regression

TV Studies seems to be all about the old school. Seriously. I think the most recent show we've seen in class this whole sem was 24, and it wasn't even a recent episode. It was the pilot from 2001.

Don't get me wrong, I like most of the shows we see. Like Six Feet Under (absolutely adore Peter Krause). And Paddy Chayefsky's Network (referenced in the pilot of Studio 60). And I got to re-live ER during the George Clooney (and vastly younger Noah Wyle) days. Plus we got to see Twin Peaks, which I've been trying to find on DVD for ages.

Once in awhile, though, we get the occasional cheese factor with shows like The Cosby Show. I thought Cosby was gonna be it for cheese for the class.

And then today happened.

First, we saw a snippet of Marilyn Monroe doing "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That was just fine by me since I adore movies from that era.

And then we went through Madonna's Immaculate Collection of music videos where she pays homage to Marilyn with "Material Girl", purrs about the purity of being "Like A Virgin", and dances about in bondage-like leather in "Open Your Heart".

I thought I'd stepped in a time warp black hole and got sucked back into the eighties.

After doing a rather bizarre analysis of Madonna's various videos, I hoped we'd move on to other more contemporary shows. Instead, we regressed further with Captain Kirk and Spock.

That's right, folks. Star Trek, the original from 1967. I bet all the Trekkies out there are weeping with pleasure.

Despite the extremely high cheese quotient, it was pretty novel to see William Shatner in his very (very) young Capt Kirk persona, especially since I only remember him as the outrageous Denny Crane in Boston Legal. And all covered in Furby-like Tribbles.

The mind just boggles.

Seriously. Shouldn't we be studying current shows? Like How I Met Your Mother. Or Heroes (even though season 3's been rather rubbishy.) Or Studio 60. Or The West Wing. Seriously. Sorkin shows have tons of formalist analysis stuff.

I mean, really. Is it that hard to study TV trends in shows that came out, oh, say, within the last three years?