May 10, 2013

"'Of course, a little later on, we'll be revealing who is leaving our show,' Ryan said...

"... turning Randy's chair slightly and giving him a pointed look. The veteran judge played coy, shaking his head and laughing as if he didn't know what Ryan could possibly be referring to."

Meanwhile, as for the contestants, Angie Miller got sent home: 1. for lacking the courage to play the piano during the Elton John song that had been chosen to give her one more chance to show off her singing-while-playing-the-piano style that they repeatedly told her was her best look, 2. for having the least heart-tugging of the visits home (despite the attempt to incorporate the Boston bombing into her story, she being a Massachusetts resident), and 3. because she was the last of the skinny girls and just as we learned early on that it's not a boy year, it's not a skinny girl year. That's just how these things go.

As long as we're talking about reality shows, here's a nice discussion of this week's episode of "Survivor," which links to this video of the subtly devious Cochran paying tribute to his mother, with whom he's watched every episode of "Survivor" for the last 11 years. Have you been watching "Survivor" or "American Idol" or some other reality show for many years with a son or daughter, analyzing the characters and the strategies, as a very important part of your parent-child relationship? If you watch that video of Cochran, you might think yeah, that's like the way it's been at our house, or you might think wow, I wish I had a kid that shared something like that with me. I'm sure many of you feel like saying reality shows are a waste of time and parents should want to do better things with their children. If so, don't just scoff at the people who've found a beautiful bond in the watching of a TV show. Say what you did (or will do in the future) that is so much better (as, obviously, many things are).

24 comments:

Icepick said...

Bond with my mother over a reality show? No thank you! Even if she wasn't dead.

Amartel said...

Haven't watched American Idol in years. Editing favors Cochran on Survivor.

MadisonMan said...

I was surprised that Kree is in the finals. She has a lovely rich voice, but she has trouble connecting to the song and thereby with the audience (IMO).

Angie worked very hard, and seem to have momentum on her side. And her hometown visit got a great edit, unlike Kree's.

My favorite is still Candice. She has had some absolutely stellar vocals this season. Example.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How about they cancel the show and the fill the blank with the Pro!Hillary! hour!

gadfly said...

Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined.

By definition then, TV shows called "Reality" are as far from truth as you can get.

TV as an entertainment media suffered its death knell when reality shows began to suck the gray matter from the minds of low-information viewers.

Brew Master said...

Mythbusters
Dirty Jobs
NOVA
Connections

Anything to ground them in actual reality and not fantasy Reality(TM).

Brew Master said...

We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

- Tyler Durden


If I do my job correctly my children won't have to face this sort of let down.

Unknown said...

Too bad the bonding isn't done over good books or music. Or religion. Or philosophy. Or science. Or sports. Any of which would better prepare a child for reality. Not Actuality.

Unknown said...

Just so I don't get accused of saying what is ideal instead of what I've done, all of those things have been and are done to a greater or lesser degree in our home. And, we have pretty great kids.

Not bragging, just noting that there are better things to bond over and I have tried them.

Meade said...

Reality show bonding with parents? Bonded with mother watching Cincinnati Reds baseball in 1975. She may have loved Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan more than she did her own 3 flesh and blood sons.

Bonded with father Nov. 24, 1963 as just the two of us together stumbled into witnessing the real-time murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. That show had a little too much reality.

Amartel said...

Cochran's mom looks like Lady of Berkeley which made me wonder how he was ever ever in a million years allowed to watch non-PBS TV, let alone, Survivor.

SteveR said...

What works when they are 12, doesn't work when they are 19 and off to college or at 23 when they don't live at home. At least at my house.

American Idol should have quit while they were on top. Stretching out the post Simon era was not good watching IMO. Taylor Hicks should have given them a clue-its over

Baron Zemo said...

Unfortunately American Idol jumped the shark when they took on the talentless idiot and catholic basher Nicky Minaj as a judge.

I hope it is cancelled.

Baron Zemo said...

Unfortunately American Idol jumped the shark when they took on the talentless idiot and catholic basher Nicky Minaj as a judge.

I hope it is cancelled.

David said...

You sneaked in a Survivor discussion.

Makes me want to barf.

Amartel said...

Yeah, they do that a lot on Survivor.

Amartel said...

Barfing.
There's a whole challenge designed specifically to encourage barfing.

Amartel said...

Following the news makes me wanna barf.

galdosiana said...

I've watched every episode of Survivor since the beginning. I hope Cochran wins, and I'm really anxious to see who will be taken out due to a medical emergency going into the finals...

Amartel said...

Dawn for the emergency evac.
Or possibly Erik who was acting kind of weird on the last ep.

Æthelflæd said...

We bond over our kids' sports and church.

If we're watching TV, we bond over college football and Duck Dynasty.

Charlie Currie said...

Southern contestants win again.

I would like to see the ratings broken down by state - has to be highest in mid-west and south.

Cheers

Julie C said...

We bond over Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I'm completely serious.

I still love Survivor, and 3 out of 4 in our house do too. But my oldest son has too much homework to pay much attention to it.

I'm really enjoying this season, although after all of Dawn's crying on the last couple of shows I wanted to give her a good smack. I'd like to see Eddie win but I'd also be happy if Cochran won. Now excuse me, someone seems to be calling me on my Sprint phone ...

Charlie Currie said...

Southern contestants win again.

I would like to see the ratings broken down by state - has to be highest in mid-west and south.

Cheers