Only In Television....!

Yes, only in the television industry can very strange things happen. (Well, maybe in politics, but you get the idea.) Some funny notes from the headlines....

I DON'T LIKE SITCOMS, SAM I AM: The estate of the late children's author Theodore Geisel--better known to you and me as Dr. Seuss--has apparently forced ABC to change the name of its new Christina Applegate comedy. It was originally called "Sam I Am," after the title character. But without saying why (money, maybe?), ABC says the name of the show will now be "Samantha Be Good." Which brings me to another possible problem: Samantha was the first name of Elizabeth Montgomery's witch character on the 1960's comedy "Bewitched." Will the owners of the show now sue ABC and force another name change? Or can we twitch this whole discussion

WASHINGTON'S CROSSING: A few blogs ago, I all but defended "Grey's Anatomy" co-star Isaiah Washington after his contract was not renewed by ABC for the upcoming season--months after a flap surfaced when Washington called co-star T.R. Knight a homosexual slur, then denied he did so--twice. At the time, I sided with Washington, noting that ABC should have fired him after the incident, not months after the fact. Then comes an article in the "San Francisco Chronicle," with this quote from Washington: "This happened to Malcolm X, this happened to Paul Robeson -- this misconception can happen to any man of power that loves himself and wants to spread that love and that humanity throughout the world."
"Love" and "humanity"? For calling a fellow actor names? And comparing himself with early leaders of the civil rights movement? Quite a profile in courage, wouldn't you say? Maybe ABC had the right idea after all....!

SCALIA'S MURPHY BROWN MOMENT: Back in 1992, then-Vice President Dan Quayle took on news magazine journalist Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock "and calling it just another lifestyle choice." Of course, Quayle was the real-life second-in-command to George H.W. Bush and Murphy Brown was a fictional character on a popular sitcom. No matter. Another conservative has actually stood up for a TV hero. According to Canada's "Globe and Mail":
"The job of the veteran U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Antonin Scalia) is to ensure that the superpower lives up to its Constitution. But in his free time, he is a fan of 24, the popular TV drama where the maverick federal agent Jack Bauer routinely tortures terrorists to save American lives. This much was made clear at a legal conference in Ottawa....Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge's passing remark - "Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra 'What would Jack Bauer do?' " - got the legal bulldog in Judge Scalia barking.
The conservative jurist stuck up for Agent Bauer, arguing that fictional or not, federal agents require latitude in times of great crisis. "Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. ... He saved hundreds of thousands of lives," Judge Scalia said. Then, recalling Season 2, where the agent's rough interrogation tactics saved California from a terrorist nuke, the Supreme Court judge etched a line in the sand."Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?" Judge Scalia challenged his fellow judges. "Say that criminal law is against him? 'You have the right to a jury trial?' Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don't think so.'"
Now I have nothing against Jack Bauer--as readers know, I'm a big fan of "24"--but conservatives (and liberals) should learn that television is first and foremost entertainment. (And to prove there is bipartisanship in Hollywood, "24" is produced by both Republicans and Democrats, as any careful viewer should discern.) But the discussion about torture and the role of federal agents is too important to view through the prism of a television series, no matter how good it may be. Maybe it's time Justice Scalia came back to the real world and left the back lots of Southern California's film studios.

You can't make these things up. Until next time, happy viewing!