TV Eye

I'm feeling like it's going to be a bah-humbug holiday season for me this year. I don't know what I'm complaining about. I don't have to frantically prepare for holiday guests or travel during the most dreaded travel season of the year. I don't have to plan a strategy for hunting down toys for the children in my life. (I'm the aunt that gives books.) But I can tell it's going to be a less than jolly holiday season, because I find myself yelling at the television a lot. Maybe it's senility checking in, but there are some things on TV that really bug me. As always, it's the little things:

The Law & Order franchise. I don't get it. I've spent more time than I care to admit watching the various incarnations, hoping to understand what the attraction is. If you like your dramas paint-by-numbers, this fills the bill. Aside from the engaging Vincent D'Onofrio in L&O: Criminal Intent, Ice-T in L&O: Special Victims Unit, and Jerry Orbach and Jesse L. Martin in the original L&O, I really don't understand why viewers watch.

That commercial for a pharmaceutical company hawking flu medicine. The mother is sick in bed. The dad steps in to command the morning ritual of getting the kids ready for school. He sets them loose to pick out their school clothes, then sends them into a wintry landscape in summer shorts and shoes. The tagline is something like, "Who'll take care of your family when you're sick?" Well, apparently not the idiot husband who can't listen to a weather report or take a peek out the window. As the voiceover continues to praise the miracle drug, the wife lies comatose in bed while the husband ponders the pile of dirty dishes and laundry like they're relics of some unknown civilization. Not to devalue the work of stay-at-home parents, but it's not rocket science. Roll up your sleeves, run some water, squirt some soap, and get to work. But what really bugs me about this commercial is the unspoken message: Housework is women's work. Please!

Local TV news starting their lineup with non-news. Should the Michael Jackson fiasco really be the lead story in a local news program? This was the case last Thursday night on KEYE. If KTBC insists on doing an hourlong news program, why not fill it with news of local, regional, and statewide interest? Why do I need to hear about some yahoo in Nevada who plays guitar with his feet? (I made up that scenario -- did I trick you?) If I want to know about the minutia of other people and places, I can tune in to CNN.

And the No. 1 thing that bugs me to hell: Why, oh why, oh why won't Time Warner Cable include program names and descriptions of the cable access programs in their onscreen menu? It's just not right.

Well, I think I feel better. Don't worry. I'm sure this will all fade away once I pop How the Grinch Stole Christmas into the VCR. Not the horrid movie version. That one bugs me.

As always, stay tuned.

---

Showtime and The Reagans

After speculation that the troubled telepic would go through heavy revision before airing on the CBS sister network sometime next year, Showtime announced plans to air the film on Nov. 30 at 7pm. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Showtime will also air a special Controversy: The Reagans roundtable discussion "concerning the film's fairness and accuracy." Panelists include Marvin Kalb, senior fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University; Martin Anderson, a former economic adviser to Ronald Reagan; Carl Sferrazza Anthony, one of the film's producers; Reagan biographer Lou Cannon; and Linda Chavez, a political analyst at Fox News. Controversy: The Reagans airs Dec. 1. Check local listings for air times.

---

Making the Band

The Austin Music Network hosts the first Austin-area battle-of-the-bands competition. The new contest is open to junior and senior high school bands (members must be ages 12-18). Preliminary competitions begin after the first of the year and will air live on AMN. Industry experts and viewers vote for their favorites by phone and through the AMN Web site. Prizes include studio time and musical equipment. The grand-prize winner receives a custom video produced by AMN. For more information visit www.austinmusicnetwork.org.