Good morning,
ENTERTAINING TELEVISION
Have you ever read a book that is losing your interest? The plot may be interesting enough but you aren’t invested in the characters. You begin flipping through the pages to get to the end and find out how all the loose ends come together.
That’s how much of the “content” on the streaming services seems to be these days. There is a lot of plot, a lot of twists, a lot of surprises. Many of the plot twists evolve logically, yet many come out of the blue (so even someone carefully paying attention can’t go back and say “I should have seen that happening”). It can be riveting. But the characters often are two-dimensional. There is little in the way of character development. There is little evolution of the protagonists. There are few moral dilemmas with which the characters must wrestle. The beauty of great literature is to watch characters evolve and grow, to confront their challenges, their current predicaments, their demons and great moral and ethical issues. Rarely is this the case in episodic television.
That said, sometimes there’s something special that, even though the characters may not be fully developed, it’s a great ride. If you want a greats series to binge on, with a decent, entertaining, well-acted if implausible adventure, try Night Action. A guy in a boring desk job sits by the phone late at night to answer the call (that rarely comes) from agents who are in trouble. Then the call comes and all hell breaks loose, while there are few people one can trust. It’s exciting and fun, and the distraction and entertainment are well worth it.
POSTCARDS FROM OUR HOME PLANET
To some point, the world we lived in as kids was from another time and strange planet, referred to as “our home planet” by my friend Mark DiMaria. I’ve seen a couple of things on TV recently that recall these times:
A “real” alarm clock with a dial and an alarm
A “real” alarm clock with a digital display and music
A “real” phone that comes out of the wall and allows people you care about to call you, and telemarketers can’t find you.
Calling for the exact time, courtesy the atomic clock in Boulder. “At the tone, the time will be eight fifteen and twenty seconds…”
A bulky “remote control” (I remember the first time I saw one of these at a friend’s house—it was quite impressive!)
One of the first “video games”—Pong, installed on the tv.
A TV that is two feet deep and powered with vacuum tubes
A station wagon with faux wood paneling along its sides
45 RPM records
A chemistry set (remember the cool things you could do?)
Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets
A stick shift and clutch
Flared pants, tie-dye, leisure suits, and giant collars (which should never EVER be resurrected)
MOISES
Cross the river
with me. Even if this time the waters
don’t part before us. Even if this time God
doesn’t come to our aid and a flurry of arrows
riddles our backs. Even if there is no river.
—Luis Alberto de Cuenca
RELAXING THE PACE
Beginning some time in May, I’m dialing down the frequency of the Musings. After that, they will appear in your Inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Each day, a high percentage of subscribers read the Musings (I’m told that the percentage “unique views” the Musings get each day is very high). That said, I have come to two realizations. First, writing this five days a week is quite a commitment. While many of these Musings are relatively quick to produce, others take more research and a number of rewrites. To throw these out there daily, with a brief shelf-life before the next Musing, is to diminish the interest level in those to which I’ve devoted considerable effort. Second, I’ve been thinking that asking readers to pick this up every day is perhaps more of an imposition than they signed on for. I’d rather not create a backlog in inboxes, cease becoming stimulating and simply become a chore, or run the risk this could simply become too great of a burden to ask of friends. Hopefully, in this way I can maintain quality, while increasing the likelihood people will read these Musings more often.
There are those who will say that I simply can’t control myself and that, when the events call for more, I’ll add an extra Musing out there from time to time. These people are wise.
So look for me three days a week (and sometimes four). This is a labor of love. I compose these with friends in mind. It’s what I’m musing about from day to day and what I suspect many of you are musing about. I will continue writing them as long as you continue to enjoy them (and respond whenever the mood arises!).
Have a great day,
Glenn
I think the TV show you are referring to Glenn is actually Night Manager and not Night Action.
The cost of making that correction is that I want to plug a TV show that has not generated the buzz it warrants. The show is Reservation Dogs on Hulu. I have had a hard time getting friends to try the show and some who have tried it have quit after a couple of episodes. Big mistake!! I want to manage people's expectations and so that is as much hype as I will give it. One interesting fact from Wikipedia is that "[i]t is the first American series to feature all Indigenous writers and directors, along with an almost entirely Indigenous North American cast and crew." I will add an additional note that the characters White Steve and White Jesus were portrayed by Caucasians.
Finally,thank you for the musings so far Glenn. I have very much enjoyed them. I trust you when you say that there will be times when you will do extra musings when particular issues come up, but I do not know how you kept up the pace you did with all the other things you are involved in. Kudos.
Thanks for your commitment Glenn, I’ll continue to enjoy even if it’s only 3 days a week!