NBC's "The Other Half" Reviewed

Trudy W Schuett sent in her opinion on a television show called "The Other Half," which is being aired on the NBC network. Click "Read More" below to read it. The program is not particularly friendly to men, to say the least.They come on stage wearing high heels, and the show degenerates from there.



Dick Clark, ancient rock n' roll legend, Danny Bonaduce, who you might remember from the "Partridge Family," Mario Lopez, from Saturday morning TV, and Jan Adams, plastic surgeon are the hosts of a new AM TV program called, "The Other Half," which is supposed to be about women learning about men or men learning about women or something. You can be sure nobody learns anything practical from this cutesy, giggling waste of airtime. These guys checked their balls at the door, and are proof positive people will sink to any level given enough cash and TV exposure.



After announcing that they "promise to do our best to experience the world of women," the hosts all draw lots and submit to having a body part waxed. Eyebrows, legs, chest, and something called "a Brazilian bikini wax" are all demonstrated on the guys amidst much screaming from the men and high hilarity from the female audience. There's plenty of laughter on this show, and it's pretty clear these women are laughing at the guys, not with them.



It's male bashing sent to a new level-a full hour on a national network. An early segment shows their various wives and mothers giving their boys "advice" on how to deal with this TV show for women. The girls are all still laughing. Dick Clark's wife tells him, "If there's anything you don?t understand, wait til you get home and I'll explain it to you." A later segment shows a woman being dressed as a man, and a man being dressed as a woman. The person doing the makeover on the woman apparently does some kind of home parties where women actually pay her to dress them as men. It is not explained why these women can't do this themselves - most likely they don't know any men, and thus have nobody to borrow from. Her handiwork is nothing better than a high school drama department could have done. Her statement as to why she's in this line of work was chilling: "There is a very powerful idea that men have a right to be entitled in this world, and we're not given that right."



Entitlements - somebody "giving" somebody else rights - where have we heard that before?



This was followed by a meaningless segment (I didn't think it could get any worse, but it did) on how your sleep positions affect your marriage - huh? And then came the letters. This was supposed to be an advice segment. Danny Bonaduce admitted to not being sexually aroused by the sight of his wife nursing their infant son. This elicited a gasp, and the camera panned to the audience, focusing on a 40-ish woman giving him a look that cannot be described as anything but naked hatred. The upshot of it all was that if women aren't interested sexually after giving birth, then it's the man's fault, of course. "He must keep the romance alive," somebody said.



I saw this program on Denver NBC affiliate KUSA, and didn't notice much, if any national advertising. Perhaps this show is on a trial run and not yet available in all markets. Admittedly, I'm not a particularly objective observer in these matters, but it did seem to me the underlying message was: "Men are pigs, and the only way they can redeem themselves is to become more like women." Meanwhile, women are supposed to become more like men. This paradox I've never understood, and probably never will.



I tuned into the program expecting to be bored, or angry, but instead I came away with a sense of deep sadness. Through the power of TV's ability to convey a message, women who watch this program and 'get' the message will continue to ruin their own lives with a false expectation of "the way things should be." Worse, these impossible ideas of women being especially 'entitled' to something they haven't earned is validated by men whose only motive is a big paycheck. This show does everyone a disservice. One can only hope it doesn't last long.

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