The Death of the TV Talk Show

By Leonard Aaron CaplanI date 1988 as the “death” of what had been up ‘til then, (from the early 1950s on) the traditional TV talk show, at least nationally; Donahue, Oprah, and Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the Darndest Things; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBMOhM31EyM&feature=related, etc. These featured mostly family-friendly entertainment and discussions. When Morton Downey Jr. debuted he threw all decorum out the window, berating his guests, smoking on camera, talking over people and letting them talk over each other. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGu6LjmgeL4&feature=related The Jerry Springer Show, still seen today, took even that to the next level, expanding on Downey’s brand of shlock until it became the norm, rather than the exception. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LQla5x_tfw...

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To Tweet a Video, or Not to Tweet a Video,

by Leonard Aaron CaplanNot being in my 20s, I don’t automatically embrace all the latest technologies or what those technologies can do right away, if at all. Case in point. The ability to twitter or “tweet” a video. Ok, I can understand the need of some people, particularly those with businesses to get a short message out right away. But video? Actually setting a camera on a tripod, sitting down and saying……………..what? Pearls of wisdom about the weather? Your mood? The fact that you hate traffic? Your indigestion? Now, I’m a video production person and I love using video to tell a story but to me, videotaping yourself for possibly less than 30 seconds is so trivial, as to be ridiculous. On the other hand, doing a ten, thirty or sixty second promo for a TV show or...

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