TV Party Tonight!

Although I write about pop culture, I have to admit to not keeping up with the hardware end of things. I still don't have an ipod, my cell phone is 4 years old yet I keep putting off replacing it, etc., etc.

But last week I finally made the leap to get the Tivo-like thing that my cable company offers.

The reason I did this is that a bunch of my favorite shows are returning, plus I keep coming across shows I would like to watch, but I am never around when they are on. I jumped in right away, started recording things, so I could soon be watching more TV than ever (yeah!)

So I want to share with you the things I think are worth recording, and some comments on why.

Beukey's Tivo-like thing will be recording:

• The Sopranos
• The Shield (which was awesome last season, but the plot revolves so much on what has happened in the past that I think it would be hard for someone to jump in now)
• Moral Orel (on Adult Swim, it's a takeoff on Davey and Goliath, even done in the same Claymation style)
• 30 Rock (getting better as it goes)
• The Sarah Silverman Show (for obvious reasons)
• Law and Order SVU (yeah, I know it jumped the shark a season and a half ago, but I have closure issues with TV shows, once I start, I usually can't stop watching, no matter how bad it gets)
• Entourage (which should run right after The Sopranos)
• The Simpsons
• American Dad
• South Park (when a new season starts)

That's all I can think of for now. Am I missing anything? I have no interest in watching The Office.

Time To Play Funny/Not Funny

I can't be the only to have noticed how little news is actually printed in Newsweek. This slide has been going on for years. They have been replacing news with crap like My Turn, an excuse to let amateur writers vent in a national forum about subjects that are only of interest to themselves, a column about religion (Dear God (which is not the title, but my reaction to the fact that they do this)), and, of course, pop culture.

Hey Newsweek, let's make a deal. You stick to paying your writers to cover actual hard news, and I'll cover pop culture for free (and do a better job).

Why I am writing about this now is that this week's Newsweek has the worst article they have ever written on pop culture. You can click the link to read it.

Here's why it's terrible. There is absolutely no original thought or insight in this article. It starts with an overlylong dissection of a joke. It then continues with a dry recitation of the "boomers" that made America laugh. (I hope you realize how terrible that last sentence was, I wrote it that way to show the lack of thought or spark in the article). Interspersed with this is a bunch of random jokes the author either remembered or looked up on YouTube. Then the article ends.

The whole things reads like a tenth-grade term paper written during one period of study hall.

Here is why Newsweek published it: 1: Boomers love themselves, never tire of reading about themselves or hearing how great and influencial they are, and they will buy any magazine that has an article about them. 2: It is less work to write superficially about your memories, make up quizzes, etc., than do actual reporting. 3: In the print version of this article, the text is accompanied by a quiz, a timeline, and plenty of pictures (like anyone forgets what Eddie Murphy looks like) and they actually managed to strech this shit out to 5 pages! That 5 less pages of news they have to write!

Funny/Not Funny was a segment on the late, lamented Wonder Showzen, a show far funnier than what the "boomers" in the industry are creating now. In regards to this article: Not Funny!