LA FLORIDIANA "The Cosmic Muffin"....Sole Surviving Boeing 307....Clyde and Niki Butcher's Labor Day Gala 2003 by Will Moriaty

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW "The Medallion" by Mike Smith

COUCH POTATO CONFESSIONS "Football for the Sensitive Types"...."Happy TV!"...."Couch Potato Picks" by Vinnie B.

ASHLEY'S HOLLYWOOD "Remembering River Phoenix"  by Ashley Lauren

MIKE'S RANT The Golden Ticket....Smell That?....Too Much Time On Her Hands....Is It My Breath?....What!! No Mike Post?  by Mike Smith

Archives of Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Archives 2003 Archives 2002 Archives 2001 Archives 2000

Email PCR Home

The adventures of a boy and his personal video recorder.

Since there was no column last week, I wanted to wish our fearless leader, Nolan, a Happy Belated Birthday. The kryptonite is in the mail. (Well, thank you, sir! Fortunately, my mailbox is lined with lead just in case!--Nolan)

Football for the Sensitive Types
The National Football League season is upon us once again, and the Tampa Bay Bucs look better than last year. It is rewarding to live in a city where the coach is also a well-known horror movie icon.

Now if we can only do something about those announcers. I remember when the announcers actually did play by play announcing, describing the action and the color commentary guy would break it down into the X's and O's of football. Now we have mindless ramblings of where the announcers ate dinner last night or which football player's family they met and how sweet their kids are. And I'm sorry John Madden but it is time to take up quilting and get out of the broadcast booth.

And of course there is the obligatory "hard luck story". I was actually glad when Tampa Bay Bucs running back Warrick Dunn signed with the Atlanta Falcons. I respect Warrick Dunn for what he has accomplished on the field and off the field. He is a great presence in the community and helps out with his own charity. But if I had to hear the story of his life once more from the TV announcers I could've screamed.

Everyone has their trials and tribulations to work through in their life. How about covering the hard luck story of fan's Joe and Sarah in row 49 or out of work Tommy sitting in the top of the bleachers buying that $6 hot dog?

Let's save the sensitive stories for the pre-game coverage and during the game let's talk some football for a change.

Happy TV!
The latest trend in television programming seems to be Gay programming, and I am not talking about "The Teletubbies". At one time "gay" meant happy and a "fag" was a cigarette, now they mean TV ratings.

The cable network Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" already seems to be a hit, and we all know about the popularity of "Will and Grace". While we have male homosexuals breaking through mainstream television programming, it appears that lesbians are still a taboo subject.

And why is that? In an unofficial Couch Potato poll, it is because the people watching these shows are females who frequent the Lifetime Channel and the Oprah show. There is no way that straight females would watch lesbians, but gay men are safe. And no woman is going to let her husband/boyfriend watch a gay dating show called "Woman meets Woman".

Television continues to be a segregated medium. Very few shows display any ethnic/sexual diversity in their casting. When was the last time you saw a black actor on "Friends"? I believe this "gay programming" is just another TV fad, but hopefully it will open the door for legitimate homosexual characters (and not just stereotypes) to start appearing in regular television programming.

Couch Potato Picks
I'm a little late with this one, but anyone who subscribes to the satellite TV service DirecTV can check out two free musical specials that are worth watching. They run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on channel 103 through Labor day.

They are airing Roger Water's "The Wall" from Berlin from 1990. This recreation of the legendary Pink Floyd album "The Wall" is impressive with it's huge set, the building and destroying of the wall, and features many guest performers such as Thomas Dolby, The Scorpions, Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison (who does an excellent version of "Comfortably Numb"), and members of the Band. This performance in particular is of importance as it took place in the legendary "No Man's Land" between East and West Berlin. There is also a short documentary about the making of the show that follows the concert.

The second music special they are airing is Bob Marley Live at the Rainbow, a show from 1976. I haven't seen this one yet but it is on the Couch Potato's to watch list. You can watch some video clips from this show at, http://www.bobmarley.com/video/