Monday, November 28, 2005

Meet the Rokers

Thanks for finding my blog. There are a few postings now so you can get some idea of the nonsense you’re going to find here.

Random thoughts for the day…

PRISON BREAK – great show if you can suspend belief. I mean, in reality a pretty boy like Michael would never get out of his cell. There would be a line of guys wrapped around the cellblock. Prisoners would waive early release to get their chance.

And my friend Ian suggests that if his brother were on death row and he had designed the prison, instead of robbing a bank and getting incarcerated himself, he might just CALL his brother and say “pull your sink out, there’s a vent, get to the infirmary, make a left…”, etc.

THE APPRENTICE – Are you like me and now just fast forward to the boardroom? Who gives a shit how well these Ivy League idiots do setting up a lumber display at Home Depot?

HOUSE – (BECKER meets CSI) Okay, last week Cameron learns she might have AIDS, so what’s the first thing she does? What any respectable doctor would do – experiment with meth and sleep with a co-worker. So now HOUSE is BECKER meets CSI meets GREY’S ANATOMY.

As someone once said, there are only two reasons why STACKED is on the air.

Who says the Hollywood community is insulated and never strays from LA? There are Academy screenings in Maui and Aspen this year.

KRTH – LA’s longtime oldies station can’t find a program director. You’d think SOMEONE would want that job? I guess sitting in your office and having to listen to “Pretty Woman”, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”, and “Rescue Me” on an endless loop is enough to turn any competent radio person into Ted Bundy. PLAY MORE SONGS!!! PLAY FEWER COMMERCIALS!!!! RE-HIRE ROBERT W. MORGAN AND THE REAL DON STEELE EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE DEAD!!!!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has just announced its class of 2006. Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynrd, Blondie, the Sex Pistols, and Miles Davis. Huh?????? That’s like the Baseball Hall of Fame inducting John Rocker, Billy Ripken, Rafael Palmiero, and Wilt Chamberlain.

Good news for advertisers. A recent study showed that, contrary to popular belief, Tivo viewers DON’T fast forward through commercials. No sir. 58% watch the commercials and 53% have actually gone back to watch an ad that interested them. Who commissioned this study? Why the six broadcast networks of course.

One of those networks, NBC, is making a pilot called MEET THE ROKERS starring comic genius Al Roker. I hope Anne Curry plays his zany neighbor. Anne: “Al, help me! My foot is caught in this chimney!” (laugh) Al: “Anne, for Pete’s sakes what are you doing on the roof wearing only your bathrobe and a football helmet? (laugh) Don’t you know it’s supposed to rain?” (huge laugh) And they say the sitcom is dead.

Good news!!! DEUCE BIGALOW; EUROPEAN GIGALO is now out on DVD. So many unanswered questions from the first DEUCE BIGALOW.

“Tonight on a very special episode of MEET THE ROKERS, guest star Katie Couric has another colonoscopy and when the doctor gets sick Al has to perform it. Followed by JOEY”.

7 comments :

Anonymous said...

Then on a special "Meet the Rokers" - the bottom falls out of Swingline stock as Al gets his stomach staples removed...sending the world's economy into the abyss. NBC, Thursday.

Anonymous said...

You said we'd hear what happened with Omid Djalili today. So what happened?

Anonymous said...

"... and Miles Davis. Huh?????? "

Well, there is a tangential connection, with his fusion-style period (can't recall whether it was called "fusion," but that's how I think of it), that used rock musicians and all. Bitches' Brew was one of the projects like that, as I recall.

But the R 'n R Hall pulled something like that a number of years back, when they inducted Bill Monroe! They cited his blues-influenced music and the fusion (there's that damned word again!) of white and black musics that, in another form, became rock 'n roll. It's odd, but it got a few folk/bluegrass/country-oriented fans to at least watch the TV show. Could be worse (and probably will be).

And "Meet the Rokers" will fizzle, because it doesn't rely on a near-naughty word like "Meet the Fokkers" did; think of it -- no one "roks," but people do "fok." I think the title came to someone and they pitched it based on that, and used the fact that there is a somewhat well-known person names Roker. I don't think the name came AFTER the idea, but before.

Ed

By Ken Levine said...

Ed,

No question that Miles Davis is a GIANT in the world of Jazz. But it seems a stretch to put him in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame when there are so many deserving artists who did toil in the rock world.

Michael Markowitz said...

In fairness to Al Roker, he is not starring in the show, but merely co-exec-producing it and co-writing it with the guy who did Moesha and The Parkers. And I think it's a script deal, not a pilot.

But besides that, Hey, whattaya want from the guy? He's written best selling books, he's produced popular shows for NBC, Food Network, CourtTV... Meanwhile, we all know schmucks who've never produced anything but ass gas who get much more than a script deal. Why the Roker hate?

By Ken Levine said...

I'm just bitter and cranky and wish networks would come up with more original concepts than the fictional life of Al Roker. But if it had been the fictional life of whoever does the weather on Good Morning America I would've felt the same way. It's nothing against Al personally. I'm sure he's funnier than the guy who does the weather on Good Morning America, whoever he is.

Anonymous said...

Is T. Smith III working on "Meet the Rokers"? I am desperately trying to find him.