Not So Smart "Bad" Girls

Start clip at 8:41 & end at 9:45

So I have a guilty addiction to the oxygen hit Bad Girls Club. It seems to be the only show that is bringing revenue to the network if you ask me. However, people are watching this for all the wrong reasons. When the show first began, the point was to put these women who had “bad” attitudes into the same house. They were supposed to become changed by the experience of being put in the house with women like them. I don’t really know how this was supposed to work, but for the first two seasons it seemed to. Now, women just get exploited by willingly going on this show looking for fame, when really all they receive is negative attention. The comments in the chat rooms and on the youtube videos are always harsh and disrespectful. I always have to wonder whether or not it’s deserved because they do put themselves in that situation. I can’t help but wonder if they see that they are being exploited. In the above clip, the producers of the show have taken a conversation the girls were having about grammar and aired it making them look like total idiots. Then the question of, how much of reality is in reality television, comes to mind. The producers know what audiences will watch and I feel that they tell the participants of the show to behave in that manner. I have heard of many instances when characters on reality shows turn out to be just that, characters. But how much of yourself will you give away for 15 minutes of fame?

My Fair Callie - The Grey's Anatomy Musical

Okay, I'm not totally sure how I feel about the Grey's Anatomy musical yet, but it does make me think about all of the other musical episodes of TV shows that have been popping up over the last several years (ex. Xena, Buffy, 7th Heaven, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, etc.).  I have a few thoughts.  First, I think it totally makes sense that this type of episode would occur at this time.  Some interesting things are happening within and between various industries. Broadway, movies, and TV are more in cahoots than ever before.  You see the same actors (Sara Ramirez, David Hyde Pierce, almost the entire movie cast of Rent) going from one to the other.  Many of the "new" Broadway shows are based on old films (e.g. 9 to 5, Hairspray, Mary Poppins, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, etc.).  Also, both television and film are becoming more self aware.  So much content on TV and the big screen today has a bit of a "wink" attached to it. It would only make sense that this would parlay into a little big of genre blending.  Second, I think they did a fine job of making this into something folks would recognize as "a musical."  (Okay, I would like to pretend the "Sunshine" number didn't exist). That said, there was strong integration of the numbers as they attempted to make them flow effortlessly into the story (as in something like The Sound of Music).  They tapped into the character's psyche's or more specifically Callie's (as is the case in the traditional musical).  That said, I did worry about all of the other patients.  Who was taking care of them??