“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-16 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Programs from week of September 12, 2016
This Week’s Podcast:
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
New on TV, Pt 1
If there is one consistent theme for me in the entertainment media, it is the question of “Who thought this was a good idea?”. Back in the days when I was a radio station music director, there were many hours when I listened to music that brought that question mind.
Now in the spirit of transparency, I must note that I am not always on the mark with what I think is less than the best. The first time I heard Bruce Springsteen my assessment was that he couldn’t sing. Today I own virtually every album he’s ever produced. I have no idea why anyone thought that an “Angry Birds” movie was a good idea but it has grossed over three hundred million dollars worldwide.
With all of that said, I’m willing to take a shot at what’s new this fall on TV.
Leading the way is Fox’s “Son of Zorn”. This is the story of a seven foot tall animated hero who, to my eyes, looks a lot like He-Man with red hair, and comes to live with a real life (meaning non-animated) family. So he can be close with the non-animates son he had with his non-animated ex-wife. While it looks like there’s some funny lines in the preview (which aired this past Sunday) I’m not sure how this lasts as a series.
Elsewhere on Fox, I have to wonder about a TV series based on the movie “The Exorcist”, and then there’s trouble with trying to re-make well-known successes. The TV series version of the Mel Gibson “Lethal Weapon” franchise has flop written all over it.
Speaking of re-makes, CBS will take a shot at updating “McGyver”, NBC will try “Taken” without Liam Neeson and CBS goes after “Training Day”.
There is the usual bunch of domestic comedies being trotted out. Not sure I have good feelings about CBS’s “Kevin Can Wait” with Kevin James playing a cop who stays at home with his kids, or, on the same network, “Man With A Plan” where Matt LeBlanc is a contractor who stays at home with his kids. ABC has “American Housewife” where just a regular mom finds herself in the upscale suburb of perfect families or “Downward Dog” where the story is told from the viewpoint of the family pooch. Fox kicks in with “The Mick” about a hustler who stays at home to take care of her sister’s kids while sis and the brother-in-law are on the lam.
Just to make sure CW Network doesn’t feel left out, I’m scratching my head over “Riverdale” which brings us an updated look at the comic book universe of Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica.
A couple of these might make it, a couple of “sure things” will die. And the head scratching process will begin again.
New on TV, Pt. 2
I don’t want to add to my growing reputation as a curmudgeon in training. So let’s balance the week with a look at the new television shows that sound like they might be interesting.
In a lot of ways, this is actually the much harder category. While a concept may sound interesting, it’s really a matter of whether or not there is any chemistry between the actors and the ever unpredictable tastes of the audience. As I mentioned in the other commentary, the biggest hit of the year could be one of the shows that didn’t impress me at first blush. And any of these shows could colossally crash and burn. But it’s the nature of the biz.
Now the number of wins almost always is smaller than the losers, so let’s see what we can do.
NBC intrigues me with “Powerless” a series about insurance adjusters who clean up the messes left by superheroes and “The Good Place” about getting a second chance in the afterlife (a comedy starring Ted Danson), the one that really jumps out at me is “Emerald City”, which is described as an edgy take on the Wizard of Oz books. Those books were much darker than the beloved film so I’m interested. Speaks to the “Grimm” fan in me.
I’ve managed to dump on a lot of CBS shows already. If I’m wrong on one my bet is that it will be “Kevin Can Wait”. But “Pure Genius” sounds like it has potential. Kind of “The Millionaire” meets “House”. But I have to believe that Michael Weatherly’s return with “Bull” will do all right. All the “NCIS” fans will give it a shot. If they play to his strengths as an actor, it at least has a slightly new angle on courtroom dramas.
On to ABC! Can I be honest? There’s not a lot that excites me on ABC’s list for the fall or mid-season. “Still Star Crossed” follows Romeo and Juliet’s familes after the two die. “Notorious” combines courtroom and newsroom dramas. So my nod goes to “Designated Survivor” starring Kiefer Sutherland as the only surviving member of the cabinet when the rest of the government gets wiped out.
For Fox, they are trying to re-ignite some previous hits. There’s “ 24 Hours – Legacy” and “Prison Break”, which try to pick up where the previous shows left off. Fox seems to need a little more edge to their shows, so let’s go with the very topical “Shots Fired” which follows a racially charged shooting and the following investigation.
Do I really have to pick one for the CW? All right, make it “Frequency” which has an interesting twist from the original movie to play with.
It’s just as likely that all these will be gone within months of their debut, but that’s what makes the new TV season so much fun.
Disaster News
This is the week where we remember. We remember where we were fifteen years ago when the planes crashed in New York, Washington D.C. and a field in Pennsylvania. For me, the most intense memory was driving home a few hours later and looking up at the sky. For the first time in my entire life, those skies were almost totally empty of airplanes. That thought struck me with the force of the great change that I knew was coming.
It’s the week when we remember the week that followed. As the details of the attack became clearer. The almost literal “wall to wall” coverage by all the major networks and news sources. The shock, the outrage, the sadness, and the confusion.
Nothing like this had happened in our country since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thankfully, nothing like it has happened since.
The media world has changed dramatically since then. On those fateful days, we did not have what most of us would today recognize as a “smartphone”. We didn’t all jump on Facebook because it didn’t exist for us either.
There have been plenty of other disasters, storms, and earthquakes, and wars. Economic collapses, and disease pandemics. The bad news is that there is more bad news waiting for us in the years ahead. That’s not any level of soothsaying, it’s a simple reading of history. While there will be many bright and joy filled days ahead, there will be days when the media needs to cover tragedy.
So it seems to me that this is the perfect time to consider what the media needs to do in that future moment. The last decade has too often seen the media not living up to its highest standards. Too often they have succumbed to the siren song of ratings through sensationalism.
What we need in those moments, are media that is both comprehensive and cautious. What we need is news that is accurate, even when the only accurate statement is “We just don’t know at this point”. Complex stories require complex coverage. That complexity requires that each moment be carefully considered before it proclaimed.
But the media are not the only ones who need to change how such stories are approached. We, the media audience, need to accept a more considered
approach to these stories. We’ve allowed ourselves to be fooled into believing that all information is instantaneously available. Consequently, we tend to be impatient and are easy marks for the media news sources that are willing to pander to our desires. That’s an awful situation under the best of circumstances. It is utterly immoral under the worst of circumstances.
Here’s praying that the next disaster of any size is a while a way. And that we get the information we truly need when we need it.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2016
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Stories Are My Life 
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