyish or perverted move that greg makes he balances it out with a decent act. his behavior is kinda manic like that. the golden star goes to alex! and i am correct again...what else is new? $20,000 is apparently a paradox and a 9 year old kid with one giant tooth is making me feel retarded.



my tooth is bigger than my thumb!






8:55

anjay cries about leaving and i realize he is kind of an indian milhouse.






















8:57

preview of next week...it's the season finale. there is gonna be a bigger gold star? someone resorts to arson to prove that they are a hard worker? interesting. this episode was good, but not as good as last week's. hopefully they really bring the crazy next week...i will miss watching this show...but with the writers' strike, i guess i can expect kid nation 2 to premiere soon....maybe in about 3 weeks? live blogging was a challenge and fun. it went pretty smoothly except when my roommate nicky sat down next to me and i was acting nonchalantly, pretending like i wasn't live blogging a reality show about kids.

wwedmption

dave and i were chatting online today when he passed along this video gem:



it got me thinking...what are most of these guys up to these days? we should propose a show about old wwf wrestlers from the 80's and 90's living in a house together working on making comebacks to vh1. they have done very similar shows, and i could very easily see them putting this show on the air. with the writers' strike continuing with no end in sight, the demand for addictive reality shows is high.

preliminary pitch:

a group of 6-8 former wwf/wwe stars sign up to live in a mansion in an effort to revive their wrestling/entertainment/other careers. along with general training, they are put through a series of varying (and sometimes comical) tasks and competitions that show the home viewers new sides of the former wrestlers. it helps humanize them to their fans and viewers.

all of this progresses as the former wrestlers work to reach their own specific goals. some of the younger wrestlers would obviously want to return to the ring. some may want to pursue acting or some other profession. some may want to simply be of relevance again and enjoy the media exposure. others (and this may be a bit of a stretch, wishful thinking...i dunno) may want to use their publicity to bring a cause/charity/issue to light.

potential wrestlers i would want in the show:

• the ultimate warrior
• the honkey tonk man
• the iron sheik
• the junkyard dog
• jimmy superfly snucka (sp?)
• koko b. ware
• rowdy roddy piper
• bam bam bigelow
• big john stud
• ricky the dragon steamboat
• rick flair
• jimmy hart
  

potential hosts

• jim mcmahon
• the fabulous moolah (i have a sneaking suspicion she is my next door neighbor)
• that old wwf ref with the moustache
• some current wwe superstar
• the rock (he would be the #1 option i think)

tasks/competitions

• dance contest
• working with kindergarten kids
• baking competition
• karaoke
• debate
  
• other dumb stuff that is funny since really big wrestlers are doing it

ideally there would be a good blend of drama, fighting, hilarity, bonding, heart-warming moments and silliness. many people who grew up in the 80's and 90's would want to revisit their favorite wrestlers from back then. others would simply tune in to watch people with crazy personalities clash and argue and compete. as i mentioned before, i could see this as a show on vh1, and i have no doubt that it would be very successful. phil and dan have already raised their eyebrow in skepticism, but that's all phil knows. hate hate hate. i know i would watch every episode. dave and i will need to tighten up the premise and details and then submit it.