When you were a kid, you probably heard about how rotten television was for the brain. Heck, you may still hear it now. I grew up with Nickelodeon cartoons like ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’ and ‘Hey, Arnold!’ Those were shows that didn’t do much beside entertain. You couldn’t learn as much from them as from ‘Hooked on Phonics’ or ‘Math Blaster,’ but they made you and your friends pleasantly sedated.

If you are involved in the entertainment business (heck, I am), don’t be too quick to call your profession unimportant. You may not be saving a life in the emergency room or developing any kind of groundbreaking technology, but when people sit down to relax and watch some TV after a hard day’s work, your show will entertain them. In a lot of ways, TV is important. And with fall TV series finally hitting our living rooms, now is the perfect time to remember that.

Even reality shows that seem as unimportant as that required history class have their positives. Look at a show like ABC’s ‘Wipeout,’ which makes grown people getting beat up by huge, archaic wrecking-ball devices darkly comical. Are we really that sadistic because we like to watch John Doe get whacked in the face by a giant, swirling arm? I don’t think so.

To a kid, ‘Wipeout’ looks like the most fun he or she will ever have. What could be better than a giant playground? I’d go on ‘Wipeout’ in a second and relive my childhood days when I went to Discovery Zone and jumped around in ball pits and swung on monkey bars. Only back in the day, I couldn’t look forward to a cash prize after exiting the ball pit alive.

If someone asks you what you do for a living, and you happen to be a producer for the show, don’t shirk away in embarrassment — say it with pride! It’s good, wholesome fun for the everyday Joe. The construction worker holding the STOP/GO sign all day could probably use some entertainment when he gets home.

And with the fall TV season now underway, how can you not be excited for ‘Glee?’ With witty dialogue and popular tracks, it screams entertainment. And best of all, the season premiere is tonight. You don’t get to watch people try to jump over bouncy balls on this show, but last season, we did get to see glee club members jump around on mattresses, singing Van Halen’s ‘Jump.’ ‘Glee’ is exuberant, fun and fresh. It takes the performance aspect of ‘American Idol,’ but throws away the reality tag.

‘American Idol’ has been falling out of popular favor a little bit, but ‘Glee’ has taken popular music and coupled it with a delightful cast of characters that make for entertaining TV. The title says it all: This show is meant to bring happiness. How can shows as good and successful as ‘Glee’ be unimportant to our society? It can’t.

Obviously there’s bad stuff on the tube, especially during midday, which is why I found myself watching ‘The Jersey Shore’ reruns this past Sunday afternoon. The MTV hit reality show is not really my cup of tea, but I do find myself watching it out of boredom or a lack of other options. But no one can deny the show’s popularity. Viewers find the cast of ‘The Jersey Shore’ entertaining and amusing. I roll my eyes when Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino shows his abs off at clubs. But hey, he isn’t a boring person — I’ll give him that.

As long as viewers can lose themselves in it, TV will remain engrained in our popular culture. ‘Wipeout’ boasts the dark humor of knocking people around, ‘Glee’ lifts your mood and ‘The Jersey Shore’ sure has some interesting characters. Yes, TV can sometimes be that rot-out-your-brain junk your parents warned you against, but if someone else gets enjoyment out of it, it can’t be all bad.

Seth Crockett is a junior television, radio and film major and the pop culture columnist. When he‘s not watching TV, he‘s probably eating wings. He can be reached at srcrocke@syr.edu.

 

Published on September 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm