Posted on 08/29/2014 6:46:22 AM PDT by Kaslin
We recently came across a rather new TV network, Me-TV. It's great stuff for old fogies (like one of us) -- reruns of the best of television from the '60s and '70s. "Twelve O'Clock High" never looked better. You probably missed this network in all the TV clutter.
Few Americans have ever heard of the cable channel WE tv. Apparently, one way to remedy that is to put on a new show in 2015 called "Sex Box." It's another attempt to "help" Americans with their alleged puritanical reluctance to talk about sex.
The Hollywood Reporter described it as a show that follows couples whose relationships are on the rocks. The couples have sex in a soundproof box on the set, and immediately afterward, emerge to address their issues in the afterglow "with a panel of experts for a series of emotionally honest conversations about intimacy."
The obvious question: Can't the "panel of experts" simply talk to the couples about their problems without the sensationalistic intercourse? Not if they want ratings, apparently. WE tv lamely attempts to drag in science, claiming the release of oxytocin -- the "cuddle hormone" -- makes post-coital conversation more honest and effective.
The panel has two therapists, a Florida pastor, and to round it out, "comedian Danielle Stewart will provide backstage commentary." In the British version, the vile American sex columnist Dan Savage was featured on the panel.
Liberal critic Marlow Stern of the Daily Beast rants against including a pastor: "What business does a pastor have lecturing people about his or her sexual performance? Religion is one of the driving forces behind this country's prudishness to begin with."
In a sense he's right. Commitment, devotion, love -- none of that matters in this format, so why bother with a religious figure?
Marc Juris, the shameless executive who runs WE tv, boasted it's a win-win. "Our featured couples will get a once-in-a-lifetime experience, while our viewers will get the kind of bold, break-through-the-clutter programming they increasingly associate with WE tv."
In the U.K. version of "Sex Box," they didn't actually show the sex, but viewers witnessed the couple arrive immediately from the action to talk about it. The conversation could sound more like a post-game play-by-play than a therapy session, with prattling on about who had an orgasm or how they could go for hours, but "the dehydration was incredible."
There's a lot of trashy "clutter breaking" going on across the cable TV "frontier" right now. The Hollywood Reporter asserted the show "marks the latest twist on the dating genre," where VH1 most recently made headlines with "Dating Naked." That show was recently sued by a contestant who was actually shown naked in a pixelating malfunction.
That shtick is becoming its own genre. It follows TLC's "Buying Naked" (watching nudists buy real estate, because that happens all the time). And Discovery Channel's pair, "Naked Castaway" (one nude survivalist struggle) and "Naked and Afraid" (a couple set loose naked in the wild). And "Naked Vegas" on Syfy (people who paint on nude bodies), copied by "Skin Wars" on the Game Show Network, where nude bodypainting becomes a contest.
If copycatting the British TV gutter-dwellers continues, we might next see the American version of "The Naked Office," a show in which businesses attempted to boost employee morale by implementing "Naked Fridays." That takes casual Fridays to a whole new ridiculous level.
This whole trend makes you wonder if Deborah Turness, the British import now running NBC News, has considered the ultimate desperate move toward making public policy interesting. "Naked Meet the Press," anyone?
It’s a shame these TV things don’t come with an off switch, or even a way to change the channel.
that;s hardly any program on the TV without either sex, or homosexuality.
Next they’ll come up with a show called “Dating Naked” if this continues.
I suggest that Bozell try the Ovation Channel. Lots of good stuff there. And the shows on MeTv aren’t so mild either. I’ve watched it.
“Naked and Scared” doesn’t impress me.
“Naked and Scared” in Thunder Bay during February sweeps does.
I can’t see how such voluntary controls could ever work, we all know adults aren’t to be trusted making such decisions for themselves /s
You don’t like all of the sex on Gilligan’s Island?
I’ll be watching The Honeymooners and The Bob Newhart Show on Me TV.
TV nowadays is perverted trash, made for an American audience that has devolved into trashy perverts.
Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!
I know.
It's so strange, T.V.'s obsession with the miniscule .5-1.5% homosexuals in this world. And even MORE strange since anything but heterosexuality is a CHOICE.
If one doesn't want to see sex, one can always change the channel.
I PROMISE you that the cooking shows and sports shows have NO sex. You can always CHANGE the channel when the Cowboy cheerleaders are parading their genitals....:o)
I went to the ballgame yesterday: NO SEX.
Great food, though, and LOTS of foul balls. A kid behind us caught a foul ball in his mitt. Wow, I had never been so close to a catch. He got applause! Was HE ever happy.
No sex there and we all had a GREAT time.
Took care of that years ago. No cable or network tv. The only thing coming out of it is what I put into it. Interesting how they are resorting to outright porn to keep viewers. Seems rather short lived once people realize they aren’t really showing anything.
I’ve never had any use for MTV and couldn’t understand what my daughter got out of it when she was younger. I remember enjoying watching musicals or variety shows when I was younger
Boy, is Brent late to the party. I’ve been watching ME-TV for years. I especially like The Rifleman - I have a little notebook to keep track of how many people Chuck Conners offs per episode. Something like 150 people were killed in the first season alone! Sam Peckinpah wrote some of the episodes which explains a lot, lol.
Also, they play the hilariously politically incorrect F Troop that made Larry Storch a household name.
MeTV is awesome. I believe it’s run by the parent company of WCVB in Boston (not sure about that but they advertise them all the time here). We found it a while ago and have been watching Hogan’s Heroes and Welcome Back Kotter reruns ever since.
Let me explain something about Gilligan’s Island. It all had to do with the large brain of the Professor. He was hanging on the dock one day and saw these two single hot chicks get on a boat for a three-hour tour. So he follows them on, looks at the crew and passengers and calculates that he’s only one with a chance with the chicks. A storm comes up and the Professor goes below and kicks a hole in the hull. The boat ends up stranded on an island, and the Professor spends three years enjoying every manner of carnal bliss with a movie star and the girl next door.
Regarding your notebook. I often thought of keeping track of how many people the Cartwrights offed on Bonanza. It was like, if you came through Virginia City, you were probably going to get killed by the Cartwrights.
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