Station Break

Heard or seen something on the pop culture landscape that appalled/delighted/enlightened you? Of course you have. That's what Station Break with Paul Farhi is here for. Local stations, cable, radio shows, commercials, pop culture -- they're all fair game.

Submit your questions and comments before or during today's discussion.

Farhi is a reporter in the Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself full time to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 75 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings all, and thanks for coming 'round. Before we begin, a "program note" (as Ted Koppel used to say at the end of "Nightline"): I'll be hosting a Very Special Super Bowl Episode of Station Break, on Monday at 1 p.m. We'll rant, we'll rave, we'll generally snark on the ads, the game, the halftime show and all things lively, lame and excessive about our annual football ritual. Y'all come, or at least have the decency to send regrets...Now then. I was reading something about the new mid-season shows the other day and was struck by one subsidiary aspect of these shows: the jobs the characters have. There are doctors and lawyers, as always, on TV sitcoms and dramas, but there are also lots and lots of semi-glam white-collar professionals: advertising creative directors, magazine and book publishers, museum curators, and the like (even "struggling" single mom Lorelai owns a charming inn on "Gilmore Girls"). The cops aren't even just cops anymore--they're "forensic pathologists"--and the military people aren't just soldiers (on "NCIS," they're "forensic pathologists," too). Isn't anyone a plumber, a government bureaucrat or a school teacher anymore? Another thing: When someone has a regular or (god forbid) blue-collar job, it's a major source of plot complications/hijinks (c.f. "The King of Queens"), but on the other shows the job is kind of taken for granted. What's going on here? Is this just another element of the absurd glamming up of everything on TV (the eye- popping wardrobes, houses and spouses)? Your thoughts?

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Washington, D.C.: Anything you can tell us about Tony Kornheiser possibly going to Monday Night Football? Did ESPN at least contact him about being the backup plan if Al Michaels bolts to NBC? Could anyone make Joe Thiesmann funny? Thanks!

Paul Farhi: We've heard nothing internally (we're always the last to know). But Mr. Tony WAS considered the last time around (when Dennis Miller, disastrously, was hired) and I don't rule it out. Think he'd be any good? I do...

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Bethesda, Md.: Will we hear Tony Kornheiser on Washington Post Radio? Will you, Paul Farhi, grace the airwaves as well?

Paul Farhi: Interesting question, too. I kind of doubt we'll hear Tony on the station since he's got a contract with a rival station we can't mention but goes by the initials w. t. e. and m. As for me, my agent is awaiting your phone calls.

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Washington, D,C,: When something like this Tony Kornheiser to Monday Night football thing emerges, are your editors at The Post last to know? Was the Sports editor blind-sided? And is the end of Tony's radio show? Too bad if it is. Was hoping it would be part of Washington Post Radio.

Paul Farhi: I gotta tell ya: I was a little shocked to read about Tony's discussions--if, in fact, there ARE discussions--in the N.Y. Post. I would have thought this would have been a Washington Post story. I recall that Tony's discussions with CBS over his sitcom, "Listen Up!", also leaked elsewhere before we learned about it (same thing with a Sally Quinn-written sitcom that never got off the ground). But I don't know the details of this MNF thing. Maybe it's bogus. Maybe not.

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Georgetownm Washington, D.C.: I'm sure I'm one of an army of, well, tens who winced when we read your story about "Big Game" advertising.

The term Super Bowl is almost certainly not copyrighted. It is, however, a trademark. That's what the little (R) means. And there is a significant difference.

Is it asking too much for you to get your facts straight?

washingtonpost.com: A Game by Any Other Name Sells as Sweet (Post, Jan. 31)

Paul Farhi: Sorry, Mr. Law School, and thanks for the correction. I'd ask you to explain the difference between copyrights and trademarks, but, um, I've already had my nap today.

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Greenbelt, MD: What's the deal nowadays with canceling some prime time shows after a week or two? They get less chance to make an impression than a Hollywood feature film! (How many weeks was "The Book of Daniel" on? Two? Three?)

Paul Farhi: Right, "Book of Daniel," and the new ABC sitcoms with John Stamos ("Jake in Progress") and Heather Graham ("Emily's Reasons Why Not") last one whole episode each. Short answer: the ratings for 'em were very, very bad. Longer answer: I'm not sure the networks really are quicker on the "kill" button these days. In fact, with some much TV around, the bar for staying on the air may be lower than it ever was...

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D.C.: Tony K. on MNF? Ooooh. At least Dennis Miller (who's tenure WAS disastrous) was funny and intelligent.

Paul Farhi: Well, "intelligent" is not really required (witness Joe Theismann's announcing career). Better qualities, I would think, would be "colorful," "knowledgeable" and "opinionated." Tony has several of those attributes.

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Fairbanks, Alaska: Weren't your editorial writers a little too defensive today talking about the baseball deal? Does ANYBODY really think that because the team will be carried on a radio station to whom you provide content, that somehow The Post would allow MLB to dictate content in the newspaper? I mean, you guys don't even OWN the radio station, right?

Paul Farhi: Right. Let's say it again: We won't own the station, nor did we have anything to do with the station's baseball contract. We DO benefit from having the team on the station, however, in that the games could help raise awareness of the station and thus its ad sales, which the Post Co. will get a share of. Bloggers and letter writers, please note.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hey, you don't look like I pictured you.

Paul Farhi: I hope that's a good thing.

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Arlington, Va.: Are you madly awaiting the Sopranos? I really like the music in their trailer for the new season and from what little can be gleaned it looks like it might feature more violence than the last couple of seasons.

Paul Farhi: Madly, yes. I've caught some of the re-runs that HBO has been running on Sunday nights and, man, they are just plain wonderful, even on second and third viewing. Can we all agree here? The Sopranos is the best series ever on TV...

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Germantown, Md.: "The cops aren't even just cops anymore -- they're 'forensic pathologists' -- and the military people aren't just soldiers (on 'NCIS,' they're 'forensic pathologists,' too)."

Just to be picky ... on NCIS, they're not military people. They're civilian Special Agents. Gibbs is a Marine reservist, but it's not part of the job (it's so they can get Mark Harmon into uniform once in a while). And the only forensic pathologist is Ducky, their medical examiner.

However, it does seem like everybody's a Special Agent of something or other lately. Or they're cops/forensic criminalists/behavior profilers/all-of-the-above. Doesn't anyone single-task any more?

Paul Farhi: Thanks for the correction (my, we're feisty today, aren't we?). My basic point was that it's apparently not good enough just to do basic police work, like walking a beat. Now, everyone's a specialist/scientist....

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WTOP: We think you'd be great on Washington Post Radio. For a change WE could ask the tough questions and decide which ones to lose or include. Good the goose, good for the gander.

Paul Farhi: Okay. In that case, I'm studying up from my man, Scott McClelland, whose fallback is to always suggest that "the American people know we're working hard for them."

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Arizona Bay, Ariz.: C'mon admit The Soprano's isn't even the best show that's been on HBO, let alone TV. Six Feet Under blows that show out of the water and then some!!

Paul Farhi: I can only respond with a cliche that newspaper reporters often use when they want to make a cheap transition/contrast: Others disagree.

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Rockville, Md.: Who wants to listen to Tony K anyway? I don't watch PTI or listen to his radio show, because of him. And from what I've heard he hasn't been the most pleasant person to deal with at the Clearchannel studio in Rockville, or at least to the DC 101 people, who have been there much longer than him and his other sports talk 980 buddies. Also how much of a jerk is Steve Czaban?

Paul Farhi: Feisty, yes. Very feisty...

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Northern Virginia: Just want to let you know I bought and set up a Slingbox for my house. Now I can stream my cable out onto the Internet and watch it anywhere I have broadband access. It even provides remote control access to my cable box.

Paul Farhi: Nice trick! You mean you can now watch "Adult Swim" or "Iron Chef" at work?

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To The Trademark Geek: The article does say that the term "Super Bowl" is trademarked and differentiates it from the NFL's copyrights. Read the whole article.

Paul Farhi: Uh, right. Yeah, what he said I wrote...

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Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Concerning the new "The CW", what do you think about it and its prospects? And do you think that freezing out the News Corp stations (i.e., DC 20) was payback for Fox taking many CBS affiliates back in 1993 when CBS lost the NFL? Thanks!

Paul Farhi: Had not considered that angle! But, yes, there's a nice revenge angle there (for those who are confused: News Corp./Murdoch convinced a bunch of CBS affiliates to switch to Fox back when Fox got NFL rights; CBS, a half-owner of the new CW network (formerly UPN and WB) is now essentially yanking network programming from many UPN affiliates, including about 9 owned by News Corp. Whew...)

But here's why it probably ISN'T payback: News Corp. was probably going to end its affiliation with UPN when its current contract expires in May. UPN was pretty much doomed at that point...

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Silver Spring, Md.: I don't think Czaban is a jerk -- his radio personality is somewhat obnoxious, but in person and private e-mail, he's actually quite reasonable (often wrong, but reasonable).

Paul Farhi: Interesting point, and reminds us not to confuse the "on-air" personality with the actual human being. Example: Don Geronimo (Michael Sorce) seems almost like another guy when you talk to him off the air--quiet, self-deprecating, etc.

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Sopranos vs. The World: I might argue that the last couple of The Wire seasons were better than the last couple of The Sopranos seasons but overall I'd still go with The Sopranos.

Six Feet Under? You gotta be kiddin' me. The first season was good but then it turned into Bizarro World.

Paul Farhi: My thoughts exactly...

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Couch Potato: Since there will be lots of talk this week about good ads and bad ads, with the Super Bowl at hand, is there a more annoying commercial right now than the Chrysler ad in which an executive saying "Stock's up" gets miscommunicated, "telephone-style," to the factory floor, where a worker hears "Stock up" and orders the assembly line accelerated? (Result: Too many cars, so prices have to be slashed -- which will kill the stock price, but they don't mention that!) It's just a horrible, witless piece of advertising, not funny the first time and truly annoying after that -- I now change channels the second it starts. (And isn't it a bad thing when ads drive customers of both to product and the station away?)

Speaking of Super Bowl ads: Will you be back next week for a special chat to analyze and discuss Sunday's offerings?

Paul Farhi: Yes, that's a terrible ad. Not funny, not very accurate, and I couldn't remember who the advertiser was (always a bad sign). And yes, Super Bowl ad/game chat is on Monday at 1 p.m. (please do the assigned reading before posting...)

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Washington, D.C.: Paul -- GREAT point about TV/movie jobs. I have long noticed how many films and shows, especially romantic comedy types, seem to rely on dubious interpretations of jobs. Here's my take: for a character to be appealing, he/she needs: disposable income, time to either get into trouble or spend with the other characters, and the "cool" factor. Advertising, PR seem to pop up a lot. I am troubled by how often screen jobs seem to require little or no effort. I think this sets a bad example and as a recent college grad just in the workforce, I think a lot of my peers have unreasonable expectations, some of which came from TV/movies.

Paul Farhi: Yes, precisely. We know movies and TV shows are fantasies, but on some level (maybe on EVERY level) they raise our expectations of what is desirable and achievable. Messages sent: You're not beautiful enough, you're not rich enough, you're not smart enough. And you've got a lousy job.

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Re: HBO: The Wire is without question the best show, in totality, ever on HBO. Season 1 of The Sopranos is probably the best season of any dramatic series on any network ever.

Paul Farhi: Lotta HBO lovers on this board, it appears. What, no one likes the series that have appeared on NBC, ABC or CBS? Or maybe Lifetime or Spike?

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Arlington, Va.: Hey Paul .My prediction for Super Bowl commercials:

A hot guy married to an average, perhaps a bit zaftig woman and their two adorable kids discuss the wife's heartburn. Or toilet cleaner. Or Disney World.

Or maybe I'm just dreaming. Why are there all these commercials with above-average looking, much younger women married to schlumpy guys?

Paul Farhi: My esteemed colleague Lisa D. called this "male pattern optimism"--the idea (and least in the writers' and producers' minds) that schlumps can be playas, too.

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Springfield, USA: The Simpsons is the hands-down best show to ever be on TV!

Paul Farhi: A case could be made, yes...

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Re: Steve Czaban : Both on the air and in e-mail I've found Steve Csaban to be a jerk and borderline racist. I know he's the local designated loud-mouth idiot, but I don't think its all an act.

Paul Farhi: All I know is what I hear on the air. I make no representations either way...

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Re: 'normal characters': And if the character is a forensic pathologist, and the character is a she, then she'll know Kung Fu and be able to take down even FBI agents in hand to hand combat, all the while remaining hot. It's like TV (and movie) people stopped trying to write actual strong female characters and have all gone to the ridiculous uber-tough chicks.

Paul Farhi: Yes, I think "Buffy" was the breakthrough in this regard. Or maybe "Wonder Woman" or "Charlie's Angels." They proved that women can beat up much stronger, better armed men and not sweat or muss their hair. Feminists must be very, very proud.

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Re: Semi Glam White Collar Professionals: Yeah, I've noticed it too, for a long time now. Women are never admin assistants or it professionals -- they have to be in advertising (short skirts)public relations (even shorter skirts) or some off the wall profession that only a few people have. Why don't they show a woman slaving over an Excel spreadsheet of sales and expenses that is due 5 minutes after your lunch hour, somethinng that accountants (like me) can relate to? Or are we too boring?

Paul Farhi: No! You could be right! "Excel Spreadsheet Babes." On the new CW network. Coming this fall. You have been warned.

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Jobs on TV/Movies: Psst ... Paul ... they're not REAL jobs. Pass it on .

Signed,

Feisty Guy #25

Paul Farhi: What? You're blowing my mind here, 25....

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Arlington, Va.: I tuned in to hear Mark Levin a few times on WMAL. But the guy is unlistenable. He has no radio personality, a horrible voice, and a show that seems to consist of tired insults. I can't believe he is going to get any kind of decent ratings.

Paul Farhi: What think of WJFK's new night guy, Jay Severin? I find him oddly creepy, and I don't mean the usual conservative/libertarian viewpoint.

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Re: male pattern optimism: But Lisa also admits that the trade-off is all of these guys come off as bozos who are considered jokes by their families. Of course, my wife could think what she wanted about me if she looked like Leah Remini (sp? King of Queens).

Paul Farhi: Yes, there is that "duality" (if you can use the word "duality" to describe anything about "King of Queens"). But I'd argue that guys have, and will always be, the butt of the joke on sitcoms. Comes with the territory, I guess. At least the scenery is nice while they're being humiliated.

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D.C.: The thing that blows my mind about TV and movies is that they ALWAYS find a parking space directly in front of the building they are going into -- even if it is D.C. or N.Y. Talk about unrealistic.

Paul Farhi: Yes. And all the cell phone connections work, every time (see "24"). And there's never any traffic, either.

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Herndon, Va.: Why does Calleigh (Emily Procter) on CSI: Miami talk that almost spooky, detached way? (By the way, she's in the current # flick in the nation, Big Momma's House 2.)

Paul Farhi: Didn't she do that when she was on "West Wing," too? Maybe that's her acting "style."

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Sterling, Va.: Peter Rosenberg: Snoozefest or interesting talk?

Paul Farhi: Both. He blows hot and cold. I get the sense that he's work in progress. Could be an interesting work when it's done, but it's still in progress.

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Rockville, Md.: Re: sitcom jobs

My favorite unrealistic job was Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. He's supposed to be a sports writer but works a normal 9-5 schedule!

What sports is he covering/commenting on from 9-5? He should be too busy trying to beat midnight deadlines a la Wilbon.

BTW Tony on MNF? No way. Just listen to him and his 8 p.m. bedtimes. Besides, the TonyCruiser?

Paul Farhi: And in the 42-year history of "Raymond," did he ever once go to the office or to a press box? I don't remember it.

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20165: How long will JFK give Peter Rosenberg? I listen to his show by default because it's on after the Junkies. Sometimes Peter is interesting, and engaging, but more often than not his show is pretty boring. Am I nuts?

Paul Farhi: See previous post. I think we agree here.

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Reston, Va.: I hope the CW gets a new name; one that doesn't stink. When UPN and the WB merge how many UPN shows do you think will survive? The WB seems to be going mainly for an ... um .. .suburban audience as opposed to the ... urban audience that UPN programs for. Or do you think they'll do what Fox did: start out with lots of 'urban' programming and get progressively whiter as they get progressively more popular?

Paul Farhi: This is the big question about the (yes, badly named) CW: How do you merge different sensibilities and audiences into the new network. Shows that (tentatively) are staying are wrestling (from UPN), "Gilmore Girls" (from WB), "Beauty and the Geek" (from WB) and "Everybody Hates Chris" (from UPN). If there's a pattern there, it's a pattern with checks AND plaids...

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Washington, D.C.: Back in college, I met Jay Severin at one of his on-location radio shows. My boyfriend was a BIG fan of his, so I somehow invited him out with us and gave him my phone number.

Apparently being 25 years younger with him was swell, as he left not 1, not 2, but THREE voicemails on my phone within the next two hours. They were sleazy and creepy and I did NOT call him back. They were creepy enough that I saved them on a cassette tape and still have them.

Paul Farhi: As Dana Carvey (as Johnny Carson) used to say, that is some weird, wild stuff...

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Don't get me started on Buffy: To be fair, "Buffy" really was a deeper show than you are making it out to be. It used fantasy to make commentary on everyday occurrences. Charlie's Angels on the other hand was pure fluff.

Paul Farhi: Yes, but my limited point remains: She always looked really good after kicking vampire butt.

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Baltimore, Md.: Why no blue-collar types on TV? Because viewers have become accustomed to TV as escapism. A show like "The Honeymooners" would last about as long as the current ABC one-episode hit-and-run shows. Now, having said that, how about Chris' bus-driving fat her on "Everybody Hates Chris", or low-manager father and store-clerk mom on "Malcolm In the Middle"?

Paul Farhi: Yeah, there's a few and they come and go. Al Bundy, the shoe salesman, on "Married with Children" is another. But let's try the economic analysis: Fantasy, yes, but in the main, the networks want upscale viewers, and believe they can attract them by showing them an even more upscale fantasy lifestyle.

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Washington, D.C.: Might not be on topic, but maybe you can throw it out to the chatters. I watched the SAG awards show on Sunday (yes, I need to get a life). At one point, I flipped channels and came back and saw Jamie Foxx and a woman (can't remember her name) presenting something. It was somewhat funny because Foxx kept garbling his lines and and would walk away and then walk back to the microphone to do a 'do-over', like the show wasn't live. My question is, if I remember correctly he said something along the lines of "Before his death, Ray Charles had the chance to view some of the movie 'Ray'", or something like that. And then nothing. No mention of the movie, the movie wasn't nominated this year, etc. It seemed really weird to me, and I'm sure I missed something. Does anyone know what I"m talking about?

Paul Farhi: Anyone?

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Silver Spring, Md.: Arrested Development's last four episodes are this Friday night. Does Fox hope this show will quietly disappear? Any news on the show jumping networks?

Paul Farhi: There has been some interest from other networks (not the big boys, but cable, I think). "AD" has a small but hardcore fan base (most of them are TV critics, I think). And the key word here is "small."

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Brooklyn, N.Y.: Hi Paul --

Thanks for your article about the Howell/Abramoff controversy and for finally making a correction. Did you speak to Ms. Howell about what you were going to write?

Thanks.

Paul Farhi: Thanks. Yes, I did. She was quoted in the story...

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Paul Farhi: Folks, I gotta grab a sandwich before I pass out. But not to despair. We've got more action in store on Monday at 1, for our Post post-Super Bowl show. Stop on by...And as a reward for sticking around this far, the Station BreakDancers are going to take us outta here, with a special tribute to Super Bowl halftime shows of yore. Stand clear of the thundering elephants and exploding blimp! Regards to all....Paul

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