r o b o t m i n i o n

Listen to This

It might not come as a shock to anyone who knows me that I am a This American Life addict. Since I'm hardly ever in my car on the weekends, I download the podcast and listen to it when I walk Turkey after work. This week I actually caught a smidgen of the broadcast on my way home from Hampden, so I knew ahead of time a little of what the show was about.

If anyone hasn't heard this week's episode, (#258 "Leaving the Fold") I would like to say that the first piece of the show, on Jerry Springer, is absolutely terrific. I grew up in Cincinnati and most of my memories are of him and Norma Rashid (she had hair like my mom!) anchoring the channel 5 news. Everyone knows about the hooker and the check, but nobody knows that incident happened before he was Mayor, while he was a councilman.

It's an awesome episode and anyone from the 'Nati will recognize the names of the Springer friends interviewed in the piece.

Because Musical Theater Majors were insufferable enough...

  SCPA 
  Originally uploaded by emjones

Cincinnati boy and fellow SCPA alumna Nick Lachey is apparently trying to pimp out my high school for an MTV reality show.
He must be stopped.

The untitled pilot from Lachey revolves around the students at his alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. Tony DiSanto, executive vp series development and programming, said the project boasts a unique format that breaks new ground in the reality arena, similarly to how MTV's "Laguna Beach" launched a new form of unscripted storytelling.

It organically will blend performances by the students with the narrative about what takes place in the school. For example, it might feature students breaking out into dance in the cafeteria or use a student's practice session on his or her instrument as the soundtrack for a scene. DiSanto added that the project also features a "unique visual language that sets it apart" from other shows.

Let me just tell you that if you're sitting in the cafeteria and someone breaks into song, the only unscripted quality might be the mashed potatoes that get thrown that way. Also, unless they're going to wait until the school moves into their new campus, the "visual language" will be one of Cincinnati Public School's deferred maintenance plan.