COMICS ON TV

I recently read that Agents of SHIELD is steadily losing viewers which brings to mind something I've always thought, extremes with comic book stories are not very good in television. When Batman came out in 1966 it was a lot of camp and not too much substance. That series worked because back in those days television was not a charged medium. The Superman series starring George Reeves was geared toward kids and it had been on air in the 1950's.

Superman was highly predictable and did not have much depth since it only had a 30 minute timespan in which to tell a full story. If you fast forward to the 70's you have shows like Shazam, Wonder Woman, and the ill fated Justice League, series.

All of these shows failed to get long runs out of the gate because by the 70's there were more shows chose from and comic books were not really as marketable as before. With films such as Star Wars it seemed like comic books would be doomed. Yes Superman was released in 1978 and it was a huge box office hit but beyond that it seemed like the genre did not really have a life in the small screen.

Fast forward to the early 90's and it was more of the same with failed attempts in shows such as the Flash, and Justice League. It wasn't until Smallville that there was a real success with heroes. Now we look at SHIELD and see what's wrong.

People expect all out action and special effects sometimes and SHIELD has not gone that route. SHIELD has taken to slowly telling a story that relies on depth mixed with action. A show like Smallville began to step away from the soap opera in order to bring in more comic book aspects and while that worked, it took a little bit of wind from the shows sails. As far as SHIELD goes there's a possibility that it can nail the right balance if given a chance. People should not view it as just another comic book show. Perhaps the show is lagging because it only has one so far compelling character in terms of Agent Coulson.

I hope the show stays on the air because I think it's a great show.

WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHY

It's been nearly 50 years and we are still fascinated by the assassination of JFK. We never saw JFK age, we never saw him mature as president. What we know is that he was our youngest president and the beacon of a new hope. Kennedy was going to transition us from the black and white era to color, Kennedy was the leader of a new generation.

50 years ago we lost the leader and gained something that we were not prepared for, confusion. Today we ask why it all happened but the truth is we have no answers. Nothing will ever explain the why, or the what, simply put it just happened. from November the 22nd to the 24th the nation had tragedy and was denied a plausible answer.

The Warren Commission provided a report that may have as well been blank pages, simply because no answer was satisfactory. Some people believe Oswald acted alone, some believe that he really was a patsy, and no one can understand Ruby's involvement. We will never know why this happened, and we will not understand either.

The murkiness that further enveloped this tragedy through Jim Garrison's investigations, a controversial process that implied unimaginable conspiracies.

There have been serious accusations that have taken mythical proportions. One such accusation implicates LBJ as the centerpiece of a conspiracy to take the presidency. The conspiracy involving LBJ   was immortalized in the film Executive Action, starring Burt Lancaster.

None of these films, investigations, reports, and Ideas can tell us why. There are no facts with the exception of Kennedy's death, Oswald's death and a subsequent series of unfortunate events that can never reversed, or undone.

JUMPING THE SHARK

I have often heard the "Jumping the Shark" idiom used in a negative light. When a person talks about jumping the shark they refer to a specific moment when quality is sacrificed and what could have been great pretty much turns into self parody. So where did this come from? The shark jumping reference refers to the Happy Days episode where the Fonz decided to literally jump a shark on water skis. What made this a landmark moment was the fact that Happy Days would never be the same after.

To me it's fair to say that people jump the shark when they go overboard thinking that extreme decisions and outlandish actions will improve an idea or existing formula. To me jumping the shark is like driving a car in a foreign country, you just don't do that shit. I think we al jump the shark every day in some respect, even if it's just in terms of things we think or say.

My advice is simple, remember the Fonz and try not to jump the shark.

REMEMBER WHEN WRITERS ACTUALLY GAVE A SHIT

I was recently watching my Miami Vice DVD set and wondering what the hell happened to good television. When I was growing up writers actually tried hard to put out a good product. Yes, in the 80's and 90's there were a lot of shows that depended heavily on stale jokes and laugh tracks, but at least they tried. Today I switch channels thinking that TV is simply the prostitute you go to for the sweet release of death.

Right now there are a handful of shows that I give a crap about and I have to pay to watch them. When you think about how many channels there are on television, and what little quality is out there, it's impossible to believe the programming is so stale and crack whore like. I don't care for housewives, whores, celebrity self destruction, or anything on the air today.

Perhaps I am becoming old but at 34 I doubt that's the case. I think that I just can't stand the prostitution of the word reality and the constant lies made to look like regular life. I don't give a shit about pseudo celebrities that lack talent, I could care less about roundtables of nonsense, and I don't give a damn about Jessica Simpson. Someone please dust of the real writers and bring back quality programming please.

YOU JUST NEVER REALLY KNOW

A long time ago in a black and white galaxy far away a man by the name of Edward R. Murrow was introducing the world to his new and revolutionary show known as Person to Person. The show made Edward R. Murrow the first real celebrity interviewer and added to his already polarizing legend. The show itself employed remote interviews, which at the time were quite rare. It has been nearly 60 years since person to person first aired and now we have social media to give us our own person to person moments with people we don't really know.

With the advent of Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and many others we seem to have the ability for that person to person feel. The truth is that just like the days of Murrow's show we are living in a time when no matter how open we seem to be there are still secrets that lurk deeply in the closet. In a way the show Person to Person laid the groundwork for social media. The show was proof positive that distance between points could be closed. Murrow interviewed everyone from Fidel Castro to JFK to Marilyn Monroe. Today, nearly six decades later, we seem to feel closer to celebrities, leaders, and groups.

While the secrets that we keep only manage to come out either post mortem or in some dramatic way there is something to be said for the fact that social media was a seedling for so long. Perhaps it's a stretch to connect Murrow to social media but if you really study it there is some sense to that. Murrow was on to something and while it may have long been relegated to the status of a valuable relic it's fair to say it had a serious impact. Next time you see something new don't be surprised if it's what manages to spur a big revolution.

CHARLIE SHEEN'S POST RECOVERY DR'S APPOINTMENT CIRCA 2011

Dr. Hello Charlie

Charlie Sheen: WINNING BITCH, I have a special forward constitution. I have tiger blood.

Dr.: Yes, you also have Rhinoceros triglycerides and red panda cholesterol

Charlie Sheen: That is winning BITCH, winning.

Dr.: Even better though, you have the hepatic function of an Australian tiger shark.

Charlie Sheen: TIGER BLOOD BITCH!!

Dr.: I am giving you a clean bill of health so you may get back to work.

Charlie Sheen: Chuck Norris is an un-evolved bitch with no tiger blood. I CREATED CHUCK NORRIS. You know my name?

Dr: Charlie

Charlie Sheen: NO, it is ALPHA 3 from the clepton nebula of the evolved Adonis constitution. Later simpleton !

After that Charlie Sheen went on to star in a movie about his life filmed entirely on location in a tibetan monastery starting Justin Bieber and Alyssa Milano with cameos by Richard Gere, Moby, and Mr. T. Charlie's Dr. would retire and work as a freelance professor of veterinary medicine.  The point is you cannot begin to experience the awesomeness of this situation if you do not posses tiger blood.

ANGUS PLEASE THINK TWICE

I think it's great that people find their religion and decide that from that point forward they are going to do what is right for them. What I have a major problem with is when a tool without appeal decides he is going to become America's moral conscience. My reason for this statement is Angus T. Jones' sudden decision to shove his foot up the ass that feeds him.

Angus T. Jones is a lot like a cancerous cell, you know it's there and to some extent you tolerate it but you want it gone as soon as possible. Yes the title of the show he is a part of is Two and a Half Men but truthfully he was never really what made people tune in to the show. The real reason why that show was a massive hit was Charlie Sheen.

Just about everyone thought of Angus as that kind ridiculous add on that did not have a major purpose in the series. Somehow that ugly little porker became a large awkward piece of flesh that as of now takes home $8,000,000 per year and sits in some church couch saying the show is filth. The boy must have had four loco because he sounds like a dam idiot.

I wonder if the congregation Angus is a part of has requested a donation for the newest building or "temple of worship"? Hey idiot when your other testicle drops see if you can go from being the half man to the smart man.

It's good to look back in order to not do any real work

So when exactly did it become okay for news to go back as far fourteen years? If we go by the definition of news it states the following:

1) Newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events.

Okay so It's my guess that this would apply to every subject from politics to fashion. I understand that the internet is a melting pot but I wonder if it has become a melting pot for totally unchallenged stupidity. I open my news feed in order to see what information of note was there and most of the information was either ridiculous in nature or rehashed information from years ago.

I do understand the value of something memorable but in the times we are living. Is it really necessary to talk about Rose Mcgowan's 1998 VMA dress? Maybe I have become jaded but if something is going to be labeled "news" make it it significant enough for people to take their time and actually read it. One last note to the world please ban that fucking idiot Perez Hilton, that guy is a total shitbag.