After A week of extensive research and testing some of the poop that's been forced down our throats like a wooden tongue depresser full of slivers, there's more misses than hits this year and the big networks should have no problem thinning out the fields of this vast wasteland by Halloween. After tuning into two staples of Saturday's, it would appear from the start that once again "Mad TV" is actually funnier than "SNL". On Sunday's we get to see the two defectors most recently seen on ABC Monday Night Football try not to forget that they are now on NBC. This makes it official. John Madden IS the biggest thing in football. He's worked on every network, enjoys success from his video games, and rides across the USA in his Outback Steakhouse motor home. That's Sundays. As for the weeknights, here's a few observations.
- Till Death - Brad Garrett's return to TV after Everybody Loves Raymond has gotten nothing but praise from reviewers. Me? I think it's crap! I watched it once and didn't know if I was watching Married With Children or Everybody Loves Raymond. Garrett should have taken a lesson from recent shows such as Friends and Seinfeld. You don't spend 10 years on a sitcom, take a year off, and then come back on TV thinking everyone's forgotten about you. Nope. I give Till Death two thumbs and two big toes down and hope it dies a quick death. How will we know the show may be in trouble? When we see guest appearances by Ray Romano and Peter Boyle. Hard to believe Fox Network has been around since the mid 1980's and still puts on crap like this!
- Deal or No Deal? - No Deal! They keep saying that this could very well be the BIGGEST game show in the history of TV. Producers of the show were in Chicago this weekend looking for potential contestants. When asked about why the show is so successful, a staff member suggested that people at home "get excited to see others take risks and become rich" Huh? That's like going to Las Vegas not to gamble, but to watch because it's fun to see people walking to the ATM machine every 15 minutes to take out another $100, or going to the racetrack not to bet, but just look at all the pretty horsies. Personally, I don't get any thrill out of seeing anyone walk out of a building carrying a suitcase full of money. Anyway, this Deal or No Deal show is for the mentally challenged because you don't need a brain to say those "deal" or "no deal" words. I put this in the same category as the old Let's Make A Deal, Joker's Wild, and Tic Tac Dough. I want to know who says that this is the "best game show in history" anyway. Lastly, who got washed up Howie Mandel to host and pepper the show with lame jokes and wisecracks? Howie had a good thing going years ago with blowing up the rubber gloves over his head like a balloon. It was reckless, risky, and taking a gamble...this isn't.
- Dateline NBC - Surprisingly to me, this newsmagazine program has been on in one way or another for 20 years! Having said that, time has really sucked the life and credibility out of the show. No more Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, or Jane Pauley to unravel the week's big stories. Stone Phillips has taken over and has driven the direction of the show to almost the same level as The Jerry Springer Show. Anyone who watches knows that Friday nights are now devoted to Internet Predators. Like the photo above, middle aged horny men strip naked and go online to places like MySpace to talk dirty to 12 and 13 year boys. Pretty soon these guys decide that all the sex talk isn't enough and arrange to meet with the kids and promise to bring beer, dope, and condoms. Some of these guys drive for four hours through rain, sleet, snow...you name it. When they get to the house, the "little kid" opens the door and says he's going to take a quick shower before they get started. Meanwhile, these sickos don't realize that the "kid" is really a 30 year old woman undercover officer. It is then that the NBC crew comes out of the kitchen with pages of emails, reads portions back to them and then asks if they want to say anything. They head for the door and then get ambushed by about 20 cops. It's a good thing and those guys deserve jail however, taking a page from America's Most Wanted, they're keeping track of how many people have been convicted. On Friday, it was at 17. Eventually this topic is sure to evolve into it's own weekly show aside from Dateline. I say, keep arresting these sick S.O.B.'s with the sting operations but PLEASE, how about a little news. I can't stomach this every single week!
