TV Meme: Day 5

[hsapiens]

Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled: Firefly
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching: In Plain Sight
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season): {White Collar & The Vampire Diaries are pretty but shallow; Royal Pains is shallow but pretty}
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever: Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate SG-1, Firefly, Queer as Folk, and Farscape. Supernatural makes the cut on a technicality (ignoring serious gender issues) for its prescience in employing Misha Collins.
Day 05 - A show you hate:

I was stumped on this because I reserve hate for sins like hypocrisy and intolerance; television doesn't inspire emotion of that sort in me. Can I choose any FOX "news" program? Yes, I think I can and I shall. They embody the hypocrisy and intolerance that DOES inspire my rage.

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show:
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show:
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch:
Day 09 - Best scene ever:
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving:
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you:
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times:
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show:
Day 14 - Favorite male character:
Day 15 - Favorite female character:
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show:
Day 17 - Favorite mini series:
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence:
Day 19 - Best TV show cast:
Day 20 - Favorite kiss:
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

Comments

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

Ugh, this. ~waves hands~

You don't have to specify because every show on that network is the same. Just varying degrees of insanity and hair-pulling. I love watching The Daily Show to see them called on their BS. Like for instance, after Obama's press conference, they mocked him because his "prayer" comment seemed "a little tacked-on and disingenuous from a President who doesn't always attend church." Whereas on Monday, they mocked him because "he didn't go to church to pray for a little divine intervention" in the oil spill disaster.

Jon suggested that, if Obama HAD gone to church, the Fox News top story would have been "Obama Cannibal? Devours body of Christ during religious service."

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I can't claim to have watched many of their shows; it infuriates me too much to listen to it for very long. My grandmother used to watch it so I heard enough during my visits to feel confident I have the feel for the station and its viewpoints.

I do love Jon Stewart. He completely revamped The Daily Show and made it his own. His brain is devastatingly sexy.

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

I don't know how anyone stands it. The hypocrisy and the sheer idiocy of their reporting is awe-inspiring (in the bad way). The thirty-seconds or so I get exposed to on TDS and Colbert are bad enough. I remember the time Glenn Beck responded to something Rachel said, claiming she had no evidence, and the clip he played was edited to remove the part where she cited her evidence. Ahem, handwave.

And yes! Jon Stewart and the Daily Show were nothing special, but combined? Holy cow. The episode where Jon spent fifteen minutes doing a parody of Glenn Beck's style really should have won an Emmy (or... actually I think it's eligible for next year's Emmy Award. Cross your fingers :D)

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Rachel (love her geekery and insistence on facts), adore Jon, and think Colbert achieves brilliance often. The sad thing is that I want to hear a conservative viewpoint; it's important to hear all sides and understand one's adversary. It sharpens one's thinking. But the FOX channel isn't about conservative thought. I can't tell if they really think any of that for real or if it's Jerry Springer on a news setting because it's so very often something as blatant as creatively editing footage to make it fit the point.

I have my fingers crossed for Jon. I'd love it if they acknowledged the amazing work that he does.

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

~nods~ I agree about Rachel. Geekery and facts! Her two cornerstones. She's about on par with Colbert and TDS, in my mind. And they even trade jabs! Jon made fun of her for something, she responded with her explanation, and Jon accepted her explanation with good grace. He didn't apologize for mocking and I doubt Rachel expected an apology, they just found their common ground in a mature manner. It was very refreshing to see in this day and age of news.

Unlike Glenn "I'm not saying Obama is Hitler, but isn't it interesting that they're both men in power?"

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I need a Jon Stewart icon. How can I not have one? I saw the segment that Jon did on Rachel and I thought he had the right of it. I don't notice when Rachel goes wrong because I'm the choir so I want Jon there to point out the car wheels are off the road. And I like that they can agree to disagree or discuss points without it becoming a damned Olbermann/Limbaugh grudge match.

All that I can think of to say about Glenn Beck is that he is intellectually bankrupt. That's damning in my book, a literal kiss of death. It's the worst thing I can say about someone who isn't literally evil. I wouldn't listen to him if he stood up and shouted, "Fire!"

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

I concur exactly. I watch Rachel with a bit of blinders on, so it's nice to have someone fact-checking and making sure she stays honest. :)

I completely agree about Glenn Beck. To the point where, when I saw he'd written a book called COMMON SENSE, I laughed out loud in the store. I didn't even care if people heard me. Of course, this is Oklahoma, so it's probably selling like mad.

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

It is a favored tactic of Republicans** to project their own sins onto opponents: fiscal irresponsibility, trampling individual freedom, racism. It makes sense that if they're busy deflecting their sins on others that they'd wrap themselves in the virutes of the same opposition. ;-)

**Perhaps the Democrats engage in similar behavior but I don't see it.

[superbadgirl]

What honest-to-goodness terrifies me is the number of people I know personally (many by blood) who think Fox News is the only unbiased news out there. Oh, family, how do we share the same genes?

Also, I love your icon.

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

Aw, the pain of knowing you're related to someone who looks at a Sarah Palin appearance and says "I wish I could be there." And they DON'T mean to pelt her with tomatoes. It's confounding.

And I like MSNBC (well, I like Maddow) but even I admit that it's very biased. Not Fox biased, but still. The closest to unbiased you'll find in the news is, you can mock me if you want, the Daily Show.

[superbadgirl]

Oh, absolutely Fox isn't the only one with a bias. It's just that theirs is full of terrifying lulz.

I would never mock re: The Daily Show. Jon Stewart can and does jab at everyone.

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

Terrifying, and SO EASILY PROVEN WRONG. I mean, when a comedy show can and does routinely outshine your anchors, it's time to clean house.

Indeed, but I always worry not many people respect that about TDS. Earlier this week they ripped Obama apart. They still like him. They're just disappointed. ;-D

I remember when Bush was up for re-election, and Jon begged John Kerry to "make our jobs hard. For the next four years, just make it hard for us to find material." He should make that plea every night. "Please, stop making us have to cut one ridiculous story because something more ridiculous and infuriating is going on."

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. My family is generally of the conservative and religious variety so I know the discomfort you're experiencing. I've had the icon for ages; it seems so very appropriate for the FOX Channel.

[rocketchick.livejournal.com]

Mostly I just wanted an excuse to use this icon.

One of my bestest friends for more than a decade watches Fox News pretty much exclusively, and it boggles my brain. In every other respect she is a competent, sane human capable of rational and independent thought, and then out of the blue I'll think, "But... Glenn Beck? Really???"

She and I have promised each other not to speak of such things, for the sake of our friendship. :)

[selmak.livejournal.com]

>She and I have promised each other not to speak of such things, for the sake of our friendship. :)

And that is a sign of true friendship :)

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I love that these silly meme posts bring out my friends. I wuv you and miss you!

[selmak.livejournal.com]

Same here. Maybe next year we can all do DragonCon.... ?? :)

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I love that idea! I'll plan on Atlanta, Labor Day 2011.

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

*tacklehugs* Hey you! I'm lucky in having a BFF who is just as left leaning, if not more so, than I am. I do have good friends who are conservative but only a couple watch FOX (that I know of). [Heh, I think that's a variation of the "But some of my best friends are ______" trope.]

I worry for people who willingly pour poison in their ears. Don't they know that didn't end well for Hamlet's daddy?

[luvmax1.livejournal.com]

And yet another thing we have in common! I LOATHE Fox News, loathe it. My father watches Glenn Beck every night, and then makes me listen to Fox news while we eat dinner. I can't stand it! Does anyone else remember a time when the news was supposed to be impartial? And balanced? Anyone?

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

It was really hard for me to think of television that I hate. That's such a strong emotion. I rarely see much of things I don't like because I change the channel and it's done. FOX is a little harder because it has affected the national narrative and because I've (in the past) been exposed to it. Can't claim to have watched Glenn Beck but I've certainly seen enough Bill O'Reilly to last me two lifetimes.

[luvmax1.livejournal.com]

I can truthfully say I hate Fox news, and Glenn Beck, in particular. Bill O'Reilly is bad, but Beck is worse.

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

I was just making a comment further up thread that, based on clips and excerpts of his show, I have decided that Beck is intellectually bankrupt. Short of calling someone evil (and I reserve that for mass murderers, people who torture the helpless, and their ilk), it's the absolute worst insult I can think of.

[luvmax1.livejournal.com]

That sounds about right. He says of all these horrible, malicious things, and then gives an interview to a major paper that his show is entertainment only, not serious political commentary. So basically, he's a liar, too.

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

That's partly what makes me wonder if he doesn't say 99% of the garbage he spews because it gets ratings and pays well. He's such a waste of carbon that I've passed caring why he does or says anything. He's either too stupid or too disingenuous -- and both are intellectually bankrupt.

[luvmax1.livejournal.com]

I wish I could get my father to believe that. He actually wanted me to get him Beck's latest book for Father's Day. Not on God's green earth, was my response to that one.

Now that I think about it, someone I despise as much as Beck is Ann Coulter. My father did buy her latest book a while back, and I read some of it. I was absolutely flabbergasted by her comments that Jews are just wannabe Christians who haven't followed through. That was just one of her memorable quotes.

The problem with people like Beck and Coulter is that while you and I may dismiss their propaganda and crap, a hell of a lot of people don't. And that just terrifies me.

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Preaching to the choir. My parents arrived last night and I'm HORRIFIED that they've turned on FOX news and are watching it all day. Used to be they showed up and Mom turned on HGTV and had it on all day.

I was adopted. I must have been.

Coulter for me tips the scales between intellectually bankrupt towards maliciously immoral. (For a non-religious type, I adopt their sense of right and wrong and talk about people is remarkably similar terms.) She purposefully targets real human beings for her spewage and causes real damage. By that I mean that Obama knew what he was getting into and decided it was worth it; widows of 9/11 victims didn't. I think Beck's type (weak willed and weak minded) might be complicit in a Holocaust while Coulter's type (actively reveling in causing pain) would gleefully supply the gas.

And I've now lost the internet debate because I've invoked the Holocaust. Which is wrong because there's no way anything they've done is the moral equivalent. I'm blaming my fail on crankiness over the television choices and my lack of imagination to come up with a better explication of my views on the diff between the two types of assholes on FOX.

[luvmax1.livejournal.com]

yeah, I think the Holocaust might be going a little too far, at least in Beck's case. For all of his bluster and pontificating, I don't really hear any anti Semitic rhetoric. Coulter, on the other hand...

My father has been alternating between Fox News and ESPN, at least around dinner time. I loathe most sports (except figure skating), but I still find ESPN somewhat more tolerable. Somewhat.