Word: showness
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...giant basket of happy. If Murphy can flesh out the overly broad characters, this series could be a rare, sophisticated, joyous hybrid that gets to have its pop candy and satirize it too. As Randy Jackson might say, Glee's early tone is a tad pitchy. But this show works it out, dawg...
...Waltons, The Partridge Family. When American families with three or more children were common, these clans weren't outlandish. They were like you, just more so. Lately, TV families have gotten smaller, just like viewers' families. (An exception, the HBO polygamist drama Big Love, is, tellingly, a niche show set in a niche culture...
...economy, the shows have a hot-button appeal. Today TLC's shows make literal a cold truth: that deciding how many kids to have is about not just love but also money. (One side effect of the recession: vasectomies have skyrocketed.) No-nonsense Kate Gosselin of Jon & Kate--who had twins, then sextuplets, through fertility treatments--puts it plainly: "The cost of everything times eight is ridiculous." The Gosselins have defrayed those costs through corporate freebies--bikes, toys, personal services--and, of course, the show, which, Kate told Ladies' Home Journal, is "our family job." When hubby...
...show with the most explicit cultural politics is 18 Kids, whose Duggars espouse a pro-life, Evangelical Christianity. (The dad, Jim-Bob, was an Arkansas legislator and ran for Senate in 2002.) They homeschool, reject evolution and eschew pop culture--except Today show visits and their series--and when the kids watch a DVD, an elder daughter puts a hand on the screen to hide a character's immodest dress. Watching Jim-Bob criticize Hollywood moviemaking--"It might make money for companies, but it's not good for individuals"--you're staring at the strange no-man's-land where...
...tearing the place apart, well, the after-party was fairly well behaved. In fact, Me Talk Pretty sang an acoustic number that even the middle-aged couple enjoyed. "The girl has a fabulous voice," said Ron Barriault, 54. "It's dinner and a show." At the last place you'd expect it. Rock...