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I am not sure if you have heard of this guy, most people probably do not watch Fox News so I am on the assumption you don’t. He is a realitvley new analyst with fox news, however, he has become one of their most controversial hosts. I do not want to talk about Fox News in general, it is my belief that they get too much criticism from other media outlets who don’t receive just criticism themselves. I do think the Fox News channel leans quite a bit to the right. Glenn Beck on the other hand takes things to an entire different level.

Many have said that Glenn Beck is one of the new voices of American Conservatism. I for one, hope that is not the case. I have found him to be a bit crazy. I chose that term, crazy, on purpose. Why? Recently, a man who I often disagree with, James Carville, called him just that. Now, I am not saying that Beck doesn’t mean well, or even once in a while makes a good point, but he seems to represent the radical side of Fox News. I do not have a source, but I have seen Beck sitting down on a Fox News program where it also included other common Fox personalities.  Just who those other anchors were, I can not remember. However, I do remember seeing two to three other individuals. Beck had said something so outlandish that the other three common Fox News personalities paused and looked at Beck in disbelief. I can remember one saying something to the effect of “I don’t think that is true.”

I honestly think, that deep down inside of Glenn Beck that he doesn’t believe what comes out of his own mouth. However, he does things for ratings. He seems to be emerging as one of the greater Fox News personalities and thus he must remain controversial. Whether that calls for pretending to throw a live frog into boiling water, screaming at radio callers, or fake crying mulitple times, there is a large portion of the show which is an act. It is pure entertainment value.

I don’t mean to target only conservative shows, as I think all news stations, whether they are local or national, are biased and do not represent the entire truth, no matter how objective they try to be. It is impossible to completely objective no matter what side you take. But Beck is definitively one of the more flamboyant, theatrical, and biased individuals in the world of national news, the conservative Al Franken if you will.

I consider myself to be quite conservative, however I think some of the things Beck has said is just overly exaggerated. The items he talks about may contain a hint of truth, but he does not represent my views as a conservative. I for one do not believe Obama is going to kill me, pour gasoline on me, or that anyone should act militarily upon our own country. I don’t agree with the new administration’s policies, so I have written emails to officials expressing my concerns.  I do not want Beck in any shape or form stating the he represents the political views of right-minded. But Beck, and his producers, understand one thing, and that is entertainment. They will do anything to get a few more viewers from a show. Since that is the case, he will only keep adding fuel to the fire, sort to speak.

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Why does Hugh Laurie get this weeks honor? Laurie plays the character House on the television show of the same name. Last night’s episode proved to me just how good of an actor Laurie truly is. Laurie had a reduced role on House last night. Without giving too much of the plot away, Foreman, one of the main supporting cast members took House’s position at the hospital. With Foreman at the head of the hospital the show was fairly boring. The normal witty yet brash dialogue that House brings in solving a medical mystery was missing. Normally the medical mystery would be enough to keep one’s interest however the show really lacked without the presence of Hugh Laurie as House. Thankfully, it appears that House will be back in his traditional role soon enough. He is a true talent as an  actor to one of my favorite shows; and that is why he is this weeks, person of the week.

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Tonight was the first night that Jay Leno returned from his three month retirement to do his new show, The Jay Leno Show. I am a huge fan of Leno. I can remember having lunch back in high school where my friends and I would argue over who was the better host – Jay Leno or Conan O’Brien. I would always argue for Jay and the rest of the group, about ten in all, would say Conan O’Brien. Still to this day, I think Leno was the better, more funny, and more entertaining host. I was quite sad when he went off the air of The Tonight Show and I was delighted to hear about his return at the 10pm time slot.

There was only one thing I did not like when I heard that he was coming back. Jay Leno expressed multiple times that his new show would be different, with only a taste of the old. Because of that, I had my reservations of the brand new show that Leno was going to pilot. Now to jump to tonight, the grand opening night of the Jay Leno Show.

Leno had a great guest list tonight. First, he interviewed Jerry Seinfeld. Seeing the two of them trade jokes, which some looked painfully scripted, was awesome. I was seriously cracking up. Leno also had that jerk, Kanye West, on for a more serious interview about Kanye’s not so classy actions at the Video Music Awards show. Leno got Kanye really good. At one point Kanye was at a loss for words after Leno asked him “what would your mother think of what you did?” Kanye actually cried. In addition to the great Seinfeld bit, and the jack-ass known as Kanye, there was the traditional: monologue, “headlines,” a couple taped joke sessions (interview with President Obama), and a musical number by three talented artists (Jay Z, Rihanna, and the jack-ass Kanye).¹ The show seemed very Tonight Show-esque with a nice new fancy set.

Critics, such as Time, seem to be harping that Jay Leno was wrong in saying that it would be a different show, but I am glad it is not. Jay Leno was quite funny. I was cracking up most of the time. I found the whole show just great, and it is nice to have Jay Leno back on a nightly basis. Oh, and for those Kevin Eubanks fans, he, and his band, are back as well! Fantastic show Mr. Leno, keep it up and this will be a hit of a show.

Endnotes

1. President Barack Obama even refferred to Kanye West, unofficially of course, as a jack-ass. So if the President can do it, then so can I. Don’t believe me? Here is my source. SOURCE: LA TIMES

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Occasionally I like to give a shoutout to a new television series that I am watching. I do this to try and inform my few viewers in the hope that they will check out the show. In these poor economic times new shows may find it rough to continue past the initial few episodes unless they have a mass following. This time, I really want people to check out the new series on NBC called “Southland.” Recently my favorite television program wrapped up in a series finale. My second favorite show was a far drop from the quality of my favorite show. I was kinda bummed that my viewing quality of TV would go down. Soon after my primary tv show went off the air, “Southland” came around and it has the potential to be that primary quality of a show.

To those who do not know. it is a show about LAPD cops. It is edgy, and more realistic than most other cops shows. It discusses hard crimes and eventhough it is on a network channel, there is a bit of swearing. Most of it is bleeped out, but it is better than nothing.Some of the cops have tough decisions to make, like whether they should let the person go, whether they should bring him in, and they make mistakes. The show goes much more beyond the work place however.

What is so great about the show  is that it focuses more on the personal lives of the cops. There are some cops who are, for a lack of a better word, assholes. Instead of the show just showing that they are assholes they actually peer into their personal lives and makes you understand why he may be an asshole and you feel sorry for him. The main – and most interesting – aspect of the show has to be with the rookie cop played by Ben McKenzie. He has to go through a lot of the things that people have to go through with a new job and his acting in the role is perfect. I can’t say that I am a cop, but from what I know about starting new jobs I can form a general idea of how a cop may react when just starting the job. McKenzie plays the role perfectly. There are cops who have marriage problems and are in denial, again the role is played quite well. I highly suggest that people who view this post tune in next week.

The show airs on Thursday nights at 10 PM PST on NBC.

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I apologize for not updating in the last couple days. As I said recently, Cal State Fullerton is pounding the work on me, and I don’t have time to write any in-depth articles. I have come across a few things I would love to comment on but things are hectic right now. I am going to be adding a few links to some cool blogs by the end of tonight. They are basketball blogs but one in particular is done in an interesting way. So check out the blog roll. There are also more to come beyond these basketball ones, but I have not made the final decision.

One thing I am really excited for is the TV movie of 24: Redemption. I have seen a couple seasons of 24. One I liked, one I didn’t. But I really have bought into the hype of this movie that is set in Africa, and is around the topics of child soldiers. It is really different than what other shows or movies have really tackled. So I am intrigued. It starts a 8pm Pacific Time tonight on Fox.

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