'24' and 'Idol' Phenomenon Goes On

Fox TV must be loving the ratings for the new season of '24' and 'American Idol'. Both shows debuted big and in different ways were the focus of significant attention among talking heads today.

I have never watched either show, with the exception of the final night of 'Idol' one year (I believe it was the year that Clay Aiken finished second). As a singer myself (though not 'Idol' material) and as a musician with a very keen sense of relative pitch, it pains me to hear people perform badly and the music most choose is not my thing either, so I'd rather skip it. '24' gets raves from everybody I know that watches it, but I don't want to try and get involved in a new series that would probably require me to go all the way back to the 1st year and watch the whole thing. However, since the show is supposed to take place during 24 actual hours, I've always wondered what they do with Jack Bauer is sleeping. Do they run 6 hours of a guy snoring?

I heard discussions about both shows today that I thought was worth passing on . Mark Larson, a talk show host in San Diego, made an interesting comment about the string of losers who show up in the early 'Idol' auditions. In his view, these auditions represent the worst of outcome based education and all the emphasis on self esteem we have in the schools today. It's obvious that the incredibly bad singers who show up at these auditions have been praised their whole life (to maintain their self-esteem) and have never been told some things they needed to hear...like "STOP SINGING, YOU HAVE NO TALENT". The shocked expressions on their faces when the judges decimate their performances tells you that these folks have spent their lives in a cocoon built by well meaning family and friends who have insulated them from well deserved criticism. Some of those reactions are documented here.

'24' also got a lot of attention today as a couple of cable networks suggested that the show is little more than a propaganda tool for the Bush administration. Rusty Lopez has some of the details here. This discussion got started thanks to the decision of the producers to nuke part of L.A. in the season opener. And every story must contain a reference to the fact that Rush Limbaugh is a big fan and a friend of the show's producers. In the view of the critics that fact is enough to prove their wacky conspiracy theories.

It's funny, but I don't remember anyone suggesting that 'The West Wing' or 'Commander-in-Chief' was just a political tool of the Dem party.

The fact that the show represents a potential reality is scary for the lefties, not because it could be true, but because it might cause some people to rethink the Bush administration view of the war on terror. That's not something the lefties want people to think about. The fact that the show's hero is know to use less than purely constitutional means to extract information is also a problem for the left.

I don't know the politics of the producers of '24', but I do know one thing about the TV business; they don't create these shows to make great art or satisfy political demands - they create them to draw in eyeballs so they can sell advertising at confiscatory rates. That's what the TV business is all about.

Meanwhile bad singers will continue to live in denial and humiliate themselves on national TV, and lefty critics will continue their fantasies about a TV terrorism drama. Good for them, but I won't be watching.