Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Can't Get Enough
Friday
September 23, 2005
I've been trying to familiarize myself with the various equipment offerings and options for Sirius Satellite Radio, since the show I work as a producer for, the Bubba The Love Sponge show, will be debuting on Sirius soon. That's one area of knowledge which is a bit outside of my area of familiarity, so I've been reading up like crazy. The challenging thing is that there are maybe 25-30 different options that I can think of off the top of my head, and when you combine that with the ability people have to combine those for home/car/work, you're talking about a wide variety of possibilities. I can't just find out which one is "the best", as there are also price and logistical considerations that will vary from person to person. But if anyone reading this (within a reasonable timeframe of this having been published) has any advice or first-hand knowledge on the subject, by all means please contact me and let me know your thoughts and suggestions. Right now I'm just trying to learn.
I saw the movie Napoleon Dynamite last week, and wow was I underwhelmed. Maybe it had been built up to me too much, but I kept waiting for some semblance of a plot or a story to happen... and the payoff never came. I suppose the film did do a good job of capturing the essence of very socially inept young teens, and the way that Napoleon would run off real quick was very Beavis and Butt-head-esque, but overall I was quite disappointed. My bro Matt had recommended the movie to me (along with many others), and it's rare that he likes a movie that I don't. There's plenty of movies and TV shows that I like that Matt isn't into, but when he recommends something, it's usually on the money. I suppose this was the exception to the rule.
The new Apprentice: Martha Stewart did terrible in the ratings in its debut episode, and apparently it has been panned hard by many people. I happened to like it, but I thought that the Donald Trump version that aired last night was much better. Trump getting stiff with the interviewees is part of the fun of the show, with them generally looking terrified on the other side of the desk in the board room. Plus you can't beat the forced small talk at the end with Trump and Carolyn (or George). High comedy there.
I've been an NFL fan since I was 10 years old (that's 1987, for those of you who aren't quick on the draw on math). But I can't say that I would've recognized former NFL QB Gary Hogeboom if I had spotted him on the street two months ago. Yet, last night on Survivor, Danni, a female weekend radio sportscaster from Kansas City recognized him. Or did she? Most reality programming isn't "real" per se, but instead put-on situations with people then reacting to things in real ways. Hogeboom played with the Cowboys from 1980-85, the Colts from 86-88, and with the Cardinals in 1989. Danni is listed as being 30, or two years older than I am. And she recognized Gary Hogeboom? I know she's a radio sports talk host (albeit on a part-time basis), but I have my doubts on her recognizing a guy who retired from the NFL in 1989. To put it in perspective, she would've been 14 when he was in his final season. I think the producers tipped her off to add a little drama to the show.
There are various levels of shock... I'm not sure where to place the one that I experienced today when I flipped on the TV and saw Omarosa, the midget from The Amazing Race 5, and Jonny Fairplay from Survivor playing Texas Hold 'Em poker on Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo. You know, I actually pulled for Fairplay on Survivor, but in the cameos/stretching of his 15 minutes of fame that he's had since then, he's come across as a real prick. It makes me wonder if he received some favorable editing on Survivor, a la how Ivette was made to look like a Cuban Martha Stewart on Big Brother 6 (with her racist and hateful comments conveniently hitting the cutting room floor week after week). As Grandma Pickney would say, you think I'm joking? You savvy? Oh yes, Ivette called Kaysar a sand n****r and Osama Bin Laden. Why? Because she's emotionally disturbed, at least in my opinion. Kaysar was the most laid back guy in modern reality TV history, yet she went after him with an Executive Meddler level of vengeance. Actually the parallels between Ivette and the Meddler were striking, though Ivette was like a less refined version of the Meddler. It's yet another reason to be glad that Ivette didn't win BB6 (if you needed one).
Speaking of Omarosa, she is stretching her 15 minutes of fame from The Apprentice out to its max. She was on The Surreal Life, and one of the chicks who was at my apartment last night insisted that we watch MTV... and I saw her as a judge on a new show called The Reality Show. Hey, good for her for flipping being an idiot on The Apprentice into a thriving C-list career. Her recognition rating in the 18-34 demo has to be pretty high.
That's all for now, as I'm off to watch the Hurricane Rita coverage on TV. There's an odd fascination that I have for watching that stuff... it's hard to explain. Maybe it's my TV news past, or maybe it's seeing riveting, real-life drama unfold on live television. Or maybe it's other factors altogether. But for some reason, I just can't get enough of it...
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