Hi's and lows of TV... and Lebron

I have been absent in my duty to contribute to this blog. More so, I have had no outlet to share the random thoughts that pop into my head other than to go on rants to my wife and colleagues. So not only is this message long overdue I think we can say it is good for my career and marriage.

1. Before I kick out a thousand words about trashy reality TV, let me join the bandwagon of people who work in advertising who feel a need to comment on MadMen. I’m not sure how many of you are watching it, but my simple advice is do. I’m giving this season a full-on head nod and introduction past the velvet ropes into the list of all-time great TV shows. It’s entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. Few shows can be artistic and culturally relevant without falling on top of themselves. I put it up there with the first four seasons of West Wing -when Sorkin was involved- and Six Feet Under. (Yes I intentionally left Sopranos off the list. Love the show, but would argue for everything it did well it was freakishly over-rated.)
Back to Mad Men each episode has a plot and story; has a point or an angle and is most importantly lead by characters that someone really thought about. I watched the last episode and commented about how I didn’t appreciate the campy 60’s office party scene. But in retrospect I think it was brilliant. Each vignette, each aside spoken by even the smallest of supporting characters has a story and builds another layer to the show.

2. On to the topic of lower-brow entertainment… I will not be the first person to make this connection, but I was ecstatic about the rainbow scene in the Bachelorette. What are the odds that pondering the meaning of a rainbow would have not one, but two major references in pop-culture lexicon.
For those not fully aware, as one of the Ali’s suitors was dismissed, he looked in the sky and saw a perfect rainbow which reminded him of his departed mother. This of course is pretty similar to the famous double rainbow video that has been flying around the internet for the past month. (Those living in a bubble can see the link below.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

I don’t want to make light of Chris’s departed mother, but I have to think that this scene got edited up and was given a higher prominence in the show and the after show simply because the producer’s know every jackass with a voice on the internet is going to make the same comparison I just did. I’m going to move on as I feel pretty generic right now.
But really “what does it all mean…”

3. So glad things played out with Ali the way they did, since I never commented on Frank’s departure and I think my comments are even more relevant now that Ali handled her final rose in the same means. Follow my thoughts…
Person A has the option of committing to dating more than 1 person. They make a decision that while they spent a lot of time developing a connection with Person B, they are going to follow their heart and pursue a relationship with someone else. Person A tells Person B this decision. End Scene.
In the situation I detailed above couldn’t Person A be Frank and Person B be Ali; or couldn’t Person A be Ali and Person B be Chris. Honestly it’s the exact same f’in scenario. I feel like I am taking crazy pills. How did Frank do something wrong; when Ali did the exact same thing with Chris (and for that matter with every other single guy on this show)!
I’m sorry did I miss the fine print in the contract where Frank agreed it would be Ali 4-ever or a life of celibacy.
What upset me more is that Ali (or her publicist) couldn’t even handle it right in the aftershow. For the record here is exactly what she should have said. “At the time it hurt when Frank rejected me. Honestly no one likes to be turned down. But looking back he made the right choice. He followed his heart, and in the end I did the same thing. I followed my heart and found Roberto.” (Yes I know I should have a full-time job creating soundbytes for people in reality TV.)
Final note on Ali’s choice. If I was Ricardo and I heard Ali’s comments on the Frank situation I might ask for the ring back. Here’s what Raul might have said, “Are you kidding me? I’m Rico Sauve. Have you seen me standing next to Frank. He wore a scoop neck shirt and a librarian’s cardigan on your hometown date; I pulled off a tight fitting baseball uniform. He has glasses and is mildly cross-eyed; I have teeth so bright they are mistaken for chicklets. Yet you are telling me that you if you had another snorkeling trip with him, I’m might have been on the outside looking in. See you later. I’m gonna pass on this faux romance, I’ll take my spot on dancing with the stars and start plowing my way through hot Cuban salsa dancers.”

4. Two final notes on the future of the Bachelor/Bachelorette series. First, if rumors are true and Chris is the next bachelor, welcome to the dullest season ever. Second, I love the idea of the “Bachelor Pad”, but think it spells the end of the franchise. It used to be the only true road to fame from the show was to win the show, or make it near the top and be the lead in the next season. No longer is that the case. You can now be uber-famous by just being crazy, weird or clownish. Since in reality no one is there for the right reasons. They all just want to be famous. Hence, creating the second path to fame will cause major problems in future seasons.

5. Switching gears to another reality TV show, I want to take a pause before discussing RW New Orleans and comment on a fond NO inspired memory. This season took place when the Saints won the Superbowl. I fondly recall my wife being anti-Saints for the Superbowl not because she loved the Colts, but because she was annoyed by all of the Katrina inspired storylines. “Are they still complaining about that”, she said. I want to flash forward to the oil spill in the gulf and let you know Lisa is as sensitive as ever, “I guess now they’ll milk out the sympathy for this one.” Its moment like those when I know I married the right girl.

6. This year’s RW is hitting on all cylinders. Almost too much to say about it. I’ll lead with my initial thought. I would drop 85% of my friends for Knight. Seriously 5 out of 6 of you can take a hike if Knight wants to roll out for an evening of fun.
Who is my RW all-star team you might ask. Captain is Isaac from Sydney, then give me Ace from Paris, Broney from Cancun, Knight from NO part 2, and Randy from San Diego (but only the way he acted during the season not the fat-boring version from the challenges).

7. RealWorld cast members have to be the worst employees of all-time. The recent hijinks of the NO cast and their failure to record drunk people talking about a party. Seriously there are 5 million You Tube clips of drunk college kids out there. Somehow those kids figured out how to record a moment, yet the RW cast members fail in three attempts. Other famous RW work failures:
- In Chicago they were originally supposed to be life guards yet only two of them could swim.
- In Boston they worked at a Day care center and one of the cast members started sleeping with the parent of one of the kids.
- In San Diego they were crew on a sailboat yet Jacquese was terrified of water.
- In Cancun they were Spring Break Escorts who were not permitted to drink!!!!

8. I’m done being annoyed at Lebron, Wade, and Bosh for the way they handled free agency. Yes, it was low class. Shocker that self-centered multi-millionaire twenty year olds might not act with a full modicum of respect. Can we stop pretending that this is news and look forward to the highlight reel that will be 80% of Heat games.