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| Do you ever root for the bad guys?
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The pressure is on Hollywood these days to scale back the violence in television
and films. As the legislation stacks up in Congress, look for networks, with many
already initiating preventative action, to try and beat those crusty old bastards to the punch.
Fox also dropped two other ''reality-based'' shows: World's Funniest Videos, which features home videos of ordinary people (mostly guys taking shots to the groin, or
running their groins into trees), and Guinness World Records: Prime Time, which
depicts folks swallowing sharp objects and avoiding venomous serpents.
Fox isn’t canning all our favorite reality-based programs though. The net will
leave Cops and America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back in the Saturday night line-up.
Doug Herzog (no relation to former baseball manager "Whitey" Herzog), President of
Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co., said the network felt it had made a commitment
to its viewers before the Columbine incident (which we know is BS). "Last year we made a lot of ground with men, mostly on the reality-based shows, but we promised ourselves and promised our viewers to back away from reality shows a little," Herzog said. "We have made good on our promise, although that stuff still has a place at Fox."
That’s network speak for, "We wanted to go with 24 hours of reality-based programming,
but since two nutbags shot up a school, we figured it wouldn’t go over so well." Damn, those network geniuses never cease to amaze us with their wit and laser sharp sensibilities.
When asked if the Columbine incident had any affect on the network’s decision
making process, Herzog continued to sling the BS like a champ. "There's concern
overall from our point of view. We've seen some dramatic changes in the country's
attitudes toward violence over the last couple of weeks, and it's something we are
very focused on at the network," Herzog said between flashing 'I get paid lotsa money
for saying all this crap' grins. "We're about to embark on a public service announcement
campaign against violence with some of our stars."
Didn’t we suggest networks do that, oh, about a month ago? We didn't? Oh yeah right.
As any sane person would understand, Fox can’t kill all of it’s violent
programs. Herzog recently took some heat over Harsh Realm, created by
Chris Carter (about a soldier who gets caught up in a virtual test of whether
he can stay alive and eliminate his rival), and Ryan Caufield (about a rookie
policeman who on his first day encounters the scene of a multiple homicide).
Again, Herzog slung the BS like Doc Holliday in Tombstone. "Chris Carter's not
about guns and explosions, he's about great characters and great stories, and that's
why people come to The X-Files and why hopefully will come to Harsh Realm," Herzog said. "It's a sensitive issue and we will be keeping our eye on it, no doubt about it. This (Harsh Realm) will be a little more action-oriented than
X-Files, but it will be responsible,'' Herzog continued.
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| Fox intends to cut down on violence towards Hondas too.
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Fox’s announcement came on the heels of rival CBS’s own plans to axe the
Mafia drama Falcone (out of similar concerns regarding TV violence).
The question remains: will all this cutting back help stop the senseless
violence in our schools and streets? The answer is an unfortunate: probably
not. Besides, we all know that the increase in violence is due to all those idiot
psychologists preaching about "time-outs" and "positive reinforcement."
If you want to blame someone, blame them, or irresponsible, lazy parents.
Just don’t blame TV.
Those in their late twenties grew up watching The A-team, and Hill Street Blues. Those violent shows never made us want to kill anyone because most of us
had been raised to know right from wrong before we ever laid eyes on Mr. T.
So there.
