The graduates at Northwestern Law School have their panties all in a bunch because Jerry Springer is going to speak at their commencement. He has been invited because he's an alum (1968) and because of his past in politics, not his present persona.
I recently heard a story on This American Life about Jerry Springer that changed my mind about him (Episode #258: Leaving the Fold). As you all probably know, he was a on the city council in Cincinnati until he resigned for getting busted with prostitutes across the river in Kentucky. Stupid Jerry wrote a check for his romp. But, after that disgrace? He made a major comeback. He won another term on city council and then he was elected mayor of Cincinnati. Then he spent ten years anchoring the local news. Before he became the King of Trash TV, he was an inspirational politician and respected news anchor.
After they get past their chants of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" and their booing, the graduates at Northwestern Law School will probably be treated to one hell of a memorable speech.
In my line of work (whatever that is), I am often put in the position of defending the medium of television. There is a large section of the population who is convinced that television is inferior to film and all types of print media. These people love to use a host of specious arguments to prove their point. Some choose advertising, others go with reality TV, I once argued with a guy who said, "Two words...Jerry Springer" and walked away.
I'm not going to use this blog as a way to refute these arguments, instead I'd like to give specific examples to defend the medium that I have come to love.
Television is great because it is directly responsible for the creation of the Muppets.
So, AOL TV did a poll about America's favorite talk show hosts and 1.3 million people made their feelings known. Interesting results. I didn't agree with some of them, like who I like waking up with. Diane Sawyer was the top choice, but I'd go for the second place finisher, Matt Lauer. As for whom to go to bed with -- TV talk show wise, that is -- I can't believe most of the people chose Jay Leno. Is he really that popular? I prefer David Letterman; I'm a sucker for the Top Ten lists.
I've been thinking. Yeah, I know you might find that hard to believe, but it's true. I swear it is! What I've been thinking about is television. Ah, now you believe my thought processes are truly in motion. A lifetime of television watching is behind me and what do I have to show for my hours of dedication?
Well, other than the cool TV Squad gig, that is. That goes without saying.
What I have are life lessons learned from television, as well as some obscure bits of knowledge I may have overlooked had I led the scholarly life without television in my life.
(S02E11) After a summer long of talent search, performances, and wondering why Boy Shakira and Kashif made it so far in the competition, we finally learned who was crowned the winner of the second season of America's Got Talent. Last week, the Top 4 performed after which America was asked to vote for the winner. The predictions I made last week and the results of our TV Squad poll are the same. Here is how we see tonight's standings to be:
1st place: Terry Fator
2nd place: Cas Haley
3rd place: Butterscotch
4th place: Julienne Irwin
This live 2-hour season finale episode featured guest stars Sean Kingston, Taylor Swift, The Muppets, and UB40, who performed with the Top 4. But that wasn't all, in order to fill the allotted time, AGT brought back the Top 10 contestants and we were treated with a performance from The Hoff.
If you don't want to be spoiled as to who won the grand prize, stay away from the rest of this post!
(S02E10) Tonight, the Top 8 is cut down so only four of the performers remain. Last week, I wanted Terry Fator, Cas Haley, Butterscotch, and Julienne Irwin to make it to the Top 4. Per the votes cast in our last America's Got Talent poll, voters thought the following performers did best during the last installment: Terry Fator, Cas Haley, Butterscotch, and The Glamazons (however, the latter had only 1 vote difference with Julienne Irwin and 2 with Sideswipe).
Tonight, the Top 4 performs twice. One performance is chosen by the judges and the other, by the contestants.
This week, the field was narrowed to eight contestants. Last week, my choices to be sent packing were Julienne Irwin and Sideswipe. The TV Squad visitors who voted on our America's Got Talent poll predicted that Robert Hatcher and Jason Pritchett would be sent home.
(S02E08) I was looking forward to tonight's episode mostly to see for whom America would have voted last week. According to last week's TV Squad AGT poll, the five contestants from last week moving on to the Top 10 should be (in order of most votes to least): Cas Haley, Terry Fator, Boy Shakira/Britney (what?!), Second Story Guys, and The Fault Line. My own predictions were (in order of appearance): Second Story Guys, Southern Girl, Cas Haley, Terry Fator, The Fault Line. We disagree on one name. Did Boy Shakira/Britney make it to the Top 10? Will one of the favorites (Haley and Fator) not make it? The answers after the jump!
(S02E07) After last week's performance show, I was expecting about anything and everything this week (especially since some fan favorites, like Kevin James, performed poorly when others did better than during auditions).
Tonight, I was mainly looking forward to Boy Shakira's performance in order to understand why he ended up in the Top 20 (maybe he does have more talent than the other episodes showed us? Not!). I also wanted to know how well I predicted who from last week's show would end up in the Top 10.
(S02E06) Yes, the network does label this as episode 2.06 even if we've seen countless hours of America's Got Talentso far this season. After the Top 20 selection fiasco, I needed to keep watching and see if America would show the judges how wrong they were by selecting Boy Shakira and Kashif in the top performers' list. I also needed to hear the Hoff give bad, but realistic, comments to both performers as he was the only one who really saw them as they were and that they didn't deserve to be moved on to later rounds.
So after the required recap of past episodes, the first performance episode begins. Ten of the Top 20 finalists will compete, including Kashif (pictured left). It seems that they decided to separate him from Boy Shakira as it would have been too hot to handle! America will vote for their favorite, and the five acts from this performance group with the most votes will move on to the next round, the Top 10.
Here we go with my 2 cents about each performance.
That sound you hear is the planet dying, just a little bit.
The syndicated talk shows (and I use that term very, very loosely) Jerry Springer and Mauryhave been renewed through the 2010 season. Yes, that's right, for three more seasons. Springer will start its 17th season this fall and Maury its 10th.
That means we'll have three more glorious seasons of actors ordinary citizens throwing chairs at each other and wrestling and three more intriguing years of morons ordinary citizens taking paternity tests to see if they're the father of a woman's baby.
We haven't been reviewing America's Got Talent here at TV Squad this season. However, after watching last night's episode during which they selected the Top 20, I felt compelled to write about it. Why? Because I'm really disappointed. Actually, when I watched the show (especially near the very end), I had about the same facial reaction the "3 Redneck Tenors" had when they were told they wouldn't advance.
Steve Wilkos, the tough security guard who keeps rednecks from getting too feisty on The Jerry Springer Show now has his own gabfest. NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution recently sold the syndicated series to stations owned by Tribune and Sinclair. The show is still untitled, but look for the former marine and cop to offer his own brand of tough love and sound advice.
You may be asking yourself why the hell you should listen to advice from Wilkos. The real question is, why should you take advice from anyone on television? It's not like Oprah knows you any better than Wilkos does. Really, the only person on television you should trust is the Hamburger Helper glove. When he says he can make beef more exciting, I believe him. He's never steered me wrong before.
The graduates at Northwestern Law School have their panties all in a bunch because Jerry Springer is going to speak at their commencement. He has been invited because he's an alum (1968) and because of his past in politics, not his present persona.
In my line of work (whatever that is), I am often put in the position of defending the medium of television. There is a large section of the population who is convinced that television is inferior to film and all types of print media. These people love to use a host of specious arguments to prove their point. Some choose advertising, others go with reality TV, I once argued with a guy who said, "Two words...Jerry Springer" and walked away. 
So, AOL TV did a poll about 
I've been thinking. Yeah, I know you might find that hard to believe, but it's true. I swear it is! What I've been thinking about is television. Ah, now you believe my thought processes are truly in motion. A lifetime of television watching is behind me and what do I have to show for my hours of dedication?
(S02E11) After a summer long of talent search, performances, and wondering why Boy Shakira and Kashif made it so far in the competition, we finally learned who was crowned the winner of the second season of America's Got Talent. 
(S02E09) In case you didn't know, 
(S02E08) I was looking forward to tonight's episode mostly to see for whom America would have voted last week. According to 
(S02E07) 
(S02E06) Yes, the network does 
That sound you hear is the planet dying, just a little bit.
Steve Wilkos, the tough security guard who keeps rednecks from getting too feisty on The Jerry Springer Show now has his own gabfest. NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution recently sold the syndicated series to stations owned by Tribune and Sinclair. The show is still untitled, but look for the former marine and cop to offer his own brand of tough love and sound advice. 
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
