mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (08/25/89)
In article <932@brazos.Rice.edu> wasg@diomedes.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) writes: >Not at all, in fact a TV movie about the crew of Challenger is in production >as we speak. They did some shooting here at JSC a couple of months ago. Which only goes to show that Americans have extremely poor taste. :-)
envbvs@epb2.lbl.gov (Brian V. Smith) (08/25/89)
In article <17591@ut-emx.UUCP>, mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: < < In article <932@brazos.Rice.edu> wasg@diomedes.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) writes: < >Not at all, in fact a TV movie about the crew of Challenger is in production < >as we speak. They did some shooting here at JSC a couple of months ago. < < Which only goes to show that Americans have extremely poor taste. :-) Make that "American television producers." I don't like to be pigeon-holed with everyone else. 8-) _____________________________________ Brian V. Smith (bvsmith@lbl.gov) Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory I don't speak for LBL, these non-opinions are all mine.
jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Jeffrey W Percival) (08/25/89)
In article <3687@helios.ee.lbl.gov> envbvs@epb2.lbl.gov (Brian V. Smith) writes: >In article <17591@ut-emx.UUCP>, mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >< In article <932@brazos.Rice.edu> wasg@diomedes.rice.edu (Eric >Salituro) writes: >< >Not at all, in fact a TV movie about the crew of Challenger is in production >< >as we speak. They did some shooting here at JSC a couple of months ago. >< Which only goes to show that Americans have extremely poor taste. :-) >Make that "American television producers." Nope. All you can say about television *producers* is that they have a demonstrably accurate perception of the tastes of television *consumers*. If it didn't sell, they wouldn't do it. The "americans/poor taste" comment is of course a generalization, but doesn't it wear you down seeing how accurate it is, by and large? A slightly related comment: I was doing a radio call-in show last week talking about Neptune, etc. and a caller asked: why go to Neptune, when you don't even know anything about it, when you can find out something *definite* by going to mars and checking out that face? Argh... -- Jeff Percival (jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu)
scott@bbxeng.UUCP (Engineering) (08/25/89)
In article <17591@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >In article <932@brazos.Rice.edu> wasg@diomedes.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) writes: >>Not at all, in fact a TV movie about the crew of Challenger is in production >>as we speak. They did some shooting here at JSC a couple of months ago. > >Which only goes to show that Americans have extremely poor taste. :-) I second that. I have grown rather tired of watching the Challenger explode. Everytime I see a film clip of a space shuttle anymore, I brace myself for the explosion. If it doesn't explode, I think "Well that must've been the one that made it". While there are obviously important lessons to learn from the Challenger accident I don't see the point in wallowing in it. I don't believe that a movie about Challenger is seriously intended to "honor" the victims as much as it is intended to cash in on America's perverse desire to re-live bad experiences. Now, if the movie intends to expose the corruption and bad management that led to the accident - that's a different matter entirely. :-) -- --------------------------------------- Scott Amspoker Basis International, Albuquerque, NM 505-345-5232
davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (08/26/89)
In article <713@larry.sal.wisc.edu>, jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Jeffrey W Percival) writes: | The "americans/poor taste" comment is of course a generalization, | but doesn't it wear you down seeing how accurate it is, by and large? There are enough Americans that a lot of tastes are present. Consider that we have our government on live TV every day (CSPAN), three educational cable TV channels (Discover and two I don't get), NPR (National Public Radio) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). Most areas (even Schenectady) have several public TV stations (for non-residents, public radio/TV is supported by people who can listen for free sending in money because they like the station. Like shareware). There are people with poor taste, bad taste, and no taste at all in the usa, but there is a lot of good taste here, too. This country manages to support private museums, libraries, etc, because people here are willing to pay to see quality. Tell me which other countries have the government on TV daily, or have educational broadcasting supported by the viewers. Short list, isn't it. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) "The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called 'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see that the world is flat!" - anon
mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (08/26/89)
In article <190@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes: >In article <713@larry.sal.wisc.edu>, jwp@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Jeffrey W Percival) writes: > >| The "americans/poor taste" comment is of course a generalization, >| but doesn't it wear you down seeing how accurate it is, by and large? > > There are enough Americans that a lot of tastes are present. Consider >that we have our government on live TV every day (CSPAN), Yeah, but CSPAN is always barely breaking even (and almost went off the air, permanently, a couple of years ago--but then again, I'm continually amazed that the Weather Channel stays in business, too :-)). And as far as it providing unadulturated wisdom, I always get a chuckle when the impassioned Senator, calling out challenges to the gallery, always turns out to be addressing an empty room. I strongly oppose televising House, Senate, or any judicial activities. It cheapens everyone involved. >educational cable TV channels (Discover and two I don't get), More winners, barely breaking even. >PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). I noticed that PBS did not deign to pre-empt Sesame Street this morning with more Voyager broadcasts. > etc, etc. All of which does not deny the fact that the dramatization of the Challenger schlock will be watched by 50 million people. And will probably be aired during "sweeps," in which other major competitors will attempt to air even more lurid tales (hey, maybe there'll even be a 48-hour miniseries on Nazi gas chambers--boy, won't THAT be a change). Altogether, on such a distinguished night, you'll find 120-150 million people watching CRAP. And the next night, you'll probably find the other half of the population. :-) Oh, and maybe two or three million watching/listening to all the other services you described COMBINED. Yeah, there's a lot of diversity in the United States. But when one talks about popular culture, the couch potatos run the asylum. >This country >manages to support private museums, libraries, etc, Just barely, sir! >because people here >are willing to pay to see quality. Tell me which other countries have >the government on TV daily, or have educational broadcasting supported >by the viewers. Short list, isn't it. I can name countries which don't have such services--but which do have what appear to be better-educated people, less shallow people. Gosh, what irony, eh? Now, the typical reply to such a post is to sing a few bars of "My country 'tis of Thee" and quote from a document which nobody apparently has ever read, the US Constitution... I wonder how many we'll get to see THIS time? :-) Cheers, Robert Dorsett Internet: mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu UUCP: ...cs.utexas.edu!walt.cc.utexas.edu!mentat
steve@nuchat.UUCP (Steve Nuchia) (08/27/89)
In article <17591@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >In article <932@brazos.Rice.edu> wasg@diomedes.rice.edu (Eric Salituro) writes: >>Not at all, in fact a TV movie about the crew of Challenger is in production >Which only goes to show that Americans have extremely poor taste. :-) And how. A friend of mine got a part in it, and I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to him afterward. As a favor I'm withholding judgement and will watch it to see, but YUCK! Give it a rest. -- Steve Nuchia South Coast Computing Services uunet!nuchat!steve POB 890952 Houston, Texas 77289 (713) 964 2462 Consultation & Systems, Support for PD Software.
bei@elephant.UUCP (Bob Izenberg) (08/28/89)
I just watched the Korean Air Lines docudrama on one of the cable pay
channels. It isn't the best example of made-for-TV oversimplification,
but the formula it follows is likely the one the Challenger special will
obey. Picture this: some clips of the explosion, for background in case
you were thinking of some other Challenger disaster. Then some scenes with
policy disagreements, probably over sending Christa McAuliffe up. Expect
some photogenic aerospace engineer to spend some time pondering whether the
shuttle is ready to fly. He'll roll over when an actor doing a real soap
opera backstabbing slimeball at either NASA or M-T shoots him down.
The truth about the way it happened would make poor television. The movie
"Taps" has the military school commandant answer a confused cadet's question
about how someone could close the school by saying, "With the stroke of a pen."
Well, NASA and Thiokol managers doomed Challenger with the stroke of a
speakerphone. They conference-called those 7 people to death. The reality
of how small the thinking behind the launch decision will be overplayed, so
that the people buying the Enquirer will understand it. Subtlety has no
place on commercial television.
--- Bob
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Izenberg, Brandon Consulting [ ] {backbone!}(nsscb,attctc,cbis3)!bei
------------------------------------------------------------------------jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu (Jay C. Smith) (08/28/89)
In article <17643@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >I can name countries which don't have such services--but which do have what >appear to be better-educated people, less shallow people. Gosh, what irony, >eh? Please name the countries. -- "Good. For a minute I thought we were in trouble." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jay C. Smith uucp: ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay Domain: jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu internet: jay%ncspm@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (08/29/89)
In article <1803@ncspm.ncsu.edu> jay@ncspm.ncsu.EDU (Jay C. Smith) writes: >In article <17643@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) >writes: >>I can name countries which don't have such services--but which do have what >>appear to be better-educated people, less shallow people. Gosh, what irony, >>eh? > >Please name the countries. Austria, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Israel, West Germany, Australia, Palestine (gov't in exile), etc. There are, undoubtedly, more. If you wanted a scientific sampling, we could look at various characteristics, such as education (up to 30% illiteracy rate in the United States, the worst of the Western powers, political involvement, economic output, etc. Surveys show that 99% of the population can't name their representatives to Congress, the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and other prominent figures. A hell of a lot of us seem to think that Judge Wapner is a member of the US Supreme Court. We're running on fumes. Robert Dorsett Internet: mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu UUCP: ...cs.utexas.edu!walt.cc.utexas.edu!mentat
jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu (Jay C. Smith) (08/29/89)
Noticed you changed the distribution on the follow-up to "usa." In article <17772@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >>In article <17643@ut-emx.UUCP> mentat@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) >>writes: >>>I can name countries which don't have such services--but which do have what >>>appear to be better-educated people, less shallow people. Gosh, what irony, >>>eh? > >Austria, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Israel, West >Germany, Australia, Palestine (gov't in exile), etc. All countries with a very high degree of cultural single-mindedness and an almost complete lack of diversity among their citizens when compared to the US. One can say that there is an "appearance" of being better-educated and less shallow, but it certainly depends on one's frame of reference. Literacy rates may be one measure of these perceived qualities, but I can't think of how to measure the education involved in exposure to diversity. >A hell of a lot of us seem to think >that Judge Wapner is a member of the US Supreme Court. > >We're running on fumes. "Us?" "We?" Include me out, and stop reading USA Today! :-) -- "Good. For a minute I thought we were in trouble." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jay C. Smith uucp: ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay Domain: jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu internet: jay%ncspm@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu