Monday, July 30, 2007

On Tivo Today - Separated at birth?

GORDON BROWN - UK PRIME MINISTER

DAN RATHER - JOURNALIST

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

On Tivo Today - How low can you go?





No, this is not a question for poor Lindsay Lohan, whose very public downward spiral into the pits of drug and alcohol addiction is painful to watch. No, this isn't even a question for that TMZ sleaze-bucket Harvey Levin who exposed her latest "slip" and who continues to capitalize on her pathetic behavior as well as that of other of troubled celebs. No, this is a burning question for viewers of NBC's longtime morning staple, Today. While the erstwhile co-hosts of Today, Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira are asking: "Will it be jail this time for Lindsay?", viewers are wondering when is NBC's Today show going into rehab? Like Lindsay, Today has hit bottom!

Exhibit A: Today's "Running of the Brides," . It was gleefully compared to Pamplona, Spain's annual Running of the Bulls and it wasn't a stretch in comparison! Cheered on by Today's own court jester, Al Roker, some fifty soon-to-be-brides stampeded into a Las Vegas hotel ballroom toward racks of free wedding dresses to grab their dream gown. Call in the higher powers. With this spectacle, Today has sunk to an all-time low.

Today's ratings have steadily declined. There has been much speculation about whether the departure of host Katie Couric, for what seems to be a bigger salary but less greener pastures over at CBS News, is responsible. But even before she left, the show had taken a nose dive. Gone were the hard news interviews -- because they couldn't compete with the 24 hour cable news networks. Gone were any substantive in-depth interviews. Gone was pretty much anything about the show that made it a weekday necessity for many viewers. A recent turnover of Executive Producers has not helped. either. What used to be the go-to morning show for news and views has become a potpourri of pablum: personality driven info-tainment.
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Without the format which bouyed the show for over 60 years, viewers can no longer expect to tune in at 7am and learn all the news they need to know by the time they leave for work in the morning. Now it's a celebrity gossip update and the latest health scare. Today's was: soda (or pop, if you prefer) - even diet soda - can shorten your life! And that was hard news compared to the Running of the Brides. And in case you missed it, the brides will run again in Chicago and Miami later in the week. God, grant us the serenity................................

Monday, July 23, 2007

On Tivo Today - CNN bombs with YouTube Debates

History making experiment! Breaking new ground? That's what was promised. Instead, technology killed the news channel. Same candidates. Different questioners. Did it make a difference? Hardly. While admittedly, the YouTubers were more interesting than the candidates, CNN producers picked the same old canned questions: Iraq, Healthcare, Gun Control, & Gay Marriage, and the candidates gave the same old canned responses. Ho hum! Click (remote picks another station.) Wake me up when this one is over! And when it's over they will ask, who won? I know, I don't even have to watch. It's Hillary by a longshot. Give 'em hell, Hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!