BURBANK – Television sweeps time is upon us once again. It’s the semi-annual event in which television networks put forth their most sensationalized content in order to boost the Nielson numbers in their favor. It’s really a thumb on the scale, but no one really seams to care and it’s all part of the game. The results of the May Book, as it’s known in the TV promo world (there’s also a November Book, and to a lesser extent July and February Books as well), are used to establish advertising rates for the months to come.

End-of-season specials happen in May, as well as “very special” episodes including the infamous “evil twin” device employed in the not-too-distant past. Also, as we witnessed Friday night, personal diaries from celebrities on their death beds are not off limits. Farrah’s Story premiered as a two hour special on NBC Friday night. It documents the cancer journey of Farrah Fawcett, told in a combination of video diary first-person style with interviews of doctors and friends mixed in. Did you miss it? See it on hulu.

I thought I’d ask my Man from B.L.O.G. (avatar/cybernaut) to open up his Boring Load Of Garbage Television Showcase Cinema and Pie House for a little Farrah’s Story viewing party. Truthfully, the vintage movie house could use a little work. It’s a little rundown, and, if the City of LA sticker is correct, in need of some asbestos abatement. It really is Billy Bob’s Nightmare, but we didn’t mind. Our leftover H1N1 flu masks were put to good use as the whole crew gathered for a night of TV and pie.

Farrah Fawcett holds a very special place in my heart, so it was a little sad to see the show. Man from B.L.O.G. obviously feels the same way in the graphic above. She was Steve Austin’s girl, for crying out loud. There is some controversy regarding Ryan O’Neal taking over the Executive Producer role as Farrah herself has been really too weak to perform those duties. The New York Times and the LA Times both had largely negative reviews for the “Dateline-meets-Behind-the-Music” style show.

When I was in junior high, I didn’t have this poster (at right), but I sat next to a guy in home room who did (it was fabulous and he wouldn’t let me forget it). This incident kick-started my hobby of scouring Spencer Gifts’ poster collections for the next Farrah poster. There were many copy cats (Adrienne Barbeau, Suzanne Somers, Lynda Carter) but never really any that reached the pure hormonal excitement levels of this one. It was during this time that I grew to despise black light posters because I had to flip through so many Led Zeppelin, Yes, Grateful Dead and others as I conducted my search for the girls.

The graphic at the beginning of this post is based on one created by me for Last Call with Carson Daly. It was for a bit called The Thirty Second Movie Review.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 12:12 am and is filed under General, Graphic Design, Late night TV Comedy, Satire, The Man from B.L.O.G.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.