Pajiba

I can't watch the George Lopez show at all because it is patently unfunny. However, his stand-up is really funny. I wonder if he writes for his TV show...Ah, well. Go see George on stage. Not TV.

I can't believe you used the word "chink".

Now that my rant is over, the preview for "Life" with Damian Lewis confirms my inkling that Lewis's quiet-integrity-smoldering-from-injustice, combined with his restrained sense of humor, could make the show work. He looks great for the role. I'll be watching!

Yes to George Lopez finally getting kicked off the air. Hopefully forever.

Forming my own opinions: The clip from "Life" looks awful. Just awful. Guess I'll have to save that hour of my life for doing something more important, like watching that episode of The Family Guy that PissBoy referenced.

"Chuck" made me laugh a little. Guess that old adage about guys getting hit in the nuts always being funny is true, although I still don't see the appeal of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Finale Watch - you missed Lost for 5/16.

Is it just me or do next season's dramas sound even worse than usual? I think it's gonna be a bloodbath come November.

I have seen one episode of George Lopez in my LIFE, and it was one of the WORST shows I have ever seen. Not at all funny (but of course my ex boyfriend laughed). Glad it's getting cancelled.

Aww, Lopez is just still pissed because Leno can't tell the difference between him and Paul Rodriguez.
The new NBC shows look pretty sucktastic to me. I can't see them stretching the premise for any of them for a whole season.

TK - Hee! Well played, sir. Well played.

I've been gritting my teeth through all the National Bingo Night (wow that's a lot to type, but referring to it as "NBN" feels too affectionate, no? And I suppose it's shorter than the alternative string of expletives) previews - if I kill myself in despair over the show's very existence, do you think my estate could sue ABC? It's gotta fall under manslaughter or criminal negligence or something, right?

Actually, I find this season of Idol to be the only one where I care at all about the contestants. I love all the finalists. Especially my Blake.

I think George would say Ugly Betty has "whitewashed" latinos because the characters have office jobs.
The only color any TV studio cares about is green.

It drives me nuts when actors say their shows/movies are "important". No, they're not. They're entertainment. And while entertainment is important, I rarely, if ever, change my views about anything because of a show or movie I've seen. I remember a while back, Demi Moore was in some flick and was telling some talk show host or something that it was "an important 'film'". These actors are so damned conceited.

Gag me.

You want important, Lopez? "The Muppet Show". That was important. Jim Henson was important. And you, sir, are no Jim Henson.

I can't roar (or weep) anymore. Until f-ing CW quits jerking our chains, I've just given up hope. What kind of world do we live in when the Pussycat Dolls get better ratings than Veronica Mars?

Bianca, you make some good points - you're right in that his show is somewhat important simply in and of itself... barely. However, it doesn't change the fact that Lopez IS "playing the race card", despite my dislike of that turn of phrase. And the reason he is is this: His show wasn't canceled because he's Latino... his show was canceled because it was BAD. And that's an important distinction. He would absolutely have a leg to stand on if there were ethnic motivations behind the shows cancellation, and I'd be the first one to get behind him if that were the case. But it's simply not.

The truth is, simply because it's a show with Latinos in it does not automatically make it important. It makes it somewhat unique, perhaps. simply due to the lack of similar demographics. If it were a show about Latinos that actually had something important to SAY... then, it would be important. Similarly, the Wayans brothers' movies are not important because they are black. They are simply movies made by black people. Spike Lee movies are important (well, most of them) because he is black, AND he makes an important statement with his films.

TK - there are loads of unimportant, - nay, crappy - shows starring anglos, and they're kept on if they rate well, which is why Lopez probably felt angry. I feel like you're saying that if the lead characters are non-white, the show has to be extra thoughtful and poignant to make up for it? Latinos enjoy sitcom trash just as much as white people, and perhaps the network should have thought about the "uniqueness" of Lopez's show before they pulled it.

I also think perhaps Lopez's comments were taken out of context, I think he was saying that it's important to have representation of non-white people on television, which you can't really argue with, whether his show sucks or not. He's classing his show as "important" because it's the only one of its type at the moment. I think people's dislike of this guy is clouding their judgements - people seem to be very gleefully throwing about the phrase "race card" (even if they preface it by saying, "much as I don't like to say it" - if you don't like to say it, don't. It's redundant bullshit and it makes you sound kind of ignorant to be honest.

I sort of agree with Bianca. TV, as many other forms of entertainment, and its quality is certainly in the eye of the beholder. So I don't agree that the argument, "Well, the show is crap, so he can't play the race card" really holds up. I've seen one episode, and it wasn't funny at all, but I don't think the assertion of "really white" TV is necessarily that off base. One thing doesn't negate the other, IMO. I'm sure there have been other shows that may have been money pits and continued on anyway (especially if the ratings were decent enough).

The GL show clearly had an audience, so someone thinks it's worth watching. I don't know - I think Heroes is quite crappy, if unintentionally hilarious, but that doesn't stop people from watching it and referring to it as the best.show.evah. It doesn't sound like Lopez is saying the show should go on forever - sounds like he wanted one more season to wrap things up. Granted, I don't know what overreaching story arcs could be THAT important in a sitcom, but that's just me.

And surely a show like Lost has to be high in production costs, so it can't be JUST money that drove the decision. I don't know the ratings, nor where the show stood, but I'd be questioning it too if a show with lower ratings (was the difference significant, I wonder?) was renewed.

In any case, whenever the race card is thrown out, it just puts all sides on edge. Said minority is hesitant because many may feel that you have to pick your battles, and it shouldn't be used too much (if racism! is decried at every perceived slight, then it does lose its meaning). Whites may be uncomfortable because, well, no one likes to be called racist since...how do you argue against that? Unfortunately, it seems hinder valid discussion of issues (TV being the current one) at times.

It is true that there are a lot of crappy shows centered around white people. I think for that reason, George Lopez could be pissed. And yet, these white-centric shows are not all about "Oooh. We are so white. Look at us in all our white-ness." Take Sex and the City for example (bear with me). The show is about four women who happen to be white, but the idea of the show is not about these women being white, but about these women being single women in New York City.

If we want to see more diversity on TV, I would prefer to see it integrated into a well-thought, interesting plot about many relevent experiences (and I'll be obnoxious and again hail Veronica Mars ) that do not incorporate race for race's sake.

For that reason, I was incredibly irritated with Crash.

"I feel like you're saying that if the lead characters are non-white, the show has to be extra thoughtful and poignant to make up for it?"

Not true. He's the one that said his show is important, not me. I'm merely defining what, in my opinion, makes something "important". Shows starring Latinos, or blacks, or whites or asians don't have to be "extra thoughtful or poignant" - they have to be successful and cost effective, which his show apparently was not. But if you're (Lopez) going to use the word "important", then it better be something more relevant than just another family sitcom. I'd hazard to say that a genuine failure of the networks is more like a show like Firefly, which, I believe, WAS important, because it was smart, thought-provoking, original and fun... but the network fucked with it too much and led, directly or indirectly, to it's failure.

As for "playing the race card", it was lazy writing on my part. I don't like the phrase, it's true. But I was quoting Seth's use of it, not making it my own. I confess to simply being too lazy to think of a better turn of phrase.

That said, I stand by what I said. I think that for whatever reason his show was canceled, it's hard for me to believe that it's cancellation was racially motivated. Whether it was production costs, ratings, whatever, the network viewed it as a failure. Whether or not that judgment was fair is certainly subject to debate, but that's another discussion.

It frustrates me to no end that there is such a shortage of minority shows on television. It frustrates me even more that the ones that do exist are frequently insultingly stupid, i.e. Lopez, Martin, etc. Being a minority myself, I'd love to see more shows that showcase minority talent. But I don't want to see a continuous stream of crappy shows kept on the air simply because they star a black person, or a Latino person.

Perhaps this is why I barely 't watch TV in the first place... there's almost nothing, of any color, that I can tolerate.

And L2, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear you call me ignorant. I had valid reasons for using the phrase, and resorting to cheap reactionary tactics like that is pretty weak.

The thing about Lopez is that it was not owned by ABC, so there is less return on investment. Why would ABC keep it alive ? They are not going to make anything on it in syndication. Never watched it myself...

The thing about Lopez is that it was not owned by ABC, so there is less return on investment. Why would ABC keep it alive ?

Ah....now this, I did not know. It puts the money issue in a whole new light for me.

Admittedly I did forget Ugly Betty. I've never seen an entire episode because it conflicted with The Office this season. I keep hoping for a marathon on ABC Family, so I can watch all of them in a day or two. I'm eager to see more of that flamboyant cousin who likes show tunes. He's fun!

your site sucks pajibas....and for everyone that keeps saying george "played the white card".... he was speaking the TRUTH!!!!!! Duh, how many latinos do you see on tv now that his show is gone?? Don't give me the ugly betty crap again...thats 1 show!!! And he was the first Latino to ever have HIS OWN sitcom...so the show was important. Maybe not to you, and maybe not to white america, but to a different audience... So , yeah, you know what... it did just get alot whiter AGAIn....think before you speak... ur idea of racism humors me...