Please let me start by saying that I’m not having some crisis about my age. I’m only 26. I have no reason as to why I’ve been reminiscing about my childhood days so much lately. Maybe I just miss them. Don’t we all? Maybe it could be because I still feel closer to being 15 than I do being 30. Either way, I’m always up late at night. If I can’t find the motivation to work or if I go to bed just to lay awake, I have no choice but to watch TV to entertain myself. Besides infomercials and really bad soft-core porn on Cinemax, the only thing to watch are reruns of old sitcoms. It got me to thinking - these shows from the 80’s and early 90’s were great! I remember as a kid hearing about how TV would be the downfall for my generation. Maybe in some instances I see where media and TV may have failed us, but overall - I have to strongly disagree with that statement.

I had a great childhood. My grandma raised me from the time I was 3 years old. She was the best parent a kid could ever wish for. Whenever I asked one of those “life” questions she always had an answer. I never got any fairy tales (ie - the stork) because she was always very straight forward and honest - without any sugar coating. Looking back now, I completely appreciate that. But there are times in every child’s life when the answer comes before the question. There are also times when life lessons heard can hit you the same as life lessons learned. With that being said… Thinking back - all of those TV shows I watched as a child really taught me a lot:

Roseanne: I had to ask my grandma what a period was when Darlene got hers for the first time in 1989. Roseanne also taught me that a family can be a family without having to be the Cleavers.

The Golden Girls: In 1985 Dorothy said that she needed to “memorize every line and wrinkle” on Sophia’s face before she was gone. My grandma was 60 at that time. I really took that advise to heart. I’m glad I did. Estelle Getty was a comedic genius - probably why she reminds of my grandma so much.

Murphy Brown: I aspired to be Barbara Walters until I watched this show for the first time in 1988. Murph was more “real”. She made it ok for a young girl to think that they can do whatever they set their mind to do - even in a field comprised mainly of men. And no, Murphy Brown didn’t teach me that it’s better to be a single mother. What I got out of that fiasco was that families didn’t have to be composed of a mother and a father to be a real family. I appreciated that.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air: Besides maybe the Cosby Show, this was the only show that was popular with the white kids from old neighborhood in the 90’s. It was so cool that if you didn’t know the theme to the show, you were a total loser. Breaking racial barriers… Hmm.. seems like a good life lesson to me!

So anyways, my point: not all TV is bad. I know that a lot of things have changed since the mid-80’s / early 90’s, but still - not all TV is bad. If you think about it, there is actually a lot more on TV that is just for kids. Back in the day, all we had was Nickelodeon - which became Nick-at-Nite after 8:00 pm. Now-a-days there are channels that run 24/7, dedicated to programming for children; something we didn’t have 20 years ago. I ended up watching things that traumatized me like Fritz the Cat on HBO late at night. And in case you didn’t know, Fritz was released in 1972 - quite a few years before the generation which was ruined by TV was born.

- Krissy

Kids In the Hall (L to R): Kevin McDonald, Mark
McKinney, Scott Thompson, Dave Foley, Bruce
McCulloch

You spend the summer after you graduate high school doing certain things. You party, you work some crappy summer job, you get ready for college, and, um…you party. Except for me. I had my wisdom teeth out two weeks after I graduated and promptly become so sick from the medication that I spent most of the remaining summer months in bed.

But if one good thing could be gleaned from this misery, it was that this was the summer that I discovered Kids in the Hall. Re-runs of the Canadian sketch comedy show used to air at 2:00pm every day on Comedy Central, and with nothing to do but watch, I managed to see nearly every episode. I fell in love with the Kids irreverent humor and never understood why they didn’t receive more attention in the States, given that their envelope-pushing skits were leaps and bounds ahead of anything else airing at the time.

I don't know, the one in the front's kinda cute

Kids in the Hall might have been best known for their cross-dressing – which resulted mostly from the fact that they had no women in the troupe – but, while Dave Foley did look pretty hot in a dress back in the day, the real magic of KITH was their ability to create sketches that took everyday life to its most absurd conclusions. Kids in the Hall sketches often began with some base in reality, even if they ended as far from it as possible. There was nothing they were afraid to touch and no part of existence that wasn’t ripe for comedy.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to finally get the chance to see the comedy troupe live when the “Live As We’ll Ever Be” tour made its way to the Warner Theatre in DC this past Saturday night. I’m happy to report that 14 years after airing their last original episode, the Kids have still got it; they’re just as funny, smart and raw as ever.

Many of the classic characters were present – Cathy and Kathie, Buddy Cole, The Chicken Lady, and everybody’s favorite head crusher were all in attendance. But it was also great to see that they’re still more than capable of creating original sketches (there was a skit about just how much men love their cars that really had to be seen to be believed). If they produce a live DVD from this tour, I can recommend without hesitation that you pick it up. In fact, if you don’t, I’m sending the Chicken Lady after you.

- Amirah

The classic Head Crusher vs. Face Pincher skit:

You know you watch it. No one claims that they do, but American Idol is one of the highest rated, most watched television shows of all-time. Oh, ok… you just watch the auditions. That is what the people will admit to watching. Fact is: most people watch it. The statistics don’t lie! If your friends say that they don’t watch American Idol, statically, they are liars. I’m not afraid to admit that I watch it. With that being said, on to my rant…

Undeniably, this year’s American Idol contestants are hands-down the most talented group of individuals that have ever been on the show. So far in my opinion, America has gotten it wrong twice – Michael Johns and Carly Smithson shouldn’t have been voted off so early, but that’s just me talking. Either way, the people who have left and the people that remain are more gifted than in any previous season. My question is: why do they have to pick such crap music to choose from this year?

Simon (who I love – I want to have his ignorant British babies) always uses certain phrases such as: “cruise ship”, “in your bedroom”, “your mom made you do it” to describe “cheesy performances” and I get what he’s saying. He also hates when people, who are competing for a major-label contract sound “karaoke.” The biggest way to avoid being “cheesy” or sounding “karaoke” is to avoid singing songs that would give people that impression. The judges like to use the word “karaoke” to describe covers of songs from artists that can’t be covered. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion are a few that fit that category.

Keep in mind the keywords “cheesy” and “karaoke.” Also keep in mind that these contestants have a select choice of songs to select every week. To get to my point: this year’s theme weeks are really not good for the contestants or the fans of the show. Think about this logically: who is watching and who is voting. How in the eff did Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Andrew Lloyd Webber or Neil Diamond help out any of those people competing for a record deal? The above artist’s works were all theme weeks this year and I don’t think the artist selection could have been worst! I’m assuming that these artist were pre-selected, but still: Dolly: who cares, Maria: the judges have been begging people not to do her songs for years, Andrew Lloyd Webber: huh?. And Neil Diamond: talk about cheesy! David Cook can usually pull off whatever is handed to him, but he’s an exception to the rule:



I’ve always assumed that the American Idol audience demographic consisted mainly of young girls and a hand full of senior citizens. I suppose statically I’m wrong, but I believe that those two groups of people are the ones that but the albums. I did work in a music store for 8 years… I sold a ton of Constantine Margoulis’ metal band “Prey For the Soul of Betty” CDs to 12 year olds and elderly women. I suppose that’s beside the point. What I’m trying to say is that the theme weeks this year suck. If Mariah Carey is “uncoverable” and Neil Diamond is “cheesy” why were they selected to have theme weeks? I know they all have something new to promote – that makes sense for them. But how do cheesy karaoke songs promote American Idol or the contestants? Let these artists who have a lot to prove chose their own songs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a guy who sounds like Jason Maraz (Jason Castro) sing a song from “Cats”, nor do I want to hear a Carly Simon sound-a-like (Brooke White) sing Mariah Carey. If I’m right about this, let me know. If you disagree, you’re most likely wrong, but I’d like to hear your opinion anyway.

- Krissy

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