T Dog’s Think Tank: Blow it out your bullhorn

(Editor’s Note: This piece contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.)

If you want to make the case cable TV is one big ripoff, look no further to what aired this past week.

And no, I’m not talking about CNN’s crappy Chicagoland show.

I’m talking about the inane puke garbage that is The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, which had an altercation between castmates Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams at the “reunion” show – a throwback to the 1990’s, when chair-throwing and fist-connecting fun were commonplace on daytime talk shows such as Ricki Lake, Geraldo, and Jerry Springer.

But unlike the mindless combatants on those shows, one of the ladies actually pressed charges: Moore filed assault charges against Williams, who is the granddaughter of civil rights leader Hosea Williams. She was booked on a misdemeanor, and is expected to have a hearing, a fine use of Fulton County taxpayers’ money.

On Monday’s edition of Entertainment Tonight, Moore – a former Miss USA (she was crowned in 1993, years before the pageant was taken over by Donald Trump), said the attack brought back memories of her being in an abusive relationship when she was a teen in her native Detroit.

At this point, this is no longer entertaining – it becomes outright disturbing.

Real Housewives and their counterparts have had this for years – putting people on who fight on the show, among other things. Atlanta’s version – featuring a predominantly black cast – is the worst offender, featuring people equivalent of twelve Scrappy-Doos – not to mention quite a bit of racial stereotyping.

The ringmaster of this circus is Bravo exec Andy Cohen, a fucktard who is about as manipulative as Geraldo Rivera was in his talk show heyday. At the reunion show, Cohen told Moore “violence is not the answer” (or something along those lines), which is total bullshit given the violent nature of the show has kept the ratings high and profits up with every “ho”, “bitch”, and “whore” heard.

But to put this in a broader perspective, consider this: the brawl aired amid one of the most violent weekends in the Chicagoland area this year, with nine people dead and nearly 45 people shot – the majority of the victims black and Hispanic from gun violence. Oh yeah, Andy, you fucktard, tell gang members standing on a Roseland or Little Village street corner that “violence isn’t the answer”.

Back in November, yours truly wrote an article on how salacious material – from rap music on the radio to trash TV talk and reality shows – are being targeted to minority audiences and the effect it has on those communities. One talk show strip (Jose Luis Sin Censura) was taken off the air. But others – including the reality garbage on cable such Love & Hip-Hop and Basketball Wives – remain. While a few community groups have spoken out, other members of the black and Hispanic community – notably the overrated Father Michael Pflager – who’d rather rip into The Bachelor – have remained silent.

There also seems to be a debate on whether RHOA is representative of Atlanta women. Of course not. Unfortunately, image is everything and vultures in Big Media will do their best to tie this city to this show as much as they tie Chicago to violence and nothing else (“Chiraq”, anyone?) Of course, this will only worsen as media consolidation continues and diversity of voices decrease and as minorities continue to get shut out behind the camera.

Bravo is owned by NBCUniversal – which is in turn owned by Comcast, who is trying to merge with Time Warner Cable. Based on Real Housewives alone, I would say Hell To The No to this merger. But the gutless FCC will say yes anyway, since they practically approve anything written down on a piece of paper – even my grocery list from last Thursday.

So I wonder what’s next for these garbage reality TV programs? Someone being shot dead on camera? Imagine what a fucking ratings blockbuster that would be! Maybe one of these shows should relocate to Chicago, since the city is already a national embarrassment thanks to Rahm Emanuel and his administration (and Daley beforehand).

Just call it The Real Housewives Of Chiraq. With scumbag Andy Cohen producing, the entire cast would be dead by the fourth episode.