The Wasteland:
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
- 7/22/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
From 1978 until last month, Andy Rooney, who has died aged 92, regularly occupied the last minutes of the CBS Sunday evening show 60 Minutes. Wry, often tart, sometimes combative and always beguiling, he presented a miniature essay on a topic of his choice. The programme's phenomenal audience figures in the Us and around the world made him one of the best known news commentators, even though his segment was only – to borrow its name – A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney.
Staring out from under a wiry thicket of eyebrows, he would rummage in his desk drawer and comment caustically on its contents, compare the shrinking quantities of coffee tins, ruminate on the existence of God – he was an agnostic – or mock the absurdities of the politically correct. His liberal tendencies brought enmity from the right, but his stalwart, old-fashioned values sometimes...
Staring out from under a wiry thicket of eyebrows, he would rummage in his desk drawer and comment caustically on its contents, compare the shrinking quantities of coffee tins, ruminate on the existence of God – he was an agnostic – or mock the absurdities of the politically correct. His liberal tendencies brought enmity from the right, but his stalwart, old-fashioned values sometimes...
- 11/6/2011
- by Christopher Reed
- The Guardian - Film News
AP Andy Rooney during his last regular appearance on “60 Minutes” earlier this year.
Andy Rooney, who entertained and informed millions as an essayist on “60 Minutes,” has died. He was 92 years old.
The veteran TV newsman signed off “60 Minutes” in early October by stating he would never stop writing. Three weeks after his final on-air essay on “60 Minutes,” he was hospitalized following what CBS News called “serious complications” from minor surgery.
Rooney began his run on “60 Minutes” in July of 1978, and...
Andy Rooney, who entertained and informed millions as an essayist on “60 Minutes,” has died. He was 92 years old.
The veteran TV newsman signed off “60 Minutes” in early October by stating he would never stop writing. Three weeks after his final on-air essay on “60 Minutes,” he was hospitalized following what CBS News called “serious complications” from minor surgery.
Rooney began his run on “60 Minutes” in July of 1978, and...
- 11/5/2011
- by WSJ Staff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
AP File photo of Andy Rooney
Veteran commentator Andy Rooney is stepping down from his role at “60 Minutes.”
Rooney, 92, began his run on the show in July of 1978, and became a fixture on the program that fall.
Rooney has become known for his folksy, often curmudgeonly, TV essays on life, culture and news events.
In Rooney’s book “Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit,” he wrote “The process by which each of us acquires a reputation isn’t independent of our character.
Veteran commentator Andy Rooney is stepping down from his role at “60 Minutes.”
Rooney, 92, began his run on the show in July of 1978, and became a fixture on the program that fall.
Rooney has become known for his folksy, often curmudgeonly, TV essays on life, culture and news events.
In Rooney’s book “Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit,” he wrote “The process by which each of us acquires a reputation isn’t independent of our character.
- 9/27/2011
- by WSJ Staff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
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