Grid Effect

Jesus, what a slow fucking week this is. This reminds me of the time when I actually had a social life and didn’t woefully turn to the television for any sort of entertainment, only to be disappointed with my options when I actually did. At least now I know there is nothing worthwhile and have the good sense to not even bother turning to it.

So here it is, presented by default in accordance with my laziness, yet another batch of links. Nothing all that riveting or telling, but when your best viewing option consists of something like a two-hour long television episode about a group of people trapped on a tropical island with a polar bear, then perhaps links about off-screen industry news are for the best.

Montel Williams is leaving his talk show after seventeen years of tried-and-true exploitation. Call me crazy, but I was quite certain he parlayed his talk show into infomercials for pharmaceutical companies and had given up the talk show circuit awhile ago. Either way I could give a fuck, he’ll still be all over Fox News pimping anti-depressants.

The parents tv council (which I refuse to capitalize, because an organization with as much time on their hands as this one should really have a more creative name) is imploring CBS to reconsider airing Dexter on their home network. Supposedly the council is concerned about graphic violence (despite the show and the network already promising to edit the series heavily), which is a new one for them; typically they’re concerned about graphic sex. And while I would like to see CBS relegate Dexter to Showtime, it’s for a completely different reason. In short: that show fucking blows. The plot isn’t so bad, but the acting (from everyone other than Michael C. Hall and maybe the girl who played the doctor on OZ) and the dialog makes me squirm it’s so forced and unnatural.

He’s just using that knife for debate leverage, we have no idea what these people are worried about.

Gee whiz, it would be swell if HBO thought to greenlight another series not revolving around psychiatry. Judging by these ratings for In Treatment, it might be sooner rather than later. So wait, these ratings are indicating that the average American doesn’t have the patience to watch two strangers talk for a half hour? Wow. I never would’ve figured. But honestly, if the average American’s attention span can’t get him to watch The Wire, then it’s not going to respond to something like a grueling marathon of melodramatic swill that is in Treatment.

A “grow-house” was found in the neighborhood where Weeds shoots all of its offset scenes. Allegedly the plants were worth as much as $8 million. Man, so regularly you hear about marijuana being a gateway drug, but if that is the case, then how are they’re still enough customers to consumer $8 million worth? If everyone is eventually graduating to coke or whatever, then why the need for millions of dollars of weed in SoCal? Also, it might be a gateway drug, but I think that’s more the case with the dealers. Such a high percentage of them seem to delve into more illicit substances after a stint with cannabis.

James Gandolfini went after an aggressive fan, then took a picture with him. While the guy seemed like a baiting cocksucker, we have to wonder about this emotional fluctuation with the actor who played Tony Soprano. I don’t want it to be true but can’t help but notice: clearly Gandolfini is on steroids. That, or he was trying to avoid a frivolous lawsuit.

The LA Times took a beating from its readers emails lamented the paper spoiling Prop Joe’s death on The Wire. Most of the complaints were along the lines of, “some of us can’t orchestrate our lives around a television show to watch a second after its available”. While I can understand this brand of complaint (if there is one show that has the potential to make me homicidal for being spoiled by it, it’s The Wire) that not everyone can watch the new episodes immediately (not me, but you know, other people), the emails used as an example are so high and mighty that I’m almost glad they had “Transitions” ruined. Besides, if you didn’t see Prop Joe’s demise as an inevitability in the prior episodes, then you probably should find something else to watch.

And finally, some old Survivor castaway from a season before I started watching is starting a record label for reality television contestants. Good lord, we always knew 90% of reality show contestants were desperate, we had no idea they were also delusional. Not that the two character traits are always mutually exclusive, but this is a whole new level of delusion we didn’t think possible without being in a straight jacket. Anyone remember David from the Real World: New Orleans season? Yeah, expect more of that.

FNL recap tomorrow.