Studio 60
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is quite possibly my favorite new show of the Fall TV season. Aaron Sorkin, for all his faults, is a gifted writer. His first show, Sports Night, was an outstanding show that ended well before its time, and while I didn’t like the political slant of The West Wing (and thus didn’t watch it), I have no doubt that it was technically quite good (The American President is similar, although I think not quite as partisan, but is one of those movies that can suck me in whenever it’s on the tube…). Suffice it to say that I “get” Sorkin’s densely wordy/literate/cynical/idealistic writing style.
One of Studio 60’s twists, however, is its inclusion of a major character that is a “committed Christian” — Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson). I was skeptical when I first heard/read about this, as reasonable, realistic portrayals of Christians in TV shows have been rare. It’s far too easy for easy generalizations/stereotypes to be trotted out for either some easy laughs, or an easy villain. Sorkin, however, has thus far avoided that trap, by writing Harriet as a nicely layered & realistic character that has both a strong sense of her core beliefs, as well as an understanding of carrying out her vocation (i.e., making people laugh). It was quite refreshing to see a scene in the 2nd episode where a pre-show prayer looked to be a regular part of the main cast’s routine, with the prayer being crystal clear in its confession of the Father and Jesus.
TV Squad has just posted a pretty good commentary about this subject — Why Christians should love Studio 60. The author of the post even admits 
to being Lutheran! 
It’s a pretty good read, although I would definitely take exception with the comment that “…Harriet knows that to truly love something, as she obviously truly loves her faith, you have to be willing to acknowledge its faults. Christianity does have its faults (it was created by humans and everything we create is, by definition, imperfect) but very few people can admit that and even fewer people who can do so are on TV.” Obviously, (1) Christianity was not created by man, and (2) Christians are imperfect, not Christianity. That we practice it imperfectly does not mean that it is imperfect, knamean?
Anyway, it’s a good show. Watch it.
-ghp
When Veggie Tales are not, well, Veggie Tales
A side benefit of my recent posting on the Veggie Tales on NBC debacle is that I’ve subscribed to the RSS feed for Phil Vischer’s blog. As the creator of Bob & Larry, Mr. Vischer is an interesting guy himself, and his 10+ posting saga of the rise and fall of Big Idea Productions, Inc. is sobering yet hugely interesting story.
Today, Mr. Vischer posted an explanation whereby he gives a more complete context of the current situation, clearly laying out the players, as well as the differences between Big Ideas, Inc. (aka the production arm of Classic Media in charge of the “new” Veggie Tales) and Big Ideas Productions, Inc. (aka the bankrupted & no-longer-with-us production house that created the Veggie Tales franchise).
In short, Veggie Tales is no longer Mr. Vischer’s baby. What Veggie Tales is (a “values-based” product) is not what Veggie Tales was (a “Christianity-based” product). And that’s sad.
To know more of the context of what happened is, of course, a good thing in general; however, it is also a good thing in that it is really quite impressive & admirable just how honorably Mr. Vischer has stepped up in admitting his errors. That couldn’t have been an easy thing to do, but he seems to have done so in a very forthright & humble manner. So, kudos to him.
-ghp
Veggie Tales sells out?
It looks as though the creators of Veggie Tales might have sold out in order to get their product onto NBC. Either that, or NBC tried to put one over on the creators/producers of VT. How so? NBC has requested the excision of any direct references to God from episodes of VT.
It’s quite sad, really.
I’ve always kind of liked Veggie Tales. I’ve never been under any illusion as to them being anything other than theological fluff, even as VT was being hailed by so many in the American Evangelical camp as being such a powerful “ministry”. Nope, they were a bit too heavy on the Law, and way, WAY too light on the Gospel for me. Even so, VT was still better than much of what was out there for entertaining my red-headed progeny.
I was saddened back when the producers of VT seemed to become way too enamored of their new-found station & influence — it’s never pretty when good folks begin to believe their press clippings. Frankly, they overreached, and tried to branch out way beyond their niche. They (Big Ideas Productions) went bankrupt. But they’re still putting out some pretty darned entertaining stuff. Not perfect, theologically speaking, but still pretty darned entertaining, IMO.
You can check out some more info on this over at (VT co-creator) Phil Vischer’s blog, in this post and this post.
It brings to mind for me the admonition against being unequally yoked with unbelievers…
-ghp
From big sis’s youth
Here’s some Google video of commercials from the 50’s & 60’s…
Wow, they actually had commercials that were about as good as some of the quality prime-time programming back in the day, didn’t they? :razz:You see, kids, that’s from back before the earth cooled & color was invented! 
-ghp
-
Analytics & Hosting
