TVSquad

My father is a former economics major who spent 30 years as a mortgage banker before starting his own company (which does economical things so complex that to my simple mind, they might as well be magical). One of the things that constantly irks him is the loaded language that the nightly news uses to describe our economic situation: words like "crisis," "downturn," and, worst of all "recession."

Now, anybody who has spent more than forty seconds online in the last six months can see that we are, more than likely, in the middle of a recession brought on by a downturn in the real estate market because of the current credit crisis. That said, I'd like to ask the question: would we be better off if TV simply lied to us about all of these things?

(S06E09) At first, I thought this season was going to be heading somewhere, but it seems that it's getting stuck in the muck. The episodes continue to cover territory that they have already covered. Tonight, it was about Johnny's struggles with the fact that he doesn't have much religious faith, despite his relationship with the now-absent Reverend Purdy, and his mother's own generous donations to the Heritage Foundation. We have been over this before in previous seasons-- like last season, as a matter of fact.

I get it: TV is supposed to lie to me. I know that the real reason Jared lost all that weight was because Subway sandwiches so destroyed his intestinal tract that he wasn't able to eat like he used to. I know that no guy in the history of America has ordered a Smirnoff Ice at a bar without hating himself a little. I know that despite repeated attempts to prove otherwise, the NHL no longer exists and Vs. isn't even a real TV channel.

But there are some lies not as obvious as these. There are lies more insidious. Lies that don't look like lies. I don't know if TV has an agenda or is just so zombified by institutional groupthink that they've begun to believe these lies themselves, but there's no doubt that they exist and they are subtle. Being the crusading young reporter I am, I dutifully spent the weekend watching television and identifying the five most insidious lies TV expects us to believe.

The list after the jump.

After Oprah tore James Frey apart on her show last week, I was left to wonder what would be next for the author.

I should've known.

A Manhattan social worker was the first to file a lawsuit against Random House, the publisher of Frey's fictitious memoir about overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. The plaintiff, Jennifer Cohn, said she recommended Frey's book to a number of clients who were struggling with the same addiction. Another New York reader filed a class action lawsuit, asking for her $14.95 back. There are also lawsuits in state and federal courts in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

So...what's worse? Ripping apart the author on nationwide television or suing an author because his memoir is packed with lies?

Author James Frey isn't much of an alcoholic, a drug addict or a criminal. He's a pathological liar. And Oprah exposed him for what he is on her show today. Well, actually, The Smoking Gun exposed him for what he is back on January 8th. Oprah just forced him into admitting that he lied in his so-called memoir about addiction and crime, A Million Little Pieces. Oprah made that book number one on the best seller list when she included it in her book club. It sold 1.77 million copies.

Oprah opened her show by apologizing to viewers for trusting Frey so blindly that she called up Larry King when he was defending his lies book and voiced her support for him. To Frey's face, she said, "I really feel duped." Then, she proceeded to take him down. Inch by inch. God, I love this woman.