I was reading Roger Ebert’s excellent piece about the sad template that Bill O’Reilly is currently etching, and it occurred to me that the problem on the 24-hour news network isn’t the creeping partisan politics masquerading as news, it’s the networks themselves.

Consider: prior to the 1980s, the national news was a half-hour long and took place once a day. Paltry? Probably. But also well researched, fact-checked, and thought-out.

Before the advent of continued news coverage, the people charged with reporting the evening news took the time to consider what was important, how to frame it so that the relevant parts were underlined, and, finally, how to present it so that everyone in America could understand it. This wasn’t because they were geniuses, it was a function of having 23 and 1/2 hours a day to work on the problem: there was time to try to get the news right.

Read the rest of this entry »

For a Thursday night, it’s slim pickins’ on TV. So why not abandon all pretense and just watch crap? Get off the networks and explore all that cable has to offer! No? Bridezillas isn’t your thing? Well, fine. If you’re going to be haughty about it, I’ve also included, Bones, 30 Rock and even a documentary!

• Guilty pleasures don’t get much guiltier than Bridezillas on WE. You can relive the top 10 crazy-ass moments at 8:00.
• If that’s not for you, Booth gets kidnapped on Bones, tonight on FOX at 8:00.
• I’ve been busy with my Weeds Virgin Diaries lately, so I’ve got pot on the brain. CNBC is airing a special on the matter, called Marijuana, Inc. You can check it out at 9:00 and maybe see a real-life Nancy Botwin!
• At 9:30 is the “Senor Macho Solo” episode of  30 Rock, in which Liz has a crush on a little person.
• Kendra, the eponymous show about Hef’s ex-girlfriend, is equal parts hilarious, bizarre, and terrifying. If you missed it the first time, you can catch the series premiere on E! at 10:00
• Man. We’ve got Bridezillas and Kendra. Why not keep the trashy TV train rolling with an episode of 16 and Pregnant on MTV at 10:00?

CNBC

Until recently, I was not a regular viewer of CNBC. It was just a channel in-between GSN and TLC that I would glance at during the microsecond it remained on my screen. Lately, due to the financial crisis that is allowing us to pay under $2.50 for a gallon of gas and depleting our retirement savings, I have been a more regular viewer of the network. From what I see, most of the talent is intelligent, direct, and pleasing to the viewer’s eyes and ears. Even that blowhard Jim Cramer (the Jim Rome of the financial world) is interesting to watch.

Then there’s Suzie Orman. A quick glance at Orman’s Saturday night program would reveal a financial adviser who provides sane, sensible advice to those on the hypothetical “Main Street” of America. Upon further examination, Suzie is a shrill, annoying financial advisor who provides advice in a grating manner to “Main Street” residents.

Read the rest of this entry »

CNN

We are in a financial crisis. The stock market is tumbling, banks are failing, investments are being wiped out across the globe. Being the information gluttons we have grown to be, we have to know about the state of the financial world on a minute-to-minute basis. That’s why we’re turning on CNBC and Fox Business Network as soon as we wake up in the morning.

But, we’re not tuning into CNNfn. Why? Well, it doesn’t exist anymore. If this crisis took place in 2004, when the CNN business channel went off the air, then it would have been all over this story. But, things were going swimmingly in the economy during that time. Plus, CNNfn had been struggling to find an audience for the network since it premiered in 1995. There was no longer a market for this type of channel in a world where business information was just a click of a mouse away.

Read the rest of this entry »

ABC News

So, I’m watching President Bush’s speech to the nation on Wednesday night – something I rarely do because the current political environment has soured me beyond belief – and listening to him repeat the same words that all of the analysts spouted on CNBC over the last 10 days. As he was droning on I began to hear something else under his words. Not some underlying meaning, but an actual sound. Like a bumping and a whining that would go on as he continued. Depending on what network you watched him on the sound was more muted or even louder.

Needless to say, it was quite distracting. Here is the President of the United States, trying to convince the nation that what the government is doing to bail out the financial sector is the right thing, and all I can hear is ‘bump-squeal-bump’ over and over again. It became even more distracting when I was trying to determine where the sound was coming from. Was his tie bumping up against the microphones? Was he tapping his fingers on the podium? Was Monica Lewinsky under said podium doing what she had done so well in a previous administration?

Regardless of the answer, it’s just one more reason to think that the government is coming apart at the seams. If the President of the United States, of all people, can’t get a decent sound projection device to tell his peeps what the 411 is, then we are definitely on a downslide.