2 Sentence Review: ABC’s “Downfall”
In the ABC network’s latest venture in beat-the-clock trivia game shows, Downfall features hopeful contestants perched on the rooftop of a 10-story Los Angeles high-rise to answer questions for fabulous trips and prizes; of course there’s a catch: if they don’t answer quickly enough (what the ABC network claim as modeled replicas of) their would-be prizes of furniture, electronics, cash and even cars go rolling down a conveyor belt and right off the ledge to an undoubtedly shattered fate to the streets below, which only begs the question¾ isn’t this program’s wanton destruction of otherwise usable material (as in, the raw material used to craft the replicas) still so terribly wasteful? Um…yes.
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I can’t quite think of a word to describe Downfall, but honestly, watching the show for the thrill of seeing prizes fall off a building to be shattered and ruined, and then seeing the contestants thrown from the building as well just seems incredibly stupid. Seems like white-trash morons and people who watch shows like “Bulidings Falling Down” and “Worlds Wildest Police Chases 82″ regularly will be the only audience, while the rest of the world will shake their heads and say…I could have used that car they just crushed.
Sad, really.
Does anyone notice our country’s tendency to do the counter-intuitive when things are going bad? Like, after a long bloody useless war in Iraq, let’s increase the number of troops to Afghanistan. After complaints from Pakistan leaders of counter-insurgency strikes in their sovereign land we “secretly” send a drone to blow up a village. After Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast, an oil rig blows up and BP execs say, “Let’s wait it out for a week and see what happens.” And after/during the worst economic
depressionrecession since 1939 ABC creates a game show that destroys commercial goods and the hopes and dreams of poor people.Just sayin’.
Thank you for all of the responses. I just can’t believe in such uncertain times as these, television programs are resorting to such wasteful measures. Yes, these are replicas. And yes, someone was surely paid for their craftmanship in creating these replicas. But wouldn’t that time and those resources be better spent creating something useful? Creation for the sole purpose of destruction is just awful. Simply put: this entire premise is a waste of money, materials, resources and time…including OUR time as potential viewers of this terrible show.
Hey, gang. Thanks again for reading! I’ll admit, I often let my morals dictate my opinions of even banal pop culture intake. Call it crazy. But I think far too often, we as consumers digest movies, TV shows, music and books without questioning the logic behind corporate decisions made for the sake of our entertainment.