Nothing Is Impossible, Except for Dinosaurs (and Smart Television)

30 Rock is kind of like a microbrew. Ten or fifteen years ago, most Americans didn’t know there was an option beyond Budweiser or, if you were feeling really adventurous, Heineken.  Due to restrictive local regulations and the apathy of the American beer industry, we didn’t know that you could pack a lot more flavor (and alcohol) into a 12 oz bottle. But once you had a Ranger IPA or a Bell’s Two Hearted, why would you want to go back to Yuengling? The same goes for TV. The sitcom has rarely been celebrated as an artistic medium, with the exception of the occasional M*A*S*H* or Seinfeld, but a number of new, smarter shows hit the airwaves in the last decade. Series like Community …

A Mediating Mess: How American Post-WWII Media Undermined Democracy

Editors notes: This review originally appeared in The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics, and Culture (5.2, pages 254 - 257).  Unfortunately, in its original publication, the review  misidentified Professor Morgan as Edmund rather than Edward. These errors  have been corrected here. Apologies to Prof. Edward P. Morgan for the mishap. When the Swift Boat controversy engulfed the 2004 election campaign, America’s obsession with the Vietnam War once again reared its ugly head.  Democratic candidate and decorated Vietnam Veteran John Kerry’s staunch opposition to the war upon his return from deployment drew harsh critiques from conservatives in the early 1970s and in 2004.  The …

The History Channel: Selling the Past in the Age of Reality TV

For a website dedicated to the concept of “historiography for the masses,” perhaps it was only a matter of time before the contemporary History Channel would be addressed. Once maligned for its excessive focus on World War II and military history, the History Channel of the past nonetheless remained fairly dedicated to its core concept. Historical documentaries, such as the Engineering an Empire series, The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross, The American Revolution, and Ancient Rome: Story of an Empire, tackled serious historical topics with sophistication and insight. However, following the tried and true model of channels like MTV and VH1, with their respective series the Jersey Shore …

Long Island Ice Tea: Immigration, Gender, and the 2012 Presidential Debate

How in God’s name did we end up here?  Who decided to hold a presidential debate in the lobby of the Hempstead Holiday Inn?  And what are we to make of the two grey haired alpha males battling over who gets to sing “My Way” to this oddly accented (“Govna”) crowd of Long Islanders? Thank God moderator Candy Crowley handed out Mr. Goodbar-style beat downs on time management; Philadelphia’s Andy Reid ought to take notes. Once again, ToM’s editors found it in their narrow little hearts to throw me a bone.  Admittedly, I’ve never been one for town hall meetings, especially ones featuring questions from the most nebulous of all beasts, the “undecided voter.”  I have my …

Why Big Bird Matters

Though placing a distant third behind Mom and apple pie, there’s still not much that’s more American than Big Bird.  Sesame Street represented a do-gooder legacy of the 1960s, proposing that mass media could do more than titillate, distract, and sell soap—it could educate our children and inculcate values of decency, respect, and mutual tolerance that commercial media neglected in the pursuit of profit.  Indeed, the widespread popularity of characters like Big Bird and Elmo represented a triumph of government—something publicly funded could be just as popular as anything privately produced, if not more so.[1]  It could even be the toy of the year, sought after by harried moms and …

Conventional Wisdom: Surviving the Political Theatre of Conventions

Well, thank God football is back. Tony Romo took a dump on my beloved Giants but I’ve been so starved for entertainment I’ve been watching political conventions.  Last week, I listened to some trust fund lady talk about tuna fish sandwiches, basement apartments, and Harvard in one sentence as a plea to normality.  Tonight, once Romo decided to pistol whip the Giants' defensive unit, I turned on the DNC where the owner of Costco gave a speech that was the aural equivalent of shopping there: bulky and unexciting.  Excuse me sir, can I get the four gallon tub of mayo and your political remedy for a faltering economy?  At least it didn’t resemble the Klan rally of the GOP; all those …

Olympian Hate: One Man’s Discomfort with the Olympics

So last Wednesday night, I was sitting in one of the swankier bars in my chosen city of residence, attempting to quietly and unassumingly drown the demons from my work week when lo and behold a cry of Game of Thrones proportions arose from the back of the bar.  Like a banshee unleashed from centuries of torturing the souls of mere peasants, the roar swept over the bar, dropping its happy hour petulance into my libation.  Amid the ruckus, I wondered what could have created such a commotion, an unbridled expression of joy: a fucking bronze medal in synchronized diving. Male, female, who cares. I repeat: synchronized diving. Far be it from me to dismiss the efforts of these …

Where Did Parks and Recreation Go Wrong?

I wrote a piece almost a year and a half ago about the politics of Parks and Recreation, but we never ran the post because we were not quite sure it properly captured the essence of the show’s unabashedly liberal, pro-public message.  In retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t—because subsequent seasons have cast the sitcom in a rather different light.  The idealism of civil servant Leslie Knope is as sincere and refreshing as ever in an era when “government” is still used as a bad word without need of explanation, but her ambitions to do good for the community have been subordinated to a series of personal and managerial plots that have little to do with her vision of using the public …

Video, Terror, and the Politics of Reality TV

This is the true story... of one terrorist mastermind and his wives and couriers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real... Remember when US soldiers found Saddam Hussein in a “hidey hole” in Iraq? He was dirty, bearded, and disheveled after eight months of evading capture by coalition forces, yet US authorities saw fit to release footage of the deposed tyrant being examined by American doctors upon his arrest. The effect and the intent of the videos were impossible to miss. The all-powerful dictator was being handled like a heifer at the state fair, his hair picked …

Sporting Solidarities: The Pro-Union Potential of ESPN

The controversy in Wisconsin over anti-union legislation has riveted observers for weeks. The attempt by Wisconsin Democrats to avoid a vote on said legislation by absconding to neighboring Illinois drew guffaws, indignation, and resignation from various political corners. The subsequent vote forced by Republican Governor Scott Walker may have transformed the proposed bills into law but legal experts have been amassing in the Midwestern capital of cheese and beer to unhinge GOP dreams of a union free Madison. The “Wisconsin 14” returned to Madison on Friday to both praise and condemnation. New York Times journalist A.G. Sulzberger noted that for some Sconnies the 14 state senators had …