They May Look Like the 20th Century, But They Talk Like Today

Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:45 am


The producers of “Mad Men” and “Downton Abbey” are justifiably lauded for their meticulous attention to period detail in the clothes, furnishings, and world events of the eras they portray.  And audiences love seeing the styles of 1960’s New York and early 20th century England.  But there is one area where it would be too difficult for the writers and too jarring for the audience to be true to the period, and that is the language.  While they may avoid obvious modern expressions like the use of “okay” in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” an alert grad student has documented the anachronisms in these shows and elsewhere and it makes for an entertaining and most illuminating interview on Slate’s “Lexicon Valley” podcast.  What year did we start using the term “put him on hold?”  When did we first use the word “wartime?”  Did we say “more traditional” in eras where traditions had not changed much in decades?  And what two-word phrase you need to use nearly every day was hardly ever used until the 1970’s — and what does its rise as the prior phrase fell out of use tell us about the way we view ourselves?

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Television

Father’s Day Tribute to the Best Television Dads

Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:00 am

My gallery of great movie dads and list of daddy-daughter movies include wonderful films for families to watch together and talk about the great fathers in their own families.

Some of the best dads on film appear on television, which allows us to see families in a variety of circumstances over many years. Some of them even start to feel like members of our own families. These dads are not perfect but they always seem to know the right thing to say, whether comforting, guiding, or providing support. And they inspire even more through their own examples of trustworthiness and wisdom. My favorites include:

1. Tom Bosley on Happy Days
2. John Goodman on Roseanne
3. Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show

4. Danny Thomas on Make Room for Daddy
5. Bil Cosby on The Cosby Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey4IeVB4_eY
6. Bill Bixby on The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
7. John Amos on Good Times
8. Michael Landon on Little House on the Prairie
9. Robert Young on Father Knows Best
10. Peter Gallagher in The O.C.

 

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Television

Television Expands Content Ratings

Posted on June 11, 2012 at 11:22 am

It didn’t make sense to have “content ratings” advising parents of adult content in programs when they were broadcast but not when they were viewed online.  So I join FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, TVWatch, and others who have been advocating for content information online in applauding ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, and Spanish-language broadcasters Telemundo and Univision for agreeing to include the same information in for online streaming viewers that they do on television.  The information will be available by the end of the year.

The independent board that monitors the use of the ratings found that:

72 percent of parents report having rules about TV use;
68 percent of parents say they use the TV ratings system;
88 percent of parents are aware that the TV ratings system provides guidance based on the age of the child;
36 percent of parents use either a V-Chip or cable/satellite-provided parental controls and
95 percent of parents who use the ratings most often find them helpful.

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Television

Push Girls — New on Sundance Channel

Posted on June 8, 2012 at 3:21 pm

I am delighted with the new Sundance Channel series, “Push Girls,” a reality series about a group of vibrant, active, bright friends, all women in wheelchairs.

The New York Times says the theme of the show is not disability; it’s friendship.

t’s four girlfriends juggling dating and babies and careers. Their lives are interesting, with a dramatic twist.”

That angle — young women just trying to figure it all out — was ultimately what sold Ms. Barnett. “I never thought, ‘Oh, we need to make a show about disability,’ ” she said. Rather: “There are so many shows in the scripted world about female friendship that I feel are finally accurate. But I didn’t see many in the unscripted space.”

It’s worth noting that unlike the tense casts of, say, Bravo’s “Real Housewives” series, the women on “Push Girls” are genuinely friends, not acquaintances hurriedly bundled together before shooting began. Ms. Rockwood met Ms. Angel at a rehab facility just days after Ms. Rockwood’s accident. Three years later she encountered Ms. Schaikewitz in an acting class. Ms. Rockwood has known Ms. Adams for four years; Ms. Rockwood invited her to go with the group to a concert shortly after Ms. Adams moved to the area. “She never thought she would have BFFs in wheelchairs,” Ms. Rockwood said.

Disabled people are usually omitted entirely from television in movies, unless they are portrayed as people defined only by their disability whose role is just to be inspiring.  These women are inspiring not by being saint-like but by being fully themselves, supporting each other and living their lives.  As the late Christopher Reeve, whose foundation supports this series, said in the title of his memoir, the most important thing to know about what happened after his injury is that he was Still Me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpRHsGpBmF8

 

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Television

Auto-Tuned Mr. Rogers

Posted on June 7, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Thanks to The Wrap for sharing a heartwarming gem.  The auto-tuned Mr. Rogers is just as friendly a neighbor as the original.

I am not going to embed the clip because I am sorry to say it is followed by a brief unrelated link to another clip with some offensive language.  But do visit the YouTube page and just turn it off as soon as you see the end credit.

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