Since the whole Tonight Show debacle, I have been trying to educate myself on just how decisions in television are made - because I really hadn't seen a media decision this bad since Sarah Palin decided to speak in public. I've read many an online article and have checked out a book or two from the library (I am not cheap, I am frugal) and have come to the conclusion that "television executive" is just about the easiest job there is, besides online sex therapist (I've been researching that, too.) There is really no skill, education, experience, or discernible intelligence needed. All one needs is a workable "power" wardrobe, a good attendance record, and the ability to nod "yes" or head-shake "no" when indicated by the rest of the group. And that is the most important factor - the "group mentality." This is a characteristic usually exhibited by sheep or lemmings, but TV execs excel at it. The problem is, getting someone to push that first domino of opinion. This would take actual decisive action. Or a coin. Flipping a coin would work, too....
So to recap - you have a room full of well-dressed Sheep-Lemming people who opine en masse and then go home to play "World of Warcraft" or smoke doobies (Yeah, I know drug slang. I watched "21 Jump Street") until the next important meeting. And they get paid to do this. AND they decide what we get to watch (or don't get to watch) on TV. So really, they hold the key to our very souls....Or, if you are not addicted to TV like I am, they at least have the power to irritate you. But for me, a person who grew up memorizing the TV Guide listings while other (smarter, you can say it) kids memorized the Periodic Table, what is put on my screen is a very personal thing. You can't give me a gift like a Conan O'Brien and then snatch it away again like some ice cream cone you wanted to share and then didn't. You don't take ice cream from a fat girl and you don't take Conan from a comedy lover. It is mean, cruel, and often messy....
But I digress. The entire point of this whole meandering diatribe is that we Americans, as a people, tend to trust that the persons who end up in charge of important things are qualified to do so. And yet often, they are not. School bus drivers flunk drug screenings, politicians turn out to be idiots, and television execs, those who are in charge of the joy we pay steep satellite costs to see, are bungling buffoons. SOMETIMES. Every once in a while, they get it right. I call this the "monkey and the dartboard" effect....this therom is complicated and technical, so I won't bore you with the math. All I know is, if I had a ride to LA and about 50 fewer IQ points, I'd be all over the TV exec world....Or I'd do a game show. You know, whatever.....
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