Although Bulo himmyself aspires to Pop Cultural Icon status, I confess that much of what is considered pop culture at the ebbing of the Noughts is foreign to me. Granted, I should know more about the Gosselins than I do, but so much of what passes for pop culture nowadays resembles the Jerry Springer Show without the (Sp)ringmaster.
Having said that, Wired Magazine’s List of Pop Culture’s Finest Moments rings real true to me. Especially their #1. I predict that Stephen Colbert will be studied in academic institutions all across the globe someday. His levels upon levels of meaning, media awareness, and subversive techniques have rarely been rivaled. The only ones in the ballpark for me are SCTV and Ernie Kovacs. And the brilliant Kovacs who, for a long time, taped his show at WRCV-TV in Philly (KYW’s precursor), had much of his best work taped over.
I also couldn’t agree more with their #1 from the Turkeys of the Year List. Did anybody here sit through the entire remake of The Prisoner? While a lot of perspiration may have gone into the remake (and, one hopes, gallons of ‘flop sweat’), did anyone see one scintilla of inspiration in this production? My wife and I watched the entire original cycle in anticipation of this series. My wife made it through about a half hour of the remake before deciding that further viewing was a waste of valuable sleep time. Which raises the question: Why remake one of the all-time greats if you’re not gonna even try, in your own way, to rival it? Some things are just better left alone.