A Case for Sunday Mornings

There’s a show that I DVR every week that I love.  I hate missing an episode and while I'm watching I'm totally enthralled with what's being transmitted onto my TV screen.  I’m not anywhere close to the target demographic which means that none of the advertising is geared towards me nor is it on during a time-slot I would ever choose to be up at (hence the DVRing).  However, this show has provided me with more knowledge than almost any endeavor I’ve ever undertaken and definitely more than any other TV show.  I frequently reference the information I’ve garnered from it and impress my friends with my plethora of facts.  So, what show could possibly live up to this?  I’m talking about CBS’s Sunday Morning and it’s on (you guessed it) Sunday mornings from 9-10:30am.  If you’ve never heard of it, it’s that show with the iconic sun logo – sound familiar?  If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, ask your parents or grandparents about it, I’m sure they know it.  There’s no frills, no competition, no built in drama or conflict, no flashy graphics, but there’s a lot of heart to it and it's a quietly offers more honesty than anything else on television.

As a kid, nearly every Sunday morning I would wake up, wander into my parents room, climb into bed with my mom and dad, sometimes a sibling would join too, and we’d watch as Charles Kuralt took us through the segments of Sunday Morning.  My dad and I are both known in our circles as being the keepers of random information.  We love and absorb trivia – both trivial and significant - so this show is perfect for us.  We’d get a thorough insight into what was happening in America that week, but we’d also learn about interesting stories about celebrities, politicians, artists, and every day people that are making differences in their communities (like the woman who has sent out over 7,000 care packages to the troops overseas and the retired man who decided to start painting the houses in his poor, run down town to lift his neighbor’s spirits about where they live).  Additionally, Sunday Morning covers stories that the weekday news does not bother with, such as music, theater, and interesting architecture.  Occasionally they’ll even have entire shows around one specific theme.  For instance the money and design episodes have come to be annual events.  Now Sunday Morning is hosted by radio personality, Charles Osgood, and is just as engrossing. 

Conceived in 1979, Sunday Morning aimed to emulate the Sunday newspaper magazine section and, as opposed to the morning news shows, was meant to only focus on feature stories.  The show starts with a quick rundown of the week’s top stories, a national weather report and then goes into what is basically a table of contents for the rest of the show.  Admittedly, I fast forward through all of that so I can get to the good stuff.  Between the segments there’s weekly standards that punctuate the show every week they have the Sunday Morning Almanac, which is essentially a “today in history” segment which offers interesting milestones – for instance, did you know that earlier this month Silly Putty celebrated its 60th birthday?  Do you know how it was invented?  I do.  Fast Draw features two guys drawing pictures on a white board to inform audiences about a certain topic – recently why rain doesn’t actually “break” humidity (even though that’s what everyone thinks it does) it actually makes it worse. 

Each week there’s the Sunday Morning Cover Story which is usually the longest and most in-depth feature often about a timely issue and Sunday Morning Profiles offers a glimpse into the life of a celebrity or other public personality in an intimate interview.  Every couple of weeks Ben Stein offers his curmudgeonly advice on the economy, Mo Rocca and Bill Geist track down the random oddities in our country (like people who still build log cabins, the National Goldfish Competition or the Annual Betty Convention) which makes us unique.  Nancy Giles shows up every now and again to talk about her life, whether it’s anecdotes from when she was a struggling actress and how Nora Ephron inspired her to keep pursuing her dream.  And David Edelstein offers his reviews on that week’s movies with his wry and honest commentary.  Then, of course, there's the "Moment of Nature" which closes every episode.  Again, I admit to fast forwarding this part too, but before I do, I always wait to find out where they went this week to find that clip as it often amazes me just how diverse and beautiful the American landscape can be.

What’s special about the segments that Sunday Morning provides is that it often offers a different perspective on something which we thought we knew about.  Be it the smaller pieces or the bigger, central features, Sunday Morning offers a unique view into the world that I haven't seen offered in another context.  For instance, a couple of weeks ago there was a segment about a woman who, after six weeks of marriage, her husband was shipped off to fight in World War I.  Soon after he left he was reported missing and was never heard from again.  She called and wrote letters to the state department, congressmen, her local government officials, and nothing.  Recently her brother-in-law discovered some new information about him and finally found that not only had he been killed, identified and buried in a town in France, he was considered a hero by the locals as he gave his own life to save the entire town.  This man is a hero overseas and his widow only recently discovered this.  Now she makes a pilgrimage once a year to visit his grave, the town and it’s citizens, and the street that’s named after him.  It was a wonderful human interest story about resilience and heroism.  It also exposed a major failing of a government which is supposed to be supporting our war heroes.  In a television landscape that’s fraught with shouting it was a quiet tale that without Sunday Morning would have never been brought to the public.

These days, I no longer watch the show with my parents on snuggly Sunday mornings.  But I do watch the show every week and so does my dad.  While we don’t have a standing “recap” conversation after the show, we’ll often times find ourselves chatting about the random bits of information we’ve learned from the show.  In that sense it’s a special way that my dad and I connect with one another and always giving us something to talk about outside the normal parent-child conversations.  

The show continues to plod along, quietly and modestly, without fancy advertising or making much noise to beat out the rest of the clutter that’s out there.  But for those of us who do watch it (and don’t get me wrong, I know there’s a significant amount of us out there, I’m just a generation or two younger than them) it’s a gem of class and consistency in an otherwise bombastic and cacophonous television landscape.  So, even if it's outside of your normal viewing habits, give this show a chance - you won't be disappointed and you'll definitely learn something.

Freak Shows

Sideshow Freaks.  It has been a staple of American entertainment practically since mass entertainment began.  Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus established ogling at the misfortunes of others as an acceptable form of entertainment.  Bearded women, midgets, pinheads, giants, and limbless individuals were all part of their “Sideshow Freaks and Human Curiosities” area of the overall show.  Not only did it make the gawkers feel better about themselves and whatever predicament they might be in, but to a certain extent it also normalized the different anomalies that would have otherwise completely marginalized those particular individuals.

Today, we don’t have the freak show like the Ringling Bros brought to us; instead they go on television so we can gawk at them from afar.  Take the most recent iteration: Tan Mom.  Here’s a horrible story of a woman accused of taking her young child into a tanning bed.  First reported as a hard hitting news story (please, is that really news?) and now has spawned into a side show attraction.  With appearances on The Today Show (which has a knack of snagging the freaks first as ratings shills) and now being stalked by paparazzi, this woman has amassed a certain amount of celebritydom that is completely unwarranted.  She has no skills and no talents and the only reason people are paying attention to her is her freakish nature.

Reality TV is another realm in which the Sideshow Freaks have been able to reemerge.  Think Jersey Shore and their beyond the realm of normalcy behavior.  Think Toddlers and Tiaras, a show which even the short clips I watch online make me cringe to think people actually allow their children to behave like that.  The parents, in fact, are just as freakish as the kids they are creating.  Think, even, The Biggest Loser, as people we can be glad we aren’t as much as we’re inspired by their transformations.  People who are on the outskirts of society, for whatever reason, have found a place where they can be accepted in a certain way, and that’s on the television screen to an even bigger audience of gawkers.

The idea of 15 minutes of fame is nothing new, but in our current media landscape this fame is being brought to those unworthy of national (and often international) recognition.  Television and the internet have created a platform for the Sideshow Freaks, who had traditionally been relegated to the circus grounds, to come to the national consciousness and rise to fame despite any actual qualifications.  Not only that, they confuse people’s sense of what is deserving of such heightened levels of attention, potentially admiring it and which would cause them to behave in turn and perpetuating this cycle.

The Ringling Bros. proved that it's definitely a part of human nature to be awed by those marginalized by society and learn to appreciate our own predicaments through their misfortunes.  Sounds harsh, but it’s clearly the truth.  But let’s also try to keep things in perspective and not make their misfortunes into celebritydom and, in certain situations, celebrate their contemptible behaviors.

The New Girl is Adorkable

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Has anyone been watching "New Girl?"  It's that new show on Fox with Zooey Deschanel which has coined the term "Adorkable."  I'm not sure why I started watching it, I'm usually not an early adapter when it comes to sitcoms.  I was late on the How I Met Your Mother train.  I am only now getting into The Big Bang Theory and while everyone seems to be loving Happy Endings, I just cannot get on board.  There's something about New Girl, however, that keeps me coming back.

A definite prerequisite of this show is that you must like Jess' (Zooey) quirkiness.  She's a total oddball, but there's something endearing and sweet to her demeanor that I totally works.  The premise of her breaking up with her boyfriend and then happening upon this apartment of three guys who agree to take her in is totally not believable, yet I let it go.  The three men (ok, boys) who she lives with are beyond sweet guys and while they also have their little character quirks and flaws, they are so relatable that they remind you of your guy friends, or the guy friends you wished you had. 

This show is about individual expression and being true to ones self.  Not once does Jess apologize for who she is, nor does she change because others are telling her to.  If anything, her being around encourages her friends to be more "out there."  What's also interesting is that her quirkiness and adorkability shines a spot light on the ridiculousness of being on the straight and narrow.  We live in an era where the conformists and the non-conformists are violently clashing.  That's essentially what the 99% Occupy Wall Street issue is raging over.  If it was merely over lack of jobs things would likely have not taken the turn they have.  The people sitting in Zucotti Park could be looking for jobs, volunteering their time, or doing something else to benefit society while they aren't working.  However, they have decided to make it known that they are nonconformists and are rebelling against those who work the system. 

That might be a bit of a stretch, but I think it's interesting that non-conformity is so much in the spotlight today, and manifests itself in different ways.  OWS has become very controversial and there is zero actual controversy in New Girl, so maybe thats the message.  That you can be different and assert your independence and not alienate mainstream society.  New Girl celebrates individuality and nonconformity but as an active member of the community.   Jess is different and quirky, but somehow she's also totally relatable.  All the characters are, in fact.  Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but nonetheless there might be something to it.

Dark Shadows Insight

With the upcoming Dark Shadows movie now in production I thought I'd post this video clip of my grandfather, JJ Lupatkin, talking about his experiences working on the show.  He was the technical director of the original Dark Shadows TV show which ran on ABC from 1966-1971.  In addition to DS, over the course of his career he worked for at NBC in Studio 8H for the famed Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, ABC's Wild World of Sports, All My Children and Live! With Regis and Kathy Lee.  My grandfather is the most modest person I know, and has never thought his contribution to television was important or significant to evolution of the medium.  As an engineer by trade, he mostly enjoyed his work as it was an opportunity to be challenged technically, never once caring for celebritydom or fame.  As a student of television and film I've tried to impress upon him just the impact he helped make, but he always rolls his eyes and just tells me that it's more important to be a good person.  In this clip you'll see how he approached his career, as he does everything in life, with passion, attention to detail, and pride.  Hopefully this will give you some insight into the roots of what will possibly be one of the blockbusters of 2012.

Modern Day Fairy Tales

The Fall TV landscape this season has two supernatural and fantastical dramas based on fairy tales.  ABC's Once Upon A Time and NBC's Grimm are narratives which rely on familiar tropes and themes that have been in public parlance for decades, if not centuries.  Additionally, in another couple of months there will also be two similarly themed films coming out, both telling the story of Snow White.  I find this intriguing, but it's nothing new to retell old stories, in fact it seems as though that's all Hollywood's been doing lately. But it feels like something deeper going on here.

Fairy tales are deeply cultural and reveal many social anxieties. I have not yet seen either Snow White film iterations so I cannot comment on those, but I have been watching both Grimm and Once and have had some thoughts on them. Allow me to indulge.

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In Grimm, our protagonist is Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli), a detective who recently learns from his dying aunt that he comes from a long line of Grimms, essentially monster hunters.  He acknowledges and accepts his legacy and fate as he has recently realized that he has the ability to see beyond the human exterior many of these werewolves, "blutbads" and other creatures that have been hiding in plain sight as humans.  The show is unraveling as a case-of-the-week serial with an overarching mythology as he explores who he is and where he comes from.


Once is similarly fantastical, although narrates through two parallel story lines rather than one linear story. In one story line Snow White and Prince Charming are forced to send off their infant daughter to escape the wrath of the Evil Queen who wants to kidnap her and kill them.  To punish them the Queen enacts an evil spell which causes everyone to forget who they really are.  Concurrently, the parallel story is about a little boy name Henry who lives in "Storybrooke, Maine" and has discovered that the evil witch has exiled of the fairy tale characters, including Snow White, to storybook and has made them forget who they are.  This little boy is now tasked with ensuring his family and those around him remember their true selves (and ultimately fulfill their destinies).

Some questions to ask include why is self-discovery such an important theme of these shows and why are fairy tales the method in which they are delivered to audiences?  Further, why are they important messages to be imparting?

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Fairy tales are centuries old stories, which, for generations, were passed down orally.  Secondly, they are usually lesson-laden. Often tales of warning and caution, they reach deep into our psyches about things we fear.  Traditionally offered to children as cautionary tales, these stories are being marketed to adults. Be it regarding kidnapping (Hansel and Gretel), mommy/daddy issues (Snow White, and any other stories with a wicked step-parent), and the list goes on.  What these shows seem to be conveying is the sense that as a society we are like vulnerable children: unsure as to our place in this world and what the future will hold.  However, unlike children, we adults do not have the wide-eyed naivete that our young counterparts do.  We do not need the warning that bad things are out there; we are all too aware of the unfortunate realities that lie out there for us.

Therefore, are we as a society being infantilized by being given these once child-oriented stories?  Or are we as adults craving the comforts of out childhoods by seeking out these recognizable stories? Generally familiar stories are like brands and have a built in audience as people know what they will be getting. Studio and network heads know this, but it seems like it's popularity is relying on something a little more. They have also been relatively successful in an otherwise disappointing fall TV-launch season, also garnering some of the biggest buzz.

Moreover, and I think this is probably closer to the heart of the meaning behind these shows, perhaps these stories are currently important for adults to see to teach them the dangers of being too confident and not heading warnings.  We live in a world where the mistakes of those who were supposed to be taking care of the financial well being of the "99%" have wreaked havoc and caused immense financial breakdowns.  However, it is also the social and economic responsibility of every day citizens to care for themselves and for others in times of need.  Perhaps that is the underlying lesson of these modern day retelling of fairy tales.