Counter-programming

I truly wonder who in this country is currently watching "Yes, Dear", "Stacked", or "Biggest Loser" instead of the Rose Bowl? I realize that not everyone is the college football fan that I am, and that plenty of people don't give a darn about the game, but how could anyone think that any of those could compete with the BCS title game? I hear that "Biggest Loser" does rather well, but those other two have got to be among the dregs of the airwaves.

At least I would think so. But now I see that YD has been around for five years and 100 episodes. And yet "Third Rock From the Sun" and "Futurama" are gone. The Church has a bumper sticker that says "If You Want Peace, Work for Justice" (I almost typed "No Justice, No Peace!"). But where's the justice in that?

However, on the EACT channel, they're showing Shaolin Soccer, one of my favorite movies to come out in the past few years, and one of the few I own on DVD. A very worthy program to put opposite the game. Stephen Chow has really caught my attention with SS and the ultra-hilarious Kung Fu Hustle, which I may also buy soon. I recently watched King of Comedy from 1999. It's funny and sad and wacky, which seem to be trademarks of not only Chow but some other Chinese films I've seen as well. I believe there are greater highs and lows (especially lows) in Chinese comedy than in American. There is a much greater capacity for extreme degredation and humiliation as well, in pursuit of a good laugh. For example:

Tin Sau (Chow) tells a not so tough triad member to watch him from a distance and he'll show him how to act in order to extort money. But Tin Sau gets distracted by a naked little boy, who he starts playing with, and you think, "Oh no, he can't actually do that to that grown man, can he? HE DID!!!" There's lots of that stuff.

Anyway, we've come all the way from the foolishness of network programmers to the excellence of Stephen Chow. Enjoy.