Here
is your latest sign that the music industry is screwed up beyond all belief. On
VH1 Classic right now they are broadcasting three straight hours of old
episodes of Coach. A channel that by definition has fifty years of history to draw
from, Beatles on Ed Sullivan to Rolling Stones at Altamont to Live Aid to
really crappy boy bands to even crappier boy bands to my God, what the hell is
a Bieber and why do I care, has decided that its best broadcasting choice is to
go completely off brand and just show old episodes of Coach.
Now I
do not want to use this space to disparage the classic television sitcom of
Coach. Far be it from me to question the enviable talents of Craig T. Nelson or
the comedy stylings of the next to funniest member of the Van Dyke family.
Clearly the story and history of the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles is more
interesting than my own Fighting Illini and I’m pretty sure that we lost to
Minnesota State the past five years straight. And anyone who says that Dauber
isn’t one of the greatest television characters and assistant coaches of all
time is a fool. So no, I am not going to spend my time questioning the merits
of Coach or the forgettable years spent coaching the Orlando Breakers (a dark
time in our nation’s history to be sure.)
No,
what bothers me is that this is on VH-1 Classic when the show has absolutely
nothing to do with music altogether. If you are going to just give up and show
old television shows why not pick up Happy Days or The Wonder Years, where the
music in the background plays a significant role in the series. Hell, why not
show WKRP in Cincinnati, which fits the channel perfectly and fills a niche
because those shows can’t be released on DVD due to all of the music rights. I’ll
take a Haden Fox for Johnny Fever trade straight up and once we bring Bailey
into the equation it is a no brainer. I can think of a dozen sitcoms more
fitting to the channel than Coach.
Obviously
the easy solution to this problem would be to simply play something associated
with music. Even if you say that the video is passé you still have untold hours
of documentaries and concerts and specials and, because this is VH-1, “I Love
the Insert Vague Pop Culture Reference Here” marathons. Hell, I’ll even accept
reruns of old VH-1 reality shows. I’ll watch reruns of Flavor of Love or
Celebrity Rehab or The Pick Up Artist (which totally deserved a third season by
the way). It just seems like this is the laziest programming decision ever.
I
know that we are at the end of the lifespan of such concepts as television
channels. Soon we will all get whatever content we want online and we will mix
and match to create our own channels. Right now I could build my own music
video playlist and spend the next few hours in relative bliss. But the wonder
of television is that it can surprise you by showing you something that you
didn’t know about in a way that recommendation boxes can’t. You can always
ignore a recommendation and to be honest, we are so inundated with information
that it is just easier to put on blinders. But it is those random moments when
you are changing channels or walking the aisle of a bookstore or flipping
through CD racks that you stumble on something that changes your life. It kills
me that we are losing that part of our culture.
Wednesday Night Music Club: If there was an album from last
year that surprised me it was the latest from Richard Buckner. I’ve followed
him for more than fifteen years and while I’ve always been a fan and I will be
the first to say that his live performances have left me slackjawed in wonder I
haven’t been as taken with his recent work. But Surrounded is just an amazing
collection of songs. This video of him singing in an art gallery just shows why
I’ve spent nearly two decades collecting his music. Just stunning.
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