Premiere Week - But Where Are My "Ghosts?" Oh, That's Right - Trump Takeover at CBS/Paramount

  

Though network TV has taken a backseat to streaming platforms, there are a few network shows I watch. Not many, but a few - Ghosts, Scrubs (reboot), Abbott Elementary, and Best Medicine, 

My absolutely favorite - and the #1 comedy series in the U.S. for the past 5 years - has been "Ghosts" on CBS. 

The concept series began in the UK, and we adapted an American version in 2020.

Now, France, Germany, and Australia have their own versions.

Oh, but wait, what's this?

Despite being the #1 comedy in America, CBS moved "Ghosts" to January to become a midseason replacement, with the exception of Halloween special on October 29th.

Why, you ask?

The official reason given is "more family friendly television on primetime."

Translation: A main character came out as gay, and since Trump's government has essentially taken over CBS/Paramount - - complete with a takeover of 60 Minutes, forcing the cancelation of Stephen Colbert's late night talk show despite its ratings/popularity, and recently, coming after Chuck Lorre shows (see below) -  any show that even lightly mentions being gay must go.

So ... can't you just move it to later in the evening?

Because it's not like that character, or any character, is having sex on screen.

And let me get this straight ...

So you're okay with nearly all of your current shows containing shoot-em-up, graphic violence - particularly anything by Taylor Sheridan  - but because someone came out as gay on Ghosts without ever showing any sex scenes for any character -  you axe it for the fall, though the #1 comedy in the U.S.???

This moral paradox reminds me of a story of when my daughter was little and we were at my grandparents.

She was about 2, playing in the room with me while I watched "Friends."

All of the sudden, my grandma shouted out:

Granny: "I heard at church one of the characters is gay. M, come in here with me!"

 

Me: "First of all, no - it's a main character's ex-wife and she's barely ever on there and nothing sexual when she is. Second of all, she's not watching TV, she's playing -  and you can't 'catch' gayness from watching TV anyway!!!" 😂

 

Granny:  "You don't know that. M, come in here with me and watch Diagnosis Murder."

WHAT. THE ACTUAL ??? 

So you're okay with my 2-year-old watching DIAGNOSIS MURDER, but because some rare side character on a show is gay, never showing any PDA or sex - she can't watch it?

I'm confused - so what are you saying, you'd rather her be a serial killer than gay or-? 😂

My grandfather just started chuckling and said "Oh, Lord, Dolores, just let her play where she wants to, she's not watching TV or understanding what's going on anyway."

My grandfather was actually very progressive, despite being a poor farmer who only graduated from 8th grade.

This is because his orderly/nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital was the famous drag queen/trans, Sweet Evenin' Breeze, whom he said held his hand and sang hymns to him all night at Good Sam, when he was in the worst pain of his life with appendicitis in the 1940s.

Mural commemorating James Herndon/Sweet Evenin' Breeze in downtown Lexington. 

EVERYBODY loved "Sweets" in Lexington - and I DO mean everybody, conservatives and liberals alike.

Sweets was the original socially acceptable drag queen "Mama" before RuPaul.

So the story goes James Herndon/Sweet Evenin' Breeze was abandoned at Good Samaritan Hospital by her uncle as a baby, and the staff raised her, until she grew up and became and orderly/ nurse.

Not sure of the first part is true, but I can verify for a fact that she was an orderly/nurse for many years at GS - she took care of both of my grandparents at one time or another.

Her kindness and sense of humor were legendary - and she won everybody over and was a staple of Good Samaritan hospital. She also helped plan weddings and was a stylist for many women. 

And she loved Jesus, despite many of Jesus' people not accepting her lifestyle (and yet still couldn't help but love her, as a person.

Thus, my Pap would say things like "Dolores, them people can't help it, I'm telling you! Who in their right mind would choose to be hated and feared like that? And you know yourself, Sweets is in his right mind. In fact, weren't no better soul in this world than Sweets was."

Sigh, if only everybody was like my Pap, despite being born in 1908.

But whatever, CBS/Paramount - it's your funeral.

Because that was literally the only show left I watched on CBS/Paramount.

There's only so many cop and first responder shows a person can watch.

And LGBTQ has always been with us - and the 1953 Kinsey sexuality report proved it, reporting that 10% of  men are exclusively gay, with many others identifying as somewhere in between - and 6% of women are exclusively gay, also with many others somewhere in between.

Nobody's pushing or promoting it, just eager for your acceptance of those fact, rather than hiding it anymore.

And there has been recent evidence to suggest that being LGBTQ may be related to factors at play regarding hormonal gene expression.

But Stephen Colbert, 60 Minutes, and Ghosts aren't the only thing on the chopping block this week.

The White House has just come after Chuck Lorre, the comedic genius behind almost all of CBS's comedy hits in the last 15 years  including The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, Two And a Half Men, Bob Hearts Abishola

Apparently, Chuck Lorre took a swipe at Trump during an acceptance speech during Project Angel Food fundraiser in Los Angeles after winning the Founders Award, which was only filmed by certain press outlets and air exclusively there.

He said - and I admit this was rather crude, but again, was not mass publicly televised:

"Sure, I’d love to stand here and talk about my deep yearning for a more compassionate government, one that prioritizes the health and welfare of its citizens. But the burden of my profession demands that I take this opportunity to say a few words about that bloated orange piece of shit in the White House.”

"I’d love to express my gratitude to all the people who’ve devoted their lives to making Project Angel Food an oasis for those in need. That would be my preference"

"But because I’m a comedy writer, I have no choice but to explain how I wake up every morning, turn on CNN to see if the President of the United States had a heart attack while straining to take a dump." 

"I’d love to encourage you to pull out your wallets and contribute to this amazing organization, but my need to cause laughter forces me to question how a country can embrace a smart, educated, warm, funny first lady like Michelle Obama and somehow be OK with a surgically enhanced, cold-hearted Yugoslavian escort who clearly hates her husband," 

“I’d like to beg the [Democratic National Committee] to run from the suicidal insanity of the far-left woke culture in the coming election, [and] urge them to seek the common-sense middle ground that emanates from the hardworking, blue-collar heart and soul of America. You bet I would. But once again, it’s not funny. So, I’ll just point out those hard workers will likely die of measles because Bobby Kennedy told them not to get vaccinated.”

Though not mass publicly televised, because Trump's government has essentially taken over/is monitoring CBS/Paramount so closely, The White House apparently heard about it and issued a publicly televised statement via White House Trump rep, David Ingle, stating the following via Fox digital:

"Chuck Lorre should immediately seek psychiatric help to treat his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted his peanut-sized brain."

So these insults Trump et al throw out that they think are funny.

So ... if a joke is funny, I laugh, regardless of politics.

However, not only are they almost never funny, witty, or even clever - but they seem to have the vocabulary 3rd grader,  right? 

Also, there at least has to be some element of truth in them, and I'm pretty sure Chuck Lorre's success with TV shows is evidence against a "peanut-size brain."

So dang, Trump et al - if you can't clap back, consider hiring someone to write your insult jokes?

Oh wait, that's right - you got them all canceled, so good luck with that - and unfortunately, most modern conservatives just aren't funny.

Regardless, at the end of the Season 3 premiere of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, Lorre now took his comments publicly (whereas before they had been at a private venue, but Trump et al just made it all public) and broadcast this quote:

Hahaha - especially the end!

"I do appreciate this very public concern for my mental health. It's comforting to know that my government is looking out for me."

😂😂😂

This is why Trump hates comedians most - because the most effective we've been with countering the Trump cult is by using humor - and long may it continue!