From quantity to quality

MORGAN. There’s wisdom in his decision to quit “America’s Got Talent.”

No sooner had our piece on overworked local TV news personalities come out that the “breaking news” report was made on the “Today” show that Piers Morgan had resigned as judge on “America’s Got Talent.” His reason for quitting that popular show? He finally realized that he was overworking himself “to death.” Aside from the top talent tilt, he was doing a daily interview show for CNN, had two other shows in England – and his wife was about to give birth.

It was that last “production” that finally made Morgan lighten his work load, so “America’s Got Talent” had to be dropped from his hectic schedule. When asked about his decision, her sighed, “I can’t do everything!”

That’s it. We trust that the similarly overworked talents on local TV will see the wisdom in Morgan’s decision and refocus their own attitude in relation to their work, from quantity to quality.

Subjective attacks

TV talents can reform and redeem their career outlook in other ways. In the field of commentary, many so-called news analysts and opinion-makers are too quick to come up with rash comments and subjective attacks on public officials and law enforcers, but are woefully weak on basic aspects of their work, like research, verification of “facts,” and not behaving like prosecutors, judge and jury, all rolled up into one!

The game they play is all too obvious: They resort to personal attacks on figures of authority to ingratiate themselves with the masa, but their hidden agenda is a canny combination of power-tripping and self-appointed muckracking. They resort to “bugoy” attacks that put their presumably guilty targets on the defensive. So much for self-proclaimed seekers of justice and defenders of the oppressed!

Celebrity hosts

Other TV personalities who should rethink their priorities and questionable practices are the celebrity hosts of show-biz-oriented talk shows. In the first place, celebrities who make a living or sideline out of spreading gossip about other stars and starlets are a local adumbration and aberration that isn’t found in many other countries’ TV programming.

Stars become gossip show hosts because their popularity boosts their show’s viewability – but, at what cost? Nothing less than their vaunted objectivity is compromised.

As hosts, they’re free to snidely whisper about other stars’ sins of omission and commission –but, when it’s their own dirty laundry or that of their friends that’s being washed, they’re cozily “exempted” from exposes and criticism. How selectively lucky can anyone get?!

In the first place, stars shouldn’t host gossip shows, because it’s a basic contradiction in terms of motivation and intention. But, if celebrities have to “do gossip,” the least they can do is to get a taste of their own medicine and not exempt themselves and a favored few from the pain and shame of gossip. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the dirty kitchen!