Gene, I hear you calling

In my further adventures of cable TV, I have discovered my new favorite show. It's Gene Simmons' Family Jewels. Yes, another aging rock star got a reality show. And it's really funny. I have a theory that becoming famous stunts one's emotional growth, and it's no different for Gene. Except instead of being obnoxious or annoying, he's funny. Without meaning to be. And that's the best kind of funny.



My favorite quote from the show so far is when Gene's teenage daughter Sophie says, "Some people's dads are firemen, some are professors... my dad is a blood-spitting demon."













And then there's the mystery of Channel 12. I guess here in the Little Rock area, it's some kind of public access channel. Around the clock, they are showing one of these three things:

1) City council meetings
2) Hillbillies playing banjos
3) Trains going back and forth, back and forth across the screen

I just don't get it -- is this an Arkansas thing?

And now for the most disturbing thing on TV. It's "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV. This show features girls whose ridiculously wealthy parents spend half a million bucks on their daughters' 16th birthday parties. I've seen several episodes, and in nearly every single one, the birthday girl is in tears at her party over something that didn't go the way she thought it should have. Hey, parents -- if you're that rich and want to do something nice for your daughter, send her to Uganda for a summer and let her work with orphans of AIDS.

I had hope for one girl who grew up poor in foster care and had recently been adopted by a wealthy family. But no, she was the worst about "I'm only inviting the most popular people." And get this -- while on a shopping trip to New York City for her party dress, she said, "Just think, a year ago I was shopping at Target."

Offended.
Beyond.
Words.