Daytime Television

It's been a long time since I've gotten a good dose of daytime television. Over these past couple of weeks, though, I have had some major exposure to this niche of American programming. Here are the highlights of my viewing:

1.) Oprah is truly convinced that she's like a prophet of some sort, I think. The woman pulls people on her show, then gets all spiritual elitist with them. I am not arguing that, on occasion, she has a good show that turns out very informative. For instance, yesterday, she had Leonardo DiCaprio and a scientist from Princeton on, discussing environmental issues--something that definitely needs discussing. Another day, however, she had a set of parents on who were talking about the damaging consequences of having a stripper over for their son's 16th birthday party. If you find MTV's Sweet 16 juicy, this was something that far surpassed those rich spectacles. Overall, the hugest problem I have with Oprah is that she's getting way too self-aggrandizing in my opinion. Yes, she is very giving...yes, she follows through with her causes...but, she has some poor taste in words and such on her show most of the time.

2.) Phil McGraw also believes he has all answers. I think his show is like a more tasteful version of Montel or Maury. He has these bickering people on, and it turns into a three ring circus, and then he gives his lecture. The saddest I saw was a mother and two daughters, and the daughter said this was the only way to try to solve their problems because her mother always follows Dr. Phil's advice. Hello!? He's a talk show host! He may have a counseling Ph.D....but please...if my mother listened to Dr. Phil moreso than any other authority, I would be more concerned about that than our bickering.


3.) Last, but certainly not least, there has been the ongoing feud between Star Jones and ABC, Star Jones and Rosie O'Donnell, Star Jones and the View executives, and the very visible feud between Star Jones and Barbara Walters. The picture included here seems all too outdated for the show because only two of these five still remain on the show. But, the juiciest of the exits had to be Star Jones, and it totally heated up this week. There were rumblings when the show first signed Rosie O'Donnell to replace Meredith Viera in the fall, but that tension grew to a climactic degree this week as first Star took "on air" time to announce that she would not return. To boot, she interrupted a discussion to do so and also had not discussed this with executives prior to the live show. The following day, she was not back and Barbara Walters took her time in the spotlight to explain, in very tasteful terms I might add, that Star would not return again. I found this drama fascinating. I'm convinced that Star really just wanted a summer vacation as I have set up for myself!

In any case, I am psyched to see what other absurdities I will get to be witness to in these coming weeks.