Sliding down the surface of things

Cremaster, schmemaster, what about the good old idiot box, eh?

Veronica Mars’s Season Finale
Gosh, that would have been brilliant if I gave a crap about these characters. Which unfortunately, I don’t. Plus… hate the editing on this show, it looks like a rush job every time. So here we have the strange phenomenon where in a comparison of V.M. and The O.C., V.M. should by all rights win. But I’d rather watch the O.C., because strange as it may seem, it’s easier to care about Summer than about the entire cast of V.M. put together.

The West Wing – ‘Institutional Memory’
My favourite show redeems itself after the previous week’s snorefest. I mean, come on. Vinick? Santos? Does anyone really care? How on on earth John Wells could have imagined it was a good idea to spend the second to last episode almost entirely sans regulars is beyond me. Thankfully the penultimate, *sniff*, episode, penned by Deborah Cahn, delivered. With lots of Danny goodness. And Toby and CJ. ‘There’s a typo in the constitution.’ And CJ and Danny. ‘Because I like the sound of your voice.’ And Margaret, at the door. Did I mention Danny? I shamelessly cried through the last ten minutes of the episode. Hurray for Timothy Busfield being in the Studio 60 cast. Anyway. Fingers crossed the finale (*chokes*) doesn’t bomb.

American Idol – Final III
Huh? America gets it right? Goodbye grunge!Chris, glad to see ya go. Still waiting for Taylor to really rip it up, I’m beginning to think he hasn’t got it in him. Elliot’s an odd one. On the surface, I don’t like his voice, but it *does* give me the shivers at times.

House – ‘Forever’
I’m sorry to say it, but.. bored now. Hugh Laurie is great as House, though not half as rude as he was even at the start of this season, but the rest of the cast – bar Cuddy – doesn’t quite float my boat.

Lost – Two for the road
Oh, good riddance!

The Apprentice U.K.
Sir Alan picks cold and mysterious over loud and upfront. None of the contestants this year were particularly eloquent. You know, I keep expecting brilliance, but all we get is half baked attempts.

Actually, that is the biggest disappointment of my adult life. As I looked forward to being a grown up and having a job, I thought there’d be more knowledge, more skill in the work place, more vision in the board room, more fire in the hole. But I find that with every different management team and every changing of the guards there’s only different theories, different consultants with contradictory advice, a constant reinventing of the wheel and a whole lot of fumbling in the dark. I thought there’d be more than that.

Fascinate, deviate, the reality you hate

I’m not a big fan of Reality TV of the ‘put a bunch of vapid
famewhores in isolation’-type (Big Brother, Temptation Island) because the
cringe factor is just too high. But the shows that involve
‘professionals’ or ‘talent’ of some kind are interesting, even if they
are professional famewhores (I’m looking at you, James – The Apprentice,
U.K.) or just  talently vapid (I’m looking at you, Idol contestants world
wide.).
 

The latest talent show to grab my attention is the utterly tasteless ‘Rock Star: INXS‘, in which the five remaining members of INXS (Kirk Pengilly, the three Farriss brothers and Gary
Garry Garrrry Beerrrrrs) seek a lead vocalist for their band. The winner will record
an album and go on tour with them.

Just so we’re clear on this, INXS aren’t INXS without Michael
Hutchence. I doubt anybody would have taken notice if the band had
tried to conquer the world with their brand of Aussie pub rock if they
hadn’t been blessed with one of the most charismatic frontmen
in the history of rock music. Without Hutch, they’re just pointless.

I understand their point of view. They
did not choose to end the band, they did not split up, they just lost a
mate and they want to continue doing the only thing they know how to
do. But honestly, guys, a reality audition show?

It’s as tacky as the
‘rock star’ clothing that never really sat right on Tim Farriss’s
brickie physique. Tim (and to a lesser extent Kirk) used to be my
favourite, actually,
but I don’t recognise him these days. He looks like André Hazes now.
Which
will mean nothing to you if you’re not Dutch. English equivalent: Jo
Brand in tacky leathers, without the education. Anyway, I think the
whole idea pretty much defiles Hutch’s memory.

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