Real Life Social Issues...On Soap Operas?

When people think of soap operas they usually think of corny daytime television that has bad acting and even worse "story-lines". While some of this may be true, soap operas have been increasingly devoting story-lines to real life situations; people find it easier to relate to better now that their favorite characters may have similar problems they have in life, where as before the characters would discover their evil twin which most people, I believe, may have a hard time relating to.

Soap operas audiences range from young teenage girls to women in their sixties, and all the social issues that have been included in the shows can apply to all these age groups. Some real life social issues that are discussed on the shows are substance abuse, dating abuse, alcoholism, AIDS, bipolar disorder, heart disease, and many more. Mostly what the shows seem to do is show audiences that these issues can be treated and it's okay to have these problems as long as they're treated.

Having personally seen several episodes of General Hospital devoted to issues like these ones, the show usually shows the characters in distress at first, then they show how they are able to receive proper care and take responsibility by taking care of themselves. There have been several testimonials from people who have seen shows on certain issues and have recognized signs of these issues in either themselves or people they know and were able to get help.

This is a Public Service Announcement at the end of a General

Hospital episode in which the character shown was being

physically abused by her boyfriend. Here the actor gives out

hotlines where people in similar situations can go for help.

Although many people seem to put soap operas down and make fun of their "corniness", they seem to be doing a good thing- putting their focus on real life situations and not just evil twins.

The Tonight Show War- The Results:

It's been almost two months since it was announced that Conan O'Brien would have to give up his job as the host of The Tonight Show, and that title would go back to Jay Leno. Many people were upset with this switch back. Jay Leno explained that five years ago he was asked to give the show to Conan in five years, even though his show was still number one. He claims that once NBC realized they had made a mistake because Conan's ratings weren't terribly high they decided to push Conan with The Tonight Show to 12:00. Conan refused to because he said it would no longer be considered "The Tonight Show" which would ruin it's dynasty. It seems like it all comes down to whether or not Conan was given a fair chance to make it on The Tonight Show with only 7 months.

Many people thought this had tarnished Jay Leno's image as "Mr. Nice Guy" to take back the job willingly. Supporters of Conan O'Brien launched a group which started on Facebook called "Team Coco". This quickly grew overnight into a mass following with almost one million fans. Rallies were held by Team Coco in an effort to save Conan's spot on The Tonight Show, but NBC claimed it was all too little too late.

The Tonight Show War seemed like the only thing in the news for two weeks straight. Jay Leno looked as though he was "winning" because he was getting back the most sacred job a comedian could have; being the host on one of television's greatest dynasties, The Tonight Show. However, no one, especially NBC, expected Conan to get the response that he did after the show was over.

NBC had signed a deal with Conan that he couldn't have a television hosting 'gig' until September 2010. In response to this, Conan, to keep his fans happy and his staff employed, set up a nationwide tour in 30 cities which almost completely sold out in one day. Conan has figured out a way to stay in touch with fans and seems to be talked about more than Leno. Not only does he have this tour with 30 cities, but it looks as though he will in fact have a television hosting job on another channel in the same time spot as The Tonight Show, which he once hosted; many critics and fans are anticipating Conan's return to television so he can finish what he started. Many people are also curious to see who will come out on top. Even though Jay Leno got his job as the host of The Tonight Show back, it seems as though Conan O'Brien has won The Tonight Show War, for now, even though he doesn't hold the title as the host, wouldn't you say so?

iPad... Not iDeal?

There has been a lot of buzz about Apple's new iPad. Like many of their other products it is the first if it's kind, as a NY Times article says, "...few people have ever owned a tablet computer." It has all the features of modern day technology: touch screen, apps, video, music, and a whole lot more. Apple advertises the iPad as being able to use for everyday technologies, almost like a computer... however, they never seem to attach the term "computer" to it, but that is essentially what it is.

The iPad seems as though it would be so unreasonable to use because of its flat surface. It also seems destined to fail just as the Mac Air because of its lack of features such as USB ports and a cd-rom insert.

Apple has already come out with the iPhone and the iTouch, which have nearly all the same features, so why the iPad; because Apple is trying to appeal to the Kindle and Nook lovers. The iBookstore feature resembles the Kindle and Nook, but it's supposed to look "prettier".

It seems as though it would pay more to have the iPhone or the iTouch because it has all the same features as the iPad, but it's more portable. They've been trying to sell the iPad as a product for everyone, but it gives the feeling of more of a product for businesses because of its flat design. for the price that some of the iPads would be going for, it almost pays to spend the extra two hundred dollars for a device that sits propped in front of you like the MacBook.

Media's Ethics: Where Have They Gone?

In the past decade the media has been under attack for their unethical reporting. Papparazzi numbers have grown, and many think this is becoming a problem. For celebrities, the media seems to focus more on their personal lives now-a-days rather than the work they have created.

TMZ, I believe, is one of the most unethical media there is; they have a website (also known as a "gossip site"), and a television show on the Fox channel. They are known for breaking news first... however, this isn't normal breaking news, it usually has to do with what is going on in a celebrities personal life. A current example of this is Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James' marital problems. They were first to break the story that James was cheating on his wife, and since have been following both of their every moves. They even go as far as camping outside a local rehab facility where James is currently being treated to give you "updates" as shown here:

It just doesn't seem right that something so personal should be put out their for everyone to see just because of their celebrity status; just because they are entertainers shouldn't mean their lives are also another form of entertainment for the public.

For celebrities, privacy has seemed to completely have "gone out the window", for lack of a better term, and because of these unethical news reports of peoples personal lives, this sometimes turns the public off to the actor or actresses movies or other projects because of what they've seen about them, which seems to be completely unfair.

Technology has obviously become better over the past decade, and because of this, resources in tracking, and what I believe to be stalking celebrities, has gotten easier as well. Cell phones allow people anywhere to report "news" on what they see. TMZ has posted on their site a "tip line" phone number for the chance that you see a celebrity doing something that would be considered breaking news such as them shopping in a store, or them not seen wearing a wedding ring which definitely mean the end of their marriage (that was intended to sound as sarcastic as possible):

Nothing seems "too bad to air" now in the media. Personal

relationships, health issues, even children are now being

exploited in the media. There doesn't seem to be any known

boundaries towards what should stay private, and what is

okay to share with the world; a perfect example of this is

when celebrities or public figures conduct interviews and say

things that they believe to be in private conversation

separate from the interview which is later written about;

President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a "jackass" is

the best example.

The public seems to also feed into this "frenzy" more and

more; they have become so concerned in celebrities lives as

seen in different stores which reserve an entire section next

to more respectable media such as newspapers. People

should be worried more about real breaking news in the

world rather than which store a celebrity shopped at today.

Cable Customers Held Hostage

Many cable customers were cheated out of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin's opening monologue at the Oscars on ABC7, all over an unsettled deal between The Walt Disney Company and Cablevision. Both companies naturally blamed the other: Disney stated that Cablevision charges customers every month for the "basic package" which includes ABC: Cablevision argued that they already pay Disney $200 million, and they were asking for $40 million more. Both companies continued this dispute on television: if you were a Cablevision customer and turned on your t.v. you saw and heard a 4 minute long message saying how ABC is demanding unfair amounts of money: on ABC there was a screen ticker on the bottom saying you may lose this channel on March 7th, which so happened to be the same day of the Oscars. What it really comes down to is the cable customers don't care about the companies business issues, they just want to keep their channel with their favorite shows.

ABC is a traditional broadcast channel, which means you can technically get it for free if you have a t.v. antenna, so why all the fuss over money; because, Cablevision charges their customers for basic cable. Disney claimed they weren't receiving any money off the money Cablevision was profiting from their customers.

Cablevision had a similar dispute at the beginning of the year with Scripps Networks which ran channels HGTV and Food Network. Both channels were pulled for almost a week while the companies worked out an agreement. So when Cablevision customers were hit with another threat of a channel being taken off the air, ABC decided to use this tactic of actually suggesting to Cablevision customers to change their cable company:

Cablevision argued that ABC is available free with an antenna or online. They ran this long message about The Walt Disney Company, claiming that it was asking for more money because all their theme parks around the world were having financial difficulties:

Once midnight came ABC pulled the network, 20 hours before the Oscars were to air. Over 3 million people missed the first 20 minutes of the Oscars, before it finally was switched back on before the first award was presented. The NY Times says in an article that the switch came a little late for some customers who had made other plans to watch the show.

Cable customers were being used as hostages while Cablevision and The Walt Disney Company were struggling to negotiate a deal. Customers were asked to take sides and told to switch to other cable services. Both companies were using popular media tactics such as Facebook and Twitter to rally supporters in hopes that they would force the other side the "cave in". What it all comes down to is this: loyal customers and viewers should not be put in this situation; the companies should have worked out their problems behind the scenes, and everyone would have been happier.

Sitcoms Using the "Reality" Angle

Many sitcoms that are on now have been catering to the new audiences who are drawn to reality television. New shows are filmed at a reality show angle using several cameras in a documentary setting. There is a term for this sort of television, Mockumentary, which according to Wikipedia means a genre of film and television in which fictitious events are presented in a non-fiction or documentary format.

Most people are initially drawn in because they think it's a new reality show; however, when they realize that it's a scripted show with actors AND it's still good, they continue watching. People are so drawn into reality shows because of the real life situations people go through on the shows and the entertainment of how it's all "blown out of proportion". The mockumentaries are able to entertain their audiences based on exaggerated real life experiences. The term "if you can't beat them, join them" seems to fit perfectly in this case; many new shows have decided to make their shows cater to the largely based reality television show audience, which seems to be growing more and more everyday.

Some television shows that have this Mockumentary filming are Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911!, and The Office. All these shows give you the sense as though you are really following the characters in their lives. The shows come up with real life experiences and exaggerate the situations on the show for comedic effect. With Modern Family and The Office, there are parts in the show where they have separate "interviews" with the characters, as would a regular reality show such as The Bachelor and Jersey Shore.

This is a clip from Modern Family showing an "interview" with one of the characters, Phil.

Real television shows with actors and scripts haven't seemed to completely fizzled out yet. They've come up with a way to "stay in the loop" with the rapidly changing media industry, mainly the reality show takeover, which seems to be working. Many people say that it's "refreshing" to have shows with real actors and scripts coming back to television because they are sick of reality shows, but these new shows are reality-based. Has the American television audience completely been taken over by reality t.v. and haven't even realized it? How many more shows will catch on to this trend? We'll have to see...