Two weeks ago I was clicking through the channels on a Friday Night and came across a prime time version of "The Price is Right". Needless to say I ended up watching the whole show and was mesmerized when a young girl won $1,000,000 during one of the games. here
While watching it I was reflecting on how much I always liked the show when I was younger (I would watch it if I was home from school). I love the theme song and the colors. Drew Carey has turned out to be a great. As a side note, I also love the Baba Booey parody for both the main theme here as well as the "losers" version of the theme. here An even funnier visual of this can be found here
In any event I love the show because it is enjoyable to watch, has good tunes, and you can play along at home. What is great about the girl winning the Million is that you get great anticipation, a great payoff, and great human emotion in 10 seconds. This is everything that you can ask for in a game show. When I asked my friends at the gym is they saw "The Price is Right" (TPIR) they all laughed at me, shocked that I would even ask such a question. It upset me because TPIR is a good show and no one would ridicule me if I asked them if they saw "Who wants to be a Millionaire" when it had its run or "Deal or No Deal" today. This brings us to the rant of the day.
In looking at the recent Neilson ratings I was shocked to find out that besides the fact that Dancing with the Stars finished 4th for the week with almost 20M viewers (this deserves its own post), Deal or No Deal was 20th with 10M viewers. Now I ask you who are the 10M people who are watching this show and more importantly why? For a whole hour you get Bald Howie asking some yahoo to pick a case number and then deliver a ridiculous pause before saying "Open the Case". He then gets on an absurd fake phone call from a phantom banker who he pretends to have a conversation with:
"Hello"
"Really"
"Wow"
"OK"
Again, this is a fake conversation. THERE IS NO BANKER!!! He then tells the idiot contestant how the banker was upset about the offer and then he asks the dummy "Deal..........or No Deal". That's the show. Are you kidding me? First of all, after giving it some thought, why is anyone watching a show where someone picks a case. That should be the name of the show...Pick a Case. It is absurd. Secondly, much like "The Moment of Truth" on Fox I don't see the value in dragging each "opening of the case" out for 10 minutes. The Price is Right gets 6 games, 2 wheel spins and a showcase showdown in an hour. Shouldn't this be the goal? Regardless of the pace, the entire premise is ridiculous. The show has even Jumped the Shark by introducing celebrity mentors, that A-Hole, Trump, as the Banker, and has gone as low as to use Star Wars characters is place of the Case Babes.
Howie......"Boba Fett....Open the Case"
This is insanity. It is a show about someone opening a case. Now I understand the the intended value is in watching the people struggle with decision to quit or play but if that is the case why not make the action more appealing than "Open the Case". It seems as if this show is really a watered down version of Howard Stern's "It's Just Wrong". Why not just have a show where you offer someone $50 to kick them in the nuts or taser them. If they say no, offer them $100. etc, etc. This would more than likely be significantly more entertaining than what we get from "Deal....or No Deal" as at least my intelligence wouldn't be insulted while offering the same human conflict around walking away from the cash in return for tangible penalties.
After doing some research I am sad to say that this should is about to be syndicated daily in the US and is shown in just about every country in the industrial world. here As I was writing this, about 1/2 through I wasn't sure where I was going with it. I just knew that I was enraged that this show is a hit and is making a lot of people a lot of money. I was completely baffled. How can 10M people a week watch this show? But then I found this , and it became clear and now I understand. I am not like everyone else.
I am one man on an island.
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5 comments:
Deal or No Deal is compelling exactly because you get watch people like Pat 2316 make ridiculous and obviously idiotic choices...it's the cringe factor and relates directly to your first post. Lowest common denomenator.. and, I'll give TPIR a shot... I may have short changed it...
I have a rant of my own this morning. Those of you who know One Man (as I'm sure you all do since surely the audience for this blog outside of One Man's limited social circle is, well, limited...) would consider him to be a highly principled individual. Recycle, the media sucks, I'm outraged, so on and so forth...
I can't help but wonder what One Man's thoughts on sportsmanship would be. Hmmm.... I would imagine that he would hold it in particularly high regard. The integrity of the game, respect for your opponent, men on the field of play giving their all to acheive a common goal, certainly all noble concepts. And, certainly One Man would exhort the virtues of sportsmanship at any opportunity.
So, imagine my surprise (and dismay) that after a particularly gruelling game, and diasppointing loss for One Man last night he REFUSED TO SHAKE HANDS.... I know, shocking, I couldn't believe it myself. He stormed off the court and began disrobing without so much as a glance at the opposing bench.
My faith has been shaken. My disillusions shattered. A little piece of me died last night. I hope you're happy One Man.
One Man is a man of principle and sportsmanship. He never refuses any mans hand. As is the custom, he shook hands with everyone who made their way out onto the court after the game. Once returned to his bench, he did show frustration at the outcome of the nights events. This was not directed at his opponent but at himself.
However, if we are judging others, perhaps it could be considered unsportsmanlike for those on the winning team not in the game to not meet at mid court in a timely fashion. It is also unsportsmanlike for those on the winning team to shout out taunts from their victorious huddle at someone who was looking over the scorers book (not to get his own stats but to see his opponents stats in an effort to analyze the loss.) Lastly, while One Man never has a problem with running up a score, it was commented on by others in One Man's huddle that the non stop pressure and multiple 3point attempts after the game was decided by Team 1 showed a lack of respect for both the game as well as Team 4. While One Man is saddened that your faith is shaken, he suggests you reconsider the teachings you received at St. John's Prep. (Matthew 7.2 For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again)
One Man stands by his commitment and execution as a sportsman.
Ah, One Man... what we are experiencing in the exchange is as old as time itself. And, I would argue the source of much of humanity's challenges.
What I speak of is the concept of "collapsing".
We cannot, and I shall not debate the 'facts' of the sequence of events the occured immediately after the buzzer, everyone's experience it their own, and is fact to them. Mine, apparently, does not match yours... but to the point...
Collapsing is the phenomenon of integrating 2 unrelated issues and using one as an explanation or justification for the other, when in reality, the 2 need to be 'distinguished' and taken on their own merits.
Undoubtedly, taunting from the winning teams huddle is unsportsmanlike. These taunts were issued by an individual, not a team. That individual acted in an unsportsmanlike manner.
That fact is seperate and distinct from the question of One Man's sportsmanship. It's is neither a justification, nor an explanation of One Man's behavior. Did others act in an unsportsmanlike manner? Yes. What does that have to do with One Man's behavior? Nothing.
The 'timely fashion' comment is tenuous at best.
I would ask One Man to recall the previous meeting between teams 1 and 4, the final score, and how long the pressure was sustained by team 4. A certain saying involving a pot and kettle comes to mind.
I would also ask One Man to acknowledge that the "multiple" 3 point attempts were made by the eighth man of team 1 that has played in only 3 games, is a relative unknown, and of questionable character....
All, and none, of which contribute to the evaluation of the question of One Man's sportsmanship.
And, while turnabout is fairplay, your attempts to obfuscate the facts in an attempt to point the finger at me... are baseless.
I expect more from you.
Deal or No Deal is much easier on the eyes, with more cleavage shots than TPIR. When left to watch inane network programing it simply comes down to breasts.
TPIR also seems to bring out the whitest trash bringing "poorly dressed" to a new level.
The worst show by far is "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" aka RU Dumber Than A Stump.
Jepoardy still rules for intelectual entertainment although Alex could use a cuff upside the head.
I'd love to get into "Cash Cab" and answer all the questions in a ho hum fashion while looking out the window the whole time, incorporating a "street shoutout" to a homeless bum or hooker.
As for Island Boy's competitive lust remember your dealing with "The Greatest Backyard Athlete of All Time"
"The Punisher"
What kind of ape watches the price is right on a friday night? No wonder you are one man alone on an island.
How sad.
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