OTV: Game Shows for the Obama Era
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A new reality-style game show called The Job is coming to television on CBS this February. The network description says contestants will compete to win such positions as assistant manager at a restaurant group or editorial assistant with Cosmopolitan magazine.
Clearly, this is TV for the Obama era — an age in which the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high due to an unfortunate economic anomaly called Head-up-the-Kazoo Syndrome which causes a president to strangle the economy with a massive expansion of government while the media put their collective head up his kazoo.
In a Head-up-the-Obama-Kazoo economy, we can look forward to more television shows like The Job in which people are willing to scratch, claw, and publicly debase themselves in order to win those basic human necessities which would be readily available if we, you know, hadn’t re-elected the Kazoo guy.
Those of us who so enjoy the entertainment of human degradation can look forward to Obama Era shows like Meal or no Meal, in which contestants compete, form alliances, flirt, fight, and betray one another in order to win lunch. And I personally can’t wait for the American Idol spin-off Sing for Your Supper, in which the most talented young people in the country perform their hearts out for a crust of bread.
Other upcoming O-TV might include The Big Lie, in which wannabe journalists compete for a job at the New York Times by devising ever more absurd methods of blaming the stagnant economy on the Republicans. Columnist Paul Krugman could even be a panel judge on the show, as soon as the meds kick in and he’s released on his own recognizance.
The age of Obama could inspire a wide array of shows such as Who Wants to be A Thousandaire?, America’s Got Disability Checks, Wheel of Oppression and The Biggest Loser, Namely Us.
All in all, I’d say the Obama years are promising to truly put the reality into reality TV.
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Thumbnail image courtesy shutterstock / Nordling
Let us not forget “Who wants to be a government employee/stooge?” What are some of those other show names out there?
“The $3.75 Pyramid”
“Tic Tac Alms”
“Groveling for Dollars”
Reminds one that the $64,000 question was orignally a radio show called the $64 question.
Just read “The Running Man” for a preview of where we’re heading.
I was thinking “Soylent Green.”
Bye the way, that’s a short story written by Steven King under the Pseudonym Richard Bachman. It’s a series of 4 short stories with “The Walk” being the best of them. “The Rage” however has some relavence to recent events.
“Firing Squad Survivor”
My favorites: “Wheel of Oppression” and RK’s “$3.75 Pyramid” The $0.75 is a nice touch.
Here are mine:
“The Bong Show”
“Extreme Home Rakeover” This show might feature homeowners who can’t sell their homes because they don’t have energy efficient windows or low flush toilets.
This is exactly right. The current jobs problem is Obama’s fault because he has not used strong Government power to fix the real problem: offhshoring of manufacturing jobs. If Obama had guts, he would slam the trade door closed to Asia and insist that if you want to sell it in America, you need to make it in America. Instead, Obama pays for his big Government follies by raising taxes on some rich people (oddly not the private equity folks who live on carried interest while they outsource jobs to China). A strong leader would fix the problem by closing the trade door. Won’t happen with a Republican in the White House (Romney was the outsourcing in chief for many years). Might happen with the next Democrat.
Ooooh, I have some based on your trade war idea.
“Minute To Fix It” Where contestants have a roll of duck tape and broken item they must fix because there are no more being made or brought in to the US to sell thanks to Obama’s high tariffs having caused a trade war.
“Kludge My Ride” Mechanics compete to put together the best restoration out of a junkyard full of car parts.
Dialing for Internships
How about Dialing for Internships?
Sorry for the previous repost.
How about The Price Inflation is Right?
Who Wants to be a Billionaire? (Inflation is going to make a million dollars too lame of a grand prize).
You’ll need to add more zeroes than that, and even then, it won’t work.
…..or Next Floor Debasement
Sing for your supper? Didn’t Obama do that during the last election? After all, for a guy who went on a radio program in Florida called “The Pimp with a Limp” show, I guess he’ll do just about anything to get re-elected. And let’s not talk about the fact that he went on almost every low information voter vehicle out there, from The View, The Daily Show, Letterman, and the Tonight Show, to local radio shows in God knows how many swing states. The only reason he didn’t go on Dora the Explorer was probably because he thought he already had the Hispanic vote locked up. I’m ashamed of the leader of our country because he’s such a blatant panderer and fraud. Strange how the last two Democratic presidents, Clinton and Obama, have so very much to be ashamed of. Detect a pattern yet?
Constitutional Makeover, Class Warrior Slugfest, Stuffin’ Ballet, DNA Class Challenge, Dancin’wit da devil, Who’s da Baby Daddy?, Springtime for ACORN, Let’s Make a Deal, Escape From Serf Island, How Stupid is a 12th Grader? EBT Shopping Spree
Since the countries that have pursued Republican-favored economic policies are doing markedly worse than the United States, it’s pretty peculiar to blame Obama for the state of our economy. I don’t know if Obama would have supported a more ambitious recovery program—despite the nonsense about his wild-eyed liberalism, he’s actually quite conservative—but the scale of stimulus we probably should have undertaken would surely have been blocked by the Republicans.
Buzz. Wrong. There are no countries except Estonia that have followed Republican policies.
The so called “austerity” that countries are practicing are simply raising taxes and cutting the increase in spending slightly. Which is not at all what Republicans are suggesting, which is to cut taxes and cut spending, not just the growth of it.
I lie in every post. Jimbo, you should pimp your tripe on your own blog.
Please don’t waste your time and energy on the likes of Jim Harrishmuck a.k.a. Jim Hitlerson. He has venomous opinions on every topic, even ones he knows nothing about. He is simply too ignorant to understand how ignorant he is. However, he thinks he knows everything about everything and thinks he has the solution to all of the world’s problems. The guy is what Thomas Sowell might call a self-anointed messiah. He believes that civilized and successful people and countries are intrinsically evil and he has a vicious hatred of Jews and of Israel. His posts are often incoherent ramblings. He evades questions, he tells outright lies and he throws tantrums. Please don’t waste your time and energy on this immature, malignant, narcissistic, attention-starved, anti-Semitic demagogue.
Everybody, please check out post number 24 at the following link: http://pjmedia.com/blog/who-is-john-kerry-trying-to-kid/ .
Years ago, back when I was a student in school (mid- to late-1990s), I read somewhere once about how, during its own economic crisis, Argentina had its own game show where people competed for jobs. (I could be wrong, I’d have to look this up.)
I think it was only yesterday that I was thinking to myself about how we hadn’t come to that point yet. Perhaps I spoke (thought?) too soon…
Coming soon to a location near YOU…
It’s funny though, just last night I came across an old disco/early hiphip song from 1978 by Eddie Cheba called Lookin’ Good. The first lines are about the dollar losing value, prices going up and having to cut back on new clothes. (Look it up on youtube, good song).
Back in the Carter era, there was far more acknowledgment that the economy was awful.
‘America’s worst @ss kisser’ in which the loser is publicly shamed for not displaying enough enthusiasm towards Our Beloved Leader.
The first prize will be a week internship at the WH, while the loser gets to spend the rest of his life in a FEMA facility in the middle of Nevada.
‘Do you think you can quote’ in which the contestants must memorize all the speeches and books of our Dear Leader. The biggest prize of course will be a life-sized poster of the Dear Leader signed by D.Axelrod.
Bernanke to Oprah: “I’ve Been Doping for Years”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orh64vypKwU
Iron Chef starts featuring mystery ingredients like sewer rat and road kill.
History Channel picks up show to feature alonside American Pickers that shows the wacky misadventures of people picking over garbage dumps. TLC counters with extreme dumpster divers.
You know it’s only a matter of time before someone starts a reality show that follows the lives and times of street gang bangers.