Idol Is Lost on Me

Quite the programming decision tonight. Two two-hour season finales, and only one television on which to watch them (and even if you have multiple, it's not worth skipping over between finales).

So what do you pick? Lost or American Idol?

On the one hand, you have a creatively written drama mixing desperation and intelligent fiction. On the other hand, you have a guy who looks remarkably like Chewbacca singing show tunes.
Yes, it's an interesting dilemma.

I'm a fan of Lost and its subtleties, from Sawyer's reading Watership Down ("it's a book about bunnies") to using names from European philosophers (Locke, Rousseau). The characters are complex and intriguing, not to mention incredibly well-acted, and it always leaves you wanting more-- the hallmark of good television.

Flip the dial a few clicks the other direction and you have Idol-- an orgy of nauseating pop-culture bubblegum mania, where the hopes and dreams of a few lucky wannabe sellouts ride on the touchtone skills of an army of hypnotized couch-dwellers. And lest we forget the eye-roll-inducing ego-placating of Ms. Abdul ("I think it's really great that you can still sing with that trachea ring. You showed a lot of spirit. It's really great. Really great. Oh yeah and if you want to get laid my dressing room's down the hall to the left.")

So can you tell what I'm watching tonight? If you guessed "Band of Brothers" DVD set, you're right. But Lost will be on my DVR. Happy dialing.

You've reached the bottom of the glass.
Check out the archives on the right side of the page for more.

All material Copyright © 2005 Brad C., sole publisher of this blog