Posted 12:21 PM by Gene

What happened to the really big shows?

They turned into CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED really little shows.

And of course Brainy Robert has lots of BRILLIANT suggestions for making shows big again, such as:

4: Music from professionals

...Ed Sullivan offered The Beatles for the kids, Judy Garland for their parents and opera for their grandparents. To get to one, you had to sit through the other. It broadened the younger generation's musical tastes, and it gave the older generation some clue as to what their kids were listening to up in their rooms.

Just one problem, Bob: We don't have the Beatles, or Judy Garland, and we definitely don't have ED SULLIVAN; and if someone suggested to SLIME or SUMNER or UB IGER they put FIVE SECONDS of OPERA on they'd jump out a window.

AND:

7: Class

Yes, I know: Vulgarity has always been TV's stock in trade. But really, must the America that TV projects into our homes and around the world so often be stupid, whiny, greedy, crass and cruel? Is that all we are? Is that all we want to be?

Showing us a better version of us might not be the most fun gift television can give.

But it could be the best.

CLASS? I thought EINSTEIN was class! I thought all those iterations of 24 were class! I thought being EDGY was class! The moment you typists saw a CLASSY show you'd say it wasn't EDGY enough. You're a big reason the networks are big on EDGY -- and small on their viewers.

This is more of the well-meaning buncombe that justifies the endless obsessive raves. A SPECIAL NEUHARTHISM OF THE WEEK AWARD to BOB.