Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The "S," CBS, and the needles.

Had a bit of deja vu this week as a favorite larger than life figure whose name began with "S" was brought low thanks to CBS and a few hypodermic needles.

Perhaps my least favorite thing in all of television has always been the episode when the hero is robbed of their gifts and brought low, to stagger through an entire episode. It goes all the way back to watching Mannix as a child. (Mannix, for those of you far too young to know, was one of those private eyes that drove around in a cool car and punched people. Back in the day, those were a thing.) I suppose one would call it drama, to show a hero barely able to function at all, dragging his semi-conscious form through some desperate gambit. I called it "not getting to see what I tuned in for."

Last night, of course, this victim of television drama was Supergirl, who, upon donning the triangular "S" for one of the first times and flying off to stop a fire, is rendered helpless by government agents shooting kryptonite darts and using kryptonite handcuffs. Poor girl doesn't even get to just fly around feeling super for a whole hour before the mere mortals have to show her she's nobody special. It's fictional socialism at it's finest, spreading the powers around so the playing field stays level.

Whether it's those lovably idiotic geniuses of Big Bang Theory or Scorpion, the schlub who gets smarter via a pill in Limitless, or . . . well, I shan't say here, in order to be an individual who rises above, you have to actually fall below. If you want to be efficient and competent on CBS, you must below to a government agency with initials, and be a part of the program.

What does all this have to do with Sherlock Holmes? Nothing, of course. Not a darn thing.

Sometimes one just gets in a mood to rant about a network.

That's all.

4 comments:

  1. Wait - you mean to tell me there's an old guy out there ranting about CBS? That's actually their traditional audience demographic.

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    Replies
    1. If it's an old guy who has made a hobby about ranting about old guys, it makes perfect sense.

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  2. Late update: CBS's Supergirl seems to be getting much better after a few episodes, and I'm changing my opinion of the show. I love when a show gives me reason to do that.

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