Tag: reviews

Reality programs

May 12, 2026

I have a problem with so-called reality shows. Can there be a survivor when no one dies? Everyone on the show is a survivor. The title should be Survivors. Big Brother just shows a group of people whose every move is recorded. And they know it. Keep in mind that a reality TV show may not have a script, even though each participant has an agenda.

They write their own scripts. I create dialogue as every writer does. Often it is done in our heads. Sometimes we write it down. Other times, we save it until we can use it at the appropriate time. I have certain lines I like to use. If you say, “That drives me crazy,” I reply, “That’s not a drive it’s a short putt.”

Saying that there is no written script for these shows does not make them reality. If you want reality, put together a program made of 100% security videos where all or most of those on camera do not realize they are being recorded. The problem with this is that it would be eavesdropping and therefore illegal.

If you want true drama, comedy, and spontaneity you should watch game shows. Especially the daytime ones where there are few questions that could be studied ahead of time. Jeopardy and the other knowledge related shows can be rehearsed with many different types of questions.

I think shows like that require the contestants to try out and prove that they will not stand there with a dumb look on their faces. Shows such as “Let’s Make a Deal” or “The Price is Right” allow people to act however they want and they encourage weird and unusual behavior.

The question I have about these folks is that they always look at the audience to receive help. Especially on Drew Carey’s program it appears to me that they select contestants that cannot or will not make their own decisions. When Wayne Bradey asks his players about their jobs, very few are managers that are required to know how to make split second decisions.

Even the women who look like they know the prices of groceries seem to know little about cars, vacations, or electronics. The men that shop for these products seem not to buy their own groceries, snacks or drinks, that’s why they are always looking at wives or girlfriends in the audience.

I’ve noticed some actual reality on these games. Some use their minds to weigh the odds and not take chances that are almost always easy to predict as losers. That brings me to another long-time contest called “Wheel of Fortune.” This is supposed to be like the brain busters with a gambling twist.

When someone risks their turn and what money they already have for the chance at a ten-thousand-dollar wedge which they never get to claim I cringe. LMAD also thrives on those who are into taking chances. I don’t understand risking a twenty-five-thousand-dollar car for a one out of three chance of gaining a prize that is not that expensive. I guess not everyone in LA drives.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

My music

June 14, 2025

When I was growing up my favorite radio station was KICK which was 1260 on the AM dial. They played the top forty hits that I enjoy. There were so many funny disc jockeys. I hoped to be one. Let’s talk about them.

One morning when I was in college my clock radio came on and after he gave the news Bob Bright started to read the weather. “The National Weather Service predicts a thirty percent chance of rain today.” He paused and continued off script. “I’m going to update that after looking out my window. I give it a one hundred percent probability.”

I admire a man who could step out on his own senses and tell the truth. I used this line more than once when I did radio reporting in high school speech tournaments. Then there was Dan Coulter. His brother was in one of my classes in junior high. Dan had a unique style that was not fake. I laughed a great deal.

Jay Stevens was popular in Springfield for a few years and then we heard he had moved away. Years later he had a song published and it was a minor hit. In 1975 his song “Rocky” recorded by Dickie Lee made it to No. 1 on the charts. You know him today as Woody P. Snow.

Another was the husband of the drama teacher at Hillcrest while I was there. I met him while in college when I saw Sandy and Cliff at Little Theatre. We chatted and I asked her to say hello to my sister in class on Monday because I knew Vanessa would not believe me if I told her. 

Not one of my favorites but one of my Dad’s was Barefoot Bob. After KTTS radio was purchased and became the Radio Ranch he joined the staff. He was a long-time country DJ as well as an entertainer. He played at least one of his own recordings on his program.

While in college I took the test and received my license to become legitimate as an on-air talent for radio. My theme song would be “I’m a Girl Watcher.” I had no luck in Springfield and then I tried to get a job after moving to school in Bolivar, MO.  I would have decided how to be a personality on whichever station might hire me.

In the 1980s I began listening to Wayne Glenn, the old record collector on KTXR FM radio. Wayne is a historian. He has written books about the Ozarks musicians and towns. He calls himself the old record collector because when he started, he played music that had been recorded at least thirty years before. That meant from the fifties and before.

Each year more music is opened under these guidelines. By the early two thousand the format moved into the seventies and eighties. He did interviews and gave the history of the music and the entertainers. I learned more from him than any other radio announcer.

I might go on air on-line with my own broadcast someday. I have a style I would like to use and a format that would allow me to do interviews and discuss songs, writers, and artists. My choice of theme song would be “I’m a God Watcher.”

Do you have favorite radio personalities of your own? What type of music do you listen to? Would you rather listen to talk radio, podcasts, or do you stream your music? I’d like to hear about them in the comments.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger