A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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OK. Go ahead and say it. Ole Longstreet is a stuffed-shirt know-it-all.
I'll respond by saying: "I'm not a stuffed-shirt!"
So, now I'm a TV critic, right? Well, yeah, I suppose so. But the plain truth is -- I am sick and tired of campaign politics! So, I'm turning my attention elsewhere for a time, for a break, if you will.
If you have watched any TV since the new fall season got underway, then you know -- there is a lot to be critical of.
I tried watching a little TV over the weekend and I was BORED.
The regular season shows all seem to have been written for the the American intellect's lowest common denominator. Dramas and "whodunits" were figured-out within the first five to ten minutes. The writers remind me of children who know a secret but cannot wait to tell you -- so they relate the story in such a way that it is literally child's play to dissect the plot and identify the bad guy within minutes. Pitiful!
The news channels are, frankly, not much better. We have the liberal news channels and the conservative news channel. The one channel that CLAIMS the middle ground comes in consistently in last place in the ratings. My opinion on why, exactly, they seem to own last place is -- because they are sailing under false colors. They are, in fact, a LIBERAL/LEFTIST news channel.
Now we come to the so-called comedy shows. OH BOY! What an embarrassment! Puerile doesn't begin to describe those truly awful shows. They give new meaning to the "vast wasteland" speech made by Newton Minow a former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
In a speech given to the National Association of Broadcasters convention on May 9, 1961, Minow was extremely critical of television broadcasters for not doing more, in Minow's view, to serve the public interest. His phrase, "vast wasteland", is remembered years after the speech after he said: “When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland." SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_N._Minow
It has been over fifty years since Minow made that statement/criticism of TV and, so
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Fifty years ago, TV was a family entertainment medium. No longer. My dad once remarked to me , "You know son, now I get to see on TV-- for free -- what I used to have to pay 25 cents to see in the hoochie-coochie shows at the fairgrounds!" Funny, or not, it was -- and IS -- true.
Since my father said that to me, decades ago, it has only gotten worse -- much worse.
So much of the drama and action shows as well as the so-called comedy shows are driven by the liberal/leftist agenda that, at times it just becomes nauseating.
And every cast MUST be politically correct. No matter the show, you are going to see, white, black, Asian, cast members, at the very least. Some will be male. Some will be female. Some will be lesbians. Some will be homosexuals (Gays). Some will be transgender, or whatever the heck they call themselves today.
The leftist agenda is the sub-story, if you will, throughout. Today the sub-plot is homosexuality is NORMAL. Come on, dear reader! If Adam and Eve had been Adam and Steve they would have been the first and LAST humans!
No matter. The indoctrination of our young is the target and with current TV saturated with homosexuality the left is definitely making inroads into the minds of our youth. And THAT is the goal.
So. To sum up my critique of current TV programming allow me to simply say: IT SUCKS! (I realize that is a highly technical term, but I offer it for those of you with delicate sensibilities.)
Former FCC Chairman Minow, now in his mid-eighties, must feel vindicated and sad. To see a medium that held so much promise be so badly used, and even abused, is certainly no comfort to him. But -- he DID warn broadcasters about the quality of their product in 1961. The onus has been on the broadcasting community ever since -- and it has failed miserably.
What a waste! What a "vast wasteland."
J. D. Longstreet
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