When I lived in New York, a few of the ABC soaps filmed right down the street from my apartment. I had been hooked on them ever since I started waitressing and daytime TV became my only (sober) friend. The first day I ran into one of the actresses from All My Children, I had the weirdest feeling; it was like running into someone I knew; I almost lectured her on her poor choice in men. That's the thing about television; it's in your house, so we have a rather intimate relationship with Luke, Laura, Ross, Rachel, and even Jack Bauer (do not make him mad). No other medium has infiltrated our social consciousness in quite the same way as TV. Lee Siegel, a critic and essayist, has a new book about television, in which he deconstructs our favorite shows, and how television operates (in) our lives. What role does it play in yours?
Blog of the Nation
Lee Siegel is way off base base with his take on "The Daily Show". He would do well to go to http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04272007/profile.html and see what Bill Moyers has to say about that show. He sees the show as important part of how people get their news. I loved it when he asked Jon if he could join as their Senior Elderly Correspondent. He was serious.
Yawn! I'd rather watch Daily Show reruns than listen to--or worse--read the musings of a TV Critic! TV critic? That WOULD be funny, if not so flatly SAD. Lee Siegel is about as interesting a guest as I can imagine for TOTN.
Great show today! Can you speak to the phenomenon of Family Guy, where Fox took it off the air and fans demanded it back, as well as the same efforts for Firefly, which was (thus far) unsuccessful?
My television has gravited to orignal series from basic cable channels. FX, USA, and the SciFi channel all have several superb orignal series, like The Shield, Monk, and Eureka (respectively), just to name a few.
Has Siegel seen Stewart on Crossfire? The man is a genius.
I loved Lee's comments about not all politics being a sham, when every single news story that breaks seems to be about another disgrace to our country, a major figure in the country who is actually a mockery of their position. (Bush, Alberto, Supreme Courts, Whitehouse officials, etc)
So, according to Siegel, Larry David was not funny to begin with because he refused to mock "the Man," but John Stewart is not funny because he does exactly that?
I might find his logic just a bit fractious because I hold the opposite opinion. The first, second and fifth seasons of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' were better than the others *because* David addressed those most minute annoyances of everyday neurotic life that even 'Seinfeld' wouldn't address. The Daily show simply lives up to its advertising slogn of a few years ago, "The Most Important Show EVER." Stewart & co. dare to create humor by doing the things that "mainstream" journalism just refuses to do (such as comparing the current and previous statements of public figures to reveal their clear dishonesty and hypocrisy). I fail to see how this is less important than a possibly sense of cynicsm the show might foster in viewers.
TOTN, of all the terrific television critics out there, why did you pick Lee Siegel? Oh, yeah: he has a book to promote.
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