Some Schpilkes for Wilkos

   I had the rare opportunity to take in the one and only Steve Wilkos show this past week. You remember Steve Wilkos, the former Chicago police officer turned head of security for Jerry Springer, turned independent-minded and caring talk show host. Well, if you don't, he is Steve Wilkos and he is here to solve your problems.

   The Steve Wilkos Show is taped in front of a live and below the poverty level studio audience (yes, I'm including my self in that statement). It's in the same building as the Maury Povich Show and The Jerry Springer Show. Truth be told, our objective was to go see Jerry, but we were late and got left with Steve. Oh well.

   Here is the best way to sum up the show: it is a both a fascinating slice of Americana and a very depressing one. I feel as though the reason The Steve Wilkos is on the air is the same reason that George W. Bush was elected twice to the presidency: people enjoy rooting for bad ideas that are entertaining. The Steve Wilkos show is a bad idea that happens to be somewhat entertaining - and I emphasize somewhat. The idea is that Steve is a former Jerry Springer lackey who now has the understanding and emotional side to deal with real people and their problems. Steve knows best, and the guests on the show should be thankful for his willingness to help him. Here is where the pro wrestling comparisons come in. The show is quite obviously manufactured and scripted. The floor manager instructs the audience how to greet Steve and when to do it. Just as Jerry Springer has made the "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" chant famous, so now does Steve have the "Steeeve, Steeeve, Steeeve" chant. During the taping of the show, I swear on all that is holy that the audience was asked to applaud and chant his name no less than every 3 minutes or so. He finishes a sentence with some words of wisdom, we applaud him like he is President Obama delivering the State of the Union. Add to this the fact that a television camera is literally 3 feet away from your face, aiming to catch every expression that you may exert - and it's very difficult not to burst out laughing at the absurdity that you're taking part in. We were warned though, please do not laugh while camera is on you, that would make it appear the topic of the show is amusing and non-sensical.

    The topic of the show was - it doesn't matter what the topic was.  There was a black man and white woman on stage yelling at each other. It's more interesting when there's racial disparity, you know? By the end of the show, by the grace of god, the conflict had been resolved (who would have guessed?).
 
    From a technical standpoint, I had issues with the fact that the guests on the show seemed to stop arguing as soon as Steve would leave the stage, and then begin again right as he got back in front of the camera. They even went so far as to have a bumbling producer run on stage and tell the not-pregnant lady that she shouldn't get in a fight because she was pregnant, providing some comic relief for the audience.

   Ha, it was hilarous, with a capital "are you kidding me, I can't believe I'm sitting here watching this, again."

   The Steve Wilkos show airs weekdays at 12pm on WPIX in New York City. Check your local listings.

In Awe of Brokaw...

      

         On Thursday, Tom Brokaw and his traveling band of retired journalists rolled into The Crosby Hotel on the Lower East Side. In his post-retirement mode, America’s favorite newsman has been driving across the country, finding real people with inspirational stories about surviving in these financially difficult times. His new documentary, “American Character Along Highway 50” is a sobering look at families, students, and cities, struggling to get by in the historic first year of the Obama Administration.

         The screening, brought to us by the good people at the USA Network, was a festive occasion, complete with Ms. American Character 2010. That's sort of like Ms. Golden Globe, but not quite as well-publicized. Nevertheless she did a good job with the hors d'oeuvres. All good documentary screenings have free cocktails, and this one was no different. The secret is to have enough free wine because you can, but not so much that when Tom Brokaw shows up you ask him how he feels being bumped to 12:05.

         “American Character” is filmed in the same vein as Charles Kuralt’s “On The Road” segments from years ago. Brokaw’s journey begins in Chesapeake Bay and winds its way through America’s heartland, ending in Sacramento. We are given a glimpse  of Maryland’s struggling crab industry, which depends on immigrant workers to survive. We are then transported down the road to the Washington D.C. school district, headed by bold-talking education reformer Michelle Rhee. She is a young, Korean-American in charge of a largely African-American school district. Her job is to provide her students with a chance for success. She does her job a little differently than most – she listens to her students and acts accordingly.  She even implemented a controversial program that pays students to get good grades. The critics, like myself, argued that students shouldn’t be paid for something they’re supposed to do. Brokaw argued, however, that all those rich kids in private school get new cars when they do well, so why can’t those who are less fortunate also be rewarded. Point taken.

        The story hits an emotional point when Tom sits down with service men who have been seriously injured during their time in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have now returned home to begin their lives anew. They are quadriplegics, missing arms and legs, and have severe brain injuries. These are people who have served multiple tours of war and now have come home with nothing. During his visit, he meets with Navy Seal Officer Eric Greitens, who founded The Mission Continues, an organization designed to empower wounded and disabled veterans to continue their service to their country. As Greitens states in the film, his mission is to change the way our veterans are treated when they return home.

        The road trip continues through the Mid-West, and then onto Colorado, Nevada, and on to Sacramento. Along the way we are introduced to families that are struggling with medical care for themselves, their families, and in danger of losing houses and a way of way of life. In Sacramento, former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson has taken the reigns of his hometown as its new mayor. His transition from professional athlete to political figure isn't easy, especially given the cities unemployment and homelessness rate. That's why he's in it, though, because it's a challenge and he has that American Character to rely on.
  
        “American Character Along Highway 50” premieres on Monday, January 18th at 8PM, on the USA Network.

Oh Late Night...

 Well... here we go again. It's the late night wars starring Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Isn't it amusing how Jay Leno always finds himself involved in a battle for the Tonight Show. I think it's funny. Jay was able to maneuver his way into the Tonight Show right around 1993, sending David Letterman off to CBS to play with his harem of women, and also host a talk show. The battle prompted Bill Carter of the New York Times to write a book called 'The Late Shift' which subsequently became an HBO movie of the same name.

 Good stuff. So everyone had the last two decades to settle into their roles. Jay had Tonight, Conan had Late Night and Dave had the Late Show. Perfect, everyone goes home happy. Not so fast, Conan's contract was up in 2009 and it was decided that in order to keep him on board, he should get the Tonight Show, and then to placate Mr. Leno, Jay would retire. But that's not really true. Do you smell a problem coming on?

 Jay retires (not really), Conan moves his operation to L.A. to take over the reigns of the Tonight Show, and NBC gives up ad dollars by not producing new dramas at 10pm. By the way, absolutely no one in the industry thought this idea would work, and surprise, surprise, they were right. It didn't work, Jay is coming back to the Tonight Show, and Conan is pissed.

 The beauty of this saga is that there are so many more outlets involved. Now Mr. Letterman, sensing vindication, can spend half of his show harping on how stupid and incompetent the suites at NBC are, something he's been waiting to do since Hugh Grant gave Leno a ratings lead that one night. You have to love when he impersonates Leno in his high squeaky voice, and then even goes after Carson Daly as the kid waving his hand at the end of the dinner table. No one sees him, no one hears him, no one really cares. He used to be on TRL, you know.

Even Jimmy Kimmel decided to join the fun. He dressed as Jay Leno, with gray wig and fake chin and did his entire show with a lisp and squeaky voice.  It was one of the funnier things I've seen on his show. And Craig Ferguson, who does his show more like a stand-up routine than a talk show, I think he summed up it all when he said 'this is about a bunch of rich white guys in suits deciding who should get more money... who gives a F$#*?"

And that's the beauty of it, it's just a great opportunity for a bunch of comedy talk show hosts to go after each other - I sort of wish Sarah Palin was involved in this.

I hope Conan goes to Fox.

I hope Dave continues to make fun of Carson Daly and Jay Leno on a nightly basis.

I hope the Patriots hire a new defensive coordinator.

The Jersey Whore

 Well... not quite, but they seem very close. MTV premiered it's latest incarnation of The Real World this Fall - it's not quite the The Real World, but it is a group of strangers (as far as we know), picked to live together in a house for the summer... in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Not all the house members are from New Jersey, most are from Long Island and New York - but they clearly read the Jersey Guido brochure and went out and got haircuts, tatoos and muscles to fit the bill.

 The beauty of this show, as opposed to The Real World, is that it's very homogenous and each person knows their part. They even have nicknames, most prominently Mike "The Situation" and Jwoww, and of course Snooki. This isn't a show where they have the token lesbian and the angry black woman and the conservative dude, and the kid whose still a virgin. No, this time they have a bunch of italian guys looking for sex and a bunch of italian women angry at the guys for looking for sex - and in between they work at a t-shirt store. And by 'work', I mean they occupy space at a t-shirt store and look for women to have sex with.

  Stereotypical, sure - entertaining yes. The same reason people enjoyed watching The Sopranos and The Real Housewives of New Jersey enjoy this show because it's an unabashed fake reality of how we think certain people act. There's a voyeurism involved here, keeping track of the women that The Situation and his buddy Pauly invite back to the house, only to ditch them for two other women who they get sick of, only to be confronted by the original two women who they then re-connect with, and then at some point Snookie gets punched in the face. You can't make this stuff up.


  'The Jersey Shore' has been one of MTV's highest rated shows - probably taking in the audience that Jackass had back in it's heyday in 2002-03.  It's clever because you don't have people who are trying to get to know each other - you have people who already know each other and are trying to deal with each other. There are no political, religious, or social arguments - although when Pauly messed up saying grace I think we were all taken aback a little. Even The Situation was speechless.

  And did I mention that Snookie got punched in the face?  Happy 2010 everyone.