Teevee Maven

Teevee Watching Maven
Our teevee watching is rarely done live anymore as the commercial vs. entertainment ratio just eats up time we can never get back. Between the old PVR and DVDs we are pretty set with our entertainment. It takes patience to wait and not read any spoilers until series getson DVD, but the quality of sound and picture is worth it. We do make a slight exception for Heroes, which we watch live for the High Definition broadcast.

The Sopranos DVD Season Six Part 2
We finally watched the final half of the last season of The Sopranos. Last night we watched the final, final episode. We could see why fans who watched it when it broadcast were disappointed. The first half of the last season was the strongest and reminded us of themagic of the first two seasons.

Popping in the second half revealed a dark turn of Tony Soprano's self-destructive spiral. We kept telling each other thatthis was going to end badly for Tony and family. We were expecting an almost epic Greek tragedy ending -- a logical ending a socio-path's life. It really didn't end that way and we were disappointed.

Tony's character needed to be punished for his behavior. He needed to lose both families and have real consequences for his actions.He needed to be arrested, in jail, and facing a long time in jail with the knowledge of his wife and daughter being killed and his son committing suicide. We needed him to call Malfi to the Jail where she finally tells him that she couldn't help him, and in fact, she may have been enabling him. It would have been a more impactful scene if it would happend after he lost his freedom and more members of both of his families.

It could have ended in the prison yard and you could have ducks flying referencing the first episode'sduck symbolism. Except the ducks would symbolize freedom as well as symbolizing that his family is slipping away.

It felt more like a season ender (a mediocre one at that) than a series ending episode.

Heroes
The first season of Heroes was clearly the best series we have seen in a long time. This season is being carried by our admiration of the first season and that we actually care what happens to our characters.While nothing really happened until the very end of last week's episode, we expect things may start hitting the fan for our heroes.I have heard some interesting spoilers/theories about the identity of Adam, which make pretty good sense, but I will let you google that information on your own.

Flip This House
HGTV is known for its home improvement porn, and I recently discovered a show that was born during the real estate boom. People buy property, set a budget and schedule to fix it up, fall out of budget and behind schedule, and hope to make money on their "flip".My opinion of flipping is it contributes to the unaffordability of housing these days. Homes should be for shelter, not speculation. I do like when they take a house that is blighted and unliveable and fixes it up so it is liveable. At least, you are creating more housing that wayand helping turn neighborhoods into places where the working class feels a sense of pride.

From watching this show, I found that you should be skilled in contracting and have lots of family who are too to keep labor costs down. Plus, you need to make sure you don't make improvements that are more pricey than the neighborhood will bear.

The Next American Band

This music competition reality show is by the same folks you brought you the next American idol. We are and always will be a non-voting fans of American Idol, and so we decided to give this show a try.The Next American Band is even more enjoyable because you get people who can actually play instruments and writemusic. I think you get a better caliber of contestant than you get in American Idol.

I think my favorite band is Franklin Bridge, who are a funky jam musicians that remind me of a little Prince and Jimi Hendrix mixed with hip-hop. They may not last if they keep jamming and do not fit into the commercial packaging of songs that the judges are looking for.
I also like Dot Dot Dot, a band that has the 80s sound down to a science and an art form. Their sound could easily be a soundtrack for a John Hughes movie. I like this band because they don't take themselves so seriously and really embrace who they are in and entertaining way.
I think some of the most talented bands play genres I normally do not care much for -- country and bluegrass.The Clark Brothers are an all-string old school country, roots trio who just cook on their instruments and truly belong in the competition.

Cliff Wagner and The Ol' #7 are an incredibly tight bluegrass band, who visibly have fun and are comfortable with what they do. These guys were asked by the judges in their tryout toplay Madonna and went into "Like A Virgin" like pros. You cannot hate these guys. They make me smile.

Light of Doom is what happens when you cross metal with the Hansons. They are extremely talented and it is crazy to think what they will be like if they stay together when they are adults.

My secret favorite band is Rocket, the all-girl bandwho are a cross between the Go-Gos and The Ramones. Like Dot Dot Dot, they appeal to my own sense of musical nostalgia of living my formative years in High School and College in the 1980s. The problem with Rocket is that the lead singer does need to strengthen her vocals. She did a better job with the original song this week but butchered the Elton John cover. To be fair to her, Elton John is a tremendous vocalist and it will be very difficult to outsing Elton.

There is also a swing band called Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. Denver, thelead singer is pretty much a drag on a very talented and tight big band orchestra. With a different front man, they would be real contenders even though they have no chance to actually win.Big Bands are not pop bands and haven't been for 60 years.

The Muggs are this deep 70s motown rock band where all three musicians are incredibly talented. The lead singers gravel voice sometimes suits the material, butlike Rocket the vocalizations often fall short. He is an awesom guitar player, but not so strong at singing. The Muggs appeal to us old folk who remember the 1970s.

There is a pop-Country band, Sixwire, that is very professional but I personally do not like them. I prefer more old school country, roots, and bluegrass to the bland corporate crossover-country that they serve out.

Of all the bands, the Sixties-nostalgia band, Tres Bien, is fun, but feels too novelty to last in the competition.

The bands that were eliminated so far have deserved it and there are still a few more to go. We will see how it goes.

One thing I do not care for is that this show has an austrailian host and an aussie judge. You would figure that a show called, "The Next American Band" would at least have an all-american host and judge panel. I am getting tired of the accents already. I love Sheila E. I think she is better suited than Paula Abdul to be a music critic. I actually have seen her in concert with Prince and she really rocks. She carries herself really well, where Paula often acts a bit loopy. There is also a judge from the Goo-Goo Dolls who does okay. I would have prefered Tommy Lee, because he was highly entertaining in his stint on Rockstar: Supernova.

The OC Tribute & This American Life

Was listening to This American Life ("What I Learned From TV" episode) last weekend and caught Ira Glass' tribute to Fox show, The OC, that recently went off the air. It has been several weeks since the last show aired. Ira opened the floodgates with his admission that he and his wife were big nerdy fans of the show. They shared their belief that the character played by Mischa Barton should have been killed off in the first season. Ira was thrilled when the couple of Seth and Summer mentioned This American Life in the show, which left Ira asking, "Is that on everyone's TIVO?" They then admitted that they used to sing along to the shows' great theme song, and sang the song on TAL.

For sure, The OC, was a guilty pleasure. It was a show about pretty rich people with problems put into improbable situations and unnecessary teeth gnashing drama, agonizingly awkward moments, and a healthly dose of poking fun at itself. The show had a sense of humor and its cast showed a talent for the comic gift. What made it work is that the cast for the most part were likable despite their weaknesses. I will miss it even though I think they stopped the show at the right time. We have the DVDs if I ever need to go back to those crazy folks.

Then there is This American Life, one of my favorite radio programs on NPR. On Saturdays, after our absolute favorite radio show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (a news quiz show), I listen to Ira Glass present a series of radio essays within a theme. I have often found myself crying, laughing out loud, and overall having my thought provoked. This is how I discovered Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris, two people who never fail to make me laugh. You can listen to these shows for free on their website, and I wish I could embed some of my favorites here, which are too numerous to list here.

Culture Gag Ate My Brain: My Super Sweet 16

I am not proud that sometimes I become a cultural rubbernecker. I can assure you that there are cultural train wrecks a plenty. Wherever they exist, my husband and I seem to find them (Shout out to Flava Flav). One day my hubby found MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" and we watched with our mouths open in absolute astonishment. The show follows a 16 year old girl as she plans a Sweet 16 bash more elaborate and expensive than most weddings.

First, here is how my Sweet 16 went down. In May 1982, I turned 16. I got a surprise party at my house with about a 10-12 friends, dinner at a local pizza parlor, cake, and a sleepover. My parents probably spent 50 to 75 bucks. When I turned 16, I got the use of the family's 1977 Ford Pinto Wagon. It was fun. I lived in an affluent neighborhood at the time, and most people I knew got similar parties and got hand-me down cars. The more wealthier kids got their parents' BMW or Mercedes from the 1970s, but most kids got cars described as "beaters" that were sometimes older than we were (ie. pre-1966 cars). Parents back then had the good sense that teenagers have no business having a new car.

So it is with this background I have watched "My Super Sweet 16" with a mixture of amazement, disgust, concern, and a weird sense of fascination.

One thing I have noticed is that the parents of these girls seem to be divorced. It may explain why in almost in a daze-state they agree to spending 50k for renting a venue for the party or spending 38k on a new Lexus, or flying their daughter to Paris to get a dress when all they get in return is whining, tantrums, disrespectful talk, an overinflated sense of entitlement, and total lack of appreciation for the money being spent. The best these parents can do is grimace and say half-hearted, "that's a little expensive, isn't it?" This flaccid attempt to reign in the spending completely crumbles as they cave in and spend the money anyway.

A thought comes to mind that these families don't pay enough taxes.

I keep waiting for a parent to say "enough." I keep waiting for them to point out that what they are spending on one night for a sixteen year old is what some people pay to buy a house. There is no attempt by the parents to impart any values on their daughters.

These girls seem to use the fact that they are going to have this "awesome" party to wield social power. One girl has kids who want to come to the party to dance for her. There is a desire to have a party where you are not anyone unless you are invited.

Some people may say that I am just jealous class warrior and if I had the money, I would do the same thing. My main question in response would be, "As parents, what kind of people do we want to raise?"

If I had that kind of money, I would rather see that money go to seeing my offspring travel and see the world to get perspective on how people are forced to live. If we had that kind of money, we could afford him taking his friends to travel, but we would want them to travel with social responsibility. If we do our jobs right as parents, he will chose eco-friendly and socially responsible travel. Instead of spending a lot of money entertaining people you will never talk to, we would like to teach the benefits of focusing on spending time with few good friends who share our values and are from different walks of life.

The saving grace about this show is that the producers seem to be aware of the vacuous absurdity of these teenage excesses. The car or dress they want get post-production video sparkles around them. They show these girls in all their ugly glory even though they spend an average annual salary dolling themselves up. I watch it because we do live in an affluent area where we will run across those types of people, so it reminds me to do the work with our son to inoculate him from such hormonal need for conspicuous consumption.