SOME RANDOM DUDE

This is by far the latest post for the weekly links I have had to date. You can blame 36clicks for that.

Sorry about this, I am going to get this all back in line.

Enjoy the links.

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Many of you who know me are well aware that my wife and I do not own a TV - nor do we plan to get one in the foreseeable future. However, after hearing the radio show This American Life was coming to Showtime as a TV series, I personally felt the slightest twinge to jump on the boob-tube bandwagon. It is no surprise to me that a channel such as Showtime would create such a series - frankly, anything resembling This American Life would never survive on network or basic cable TV. On a side note, I find it hilariously predictable how much better the website is for the Showtime version of This American Life than its public radio equivalent. To be expected I guess.

My wife and I have been long-time fans of this show and wish it the fullest of success on TV. Honestly, I could just as easily see folks swarming to it as I could see people not getting it and quickly moving on. Being so far detached from the culture of television at this point, I am not sure if I understand the medium enough anymore to be able to make a valid prediction. Still, I cannot express how happy I am to see a TV network willing to take a chance on something well worth it. As Ira Glass has made very clear, the radio show is not going away - the two will exist together. My hope is that some of the progressive methods that public radio and This American Life have instituted - free podcasts, audio downloads of programs, etc. - will be brought into the Showtime program as well. I know that one person cannot change a whole industry, and a very established industry at that. Still, my hope is that a little bit of public radio will rub off on this one show. Perhaps TV execs will then notice that fans react well to the attitude public radio fosters - you know, putting the priority of distributing the medium to the wide audience possible over pulling in the highest profit. I guess we will see…ira glass, media, profit, public radio, radio, showtime, substance, television, this american life tv