TV Squad

• In Defense of: Sanjaya and his teenybopper fans
  

  Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Watercooler Talk, In Defense Of, Contestants

  Before you start throwing rotten tomatoes, please hear me out. I'm not saying I think Sanjaya should win this thing. Not even close. Those of you who've read my recaps, know I'm not a fan of Sanjaya.
  
  But as much as I've disliked his performances, I'm actually going to defend Sanjaya. Mostly, because I feel sorry for him. He's a young kid thrown in the deep end of the pool, and sometimes he looks like he's drowning in front of 33 million viewers. The judges, critics, and viewers have been...
  



• In Defense Of: American Idol Cruelty
  

  Filed under: Other Reality Shows, FOX, OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Watercooler Talk, In Defense Of

  
  The recent talk regarding American Idol has revolved around one of two things: 1) Paula Abdul's slow, sad descent into dementia and 2) the fact that the show seems much more cruel than usual. (I'd like to see Randy's uselessness and Simon's insistence on wearing t-shirts at least two sizes too small also thrown into the discussion, but I digress).
  
  There's been enough ink spilled on the first point that I really don't have...
  



• In Defense of: Obsessive internet fanboys
  

  Filed under: The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk, In Defense Of

  I spent about 15 minutes last night reading a ridiculously detailed summary of the 8(!?) separate timelines that spring into and out of existence throughout the course of the three Back To The Future movies. It just so happened that during my study of "timeline 1985(a)" that my wife happened into my office to ask me what I was up to. When I told her, she sorta sadly shook her head and left muttering something about me "having no life."
  
  Okay, I admit, trolling Wikipedia...
  



• In Defense Of: Andy Rooney
  

  Filed under: CBS, News, TV Royalty, OpEd, In Defense Of, Celebrities

  In a scene from one of my favorite shows, Newsradio, Dave (Dave Foley) makes a comment to Bill (Phil Hartman), saying something about "you're like Andy Rooney, only without a sense of humor." And Phil retorts, "Andy Rooney is Andy Rooney without a sense of humor."

  It's a lame, inaccurate joke, the only one I can think of from this great show.

  Continue reading In Defense Of: Andy Rooney

   

  FOX, OpEd, Family Guy, Animation, In Defense Of

  I know how you feel. Really, I do. A TV show comes along that seems so obvious in its mediocrity you can't fathom why so many people enjoy it. You list myriad examples of how the show is sub-par, or a blatant rip-off of another show, or too reliant on "easy" jokes, but no one will listen to you. They just keep watching and touting the show as if it's some work of genius. It's enough to make you go insane and eat your own face.

  Family Guy may be popular, but there's still a lot of people who don't...
  




• In Defense Of: Martha Stewart
  

  Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, The Apprentice, In Defense Of, Celebrities

  I'm going to start this out with a simple statement: I don't like Martha Stewart. She bugs me, her talk show freaks the hell out of me, and for whatever reason I'm also terrified of people who have their own magazines. However, I partly understand where she's coming from regarding the recent comment war between her and Donald Trump. The topic of course being her version of The Apprentice and how large a flop it was. So despite my feelings toward the Kitchen Queen, I kind of feel bad for her (or at least agree with her) when discussing how this is...
  



• In Defense Of: Maria Bamford
  

  Filed under: OpEd, In Defense Of, Celebrities

  There's a tendency in our culture, and it's certainly prevalent in the blogosphere, to snark at anything that doesn't immediately turn us on. I'm guilty of this myself, but I cut myself some slack because I'm writing about the entertainment industry, which is, to me anyway, of little consequence within the Grand Scheme.

  Continue reading In Defense Of: Maria Bamford

   

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• In Defense Of: Deal or No Deal
  

  Filed under: NBC, OpEd, Music and Variety, In Defense Of

  A couple of days ago, my fellow game show fan Bob gave a big thumbs down to Deal or No Deal, the new game show on NBC. He thought the premise, where a contestant goes through torturous rounds of elimination to determine if the briefcase he picked has a ton of money in it, got too tedious after 20 minutes or so. He also thought the "banker", who calls in between each rounf to offer to buy the case off the contestant for mostly increasing amounts of money, was a goofy device.
  
  Well, I didn't get a chance to watch...
  



• In Defense Of: FOX Executives
  

  Filed under: FOX, Programming, OpEd, Arrested Development, Reunion, In Defense Of

  Before, I start this - let me be clear about one thing. By writing this, I realize that I'm opening up a giant can of worms and I'm probably going to get a lot of poo flung in my direction. But I think this needs to be said, and besides, everyone likes playing devil's advocate once in a while.
  
  

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• In Defense Of: Anderson Cooper
  

  Filed under: Cable, News, Talent, In Defense Of

  I didn't realize that when I posted the Breaking News: Aaron Brown leaves CNN story that it would cause such an avalanche of comments. Right now we're at 174 comments (not counting the 64 comments on my Anderson Cooper vs. Aaron Brown post), and 99.9% of the posters are very much pro Aaron Brown.

  So I think it's about time someone stuck up for Mr. Cooper.

  Continue reading In Defense Of: Anderson Cooper

   

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