BNB: No, I wasn’t dissing TPIR. I’m just saying, some people might roll their eyes at a person (esp. a man, no offense) who watches that, and I never did. And some people disdain auto racing, and some people scoff at pro wrestling, which Mr. Rilch watches. I’d just appreciate it if people could show me the same tolerance!
skutir: Exactly. Sign me up for that support group. (I also have a co-worker who doesn’t watch because “I know I couldn’t watch for five minutes without wanting to punch Simon in the face!” I replied that for me, it’s Paula that I want to shake silly, and Randy whose arm I’d like to tie behind his back so he’ll stop making those pseudo-ghetto gestures. But I didn’t pursue it.)
And since no one asked me what DXing is, I’ll tell you. Years ago, I asked Mr. A-T if he ever listened to Art Bell. He said no, and added that he didn’t like the show. Not because of the subject matter, but because it impeded his hobby.
DXing, he told me, involves turning the radio dial ve…ry…ve…ry…slow…ly, to see how many radio stations one can tune in, and how clearly and from how far away. And because Coast to Coast was on so many stations, he couldn’t tell one from the other: they were all broadcasting the same thing, and only gave the call letters, if they did at all, at the top of the hour.
I thought, but didn’t say, “MiGod, if you don’t have anything better to do in the evenings…you might as well listen to Art Bell!”
Well, I think you can step back, look at things objectively, and see that even though you hated it, it’s feasable that others might like it.
I have little desire to see Americal Idol. I don’t listen to pop music very much and indeed, listening to a lot of it can sometimes seem like a punishment. So perhaps I’m not the target audience for American Idol (though my curiosity may prompt me to check out an episode sometime).
But on paper, so to speak, it sounds interesting. It has people with a real ability try to do something with that ability. It has discussions and critques of their ability. It is a show that has these people performing—using some talent and skill—and entertaining the public with their talents and skills.
This all doesn’t sound so bad to me.
Now, I admit, I do roll my eyes (inwardly) at people who watch Jerry Springer. No, I should ammend that—I don’t roll my eyes at otherwise bright people who watch Jerry Springer as some sort of freak show that they can’t tear their eyes away from, but I do roll my eyes at those who watch Jerry Springer and think that it’s “real,” soaking it all up and taking it to heart.
Oh yeah—a special eye-rollies at people who take “Fear Factor” seriously. I think that show is an abomination. Seriously. it is.
Is Seacrest gay?
(sorry, we had the second AI on here but then Australian Idol and now our very own NZ Idol)
Agree - Simon is the only one with judge like qualities, why is Paula Abdul even called a judge?
I too don’t like to admit to having watching it - and tend to get a little roll-eyed when I hear the others banging on about it. I have grown out of it now.
The part of AI that makes me sad is that Seacrest really comes across as a…I don’t know. A guy I wouldn’t want to spend any time with. And that just sucks, because he was my favorite DJ on Star 98.7 before AI made him all popular and he left. Believe it or not, he’s very witty and funny and can even be charming. Somehow, all that wit/charm just flees when he gets in front of the camera. It’s like he’s two different people. I listened to his new morning show on KISS, and he’s just as bad there.
I understand why AI is a good idea, why it’s marketable, why it’s successful. On paper, it’s great. But it’s the people on the show that, well, ruin it. All of them.
If you’re really lucky (or unlucky) when watching reruns of “TPIR”, you might see some classicly terrible pricing games, like “Professor Price” or “Balance Game”.
I’ve only watched the show a few times and frankly the times I’ve watched, most of the contestants sounded the same. They all have that fake “serious”-pop Whitney Houston-esque voice thing going. Blah. But whatever (and the guy who sang that “Pilot” song last episode was good.)
But: just as an aside, that Simon character: what is he famous for?
I mean, I know who the other two judges are and I grant you that Simon has a competent (there are Dopers who could make Simon cry) ability to say cruel things to people who are doing something difficult (there are nicer ways of saying “You suck” than to say “If you were a filmmaker, that performance would have been Ed Wood’s **Plan Nine From Outer Space”) but what makes him qualified to judge? Does he have any background in music or theater or the recording industry or the radio industry or…well…anything?
Or was he hired because he has an acid tongue and he verbally flames people with a degree of competence?
Frankly at the moment, he seems like a male Zsa Zsa Gabor type: bitchy and famous for being famous.
Except when its AI, of course. Now, to be fair, your guest was rude for staying after you turned it on. Usually turning AI on when company is in your home is the last ditch step to get guests to leave before you grab a bullhorn and yell into it:
“You…! Yes, You On The Couch! Get Your Coat And Get The Fuck Out Of My Home…!”
Historically, in the sixties, people used to use slide-show presentations to bore unwanted guests from their homes. Later, it was the home movie. Ten years ago, it was the ‘camcorder vacation tape’. Sadly, Fox’s boorish-enhanced staple of programming has pushed all of these traditional entertainment cattle-prods by the wayside.
Not that I feel the need to defend my viewing choices to you, but I didn’t turn AI on for anyone to watch. I was recording it “under” Two Towers. That is, the entertainment system was set up to show a DVD (TT) while recording a show off cable (AI). No one had to see AI if they didn’t want to.
What irks me is how if I mention I like American Idol there are people who say “I’m very proud to say I’ve never seen an episode of that”. One guy told me on my blog today that he’s proud he’s never seen AI or Titanic. What the fuck…what the fuck what the fuck? If you’ve never seen them then how can you know they’re terrible, and if you don’t know they’re terrible why are you proud you’ve never seen them?
Yes, I like some pop movies and pop TV programs. I can also successfully defend a thesis on extremely obscure point regarding the bar Kokhba revolt, genuinely enjoy Shostakovich to the point of near rapture, read a biography of Hermann Göring for pleasure and name all fifty-seven of Brigham Young’s children (and their mothers) from memory- I have varied interests. If you don’t watch TV because you don’t like it or can’t afford it, that’s fine, but please don’t wear it as an intellectual merit badge because it’s not, and frankly there’s not a massively popular movie or tv show that I would be proud not to have watched- pop-culture is a major influence on and reflection of our cultural currency.
(I used to particularly get irked when people rolled eyes and smirked at Buffy the Vampire Slayer references and simply wouldn’t hear the fact that it was one of the best written and funniest shows in the history of television; no doubt had Joss spent his time writing and reciting at a coffee house a philippic screed on the dirth of values in the patriarchal West of the Millennium while dressed as a lesbian Viking the same people would have found it high art.)
That said, I did watch an episode of Dawson’s Creek and it seemed to suck.
Let me get this straight: what do The Price is Right, NASCAR, and American Idol all have in common? They are all competitions. One is more about chance, the other two are more about talent (at least idealistically AI is). And Mr. A-T doesn’t get that? And moronically, acts snooty about it, as if watching AI is somehow, maybe, I don’t know, lower-class than watching The Price is Right? Would there then be more acceptable competitions to watch besides The Price is Right and NASCAR for Mr. A-T? I would have asked, or maybe run your regular viewing schedule past him for possible corrections and a gold star.
Simon Cowel was the power behind The Spice Girls and some British pop bands. He also had the brilliant idea (and I mean it, this idea made him a shitload of money) of producing albums by “The Teletubbies” and other famous TV personalities in Britian.
He was chosen as the judge for British Idol because of his success at discovering talent. When Rupert Murdoch’s daughter saw British Idol, she knew she had to bring the show over to America, and it had to feature Simon.
How do I know all this? I watched Simon’s A&E Biography not once, but twice. sigh
Aieee! I watched the first episode of The Swan the other night because it came on right after AI. Maybe AI is a gateway show!
As for The Swan, it was a one-time thing. I can quit anytime I want.
What I want to know is, had she/they seen The Fellowship of the Ring? Had she/they seen the Extended? Did she/they like it? Did she/they like The Two Towers? Did you/she/they make it to Return of the King and did you/she/they like it?
I’m a Star Search person myself. I’ve never seen American Idol, but sheesh, at least it’s not Survivor! :rolleyes:
Equipoise: Yes, they liked Two Towers. They’ve also seen, and now own, and similarly like, the EE of Fellowship. Don’t know if they’ve seen ROTK yet, but probably not, or I’d have heard about it by now.
And just to reiterate, I didn’t pull a fast one and say “Surprise! We’re taking an hour break to watch a show you don’t like!” I was simply recording “AI”; didn’t subject them to it.
