"Is that the show with the black guy?"

The black guy?

"The one where he solves crimes with a white guy? And he is reluctant to participate?"

Yes, Mummy. That does describe Psych. That also describes almost every procedural drama on television right now, and half the movies from the 1980s.

I also enjoy watching that competitive dancing show with the unstable judge, that makeover show with the snarky host, that teen drama with the conveniently absent parents, and that funny reality show with all the cakes. Yum!
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Backstreet Boys on Conan!

Of course I missed it last night, since I learned about it today on Best Day Ever. But I did like the above Three Questions with Howie and AJ. Howie's my favorite, but AJ has the most fervent fan base.

I agree with the interviewer: what is up with letting T-Pain use autotune on your album? I thought that was so over.

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Data that should help me when I complain to my friends.

Your Race Affects Whether People Write You Back, by christian at OkTrends via Racialicious. Emphases mine, proving that it's not just me being a paranoid weirdo. Have some empathy, readers.

. . . [We at OkCupid.com] processed the messaging habits of almost a million people and are about to basically prove that, despite what you might’ve heard from the Obama campaign and organic cereal commercials, racism is alive and well. It would be awesome if the other major online dating players would go out on a limb and release their own race data, too. I can’t imagine they will: multi-million dollar enterprises rarely like to admit that the people paying them those millions act like turds. But being poor gives us a certain freedom. To alienate all our users. So there.

[ . . . ]

• Black women are sweethearts. Or just talkative. But either way, they are by far the most likely to reply to your first message. In many cases, their response rate is one and a half times the average, and overall black women reply about a quarter more often.

• White men get more responses. Whatever it is, white males just get more replies from almost every group. We were careful to preselect our data pool so that physical attractiveness (as measured by our site picture-rating utility) was roughly even across all the race/gender slices. For guys, we did likewise with height.

• White women prefer white men to the exclusion of everyone else—and Asian and Hispanic women prefer them even more exclusively. These three types of women only respond well to white men. More significantly, these groups’ reply rates to non-whites is terrible. Asian women write back non-white males at 21.9%, Hispanic women at 22.9%, and white women at 23.0%. It’s here where things get interesting, for white women in particular. If you look at the match-by-race table before this one, the “should-look-like” one, you see that white women have an above-average compatibility with almost every group. Yet they only reply well to guys who look like them. There’s more data on this towards the end of the post.

• Men don’t write black women back. Or rather, they write them back far less often than they should. Black women reply the most, yet get by far the fewest replies. Essentially every race—including other blacks—singles them out for the cold shoulder.

• White guys are shitty, but fairly even-handed about it. [I didn't write this; the OkCupid person did. Hello, nice white readers! Keep visiting my blog!] The average reply rate of non-white males is 48.1%, while white guys’ is only 40.5%. Basically, they write back about 20% less often. It’s ironic that white guys are worst responders, because as we saw above they get the most replies. That has apparently made them very self-absorbed. It’s interesting that white males do manage to reply to Middle Eastern women. Is there some kind of emergent fetish there? As Middle Easterners are becoming America’s next racial bogeyman, maybe there’s some kind of forbidden fruit thing going on. (Perhaps a reader more up-to-date on his or her Post-Colonial Theory can step in here? Just kidding. Don’t.)

[Edit: 10/11/2009] I have been reading through the comments on the above article and on websites where the OkCupid findings have been reposted. The comments range from agreement to vehement denial of the results. Many of the commenters don't think that excluding people from your dating pool based on race is racist. These commenters also insist that other factors have influenced the results, like income level, weight, education, and the ability to use correct English and grammar? Hmm. Maybe my chunkiness is overwhelming my bachelors degree, my upward mobility, and my penchant for crafting well-written posts.

Commenter PinkRanger, who happens to be white, says it best on The Frisky:

I find it curious that there are subtle notes throughout this post that imply minorities don’t have good grammer, english, or communication skills….....I find that unnerving.

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This commercial turned out well, but

it could have led to an episode of SVU. Kids, don't talk to strangers, even if they helped you find your puppy.

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"Normal Asian family on TV!"

[found via Racialicious]

Or more precisely, an average family on TV, who happens to look Asian. My favorite part is the two gray-haired members of the family enjoying the beatboxing and dancing.

I like this commercial, too, for similar reasons:

This one, too!

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"Our TV show's like a family!"

Speak the word, Kathy Griffin. Some people don't know what to do with me, either.

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"That's one counter-example."

"Look. Dark-skinned people with funny-sounding Muslim names, they just aren't going to make it very far in politics."

Oh, really?

I knew Martin Sheen didn't have to change his name to become President.

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"I'm sorry I got sexually assaulted"?

That's what I learned from Fame. The 2009 version, not the good one. According to the writers of Fame, if you visit an alum from your school at his workplace after he offers to introduce you to his hiring manager, it's your fault if he assaults you and videotapes it. And if your boyfriend breaks up with you because you told him about the assault, find him in a smoky club a year later, and apologize to him for being attacked. After all, who cares about your feelings about being victimized? First and foremost, make that your unsupportive boyfriend feels secure about himself.

How could this remake have gone so wrong?

Dancing? Check!

Vibrant characters? Check!

Colorful actors? Check!

Talented artists over 40? Check!

Former member of the Mickey Mouse Club? Check!

Unfortunately, most of the characters didn't have any storylines, which is something I look for in my films. Also, to the chagrin of my friend Chrissy, the filmmakers cut out the scene in which the students stop traffic and dance in the street. What the who what? Egregious.

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"Am I Krumping?"

You are now!

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"Where does it not suck to be born a woman?"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sheryl WuDunn
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

Kudos to Stephen for having a guest on his show who is a lady, a Chinese American, and a Pulitzer Prize winner all at the same time. And, she is helping other women with her book! Hooray!

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Open letter to white male TV writers

who incorporate blackface in their programming to punctuate their views on historical and contemporary racism:

Don't do it.

End of letter.

[Edited on 9/29/2009 for further explanation.]

Why? Because you aren't that much better than the people you are mocking.

1. The majority of people who appear on your shows, meaning Mad Men and The Colbert Report, are white American men. You have a few white women and some token black people. I'd be shocked to see a Latino, East Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian or Middle Eastern person make an appearance.

2. You don't have any black people in power on your writing staff or working behind the scenes in general. How do I know this? Because if there had been any black authority figures working on your show, those blackface scenes would not have happened. There would not have been a can of shoe polish within a mile of your studios.

Stop trying to convince yourselves and the people around you that you're "not racists" and that you're "the good guys." You do not have the awareness or the facility or the right to employ racist imagery for profit.

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Do it, Blackapella!

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

Was that Wyclef Jean in the back?

I loved this week's episode of Psych! More child stars from the 1990s, please! Where is the Boy Meets World episode? Goodness knows Ben Savage and Will Friedle are available. And Jaleel White needs to get more work. Get on that, Psych producers. I'm looking at you, James and Dulé.

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"Blingitude is girl's BFF, AEAE."

I don't know what that means. Oh. Do people actually say any of that?

Here is another of my favorite videos this week:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
I's on Edjukashun - Muslim Textbooks & Tony Danza
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

"CNN correspondent--I'm sorry. MSNBC anchor--I'm sorry. Fox News sock monkey Tucker Carlson . . . "

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"You seem pretty smart. You got a sports coat."

I watched the Community pilot tonight. I would have liked it more if it wasn't centered on Joel McHale's pursuit of a woman who is both younger and better looking than he is. If I wanted to see a shamed lawyer pay his debt to society by associating with a group of poor, unfortunate souls, I'd watch The Mighty Ducks again for the 5oth time.

Yes, readers, I'm going to watch Community again next week. But who doesn't like a good Emilio Estevez reference?

And yes, that's Trudy from Mad Men. Good for her getting work. On a network show, too!

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"Who are you going to go after next? Koalas? Baby Koalas?"

"I mean really!?! Rude! Really!?!"

Really, NBC? I can't embed the video? I mean really!?! Rude! Really!?!

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This part made me cry.

I remember when video premieres on MTV were events. Now we have endless Real World/Road Rules challenges and that guy with the flesh-colored beard.

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Classy black guy on TV!

I first saw Hill Harper peddling The Conversation last week on The Wendy Williams Show. (Yes, that Wendy Williams Show.) Then I heard him talking about it on The Steve Harvey Morning Show the next day.

As you may know, this is the third book from Hill (or Mr. Harper to Sasha and Malia). He has worked with both Joshua Jackson and with his friend President Barack Obama. Can you say the same about yourself and your friends? I need to be friends with a President. Readers, get on that: One of you needs to be elected President so I can be friends with you. Start the campaigning today.

I like to page through Hill's other books, Letters to a Young Brother and Letters to a Young Sister, while I wak through airport bookstores. So, no, I don't actually own any of the books yet, per se. But you readers should get them, and tell me what you think!

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John Cho in suits!

The Cho Show, by Katherine Wheelock, GQ via Racialicious.

When John Cho was a kid growing up in Los Angeles, seeing a face like his on TV was a cometlike occurrence. When one appeared, "we'd all crowd into the living room," Cho says. "All Asians grew up doing that." The situation has improved only somewhat in the two decades since Long Duk Dong, Cho says. "There was a while where every role I was getting offered was extremely noble—like the judge or the kindly nurse."

Lucky for us, Cho is doing some actual heavy lifting in Hollywood these days—leveling Romulans alongside Chris Pine in Star Trek ($250 million) and rolling blunts for a possible third Harold & Kumar film. His fan base of geeks and frat boys [and me!] ought to program their TiVos for Cho's latest endeavor, FlashForward, which ABC is promoting like it's the next Lost (no pressure!). Judging from the first episode, we think this one might actually deliver. [ . . . ]

That is all.

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"Chris, you're handsome and charming."

"You really should work on that."

The last time one of my friends suggested I watch a new series on ABC, I discovered the joy of Ugly Betty. This time, however, I got depressed after watching Dating in the Dark. It was sad how the couples in the house originally connected through every sense except for sight. But when they saw each other in the light, the image of the other person failed to exactly match their preconceived notions of what their ideal mate should look like. And thus, most of the brief relationships fell apart. :(

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How dare he talk to our children?

Obama speech to students draws conservative ire, by Libby Quaid and Linda Stewart Ball, AP via Yahoo! News. Emphases mine.

President Barack Obama's back-to-school address next week was supposed to be a feel-good story for an administration battered over its health care agenda. Now Republican critics are calling it an effort to foist a political agenda on children, creating yet another confrontation with the White House.

Obama plans to speak directly to students Tuesday about the need to work hard and stay in school. His address will be shown live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at noon EDT, a time when classrooms across the country will be able to tune in.

Schools don't have to show it. But districts across the country have been inundated with phone calls from parents and are struggling to address the controversy that broke out after Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to watch.

Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.

Some conservatives, driven by radio pundits and bloggers, are urging schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to promote a political agenda and is overstepping the boundaries of federal involvement in schools.

"As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education — it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality," said Oklahoma state Sen. Steve Russell. "This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq."

That uppity so-and-so. He needs to know his place. Who does he think he is? The President of the United States?

Oh. Really? He is? Well, if you say so.

I would have loved if President Clinton had spoken to our class on television during the first day of school. Actually, I would have preferred Vice President Gore, because he was trying to save the environment. An address from Hillary Clinton would have been nice, too. What I'm saying is any excuse to watch TV during elementary school up through high school probably would have been appreciated by me and my classmates.

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