And...? Did you have a comment, Betty? This was posted Tuesday. Kat "St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In a message dated 2/19/2002 11:04:16 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > Just read your post after a few days hiatus from the e-world. > > Comedy Central is part of the MTV network of cable channels specializing in > a particular genres of "entertainment". MTV prides itself on its ability > to > relate to the lowest common denominators of pop-culture. Comedy Central > also features such nuggets as "The Man Show"--a program showcasing > high-brow > antics such as slo-mo video of large-breasted women jumping on trampolines. > See where I'm going here? > > The easiest laugh is one that comes at other's expense. For exampple, the > monologues of Leno, Letterman, et. al, consist almost entirely of > deprecating others. Their writers find easy work in this kind of humor > because there is no faster way to make one's self feel better than by > denegrating others. True comedians were (the past tense is intentional) > masters of their craft. Red Skelton, for example, was a comedic genius, > yet > I cannot remember one skit that garnered a laugh at the expense of another. > That kind of "real" comedy took work--nothing that today's writers nor > their > audience have any interest in, whatsoever. > > The fodder for today's writers comes almost entirely from events and people > "in the news" so to speak. If it's historical, then it's not relevant. > The > writers are becoming more and more specific with their targets because the > audience does not have the attention span for anything else. Blame > post-modernism for this. A foundational thesis of this current western > paradigm is that if you are offended by my behaviour....too bad. It's your > problem, not mine. Fits the American "ME"-ism quite nicely, thank you. > > You'll find that sponsors don't give a damn about your opinion unless: 1) > You are in their demographic target audience. (You and I...are not.) 2) > The majority of viewers feel like you (they don't). > > Optimistically (NOT!) Yours! > > -Kyle >