"South Park Delays New Episode to September 24 Because Creators 'Didn’t Get It Done in Time.'"

Headline at Variety.

Discussed here, at Reddit. A few of the comments:

• "Wow. This might be the first time in the entire run of the show that they didn’t get an episode done on time. And the show has been running for about 30 years. They have traditionally made each episode in 6 days. Wonder what it’s like behind the scenes."

• "The fact that these guys have been consistently knocking an episode out in like a week for the last 3 decades straight leads one to think something 🐟🐠🐡 goin on here."

• "Yeah, the Kirk thing probably [led] to a lot of changes and debate. They haven't been pulling any punches but they also aren't monsters."

Monitoring the misdoings of J.D. Vance.

I think there are many news media outlets who'd love the honor of destroying J.D. Vance, so let's take a look at what's being thrown at him today:

1. "JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip/Exclusive: Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for 'safe navigation'" (Guardian). That's not the Ohio River, just the Little Miami River, and the "source with knowledge of the matter who communicated with the Guardian anonymously alleged that the outflow request for the Caesar Creek Lake was not just to support the vice-president’s Secret Service detail, but also to create 'ideal kayaking conditions.'"

2. "A dinner for senior administration officials at Vice President JD Vance's residence to discuss topics including the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case has been canceled after news of it leaked, a source familiar with the matter said. A spokesman for Vance said the dinner, first reported by CNN, had not been planned. 'There was never a supposed meeting scheduled at the Vice President's residence to discuss Epstein strategy,' said Vance spokesman William Martin" (Reuters).

3. "'South Park' Humiliates JD Vance as Donald Trump’s Pathetic Manbaby" (Daily Beast): "Two weeks after introducing President Donald Trump as a Saddam Hussein-esque figure having a love affair with literal Satan, Season 27’s second episode introduced Vance as Trump’s baby-faced servant, dressed and voiced much like the character of Tattoo from the 1970s TV show Fantasy Island. Tiny Vance... walks into Trump and Satan’s bedroom and dutifully asks, 'Would you like me to apply the baby oil to Satan’s a-----e, boss?'"

What this shows: Vance is doing just swimmingly. Smooth kayaking today for the VP.

"Wait, so we ARE relevant?"

Wait, so we ARE relevant?#eatabagofdicks https://t.co/HeQSMU86Da

— South Park (@SouthPark) August 5, 2025

Background: Trump recently posted "This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention." See "'South Park' mocks Trump naked with Satan, White House labels episode 'desperate'" (LiveNowFox).

"How are we supposed to do pro-Trump messaging?"/"Oh, come on, guys. We're South Park. We can do it!"

Read warnings* before clicking.

*Warnings:

• Although South Park Studios posted this on YouTube, it is the end of the episode, so it's a spoiler, but I don't think that matters much, and they obviously don't either.

• There is some male nudity. 

• Trump is exalted but also humiliated. I think both Trump haters and Trump lovers can be entertained, depending on psychological complexities I would not pretend to plumb in this list of warnings. 

I watched this episode last night... after forking out $119 for an annual subscription to Paramount+ Premium. I paid precisely because I wanted to watch this episode, which I'd heard was great.

I was entirely satisfied. The animation of Trump is inventive. His Canadian-style detached head and pronunciation of the word "about" suggest an ongoing narrative — perhaps that he was really born in Canada and that's why Canada needs to become the 51st state. There are the new problems of living in post-"woke" America. Cartman — and the show's writers — are deprived of the material they liked to satirize and so life may not be worth living. We laughed a lot and are planning to rewatch.

"But it only recently struck me that in this new Cold War, we—and not the Chinese—might be the Soviets."

"It’s a bit like that moment when the British comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb, playing Waffen-SS officers toward the end of World War II, ask the immortal question: 'Are we the baddies?' I imagine two American sailors asking themselves one day—perhaps as their aircraft carrier is sinking beneath their feet somewhere near the Taiwan Strait: Are we the Soviets?...  The self-destruction of homo sovieticus was worse. And yet is not the resemblance to the self-destruction of homo americanus the really striking thing? ... The bloated, dysfunctional bureaucracy, brilliantly parodied by South Park in a recent episode—is great for the nomenklatura, lousy for the proles.... A bogus ideology that hardly anyone really believes in, but everyone has to parrot unless they want to be labeled dissidents—sorry, I mean deplorables? Check. A population that no longer regards patriotism, religion, having children, or community involvement as important? Check. How about a massive disaster that lays bare the utter incompetence and mendacity that pervades every level of government? For Chernobyl, read Covid. And, while I make no claims to legal expertise, I think I recognize Soviet justice when I see—in a New York courtroom—the legal system being abused in the hope not just of imprisoning but also of discrediting the leader of the political opposition.... I still cling to the hope that we can avoid losing Cold War II...."

Writes Niall Ferguson, in "We’re All Soviets Now/A government with a permanent deficit and a bloated military. A bogus ideology pushed by elites. Poor health among ordinary people. Senescent leaders. Sound familiar?" (Free Press).

"South Park" lands a shot at Disney.

That's just a clip, 2-and-a-half minutes... and the way to watch the whole thing now is to subscribe to Paramount.

"I like this about as much as I like electric mountain bikes. Which is to say not at all. Some spectacular things should be earned."

"These metal abominations scar beautiful places in the natural world. Go to an amusement park or IMAX theater for your manufactured thrills."

Says the top-rated comment on "Coming Soon to an American Cliff Near You: ‘Via Ferrata’ Routes/Long popular in Europe, the beginner-friendly climbing routes are being installed on peaks and in gorges across the United States. Here are six to try now" (NYT). 

Another commenter responded: "I'm not a fan of electric mountain bikes, scraping undeveloped nature for human activity or a tram that could whisk you the bottom of Grand Canyon. I don't object to a via ferrata at a responsibly-developed, sustainability-focused resort like Taos Ski Valley, which was already a year-round destination popular with climbers, mountain bikers and hikers."

I found this video of the longest via ferrata in Switzerland: 

"The [Rainbow] gathering is organized around large camps and communal kitchens that serve coffee, tea and food. No money is exchanged."

"At a trading post, kids and adults bartered for jewelry, stones, glass pipes and Snickers. A painted rainbow was being erected over the 'Granola Funk' stage in the meadow, where a musical, a gong show and other performances would take place. At the Christian-themed Jesus Kitchen, one attendee said the nondenominational gatherings had made him a believer. 'I’d never seen Christians do it the way these guys do it,' said Gavin Boyd, 25, a carpenter from Fort Collins, Colo. It was, he said, less orthodoxy and more spirituality."

 
"The Rainbow Family comes to Colorado, bringing peace, love and anxiety" (WaPo).

This weekend is the 50th Anniversary of the first Rainbow Gathering.

Most of the WaPo article is about the locals worrying about the environmental impact of the gathering and the group's basically good reputation for sanitation and cleanup. There was a little something about politics:

Why do supporters of Kamala Harris portray her as faceless?!

There's some discussion this week of a ridiculous cookie Harris's people handed out:

Some people are referring to that as a cookie "with her face on" it, but it's quite distinctly a cookie depicting her with no face.

Last October, I showed you this really bad sign, which we'd seen in our neighborhood:

Why would you show a politician you support as having no face? One horrible answer would be: Oh, but it does show her face. It shows the facial trait that matters: The color of the skin of her face.

In action, Kamala Harris uses her face. She's not a blank face. She's a smiling face. Like Obama, she deploys a big smile and laughs as much as possible. Like Hillary Clinton, she seems to laugh too much and not because she's genuinely delighted. 

Perhaps her supporters default to a blank face because efforts to replicate the smile in a drawing or in cookie icing don't work. And how could they? To look like her, the smile would need to look off. So you just can't do it right.

Another idea is that people are uneasy about any sort of a caricature of a black person. Anything you do might be criticized as racist. Facelessness is the graphic design equivalent of if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all... in a world where the standards of what counts as "nice" are so high and so confusing that you feel anything you say may be used against you. So let me revise: The choice of facelessness is the graphic design equivalent of taking the 5th.

IN THE EMAIL: Omaha 1 writes: "I know it's awful but someone on FB said it looks like she has a turkey on her face. I can't un-see it now! You can see the drumsticks sticking out on both sides." That's got to be a reference to "Friends":

AND: Tubal writes: "The shadow of the metal stakes makes Biden and, more so Harris, resemble Mr. and Mrs. Thompson from South Park": 

The "Muppet Show" disclaimer "This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures."

"Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe." 

The NY Post reports, adding "It’s unstated precisely what Disney considers to be offensive on the show, but some characters depict Native American, Middle Eastern and Asian people. And in season five, legendary country singer Johnny Cash is seen performing in front of a Confederate flag." 

"Native American, Middle Eastern and Asian people"? The ethnic group I remember getting poked fun at was the Swedish... 

 

But who cares about the feelings of the Swedish these days? 

As for Johnny Cash, he took his mark within some set designer's complicated notion of what "country and western" must mean and it had a Confederate flag and a U.S. flag as wall hangings:

These shows were made between 1976 and 1981. Basically, during the Carter administration. Disney wants to be able to keep showing them and has — clunkily but wisely — slapped on a warning to fend off demands that the show be taken off the air. I'd like to give Disney some support here. They have a big old archive and they ought to make it available, not replace it all with paternalistic... maternalistic pablum. 

I'm seeing some criticism like: "Nothing screams offensive like fury puppets. When I think of a cultural danger to society, it’s obviously Jim Henson’s Muppets." 

I object... and not just because that critic wrote "fury" for "furry." I object because that criticism is offensive to puppets.

Puppets can excel at delivering offense. Here's an example of striving to use puppets to offend:

 

From the clip: "[Puppets are] human enough to be believable, but imaginary enough to be convincing when they're doing things that are crazy."

Read about "Spitting Image" and its U.S. counterpart "D.C. Follies." There are deliberately offensive puppets — real satire. I'd like to see more of that — satire of specific individuals.

But many things done with puppets are just stereotypes. I know I had some marionettes when I was a child circa 1960. One was a clown. One was a cowboy. And one was a Chinese person. It was blatant stereotyping, similar to the idea of the Chinese seen in "Fantasia": 

 

"Fantasia" is, of course, one of the gems of the Disney archive. There are people today who would demand that no one be allowed to see that film — that film and many other works of art. Disney seems to be trying to manage the pressure. I wouldn't just laugh at Disney for taking its problem seriously and putting up a warning. 

"This program includes negative depictions" — ha ha. How can you do comedy without negative depictions? Isn't that the whole idea?

ADDED: "Gary, I hate to break it to you, but the world is on the brink of disaster...."

 

AND: Speaking of "South Park" and disclaimers, "South Park" has always — or it seems like always — begun with this disclaimer (which is also a parody of disclaimers):

The gooiest ad I've ever seen — with a tinkling piano playing the National Anthem and the hilariously sentimental voice of Sam Elliott.

 

That ad played during the World Series. I'm not watching the World Series. I read about the ad in that WaPo article I linked to in the previous post. According to WaPo: "While Trump on Tuesday appealed in person to his most ardent fans with divisive themes, Joe Biden’s campaign beamed in to the nation’s living rooms during the World Series with a much broader audience in mind." 

Yes, whoever made that ad, sure had the "broader audience in mind." I can picture clever fellows laughing at their own work, comparing it to a "South Park" parody, and joking about how dumb Americans are. 

Watching that ad, a few seconds in, Meade said "Tegridy Farms," and toward the end, I said, "This is for the dumb people" and "Actually, this is very effective." I could feel the emotion they were trying to put over. Joe will bring us together — no reason why and don't you worry your head about what he'll actually do while you're in a hypnotic fog of phony-baloney togetherness.

I'm looking for the right "Tegridy Farms" ad to convey Meade's point. There's this, but as Meade said, "It doesn't have enough of that voice — you know, like that guy... that guy in 'The Big Lebowski.'" I say: "Sam Elliott! You do realize the voice in the Biden ad is Sam Elliott." Meade thought it was just some guy doing his damnedest to sound like Sam Elliott. No, that's actually Sam Elliott. You might think Sam Elliott is such an extreme that he'd be reserved for the comic exaggeration of the voice of a narrator...

  

... but the Biden campaign is using him utterly seriously, to stir our soulfully deep desire for America.

 

Why don't they just give us the marijuana already? Then we could sit back and laugh at all this absurdity. Ah, but then you'd be like me, abstaining.* They need you to vote. You've got to melt into a pool of goo and yet maintain sufficient semblance to a human creature to check a box on a mail-in ballot.

_________________________

* No, I'm not on marijuana. It doesn't even work on me. I'm naturally this way.

"Randy comes to terms with his role in the COVID-19 outbreak as the on-going pandemic presents continued challenges to the citizens of South Park."

"The kids happily head back to school but nothing resembles the normal that they once knew...."

"I admit to having a complicated relationship with Aunt Jemima... For a period of time in the late 1940s and early 1950s, my grandmother, Ione Brown..."

"... was part of an army of women who worked as traveling Aunt Jemimas, visiting small-town fairs and rotary-club breakfasts to conduct pancake-making demonstrations at a time when the notion of ready-mix convenience cooking was new. I never knew about my grandmother’s work until long after she died... [W]hile researching a family memoir... I learned that she made good money and covered a region including Iowa, the Dakotas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. She was often treated like a celebrity in small towns, but could not stay in local hotels. She kept an eye out for houses that had a small sign in the window that said 'TOURIST,' a code for homes that provided lodging and meals to black people.... As a family, we are offended by the caricature that Aunt Jemima represents, but deeply proud of the way my grandmother used the stage that was available to lift herself up. You see, in those days Aunt Jemima didn’t look like the lady you see on the box today. She was a slave woman, and Ione was expected to act and talk like a slave woman, using the kind of broken patois that blighted the full-page ads in magazines like Women’s Day and Life.... One of the things that irks me most about the Jemima brand is the way the mammy stereotype hijacked what should be an endearing image for black America and tried to turn it into something toxic. Most of us have someone in our family with fleshy arms and a loving smile who serves up cherished advice along with delicious food. They are our aunts and mothers and grandmothers. Our godmothers. Our queens.
You tried to make us ashamed of what Aunt Jemima stood for."

From "Why did it take so long to set Aunt Jemima free?" by Michele L. Norris (WaPo). (Quaker Foods announced that it is retiring the Aunt Jemima brand because to "make progress toward racial equality.")

ADDED: At the NY Post, I'm seeing "After Aunt Jemima, people call to cancel Uncle Ben’s and Mrs. Butterworth’s." I understand about Uncle Ben, but Mrs. Butterworth? I've never perceived Mrs. Butterworth as black.

The syrup, sold in a matronly woman-shaped bottle, is accused of being rooted in mammy culture and was modeled after the body of Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen, the black actress who played Prissy in “Gone With The Wind.” The Jim Crow-era “mammy” character was often used to show that black women were happy working in white households....

That's news to me. I looked up Mrs. Butterworth on Wikipedia and it did not contain that information. I did learn that the voice for the character was done by Mary Kay Bergman, who looked like this:

"Her parents were Jewish," and she died by suicide at the age of 38 in 1999. She was the original lead female voice on "South Park."

Her characters included Liane Cartman, Sheila Broflovski, Shelly Marsh, Sharon Marsh, Carol McCormick and Wendy Testaburger.... Bergman credited South Park for pulling her out of a typecasting rut. 'I'm known for these sweet, cute little characters,' she said, noting her roles in various Disney films. "So I've been doing them forever. My agents were trying to submit me on shows that are edgy, and they're laughing, 'Mary Kay, are you kidding? No way!'" After Bergman's death, the two episodes "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (the final episode for which she recorded original dialogue) and "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" (the final episode in which her voice was used via archive footage) were dedicated in her memory.

No comment on the role of Starvin' Marvin and Mr. Hankey in the quest for progress toward racial equality. RIP Mary Kay Bergman. Watch this (it's phenomenal):



Mrs. Butterworth voice at 1:11.

ADDED: Norris writes that her grandmother, in the role of Aunt Jemima had to use a "kind of broken patois." And I see in the comments that David Begley is asking, "Just asking, but isn’t 'broken patois' the language of today’s rap music?" Which makes me wonder, what's wrong with a patois? To answer my own question, I naturally look up "patois" in the OED.

I see that it's "dialect spoken by the people of a particular region (esp. of France or French-speaking Switzerland), and differing substantially from the standard written language of the country" or — and this is "frequently depreciative" — "a regional dialect; a variety of language specific to a particular area, nationality, etc., which is considered to differ from the standard or orthodox version."

I was intrigued by this example from "The Sheltering Sky" by Paul Bowles (who was born in New York City):

Then he remembered having heard that Americans did not speak English in any case, that they had a patois which only they could understand among themselves. The most unpleasant part of the situation to him was the fact that he would be in bed, while the American would be free to roam about the room, would enjoy all the advantages, physical and moral.

"The multimillion-dollar 'Forget Stoner' push featured a diverse cast of models posing in photos with the label 'Stoner' crossed out at the bottom."

"Other identities, like 'Grandmother,' 'Queen,' and 'Entrepreneur' were scrawled in instead. One image featured a uniformed police officer. Because of weed’s legal status, internet platforms like Google and Facebook, as well as most television stations, generally reject ads for it. So MedMen’s campaigns, which earned national recognition, relied heavily on billboards and radio spots... [In one ad, directed by Spike Jonze, an] interracial couple walks up their suburban driveway, carrying reusable canvas totes filled with groceries and a red MedMen shopping bag. The narrator toasts the blissful scene with the slogan, 'Here’s to the new normal.' The makers of Comedy Central’s 'South Park' [made] a parody version of the ad for an episode of the show about the arrival of recreational weed in Colorado. In Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s reimagining, a police officer shoots an old woman in the head, a man violates a pig in a corporate boardroom, and unmistakable cartoon depictions of Modlin and Bierman appear on-screen while the narrator intones, 'Fuck those guys.'"

From "Lavish Parties, Greedy Pols and Panic Rooms: How the ‘Apple of Pot’ Collapsed/MedMen was the country’s hottest pot startup—until it flamed out. Its fall has exposed the gap between 'green rush' hype and the realities of a troubled industry" (Politico).

Sea mammals need that extra layer of fat.

Walruses, whales, manatees... sailors:

For the Navy, the overall number of obese personnel was a shocking 22 percent. The other branches reported the following frequency of obesity:

• Air Force: 18 percent
• Army: 17 percent
• Marine Corps: 8.3 percent

ADDED: Remember that the military excludes would-be recruits who are obese. From a report from 750 retired generals and admirals issued last fall:

According to... “Unhealthy and Unprepared,” an estimated 71% of all young people in the U.S. between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service. Obesity disqualifies about 31% of youth, the report specified....

Retired Lt. Gen. Samuel Ebbesen said Mission: Readiness has been warning the country about the impact of obesity on national security for nearly a decade. He said acting now to address the issue was critical to the nation’s future defense....

So those numbers — 22% of the Navy, 18% of the Air Force, 17% of the Army, 8.3% of the Marines — those are all from those who did get in, who were not among the 71% who are disqualified. They are from the 29% least fat young people, and they are subjected to military training and discipline. There really is a problem, and yet the first comment on this post is an exemplar of denial:

Probably defined as obese by having a BMI > 30. Could be fat, could be muscle, or some combination of both, but my guess is a lot of these sailors spend a lot of down time in the weight room.

Another commenter says:

These new servicemen might be tubby, but I am a BMI skeptic. They say 30 is obese on the charts. A 6'0" man who weighs 215 has a BMI of 30. That could be a bit flabbly but also could be muscular/strong. It would rarely be obese if the man is at all active (can walk 5 miles, work outside for 3 + hours, do moderate sports activities, etc.).

On the other end, the charts say if that same man lost almost 100 pounds -- 135 -- he would be "normal." The very edge of normal, but normal nonetheless. Sorry, 135 is not normal weight for a 6' man. That's stick-like. What Arnold might call a girly man whose pants have to be cinched by a rope.

BMI is fake news. It's an uneasy comparison to think about, but obesity is a bit like pornography -- I know it when I see it.

BMI skepticism is, apparently, the new "I'm not fat, I'm big boned."

"It turns out that a surprising number of Axios AM readers are sticklers that the wildfire-prevention icon is properly 'Smokey Bear' — not 'Smokey the Bear,' as I blasphemously posited..."

"... in a 75th birthday note yesterday. The U.S. Forest Service says you're right. Alexander Great and Attila Hun tip their broad-brimmed hats."

Writes Mike Allen at Axios.

Similarly, it's Teddy Bear, not Teddy the Bear. And it's Mickey Mouse, not Mickey the Mouse. It's Bugs Bunny, not Bugs the Bunny. It is, however, Kermit the Frog. And yet...



... it's Fozzie Bear. It's also Yogi Bear, not Yogi the Bear. You can count on it, with bears there is no "the"... unless the bear is a pooh. I mean the pooh. Or... I have to concede... a panda (yes, a panda is really a bear). I'm thinking of Peetie the Sexual Harassment Panda.

"They put a gun in my daughter's face, and you're asking me about drawers?... My family has been through enough. You see in the video the fear. The sounds of my daughters crying, and you're asking me about some drawers? That's insensitive, that's insulting... I thought we were all going to be executed. By the grace of God, someone was there to video this."

Said Dravon Ames, quoted in "Phoenix PD releases surveillance video showing moment four-year-old girl stole a doll and her father shoplifted underwear from Family Dollar store before family was held at gunpoint by cops... Family is now suing the city for $10million and Jay Z is paying their legal bills" (Daily Mail).

This connects to the Oberlin story we were discussing 2 days ago, when I blogged that I understood the argument that the accusation of racism did not depend entirely on the question whether the suspected shoplifters were guilty. I wrote:

The store clerk seems to have suspected shoplifting not because of the person's race but because he could see 2 wine bottles hidden under his coat, but he "chased the student out onto the street and tackled him," and that's what's racist (in this view). If the chase-and-detain approach is racist, even when the shopkeeper is right about the theft, then it's not false to accuse the shopkeeper of racism.

There's a very long comments thread at that post, and while I haven't read it all, I know many of you resisted what I was saying. I encourage you to continue the conversation here, where the police went wild confronting shoplifters.

ADDED: If I weren't taking this legal issue so seriously, I would be sorely tempted to say now we can replace the question mark in the famous "South Park" mystery....

Phase 1: Collect underpants
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit

Phase 2 is bring a $10 million lawsuit.

At the Chaos Café...

... work your charms.

(And remember the Althouse Portal to Amazon. If you want to buy what I just bought, buy "Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York" by Roz Chast.)

"Yes, many video games are violent and frivolous, and the most devoted players still tend to be young and male."

"But the best games reveal a mass cultural medium that has come fully into its own, artistically flourishing in ways that resemble the movie industry during its 20th-century peak and television over the past 20 years. From 'The Searchers' to 'The Godfather,' from 'The Sopranos' to 'The Americans,' what connects these eras, and their most outstanding works, is a shared ambition, a desire to be both grand and granular, telling individual stories against the backdrop of national and cultural identity, deconstructing their genres while advancing the form."

That sounds so right wing! Except the "deconstructing" part.

From "Red Dead Redemption 2 Is True Art/The season’s best blockbuster isn’t a TV show or movie. It’s a video game" by Peter Suderman in The New York Times.

The other day, I tried to watch this video, "Red Dead Redemption 2: 13 Things We Love About It (And 8 Things We Don't)"...



... but I had to stop because the enthusiasm of the players was just too... I don’t want to say annoying... but just irrelevant to my life.

I first encountered that video not at the NYT but at "South Park: All the Red Dead Redemption 2 References," which I was reading because someone I know told me he was playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and the only thing I knew about it was it was the game everyone in South Park was playing when Al Gore was trying to get them interested in fighting global warming.

"It’s simple. I’m playing a retired boxer who is growing marijuana. It’s basically me acting like me, so people can get a look at what my life could be like in different scenarios."

Said Mike Tyson, quoted in "Mike Tyson shops TV show about life as marijuana grower" (NY Post).

It's not a reality show, but something like "Curb Your Enthusiasm," based on the lead character's real life, but scripted and acted. I know: Where's the line? Reality shows are scripted, blah blah blah. But Tyson offered "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as the model his show either used or wants to be thought of as using.

Here's another model:



Anyway, Tyson's marijuana farm is "a 40-acre plot of land about 60 miles southwest of Death Valley National Park." And:

Besides growing premium pot, Tyson Ranch will feature a cultivation school to teach growers the latest technology, an edible factory, a hydro-feed and supply store, plus cabins and “glamping” campgrounds for stoner tourists....

Tyson is a big proponent of weed’s health benefits and said 85 percent of pro athletes use some form of cannabis to relieve pain, inflammation and anxiety. “I smoke it all day, every day,” Tyson said.

What would you pay to glamp and smoke weed within the aura of Mike Tyson? Or — better question — would you sit and watch a TV show about the people who'd pay a lot of money to glamp and smoke weed in the actual presence of Mike Tyson?

Which reminds me... that new Lena Dunham-produced TV show "Camping" (about some glampers) is unwatchable, and I like Jennifer Garner (and I'm fine with her name). It looks promising in the trailer:



"The weird thing about life: You can feel fine but also know that you're a ticking time bomb."

Maybe I can't watch it because I'm not understanding it properly. Here's a New Republic piece, "Welcome to Camping, the Most Misunderstood Show on TV":

It’s premiered to some fairly harsh reviews, all of which entirely miss the point. Camping, in its original incarnation [a British TV show], was a vicious satire about a middle-aged harridan who micromanages a trip at a campground run by a deranged mama’s boy.... The jokes are blindingly cruel.... The miniature society of the camping trip totally breaks down. Repulsive sex ensues, along with diabolical mishaps, nudity, violence, and drug benders. The show isn’t so much dark as completely, disorientingly devoid of light.

Dunham and [her Girls co-producer Jenni] Konner have now remade the show for an American audience that is notoriously thinner-skinned than its British counterpart.... The central change is that Dunham and Konner have imbued each character with a sympathetic twist. Kathryn still micromanages—forcing everybody to go bird-watching, for example—but now she’s a woman stricken by grief over her hysterectomy, her emotional dysfunction sublimated into worries over her body (echoing Dunham’s own medical woes). The brainless and nasty alcoholic of the British Camping has become a sweet, struggling guy who is just trying to find his way. Miguel the shagger is now a smart doctor finding a new light in his life, instead of a pathetic young Englishman who got hair plugs and speaks with a slight American accent....

Understanding that doesn't make me more able to watch the American version. It just makes me sad about how dull America has become in The Era of That's Not Funny.