That's a photo of me and one of my heroes, an unsuspecting Ira Glass. Glass is the host of NPR's This American Life. Last week, Emily and I attended a fundraiser for NPR which featured a live taping of the show. If you are a regular listener of This American Life and hear one that was recorded in front of a live audience in Boston, well, I was there.
For those of you who don't listen to it, This American Life is the best radio program on the air. This is the only radio show that has compelled me to sit in a parking lot long after I reached my destination and listen to the rest of the show before going on with my business. It's that good. Once it has me, it won't let me go.
This American Life shows are usually broken into three or four segments on a theme. The theme at the taping was "Television" and Glass said something during one of his monologues that hit me particularly hard. He said we could possibly be witnessing a "Golden Age of Television" right now. This struck me so much because I had read an actor friend write exactly the same thing a little while ago.
Even though I work in TV, I don't watch much of it. I've never seen an episode of American Idol, Survivor, or The Apprentice. But I do like to rent DVDs of good TV shows. For awhile, I was hooked on The Sopranos, then Deadwood, and now I'm watching all The Simpsons I can get my hands on. I'd like to get into The Wire if season one, episode one wasn't always taken out at the video store. I'm afraid to start watching Lost because I've heard it's as addictive as crack.
Recently I realized I was renting more TV shows than movies. And the only movies I rented were documentaries. And the reason is pretty simple, a lot of the movies being released right now just plain suck.
As evidence of my theory, I'd like to present this past weekend's number one box office release - Ghost Rider. Now, I was a big comic book fan and collector once. I do, in fact, have a comic that is today worth around $800. So I have some authority on the subject.
I will not hesitate to tell you the character of Ghost Rider is, at best, a third or fourth tier superhero that was born during the ugly decade of the 70s in a cynical attempt to cash in on the short-lived fad interest in Evel Knievel and motorcyclists who jumped over things. Movies based on comic book characters yielded some real winners like X-Men, Batman, and Spider-Man, but when Hollywood has reached the point of mining concepts like Ghost Rider, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
You can always tell an industry or big company is coasting on fumes when they are accused of pushing crap and they offer the defense, "But we are only giving customers what they want." When executives in any industry say this, they mean they are producing the things they want. And the sad fact is it is much easier to produce brainless junk and artificially pump it up with marketing to fatten up the bottom line than to take risks and create something amazing like Deadwood.
The American auto industry used a similar argument to justify their production of enormous, poorly engineered clunkers that got 13 miles per gallon even as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan ate them up from below. And I'm sure CNN uses the same argument of "giving people what they want" to justify its news reports on the Anna Nicole Smith trial and other non-news even as we sit on the brink of war with Iran. We don't have to look far to see the results of this short sightedness. Toyota is now the number one car maker in the world and people are increasingly turning to political bloggers for informed news analysis and opinion.
And so it is with the movie industry. There is not a single movie in current release that I care to see. The Hollywood blockbuster has reached a point where it so rote and conventional that I feel comfortable writing reviews of movies that I haven't seen. I write these reviews somewhat tongue-in-cheek but I don't think I'm that far off on a lot of them. A lot of these movies radiate nothing but sheer contempt for their audience. Very few movies today challenge their audiences and a lot of them resemble nothing more than their own highlight reel. Michael Bay, I'm talking to you.
But at the same time that movies are sucking so hard, there is a vast talent migration underway of writers, directors, and actors moving from the bloated big screen to the tremendously competitive small screen. The resulting leap in TV show quality is enormous. That's a trend I should have noticed but didn't fully pick up on until I attended this fundraiser.
Oh yes, and I learned Ira Glass is taller than I expected.
Special note: Joining this trend, This American Life, the radio show, is set to air a television program on Showtime. They showed clips from it at the recording and it looked solid. If you are one of the few people in America who has Showtime, give it a watch and let me know what you think.
Holy crap--that may be the best celeb photo ever. I just showed it to The BF and he agreed. And I have a total crush on Ira Glass, so I'd do the same thing.
No, I wouldn't. I'd make a gigantic ass of myself and get him to pose with me on purpose.
Posted by: Colleen Wainwright | March 11, 2007 at 10:28 PM
Communicatrix - I'm glad you got a kick out of the photo :-) I am smiling so hard in it partly because I was imagining how funny it would look. There was a huge crowd in front of Glass the whole time.
Posted by: Dave Greten | March 12, 2007 at 06:25 AM
Fine, I'll get the podcast. Some radio shows have kept me sitting in the parking lot too, so you got me curious. The timing is good: I had just decided to stop with the ADD-oriented podcast of the New York Times front page.
Posted by: Mozza | March 14, 2007 at 08:10 PM
Mozza - you won't regret it. Get a good one like "My Experimental Phase." Actually, you can't go wrong with any of the ones listed here: http://www.thislife.org/pages/favorites.html
Posted by: Dave Greten | March 15, 2007 at 07:08 AM
I keep coming back to this entry because I get such a kick out of it! It's HILARIOUS!
Who took it? Your missus? It's an awesome photo!
Posted by: The Missus | March 16, 2007 at 02:52 PM
I'd second that question, Dave - who took the pic?
I have to get back into my NPR kick and check this out. All Things Considered was my previous program of choice until I got (oddly) hooked on Car Talk.
You know what would make this picture even better? A thumbs-up and a slight head-tilt.
Posted by: Charmaine | March 16, 2007 at 04:08 PM
Missus, Charmaine - Glad you both got a kick out of the photo. I was laughing as it was being taken and I like having it framed under the title "Ira and Me."
To answer your question, Em's friend Brie took it. She used to a be a staff photographer for her college newspaper and I think she may have done it on a semi-professional basis after that as well.
I can't tell you how lucky I am that so many people I know take good photos. They pretty much make the blog, I just package it.
Posted by: Dave G | March 17, 2007 at 11:48 AM
I had the time to listen to this week's podcast before my iPod got stolen. I was really impressed with the Iraqi translator - I worked with Iraqis in the past and found that same wisdom, something that is just common sense to their daily life, but cuts much deeper from our perspective.
I'll revert to the favorites once I get a new iPod...
Posted by: Mozza | March 20, 2007 at 08:10 PM
Mozza - I'm sorry to hear about your iPod being stolen. Your bike was stolen some time ago too, no? I'd be so furious if that happened to me, I would probably break something.
My iPod and my bike are my two possessions that I never let out of my sight. I believe Boston is one of the top ten cities for bike theft.
Posted by: Dave G | March 22, 2007 at 06:47 AM
(blushing) Ahem... My iPod turned out in the pockets of my other coat. I was totally absolutely sure I had left it at work andd it had disappeared over the week-end. I had even reported it to security. Then, 2 days later, I put the other coat on and...
I called security to apologize, so I thought I'd do the same here. Yes, I got my bike stolen a few months back - excellent memory. I just bought a new one, which I should receive in the next few days.
I listened to half of the golden age episode so far and like it very much, even though I'm new to most American TV. I'm addicted to West Wing (although I'm in the slump of early season 5) and my girlfriend put me through all 7 seasons of Sex and the City and now Felicity. It beats a lot of blockbusters.
Posted by: Mozza | March 24, 2007 at 01:13 PM
Good to hear about your iPod recovery. Also, happy to hear you are getting a new bike. Tales of bike theft stick with me.
While we are talking TV, you might want to give "Deadwood" a chance. It is setting all kinds of records with swearing and violence, one website speculates a swear is uttered every 45 seconds, but I think it is our first accurate depiction of the American wild west.
Posted by: Dave G | March 25, 2007 at 08:05 AM
Seriously dude... I keep coming back to this blog entry, even a year later, just to see the picture.
It's such a brilliant photo.
Posted by: The Missus | May 10, 2008 at 06:28 PM
Sooooo - I now WORK at an NPR station:) Want to pose for some other ridiculously humourous photos for me? How does Bill Littlefield sound?
Posted by: brieberries | March 19, 2009 at 02:57 PM
sir
Iam a student.I see the bike in ghostrider flim.iam requestin you to give me the features about the bike.iamwaiting for the reply.
yours faithfuly
praseeth
Posted by: praseeth | March 31, 2009 at 09:44 PM