The Writers' Strike...and other Pop Culture Silliness

The whole writer's strike thing seems very, um, not important. At least not to me anyway. This is the thing, I haven't seen one new great sitcom or nighttime drama in the past two years, so I don't really get the whole big thing about shows being "ruined" because of the writers' strike. All that is played on T.V. is "reality" shows, which are such hogwash, that I feel sorry for anyone who looks forward to each week's installment.

Bret Michaels will never find "true love" in a group of women who are picked by producers to cause the most conflict amongst their personalities. Moreover, when you seek to find a lifelong partner, it is essentially impossible to find a wife that you're gonna wanna settle down with, when all of your prospective mates are drinking and partying and ALL THE TIME. Then there is the whole "I love New York" thing. I won't even go there, except to say that if I hear one more censoring bleep, I am gonna scream.

The show I have recently gotten into is old reruns of "MASH" on TVLand. Something about a young Alan Alda is just interesting to me. Plus I love the head nurse, Major Holihan, who is a total feminist, and yet very aware of herself and her femininity. I love Major Honnicut, who is a total dreamboat (in the too old for me kind of way) and very funny. I got into this show for a couple of reasons; I really love the fact that they don't feel it necessary to show gruesome images (their acting makes it just as real), the fact that the little quotes and quips are intellectually funny. Plus, it is appropriate in this time of war, when the little things in life are taken for granted here in the United States, like water or a good homecooked meal. I guess I can identify with the charactors because they are so very human. They are the kind of people that your dad would be buddies with, and the kind of women you'd try to listen in on their conversations with your mom. The charactors seem real, unlike the "reality" show stars. Ah, nastalgia.

Everything that I see that is a downfall of the writer's strike is the fact that no real good movies are coming out. Juno was great, but only because it was written by Diablo Cody, a woman who I am sure would not join the writer's guild ever. My big fat broke butt doesn't need to be going out to the movies anyway, but it would be nice to have at least one really excellent film to look forward to. Alas, there is none, and probably won't be for a while. I am only slightly interested in seeing Katherine Hiegl in "27 Dresses", and would only see "Mad Money" at the dollar theatre.

Other than that, I am really only excited about "Wall-E", coming out June 27th. It is about a little Robot who is left on Earth to clean up after humans who've littered the planet to the point of inhabitance. Wall-E has lived all on his own, doing his daily tasks without encountering any other robots for years, when his entire life is turned upside down by the sudden presence of EVE, a female robot probe sent to see Earth's progress in clean-up. It's apparently a love story, one that I am sure will be absolutely delightful and heartwarming. Cheesy? Perhaps, but cheesy works for me. June 27th is a long ways away as far as I'm concerned, but nonetheless I am excited.

I hope that pop culture cleans itself up, because I am really getting sick of there being NOTHING to watch on television. I suppose until the writers not only give up on their strike, but also become more innovative, I am forced to watch DVDs of old musicals and such.

Anyhoo, Love and Robots,
Mimi

"Listen, it's too big a world to be in competition with everyone. The only person who I have to be better than is myself. And in your case, that's enough."
Col. Potter of "M*A*S*H"