There was once a TV program, "Quincy, M.E.", starring Jack Klugman as a medical examiner. I grew to dislike the series, because he was never wrong. Never. Not once. Never a mistaken diagnosis, never an ethically questionable call. And he knew it. And he was a bully because of it. And I couldn't stand him.
Now I have House. And Grissom. And Gibbs. And whoever the hell Sam Waterston plays on "Law and Order". They're never wrong. And they're obnoxious about it in varying degrees, from Grissom's remoteness to House's aggressive overbearing superiority complex and despicable attitude.
Night after night after night. Superior, supercilious, infallible, overweening egos on parade.
Are we all that desperate for The Perfect Father Figure that we'll stand for being abused by them by proxy seven nights a week?
Sick of them. Just tired of the whole self-righteous lot of them. Hawkeye Pierce, where are you?
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sleepyjohn00- sleepyjohn00
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Another reason I no longer have a hypnogourd...
Watch out for falling helicopters!
It's probably a byproduct of all the homes where fathers are absent or good as absent. Same with sitcoms where women are frigid, self-righteous shrews and men are bumbling dolts who couldn't survive ten minutes without Mommy taking care of them.
Between Clif Huxtable, Tim Taylor, Homer Simpson, and all the rest of the idiot dads, there just isn't a decent dad-image on TV. Except for the whose who have lost their family through a Tragic Accident. Pfui.
I find Bill Cosby to be a more positive role model now that he isn't in a sitcom.
Read the book, if you haven't already. if nothing else, The Second Coming of Trapper John is worth it!
Have you read any of the sequel books? Since I've only heard a little about them, I get the feeling they weren't very memorable.
I think Bill Cosby is a great role model. I refuse to compare him to Homer Simpson.
Sorry Dad's don't come that way either. Sure there should be good parental role models - and gods knows better than Tim and the Bitch Taylor - but it seems that TV likes (and probably always will) like to play to extremes.
Oddly enough, I like House and Grissom (at least before it jumped the shark and he started sleeping with Sara - how very unGrissom like) and Sam Waterson's Law and Order character. Mostly I think because I have always been deeply attracted to brilliant men, who by their very nature tend to be a bit arrogant and caustic and tend not to suffer fools gladly - but in that they also tend to be flawed individuals of course the same could be said of Hawkeye Pierce (and I loved him too). My good friend of almost 30 years DrFreud is one of those, and I was deeply painfully in love with one for 7+ years, fortunately I finally met a man who is both brilliant, genius, a little bit flawed, a lot weird, and extremely kind and selfless.
Honestly one of the reasons I liked Law and Order from the beginning was it wasn't always about 'pat' answers and everything being 'OK' by the end of 60 minutes, it often has left open huge wide gaps of neither life nor justice is perfect.
Now if only we could see Hawkeye as a Dad....
I resent being condescended to, by doctors, lawyers, or politicians. If someone's knowledge base in their field is superior to mine, that's fine, and I will defer in that field, but that's no reason to be a jerk in every other aspect of life. If I acted like House does towards everyone who came to me for help in MY area of expertise, I'd be unemployed in a month.
If House et al ever had to come face to face with a situation where they were *not* The Big Poobah And Know-it-All, and had to rely on someone else's abilities, the resulting devastation of their egos would be very healthy.
Who do I admire? Hawkeye. Dumbledore. Jeffrey Sinclair and John Sheridan. Alessan di Tigana. Nick van Rijn. Ista de Chalion. People who know their jobs, but do not allow their egos to override their humanity.
I found 'I Love Lucy' annoying, with the wife who's a ditz and a husband who's always bailing her out. I don't find the role reversal thirty years later any more appealing. What's wrong with having two people who are intelligent, instead of a stooge and a saviour? No comedy, I suppose.
I was recently in Florida taking care of my parents of they both had some medical problems, and ended up having to sit through several "House" episodes that they had on their TIVO (my parents are not observant, hence the TV addiction).
All I can say is that I was so appalled at what I had to sit though that if I still watched TV I would have thrown it out the window as soon as I returned home.
How can people sit there and have their intelligence insulted hour after hour? And how in the world can they put up with a show that glorifies someone who should be sent back to repeat kindergarten, since he obviously never learned to play well with others?