Sunday, November 7, 2010

oh, as long as I'm talking about TV

TNA wrestling is still the best of the major TV-deal wrestling. I think a firm argument can be made for Ring of Honor, and other Indy federations being better, but, between The McMahon's horrific WWE, and the merely cringe-worthy TNA, TNA wins.
I still watch TNA every once in awhile, and I even see a decent match or two. My belief in TNA pretty much evaporated when the Hogan/Bischoff thing occured, but they still deserve some respect for a few things:
1. They're doing an Anti-bullying campaign. Granted, I think bullying is an over-hyped distraction from real issues, but still far more enlightened than Wrestling ever needs to be.
2. They're doing a storyline about the very real dangers of concussions in contact sports. That's pretty brave, considering their past treatment of workers- they're actually making themselves the "bad guys", here. In the storyline, evil management (TNA) doesn't care about the health of the wrestlers, while one brave wrestler stands up for another wrestler who's injured. It's classic wrestling storytelling, but done very edgy, because the health of the workers has been a thorny issue for pro wrestling for a very long time.
3. Some of the on-air talent are the best in the business. My favorites are Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Daffney, Eric Young, Hamada, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Ken Anderson, Raven, Samoa Joe,Sarita, Tara, and team 3-D.
4. It's the last taste of real pro-wrestling we're likely to ever see. The WWE has decided (probably more profitably so) to go for more of a Saturday-morning live action cartoon for kids, and the rest of the world is opting for more realism, via mixed martial arts. The whole world of quasi-athletics from America's Vaudvillian sideshow past is going away, and TNA is showing the last vestiges. That's worth something to me.
5. They're really trying to keep the product priced income-appropriate. I appreciate that, and so should you!

TV Night!

I write about a lot of music, here, and neglect other stuff. I think that might be because I listen to at least 2 CD's per day, and read about a chapter of a book per day, and play an hour on a video game a day. I might watch an hour of TV, I might not. So, that means, in a given week, as far as pop culture goes, I'll have maybe 1 book, maybe 1 video game, maybe 3-4 TV shows, and 7-14 Cds to talk about. It's just the way I am. On top of that, not everything is worth talking about. However, Sunday night TV is worth talking about, now.
I might have mentioned before that I love Boardwalk Empire. If not, I'll just say it's by far the best TV show on, right now, and it's a better TV show than anything since first season Lost, and 2nd Season Rescue Me. That makes it the best thing on TV in the past 5 years. Some episodes are as good as any movie I've ever seen, so if things keep up, it might end up as the best TV show, ever (Currently, I think Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner takes that honor). However, since last week, I'm a fan of the Walking Dead. The comic books were good, the first episode of the TV show was better. Yes, crucify me, now, geeks! I'm going to spell it out for you- watching real people act out imaginary scenes of people trying to retain their humanity in inhuman extraordinary situations trumps ink depictions of the same, any day of the week, and twice, this sunday. Make no mistake, that's what the show is about- how to hang on to things that make you a human being, no matter what. In these times, that's far, far more important than cool points, no matter who you are. So, yes, sundays are now TV night for me!

I agree with Mike Huckabee, once

Maybe it will only be once. I bet it will only be this once, but Mike Huckabee and I agree about Torche.
That a conservative preacher from Arkansas would truly like a gay-friendly stoner-pop band kinda defies logic, so I have a feeling it's not Huckabee, but if it is, I guess a stopped clock can be right, and hilariously so, twice a day....