Once upon a time there was a country with cool TV programs. OK, they weren't all good, but most of them were written by talented writers. Of course, TV producers had their hand in it, not allowing writers to write their best, but rather write what was perceived as marketable shows. After all, show business is business and the main goal of business is to make money.
But even though the main preoccupation of TV moguls was to make money, once in a while there were good, even great TV shows.
And then came the TV writers strike. I'm not going to get into the merits of the strike - maybe the writers were right about being able to share in some of the profits, but the topic of the day is the law of unintended consequences.
When the strike seemed like it was going to last for a long while, the TV execs were stuck with making difficult decisions about the future of their industry.
The response of the industry to the writers strike became Reality TV.
And it became all the rage with the public. At first, there were innovative programs such as Survivor, American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars. Not exactly great cultural experiences but definitely a break from sitcoms and cop shows.
But, as usual, TV execs, even when the strike was over, and things went back to some semblance of normal, decided to double down and get trashier and trashier. Soon everyone was on the reality bandwagon, the despicable Kim Kardashian became a household name as well as Snooki and Honey Boo-Boo. It seemed like Americans could not get enough of trash TV. The Bachelor - a sleazy show for voyeurs - was followed by the Bachelorette, setting new records for sleaze. Everyone seemed to be in on the joke, from slutty housewives to fake moralists.
In this tawdry landscape, enters Donald Trump, the anything for a buck caricature of an American business tycoon. Why NBC shoveled millions at this self-aggrandizing cartoon of a man will always remain a mystery to me. I guess there really is no underestimating the taste of the American public.
But here it where it becomes downright bizarre. The Pinocchio clown actually wanted to become a real mensch. I suppose we should all have anticipated that Trump, the appropriately red coiffed descendant of Bozo took the leap of deciding to run for President - not of the the Reality Circus - but of the United States of America, which at last peek is still a major player on the world stage and engaged in some very serious business.
So we could say, "why the hell not?" After all, isn't it a sort of logical progression of America's infatuation with Reality TV stars that one of them would decide to aspire to the biggest job in the land? I suppose we should be grateful that Kim or Snooki didn't beat him to it. At least the Donald speaks in almost entire semi-coherent sentences. The beauty pageant entrepreneur can congratulate himself in being a tad smarter than the beauty queens he promotes and I guess that must be the yardstick he measures himself by.
All of this would be hilarious (it really is hard for me to watch Trump without bursting out laughing) if the consequences for all of us weren't so serious. The Chinese President must be frothing at the mouth thinking the "jackass" candidate could actually become President. I take back everything I said about Newt, Rick, Herman, Michele, Sarah, and all the people who I referred to as "clowns" before. My deep apologies for we have finally found a real clown in Trump. That many thousand people have fallen for his obvious shtick is not surprising. Look at all the people who watch The Bachelor, or the slutty wives.
I'm starting to believe the conservative mantra that our country is going to hell in a hand-basket. They were referring to our Harvard educated Nobel prize winning President, of course. But Trump is the real thing. No birth certificate necessary here. No need to verify anything. He is certainly a 100% American blowhard.
And we owe it all to the striking TV writers. Thanks guys.
But even though the main preoccupation of TV moguls was to make money, once in a while there were good, even great TV shows.
And then came the TV writers strike. I'm not going to get into the merits of the strike - maybe the writers were right about being able to share in some of the profits, but the topic of the day is the law of unintended consequences.
When the strike seemed like it was going to last for a long while, the TV execs were stuck with making difficult decisions about the future of their industry.
The response of the industry to the writers strike became Reality TV.
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| The new reality |
But, as usual, TV execs, even when the strike was over, and things went back to some semblance of normal, decided to double down and get trashier and trashier. Soon everyone was on the reality bandwagon, the despicable Kim Kardashian became a household name as well as Snooki and Honey Boo-Boo. It seemed like Americans could not get enough of trash TV. The Bachelor - a sleazy show for voyeurs - was followed by the Bachelorette, setting new records for sleaze. Everyone seemed to be in on the joke, from slutty housewives to fake moralists.
In this tawdry landscape, enters Donald Trump, the anything for a buck caricature of an American business tycoon. Why NBC shoveled millions at this self-aggrandizing cartoon of a man will always remain a mystery to me. I guess there really is no underestimating the taste of the American public.
But here it where it becomes downright bizarre. The Pinocchio clown actually wanted to become a real mensch. I suppose we should all have anticipated that Trump, the appropriately red coiffed descendant of Bozo took the leap of deciding to run for President - not of the the Reality Circus - but of the United States of America, which at last peek is still a major player on the world stage and engaged in some very serious business.
So we could say, "why the hell not?" After all, isn't it a sort of logical progression of America's infatuation with Reality TV stars that one of them would decide to aspire to the biggest job in the land? I suppose we should be grateful that Kim or Snooki didn't beat him to it. At least the Donald speaks in almost entire semi-coherent sentences. The beauty pageant entrepreneur can congratulate himself in being a tad smarter than the beauty queens he promotes and I guess that must be the yardstick he measures himself by.
All of this would be hilarious (it really is hard for me to watch Trump without bursting out laughing) if the consequences for all of us weren't so serious. The Chinese President must be frothing at the mouth thinking the "jackass" candidate could actually become President. I take back everything I said about Newt, Rick, Herman, Michele, Sarah, and all the people who I referred to as "clowns" before. My deep apologies for we have finally found a real clown in Trump. That many thousand people have fallen for his obvious shtick is not surprising. Look at all the people who watch The Bachelor, or the slutty wives.
I'm starting to believe the conservative mantra that our country is going to hell in a hand-basket. They were referring to our Harvard educated Nobel prize winning President, of course. But Trump is the real thing. No birth certificate necessary here. No need to verify anything. He is certainly a 100% American blowhard.
And we owe it all to the striking TV writers. Thanks guys.
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