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« Roush Dispatch
Race Relations on Survivor; Today's Manic Meredith
Why can?t they all get along? Because it?s Survivor, silly. Also silly, as it turns out, is all the hubbub over the ridiculous cheap stunt of dividing the tribes (this time four mini-tribes of five, and how long can that last?) along racial lines.
Kind of ironic that the Cook Island edition is being played out in the South Pacific. (Those with long musical memories will remember that Rodgers & Hammerstein?s classic South Pacific musical dealt head-on with race, including the anti-prejudice anthem ?You?ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.?)
Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett like to call this season a ?social experiment,? but it?s nothing more than a showman?s desperate gimmick to reignite attention for a show that?s far from played out but which risks being taken for granted on a busy, busy night. (Until CBS revealed news of the racial twist, all the talk since May had been about the Grey?s Anatomy-CSI faceoff.)
This gimmick led to an uncomfortable amount of self-awareness among the players as we tried to acquaint ourselves with the large cast and the multiple tribes. Even before they got on land, the Asian ?Puka? tribe had begun to snipe about ?Asian jokes? and ?stereotypes,? mostly courtesy of loose cannon Cao Boi (pronounced ?cowboy?), who nonetheless proved useful applying old-world healing techniques to Brad?s headache.
On the African-American Hiki tribe, Rebecca helpfully noted, ?We don?t just run track.? And Nate offered up: ?Black people don?t like to be told what to do.? (Which explains the early ouster of bossy Sekou, I guess.) There was an ?I have a dream? shout-out, and a crack about ?low-income housing.?
But by the end of the brisk first hour, what became quite clear is that no matter how the game is structured, Survivor can never be about race. It?s about individuals, and the divisions within the tribes turned out to be more important than any differences between the tribes. At least so far. (And true to Survivor tradition, it didn't take long for two hotties, Raro's Candice and Adam, to form a "cuddle puddle.")
And so the moral of this experiment so far appears to be: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Which can also be said of the transition this week on Today, where Meredith Vieira joined the morning-show family with a frenetic fanfare that almost made Katie Couric?s farewell earlier this year look sedate. Of all the women making musical-chair changes this fall (Katie Couric to CBS Evening News, Rosie O?Donnell assuming Meredith?s role on The View), Meredith is probably the most naturally suited for her new assignment. But first (a line she actually flubbed her first time out), she had to get through that first Today.
We expected her to flirt with Matt Lauer (?I feel like it?s the first day of school and I?m sitting next to the cutest guy in class?), but did she have to share to Al Roker that she had a hamster named Al as a kid? ?Big Al. He died,? she explained.
?I don?t know about you. I got goosebumps,? Matt joked. I don?t know about you. My skin crawled.
Later, during the traditional biographical salute to the new arrival, Meredith tossed her cap in the air in a cheesy Mary Richards homage. ?Poor Mary Tyler Moore is probably gagging right now,? self-deprecating Meredith quipped. She wouldn't have been the only one.
Like the overly vibrant new High Definition set they?re on, Meredith and her team were too hyperactive on her first day. She talked too fast, gesticulating madly during her first ?serious? assignment, a sit-down with Washington bureau chief Tim Russert.
Thankfully, she appeared to have taken to heart her son Ben?s on-camera advice: ?Please try to relax.? By the second morning, this veteran broadcaster (let?s ignore her ?I?m going to be the ?broad? in broadcasting? joke) was on her game, handling the mix of news and fluff with confidence and just the right amount of humor, rarely pushing it.
It was actually funny when, discussing an upcoming segment about women making career changes, Matt asked her if she?d ever thought about switching gears, and she retorted, ?I just got this gig!? Less funny was her skit with a jealous Miss Piggy, who confronted her in her dressing room with the accusation, ?You think you got the chops for the job?? then warned, ?Keep your paws off Lauer. He?s mine.?
Can Meredith make it a week without being asked to actually tap dance? I?m not so sure.
But I am sure she will fit in effortlessly with this well-oiled machine of a morning show. Her maturity (in age if not always temperament), her ?chops,? her poise and style and charisma, all provide a great comfort level, which is what you?re looking for in this sort of show. And Matt looks genuinely delighted to have her there. Who wouldn?t?
The view from Rockefeller Center looks just fine. As was the case when Brian Williams smoothly took over from Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News, this smooth and orderly transition speaks well for Today?s continued dominance of the morning-news scene.
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Sep 14, 2006 10:13 PM
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Morning "News" shows are just garbage (can anyone say "radio"?). However, I tuned in to Meredith's debut on Today out of curiousity. I agree with your assessment, but I would add one more thing. It was the most unprofessional broadcast I have seen on Today since Jane Pauly. I'm sure they have worked out the kinks (although I haven't watched), but I cringed the whole time I watched (about an hour's worth).
PS: Thank god the public has woken up and shoved Katy Couric and her faux evening news back into 3rd place where it belongs!
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Sep 15, 2006 1:02 AM
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deej, the last ratings I saw were for Tuesday and Katie led the pack. Sorry to spoil your Schadenfreude!
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Sep 15, 2006 1:04 PM
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I stopped watching the morning shows long ago. Their attempts at humor are horrible, and you get very little useful information for my daily life. I wish Meredith Viera the best, but I am not going to start watching now.
I do not watch Survivor, American Idol (except the train reck of bad singers in the beginning), or any other reality show - except Project Runway. PR is the only reality show that fascinates me and cannot be rehearsed. You have 15-30 minutes to design an outfit, and 24-48 hours to cut and sew and get a model in it. Now that is fascinating tv.
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Sep 18, 2006 4:52 PM
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