Buddy Blue...Get a Clue! (June 4, 2004)

Excerpts:

A widely held misconception about the 1970s is that AM radio was the most reprehensible entity apropos that much-maligned decade. In fact, it was television that sunk to its undeniable nadir during the era, despite the existence of such great shows as "All in the Family," the original "Saturday Night Live" and Rod Serling's brilliant, all-but-forgotten "Night Gallery."

When I think of '70s TV, I shudder in revulsion at the recollection of a seemingly endless stream of annoying, boob-tube-spawned popular catch phrases, including but not limited to:

"Kiss My Grits!"
"Ayyyyyyyyyyyy!"
"Sit On It!"
"Up Your Nose With a Rubber Hose!"
"Nanu Nanu!"
"Loooking Goooood!"
"You'll Never Go From Rags to Riches!"
"Whut Choo Talkin' 'Bout, Willis?"
"God'll Get You For That, Walter!"
"Who Loves Ya, Baby?"
"Book 'Em, Danno!"
"Watch It, Sucker!"
"You Big Dummy!"
"Here I Come, 'Lizbeth!"
"Hay Hay Hay!"
"Zoinks!"
"De Plane! De Plane!"
"The Devil Made Me Do It!"
"What You See Is What You Get!"
"Survey Says!"
And, perhaps most unendurable of all:
"Dy-No-Miiiiite!"
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

End excerpt.

D.T.'s response to this:

Buddy Blue's opinion that television has sunken to its undeniable nadir is off by three decades. Right now, we're living in a flood of uninspiring reality shows, Jerry Springer clones, monotonous courtroom dramas, boring dating game shows, and extremely violent dramas.

Also to blame for the viewer's exodus from network TV are all those insipid and unwatchable sitcoms that make my favorite 70's sitcoms look like the level of "Frasier" by comparison. In my teenage years of high school hell, those so-called funny catch-phrase sitcoms provided me welcome relief from dealing with the culturally-challenged students eight hours a day. Most of the "dumb" characters on television were smarter than most anyone I met in high school including the staff.

Buddy Blue needs a clue. It's today's garbage that I can't watch.