Wednesday, January 16, 2008

TV EYE: Open-the-Oven-TV


Bemoan the state of contempo TV all you want, weep at the pure ugly stupidity of the vast majority of reality TV programming, but watch Poker After Dark (NBC, Mon-Fri, 2:05 AM) only at the risk of having an urgent desire to stick yer head in the oven within 15 minutes. A major network program is a bunch of Vegas stiffs sitting around a poker table and grinding their respective teeth, raising the occasional eyebrow, and tossing out the deadliest (which means dead-on- arrival) of bon mots during the card play. The conception of such a show begs some questions about some programmer’s sanity, but the reality of a show as empty, as non-dynamic, as anti-TV as this it reaching on-air status renders any questions unnecessary. Yet another looming signifier that the apocalypse is right around the corner, my friends, face up to it, even more scary and convincing when you realize a special “Director’s Cut” is shown on the weekends!

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