TV Party for Wednesday, August 17th

Tonight you have a rare opportunity in tv…a chance to see a truly bad movie. A movie so bad it’s laughable. A movie so bad that it’s good, in a very, very bad way. Yes, tonight at 8 VH1 brings you the pleasing pain that is Paul Veerhoven’s “Showgirls”. Yahoo’s TV guide sums up “Showgirls” like this: A dancer becomes understudy in a Las Vegas show, sleeps with the boss and pushes the star down some stairs. Adult Situations; Graphic Language; Nudity; Violence; Strong Sexual Content; Rape. But “Showgirls” is so, so much more. It’s one of those rare movies where you can truly revel in someone else’s failure. The failure is so complete, on every level – from the script, to the direction to the acting – that it’s hard to believe that it’s not all an act, that they weren’t setting out to make the worst film ever.

At 9 take a break from the Showgirls train wreck and head up to Bravo for a whole different kind of wreck, Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Whoever decided that reality show contestants are deserve a second, third, or fourth 15 minutes of fame really should be taken behind the woodshed for a few licks with a hickory switch. And they should never be let back in the boardroom.

Those of us who grew up in the 70s remember the original “Battle of the Network Stars” in which teams of TV stars from the 3 major broadcast networks compete against each other in physical challenges. The Stars included Mister Kotter, Richie Cunningham, Farrah Fawcett, Kojak, Meathead, Kurt Russell, Alice, Wonder Woman, and that kid who said “Dynomite!” among many others. You know, stars. People you looked up to.

Well, apparently someone at Bravo decided that the people we look up to, or at least want to look at, are Reality TV stars. And they’ve gathered them all together for "Battle of the Network Reality Stars," a merging of 70s kitch with new millennium Reality.

And they’re not only recycling the name, it sounds like they’re recycling the costumes and the competitions. The reality junkies will compete in a joust, navigate a kayak race, and battle it out in the famed tug-of-war, among other challenges. And in a nod to today's reality shows, twists and turns along the way force team members to vote each other off, create alliances, and generate unending drama and tears. Because that’s what we’re looking for, drama and tears.

That’s your TV Party for Wednesday, August 17th, for Northwest Indy Radio I’m Scott Chicken