Mary Sisney's Blog - Posts Tagged "larry-david"
Streaming Instead of Screaming: Why I Broke Up With MSNBC And CNN
Until the majority of white people, including women and evangelicals, voted for a low-rated reality television star, a self-proclaimed sexual assaulter and insane white supremacist, for President, I loved watching reality television shows. It started with the Osbornes, (then) married singers Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, and best friends (until the show caused some trouble between them) Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. Later came the Kardashians and the (sometimes unmarried) “wives.” I not only watched the Beverly Hills and Atlanta Housewives but also enjoyed the Basketball Wives and briefly a series starring the ex-wives of Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Prince, and (late addition to the cast) R Kelly. I also enjoyed shows that featured celebrities and once were or wannabe celebrities living together (“The Surreal Life”), trying to lose weight (“The Celebrity Fitness Club”), recover from drugs (Dr. Drew’s shows), and most hilariously, work as cops in Muncie, Indiana. The only totally scripted (I figured out fairly quickly that most of the reality shows were partly scripted) shows I watched during this period were set in schools—“Community” and “Glee.” I watched only one season of “The Apprentice,” the one that featured LaToya Jackson (who was one of the “celebrity” Muncie cops and also briefly had her own show as did her brothers shortly after Michael’s death; I watched both shows while complaining about the exploitation of Michael’s death and LaToya’s lack of talent), Atlanta Housewife NeNe Leakes (may her husband RIP), former “The View” cohost Star Jones, and the very contemptuous of the show and other “contestants” legendary singer Dionne Warwick. I wasn’t a fan of that show, especially after Trump started his racist birther lies. Once he entered the White House and started creating chaos, I mainly watched news shows because I had to know what that incompetent maniac was doing to our country and the world. I usually watched MSNBC but would switch to CNN if I didn’t like the guest or the topic on the MSNBC shows. I would watch Hallie Jackson’s show while eating breakfast, Katy Tur’s (occasionally Ali Velshi’s if I was late eating) during lunch, and Rachel Maddow’s during dinner. When the news was especially important or scary, I would also watch Lawrence O’Donnell and Brian Williams’ shows. During the last year of Trump’s reign, which featured Covid and the BLM protests, I started turning on “Morning Joe” as soon as I woke up and watched Nicolle Wallace and Joy Reid’s afternoon (in LA) shows. Once Biden finally moved into the White House, I dropped Nicolle’s show, which had expanded to two hours, but continued to watch Joy and frequently to check out Joe and Mika’s show in the morning. Then came what I refer to as the Cuomo mess. I was so disgusted by the Democrats’ dirty politics, using fake sexual misconduct charges to force another popular Democrat to resign after the majority of white women and evangelicals had voted for a self-proclaimed sexual assaulter and accused rapist twice, that I turned off MSNBC and CNN and started streaming comedy and documentary shows while eating my meals.
Dining with SNL’s Bernie Sanders, aka Larry David, whose show (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) I’m currently streaming, is so much more relaxing than trying to eat while the MSNBC or CNN anchors are presenting their biased version of the news. My only worry is that I might choke while eating and laughing at Larry’s foolishness. Hurricane survivors Vivica Fox (I don’t remember her character’s name) and her brother Leon (played by a should be more well-known comedian named J.B. Smoove) have added color to the show. Before Larry’s show, I enjoyed watching the first season of “Hacks,” which won several Emmys on Sunday, “Nora Is From Queens,” which is about a hilarious Chinese family, and all six or seven seasons of “Sex and the City.” I’ve also watched a couple of documentaries, one about Obama, which was as informative as it was inspiring, and a disturbing (but also informative) one about Sandra Bland. But even that documentary was less difficult to swallow with my food than the METOO-promoting, false equivalency nonsense too often spewed on MSNBC and CNN.
I still watch Jonathan Capehart’s MSNBC show on Sunday morning, but I’ve usually finished breakfast before I start watching him, and I will skip segments that I think might agitate me. I once said that being able to tweet and post on social media had stopped me from screaming at the television, but lately I’ve been doing both, screaming at the television and then rushing to my I-Pad to tweet. Since Snowflake Meghan McCain (See 3/14/21 post) is gone, I’m watching “The View” again, but after a segment on Monica Lewinsky turned my stomach this week and sent me to my I-Pad to launch a Twitter storm about Clinton being impeached over sex and Monica still cashing in on her infamy after all these years, I wondered if I would be able to continue watching that show. I’m too old to watch provocative political television. I need entertaining comfort television, especially while I’m eating.
Since I believe it’s important for American citizens to be informed, I now read my two daily newspapers more carefully and realized too late to save my 9/11 experience (I turned off the television when all of the stations I checked had switched to a speech by the second worst President in my lifetime instead of continuing to show the solemn and moving name-calling ceremony at Ground Zero) that I can watch C-Span during major political and historical events. Sorry, Brian, Rachel, Joy, and Nicolle, while your 2020 Democratic convention commentary was entertaining, I think I’ll provide my own commentary for major events while watching CSPAN without commercials.
I’m looking forward to seeing our Vice President on “The View” this morning. I hope Whoopi is back to help interview her and don’t expect Ana to cause any problems because she is one of my favorite Republicans (along with Nicolle and Steve Schmidt; I like McCain’s 2008 campaign staff much more than I do his daughter). But when I turn off “The View” and start eating lunch, I’ll be streaming “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I don’t care what the anchors on MSNBC and CNN think about the Harris interview. I figured out years ago that I’m a better critical thinker (although equally biased) than they are. Between 11:00 and 11:30, I’ll be laughing at Larry’s foolishness, not screaming at the fools on MSNBC or CNN who will probably be criticizing VP Harris for all the wrong reasons.
Dining with SNL’s Bernie Sanders, aka Larry David, whose show (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) I’m currently streaming, is so much more relaxing than trying to eat while the MSNBC or CNN anchors are presenting their biased version of the news. My only worry is that I might choke while eating and laughing at Larry’s foolishness. Hurricane survivors Vivica Fox (I don’t remember her character’s name) and her brother Leon (played by a should be more well-known comedian named J.B. Smoove) have added color to the show. Before Larry’s show, I enjoyed watching the first season of “Hacks,” which won several Emmys on Sunday, “Nora Is From Queens,” which is about a hilarious Chinese family, and all six or seven seasons of “Sex and the City.” I’ve also watched a couple of documentaries, one about Obama, which was as informative as it was inspiring, and a disturbing (but also informative) one about Sandra Bland. But even that documentary was less difficult to swallow with my food than the METOO-promoting, false equivalency nonsense too often spewed on MSNBC and CNN.
I still watch Jonathan Capehart’s MSNBC show on Sunday morning, but I’ve usually finished breakfast before I start watching him, and I will skip segments that I think might agitate me. I once said that being able to tweet and post on social media had stopped me from screaming at the television, but lately I’ve been doing both, screaming at the television and then rushing to my I-Pad to tweet. Since Snowflake Meghan McCain (See 3/14/21 post) is gone, I’m watching “The View” again, but after a segment on Monica Lewinsky turned my stomach this week and sent me to my I-Pad to launch a Twitter storm about Clinton being impeached over sex and Monica still cashing in on her infamy after all these years, I wondered if I would be able to continue watching that show. I’m too old to watch provocative political television. I need entertaining comfort television, especially while I’m eating.
Since I believe it’s important for American citizens to be informed, I now read my two daily newspapers more carefully and realized too late to save my 9/11 experience (I turned off the television when all of the stations I checked had switched to a speech by the second worst President in my lifetime instead of continuing to show the solemn and moving name-calling ceremony at Ground Zero) that I can watch C-Span during major political and historical events. Sorry, Brian, Rachel, Joy, and Nicolle, while your 2020 Democratic convention commentary was entertaining, I think I’ll provide my own commentary for major events while watching CSPAN without commercials.
I’m looking forward to seeing our Vice President on “The View” this morning. I hope Whoopi is back to help interview her and don’t expect Ana to cause any problems because she is one of my favorite Republicans (along with Nicolle and Steve Schmidt; I like McCain’s 2008 campaign staff much more than I do his daughter). But when I turn off “The View” and start eating lunch, I’ll be streaming “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I don’t care what the anchors on MSNBC and CNN think about the Harris interview. I figured out years ago that I’m a better critical thinker (although equally biased) than they are. Between 11:00 and 11:30, I’ll be laughing at Larry’s foolishness, not screaming at the fools on MSNBC or CNN who will probably be criticizing VP Harris for all the wrong reasons.
