Watching Sitcoms

Here we are, finally, at the finale of American Idol. Well, the first night of the finale. All these months of watching this show as it beat us up and dragged us around, are finally paying off.

Oh, puhlease. What is with the announcer guy and the boxing gloves? They didn’t do anything like this for Clay and Ruben, did they?

What’s with showing Chris Daughtry when speaking about the “title” and “superstars?” Did American Idol conveniently forget that Chris didn’t actually win the title?

So David A won the coin toss and chose to go second. Surprise, surprise. If I cared more, I’d go back and check to see how many who went second on this week won.

So they are paying homage to Clive Davis. I thought he was out of it this year.

David Cook
Clive’s Choice - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, U2. This is one of my most fave songs. There’s a live version on Rattle and Hum with Chicago Mass Choir behind it and it would have been incredible if David Cook had done that version.

He didn’t, but if he had I’d have voted for him. Even so, he did a great job. He totally got the better song, so Clive must like Cook better than Archuleta.

David’s Choice (from songwriting competition) - Dream Big. I just noticed that David’s hair is sticking up tonight. No more badcombover look. This was a good pick for him, since we don’t know the song it’s a little hard to judge, but that was a good catchy tune and he did a good, if somewhat mumbly versed, job. My husband thought it had a little bit of a Van Halen feel to it.

Is it fair to change the competition at this point? I mean all this time they’ve been singing karaoke, and we’ve judged them based on songs we know, and now suddenly, we are supposed to be giving our opinions for songs we don’t know.

David’s Choice - The World We Know, Collective Soul. I love this song, too! Cook is just pulling the better songs for me. He did a great job. He just doesn’t have the strong vocals like Archie. But I will buy his CD.

David Archuleta
Clive’s Choice - Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Elton John. Also a good job. As it turns out, this song was great for his voice. But I still didn’t think he was better than David Cook. He did mostly keep his eyes open and I only saw him lick his lips once. My mom just called to say how wonderful David is. I think that’s what she said, cause she was very loud and excited and then she said goodbye and hung up.

David’s Choice (from songwriting competition) - In A Moment. Another nice, slow, boring ballad for David. It’s OK, but not even as good as his first song and still not as good as David Cook. Sure, his voice is smoother, but its just missing something, if you ask me. My sister just called me to be obnoxious and say how wonderful David is. She kept screaming into the phone. She also told me that she didn’t believe anything she heard about his dad, cause if his dad was so awful, how could David be so sweet? *puke*

David’s Choice - Imagine, John Lennon. Can he do that? Sing a song he already did? Laura says they do that every year. I guess I just don’t remember. Plus, I guess, I don’t really care. Well, it was as good as last time and maybe just a tad less gaspy than usual. Good job, David.

Its clear that the judges want Archie to win. I believe he was hand picked from day one to win. Either that or his dad paid them off for him to win. Whatever. Archie has the great vocal chops and he sounds good, my 80 year old mother and my 59 year old sister love him. They love him. But they won’t buy his CD and neither will I. I will be buying David Cook’s CD, though, no matter what Laura says, cause he’s more my style. Of course, when Jason Castro’s CD comes out, I’m all over that one, too.

To keep going with the sitcom stereotyping, if you go back a few years, women were actually portrayed as the weaker sex, and as needing the strong male role model. Look at I Love Lucy. She was always getting into scrapes and needing to be saved by Ricky. (”Lucy, you got some “splaining to do.” Insert your own fake Cuban accent.) Now, compare Lucy to Raymond (this has apparently become our standard sitcom, against which all others are judged), who plays the buffoon to his strong wife, Debra. Although, that might just be Patricia Heaton, cause she pretty much emasculates Kelsey Grammer in Back To You, as well.

How about looking at parents and children. There used to be shows like Father Knows Best, Leave It To Beaver and Happy Days where the parents were shown as actually being a little smarter than their children. As actual authoritative figures. Compare those shows to something like Married With Children or Aliens in America. I’ve already commented on how obnoxious and annoying the parents came across on that show. I suppose you could argue that the parents of today’s shows are part of the Me Generation (which as far as I’m concerned is a label for the Baby Boomers, and which should not be confused with Generation Me, a label now applied to people born in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s, but only cause they are even more selfish than we Boomers and want the title for themselves) and as a result, they are more self-involved than the parents of the 50s. That probably started with Michael and Elise Keaton. Clearly, Alex P. was much more evolved than his parents. (But then they were all Boomers, right?)

Obviously, it’s a new world and maybe kids are smarter than they used to be. So what examples can you think of that prove or disprove my point?

I Love Lucy, Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer, Father Know Best, Leave It To Beaver, Married with Children, Family Ties, Alex P. Keaton, Micahel J. Fox