Friday, March 17, 2006

TV Alert: Triple Whammy on Nanny 911 Tonight

Via Mixed Media Watch comes news of tonight's triple whammy on "Nanny 911" (Fox, 8 p.m., Fri. 3/17):

Not only is the George family an interracial family (whammy number 1), but 26-year-old Jeffrey is both black (whammy number 2) AND a stay-at-home-dad (trifecta!)!

Now normally, I hate watching these kinda shows--do I really wanna throw away an hour of my life watching, typically, a couple that can't communicate worth shit and a mom and/or dad (typically) whose attitude is the number one contributing factor to the family's problems? Sure, it can be cathartic ("At least we're not on SuperNanny911!"), but all those screaming, abusive, rolling-on-the-floor-while-holding-their-breath-and-simultaneously-beating-their-sister children tend to have a paranoia-inducing effect that outweighs the catharsis.

MMW makes suspicious note of the program's website's description of tonight's victim, er, star, as knowing "what it feels like to be imprisoned" because being a SAHD of three kids under 4, while his (white and decade-older) wife Theresa is "bring[ing] home the bacon," is akin to being "under house arrest." I don't know which is more ominous or (unsurprisingly) upsetting, the whole prison metaphor being employed where a black man's concerned (MMW's point), or their reference to "domestic diva Martha Stewart" vis-a-vis house arrest and homemaking duties. Obviously, that one's foreshadowing some dumping on the brother's household-management skillz, and probably SAHDhood itself.

Hmmm.... What's gonna come off worse? That their kids' problems stem from being raised by a SAHD, by a black man, or in an interracial family? Hopefully, I'm just being overly cynical, right? I mean, t.v. wouldn't play a brother like that, right?

Right?

Heh. Stay tuned.... (Or not.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey that's my sister. Two year olds don't have problems they two. STFU

Linda said...

It's interesting how no one really refers to SAHM's as being imprisoned but if it is a male, then he is somehow being bound and held back by it? The societal stereotype is still so strongly against men staying home with their children.


I have to say though, I try not to watch those programs anymore (Like WifeSwap and SuperNanny) because they seem to find the craziest people in America. It's a little unsettling.

Baba said...

Wow. Same ambivalence: Should I say "can't believe I missed that one !" or "sure glad I missed that one!"
Really, the latter. I try to avoid these shows, because (as "Linda" said) they find the craziest people ...
Moreover, though — as "Daddy in a strange land" implies — I fear people connect the subjects' failings with atypical things that normal and/or healthy people do, like being a SAHD, co-sleeping, being liberal, being conservative, being organized or whatever ... (As an SAHD myself, need I worry that the episode discussed in this blog is going to shape what people think I do?)

You just want to holler at the screen, "No, it's NOT because they're vegetarians; it's because they're freakin' nuts!!"

One more thing I don't get about these shows. Why are the subject-families so shocked when they are cofronted with controversy on the show? Do the producers hunt all over for people who have never seen these shows and then forbid them from watching them until the taping is over?

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