Uncle Orson Reviews 1998
Background TV
When it comes to television, we vote with our time. There are shows that
I admire, but rarely remember to watch; and shows that I watch compulsively,
but don't particularly admire. Which is the higher praise? Advertisers have no
doubt which they prefer. A show that is not watched sells no products. And,
on a loftier plane, an unwatched show has no influence on the lives of the
audience.
However, in a few cases the unwatched shows simply come on at times
that I'm less likely to be home or uninvolved enough to watch. So in the
following list, there'll be some of each.
First, the majority of my television watching isn't watching at all -- it's
listening. I have a little TV on my worktable, and while most of the time I work
with the cd jukebox cycling through a wide range of music, I often work -- or
do email, or play games -- with the television on. At such times, I don't have
any program in mind -- I simply cycle through various cable channels and stay
where something is worth hearing and, occasionally, glancing at. Here, in
descending order of preference, are the channels most frequently playing on my
personal television.
A&E. During the days, A&E runs syndicated one-hour drama shows, mostly
mysteries. If Columbo is on, I always watch; if it's Law & Order I almost
always watch -- but I've seen some episodes so many times that at times
I do switch away. Murder She Wrote and Northern Exposure are
usually enjoyable. (I switch away from the loathsome Quincy as quickly
as I can.) In the evenings, besides Law & Order as an excellent
alternative to local news at eleven, I often stick with the excellent
documentary series Biography -- sometimes even when the subject is a
person in whom I ordinarily have no interest whatsoever.
American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies. They'll probably hate
me for this, but the only way I can tell the difference between these
channels is that TCM has that hideous jingle "This month, this month on
TCM," played over and over and over, while AMC has that unamusing
comedy "Remember WENN." I forgive both these lapses because the old
movies are often so good -- or so entertainingly bad. For instance, last
night I watched James Cagney in a musical from 1934 -- a very thin
story, but some wonderful performers in early talkie roles. Time after
time, I've seen films that helped shape our present culture, or that
showed the culture of my parents' time. And the commentators on both
channels add an excellent dimension to the experience.
One odd thing, though. Maybe the sampling is skewed by the fact
that the best color movies are viable as video rentals, but it sure seems
to me that in the 1950s, the average quality of the movies dropped
precipitously, and in the 1960s and 1970s, films generally became
downright lousy, with only a few exceptions, a condition that continues
today. Back in the 1930s and 1940s, even second-rate films made some
effort toward good writing and good performing. Maybe it's just that the
studios maintained a certain level of quality in their factory films. Or
maybe it's that, free of studio power, we saw the true intellectual and
moral shallowness of writers and directors in the 1960s and 1970s as
they tried to be "contemporary" or "hip" or "relevant."
C-SPAN and C-SPAN2. These channels finally have the budget to fill some of
those empty hours between sessions and hearings with really interesting
programs that are far more in the public interest than anything I've ever
seen on "public" television or heard on NPR. The technique of simply
pointing the camera and letting events unfold is extended from Congress
to public forums, seminars, speeches, and other events, so that instead
of getting interpretations from the generally dim, undereducated, and/or
self-serving commentators on the networks, I can form my own opinions
from the participants themselves. Yet there are also hosted programs,
where guests deal with callers or respond to newspaper reports, and on
weekends the Book Notes program gives me considerable information on
a wide range of nonfiction topics.
Fox News Channel. This is the only news channel that really seems to try for
impartiality and/or balance. I especially enjoy the general civility and
sharpness of wit on Hannity and Colmes and the opinionated but fair
host of The O'Reilly Factor.
MSNBC. Despite the Microsoft connection, which sits like the devil's footprint
on this news network, it is my second choice after Fox News. I especially
like Jane Pauley's retrospectives. As for CNN and its Headline News, I
rarely watch them now, in part because it is so thick with Ted Turner's
politically correct agenda.
HBO. This is where I watch the movies that didn't seem worth the time and
money when they were in the theaters. Special programming is also
occasionally worth watching. And for Chris Rock and Dennis Miller I'll
always stop flipping channels and stay to the end.
The Weather Channel. Sometimes it's hypnotic. I can't help it. It's like
watching fish in an aquarium, or staring into a fire.
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