Making News: Texas Style – Still Watching

OK, who am I kidding. I’ve become hooked on this damn show – Making News: Texas Style!

I really didn’t want it to happen. It just did. Some things are beyond your control.

Over the past few weeks I’ve written about the superficiality of the stories being covered and the people covering them. That’s still the case. What’s changed is, I now care about the people on the screen. All it took was three weeks of seeing them, flaws and all.

I feel really bad for Melissa Correa&#185, the extremely self conscious reporter desperately trying to lose weight on-the-air. She set herself up in a task that had little upside and lots of downside.

How embarrassing to do a ‘me-roll’ story on weight loss and lose none… or very little. You could see her desperation as she talked about the diet pills she was now taking and the cigarettes she’d like to stop smoking.

As it turned out, she did bail on the weight loss series! Long before the story was over, but after she had promised a payoff in on-air promos, she decided it just wasn’t working. Credit to Jose, the news director, for letting her walk away. not every news director would have made that ’employee friendly’ decision.

Michelle is as close to a mental breakdown as anyone I’ve ever watched on TV. It’s a combination of low self esteem and constant introspection. Was this really a good career choice for her? Can she survive much longer under the pressure?

Bill Warren, the ousted anchor is my second charity case. His bio doesn’t mention it, but I’ll bet he made his way from radio to TV. He’s got that ‘grown-up disk jockey’ persona (and matching voice). I’m not sure how else to describe it.

I feel bad because at age 62 he’s taking a major career step backward. It’s obvious there’s no real future for him outside this market… probably outside this station. His salary and prestige will continue to dwindle before his very eyes.

Bill Warren is living the career equivalent of staying married for the kids. It’s a shame because he seems like a nice guy, and probably a little too intelligent for the room.

What’s bothered me from Episode One is how little meat is in this show and how much time is spent recapping what’s happened and advancing what’s to come. Making News: Texas Style would have made a much better half hour show.

Last Monday, after the show aired, my website got a nice traffic boost. If you Google the show’s name, Making News: Texas Style, my entries come in second and third, right after the TV Guide Network itself.

That is more a comment on the show’s lack of publicity than my site’s great value in critical commentary. On the other hand, it was fun to hear from my fellow addicts.

&#185 – I originally wrote Michelle instead of Melissa. My error.