The RP: The Top 5 Awful TV Shows with Terrific Theme Songs

OK, OK, RP Nation:  Lay down your pitchforks…The latest RP top five pop culture list is here.  And don’t forget its predecessors: The RP’s Favorite Breakup SongsFavorite Hoops Books,Most Jew-ish GentilesFavorite “Docs” who Weren’t Doctors,Pretty Boys I Begrudgingly AdmireGuilty Pleasures, and Pop Music Lyrics.

With the recent passing of Sherwood Schwartz, it is fitting to honor his memory by highlighting a Sherwood trademark:  Awful TV show; Terrific Theme Song.  Combine a catchy three-minute ditty with a truly awful 24 minutes of predictable plots, unfunny comedy and horrendous acting, and you have a magic formula for high ratings and unforgettable childhood memories.

So without further ado, here goes The RP’s Top Five Awful Television Shows with Terrific Theme Songs:

5. (tie) The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale; here’s a story of a lovely lady…We start off with the Sherwood Schwartz Daily Double.
If you are between the ages of 35 and 50 and cannot recite every word of the two theme songs, then you either are suffering from dementia or compulsive lying disorder. These are the seminal melodies of my childhood, two songs that indelibly conjure up all of the joys and anxieties of prepubescence.  But while the tunes hold up with time, the shows are simply a tribute to insipid plotting, acting and dialogue. And that’s the way, they became the Brady Bunch, right here on Gilligan’s Isle!

Here’s the magic:

SPECIAL!!! All 5 seasons of Brady Bunch theme songs:

4. The Beverly Hillbillies

A few weeks ago, I discussed a recent controversy when a candidate for statewide office in Kentucky was revealed to have made some unfunny, demeaning jokes about Eastern Kentuckians.  That was pretty much the entire theme of this program, episode after episode, year after year. If some coastal elites don’t understand the heartland, it may be because of the pernicious stereotypes fed by this awful program.  But the show had a fantastic theme song, a bluegrass ditty played and performed by the legendary Flatt and Scruggs.

Listen to this story about a man named Jed:

3.  The Love Boat

OK, I admit it. My pre-high school Saturday night ritual was the double feature of The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Pitiful, huh?  Still, before I suffered through silly Gopher and ladies’ man Doc and hip cat Isaac, at least I was charmed by Jack Jones’ theme song. Thankfully, Aaron Spelling abandoned his vision to emerge as the next Sherwood Schwartz by dropping the catchy theme song motif by the time he produced Beverly Hills, 90210.  Or maybe his daughter Tori insisted on it.  Or that geek who’s somehow married to Megan Fox.

Anyway, for some love, exciting and new, climb aboard, we’re expecting you:


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The RP: The Top 5 Awful TV Shows with Terrific Theme Songs

RPTV’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame with Rod Jetton

If you’ve read former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton’s stunningly candid pieces on his rise, scandal and renewal, you probably have a lot of questions that his post raised.

(If you haven’t, here are links to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.  And don’t miss Jeff Smith’s piece on their unlikely friendship, or their  video Great Debate  (hilarity alert!))

So did the RP.  Here, he interviews Rod Jetton for the RPTV feature, “Fifteen Minutes of Fame.”  Rod elaborates on many of the themes in his column, and talks from the heart about the nature of public services in today’s era.  Enjoy:

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Fashion

This Weekly Web Gem has nothing to do with Paris fashion, but I wanted to take a break to remember the talented Amy Winehouse, who passed away a couple days ago. Amy not only left behind a musical legacy, but a fashion one as well. Check it out:   [Fashionista]

I couldn’t help but to add one more link dedicated to Amy. Check out her powerful influence on the one and only Karl Lagerfeld:   [Grazia Daily]

Speaking of Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel is at it again! Check out their brand new jewelry line, Haute Joaillerie!   [Fashionista]

In case you didn’t know, Beyoncé + Fashion + Paris = Magic.   [StyleCaster]

The RP’s Budget Crisis Update- July 26

Seen here in less contentious times, President Obama and Speaker Boehner laid out their opposing strategies on the debt crisis last night in Washington.

In dueling speeches in primetime Monday, President Obama and Speaker Boehner reinforced their positions on the debt ceiling debate, with the President criticizing overly-steadfast Republicans for their intransigence (though he assigned blame to both parties) and the Speaker continuing his push against revenue increases. As part of his 15-minute speech, President Obama encouraged American to contact their representatives and urge them to compromise on a debt agreement. Shortly after the speech, several Senate and House member websites were overloaded. [Politico]

President Obama, in speaking on the debt debate, notably refrained form using the word “veto” on Monday, moving away from his earlier threats to veto any plan that did not extend the debt ceiling through the end of 2012. It has been speculated that the President may now believe that he will have to accept any deal that manages to pass both houses of Congress. [National Journal]

National Journal has compiled a list of consequences if the United States fails to raise its debt ceiling. Among them: stock markets around the world are likely to tank, government programs including food stamps and Pell Grants face spending cuts by 40 to 45 percent, economic recovery would slow drastically or reverse, Social Security checks may or may not be released, the US’s credit rating could be cut to as low as D, and businesses across the country run the risk of total failure. [National Journal]

One common factor of the plans put forth by Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Reid is the “Super Congress,” a bipartisan commission with extraordinary power to craft debt and budget legislation. In both cases, the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party finds the proposal unacceptable, while left-leaning groups such as MoveOn.org are criticizing the plan for its intent to make cuts to entitlement programs. [Huffington Post]

Additionally, the Boehner plan has received criticism from fiscal conservatives who feel that it is a step back from Cut, Cap, and Balance and the Balanced Budget Amendment. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California has declined to say whether the Boehner plan has a support of the majority of the House Republican caucus. [The Hill]

Reuters has put together a concise comparison of the Boehner and Reid debt-reduction plans. [Reuters]

One of the biggest sticking points on the debt debate is whether troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan count as part of a deficit reduction plan, with Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid arguing that it does and Republicans including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor claiming it does not, even though Representative Paul Ryan’s plan earlier this year took the same tack as Reid. [Huffington Post]

The House Rules Committee has posted the content of the Boehner deal on its website and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. [House Rules Committee]

In Congressional debt ceiling negotiations, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been leading the charge to push back against the Obama Administration’s desire to hit hedge funds and private equity firms with higher taxes. [Washington Post]

According to Standard & Poor, the Boehner plan may still trigger a lowering of the US’s AAA credit rating. The agency says that such a move would likely be viewed as a “Band-Aid” that would not assure the country’s financial stability for a long enough period to avoid the downgrade. [Huffington Post]

Still confused as to what all of this means?  Want to find out how you can have your voice heard on this issue?  Click here to read The RP’s “Debt Ceiling for Dummies.”

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Why Are Our Bridges Made in China?

In an earlier piece, I talked about the breakdown of our infrastructure based on my experience with the Washington DC Metro: the broken escalators, the slow Orange line, the unscheduled stops in the middle of tunnels.

Today I’d like to add my complaints about the Maryland Area Regional Commuter line, MARC, where delays are not uncommon, and Amtrak’s Acela, which sustained a speed of 0 mph for two straight hours in New York’s Penn Station during one of my recent trips.

I choose the quiet car, because I don’t want to hear the curses that greet one delay after another. But then I think, Is passivity really the American way? Aren’t we supposed to take action, do something, get the job done? Americans solve problems. What’s going on when I read that China is launching a new line of fast trains and we aren’t even able to get our slow trains going?

Congressman John Mica

So I took it personally when Congressman John Mica, a Florida Republican and head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee — rather than embracing the idea of an infrastructure bank that had the backing of John Kerry (Democrat) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Republican), the Chamber of Commerce, and the AFL-CIO — proposed to decrease infrastructure funding even beyond what Paul Ryan had proposed. Mica wants a 40 percent cut, to outdo the Tea Party’s cut of 30 percent.

The Republicans say they want to create jobs. But making it difficult to get to work is not the right path. And it’s tough get a job when you can’t get to an interview on time. On the delayed Acela, one of my fellow passengers complained (despite being in the quiet car) that he was going to miss his meeting with a potential client. As we sat in the station, unmoving, he became increasingly agitated and depressed. “In this bad economy, I really can’t afford not to meet him,” he said.

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Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Why Are Our Bridges Made in China?

RP Canada — Watch the RP LIVE on CTV at 8 PM EDT

Breaking news from the RP headquarters…

With Mrs. RP a native Canuck (she spent her early years in Montreal and her teens in Mississauga), the RP has a (very) small, but devoted following in The Great White North.

Apparently, it is a little larger than previously thought — CTV, the CNN of Canada, will be interviewing the RP live (via Skype) at 8 PM EDT tonight about the debt ceiling crisis.

For our Canadian readers, tune into CTV tonight at 8.  For the rest of the RP Nation, you will have to wait for the video later.

Tomorrow at The Recovering Politician

Wow..another huge day at The Recovering Politician.

We’ve already surpassed Friday’s readership totals (the biggest since Opening Week in April) by more than 40%.

But we are not resting on our laurels.

Tomorrow, the RP interviews Rod Jetton for RPTV, giving you a chance to hear more of his fascinating personal story.

We will have more, of course, on the debt ceiling debate.

And since we all could use a little levity in these ultra-serious times, the RP will offer his latest “Top 5” pop-culture list.  If you are new to the RP Nation, here is a taste of what that exactly means.

So get some rest tonight, because we will have a busy Tuesday.

The RP’s Budget Crisis Update- July 25, Part 2

President Obama endorsed Harry Reid's $2.7 trillion budget plan over John Boehner's today.

It’s been a busy day for debt and budget negotiations in Washington, enough to justify a second round of budget crisis updates from The Recovering Politician:

President Obama has endorsed Harry Reid’s plan to cut $2.7 trillion from the budget without raising revenues, a major departure from his earlier insistence that any debt deal include significant revenue increases, though the Reid plan does fulfill his desire to have the debt ceiling raised enough to get the US through the 2012 election cycle. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney praised the plan for cutting responsibly and removing default-related uncertainty from the coming year. [Politico]

Speaker Boehner has released the details of his debt-reduction plan to House Republicans. The proposal includes a two-step process that will cut spending by $3 trillion over the next ten years without raising taxes. It also includes the temporary debt ceiling increase that President Obama and Congressional Democrats have balked at in the past. [The National Review]

The International Monetary Fund has weighed in on the United States debt crisis, echoing the sentiment that getting spending under control, and more immediately, raising the debt ceiling, are necessary for the continued economic health of the US and the rest of the world. The IMF supported proposals that include spending cut and revenue increase triggers should Congress fail to act in a timely manner. [The Hill]

In spite of extensive testimony to the contrary, Representative and candidate for President Ron Paul has said that a default is the best thing that could happen to the United States. He cites past credit defaults as evidence that a default in 2011, though harmful to the US economy, would not be calamitous. [National Journal]

The Boehner budget proposal is being referred to as a victory for the Tea Party, since it includes no revenue increases, a two-tier raising of the debt ceiling, and a vote on a balanced budget amendment. Though not a complete rehash of the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill, this budget would require a vote on a Constitutional amendment during 2012. [Huffington Post]

Massachusetts Democratic Representative Edward Markey has accused House Republicans, and Speaker Boehner in particular, of trying to harm the US economy in hopes of pinning the blame on President Obama. [The Hill]

Democratic sources have confirmed that Harry Reid’s $2.7 trillion deficit reduction plan does not touch entitlement benefits in any way. This further differentiates his plan from Speaker Boehner’s and is likely to shore up support among Democrats who were unhappy that President Obama had expressed a willingness to put entitlement programs on the table as part of a debt deal. [Huffington Post]

Still confused as to what all of this means?  Want to find out how you can have your voice heard on this issue?  Click here to read The RP’s “Debt Ceiling for Dummies.”

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of the Web

The Politics of the Web

 

 

Google faces increased scrutiny over web reviews. [The Financial Times]

Using the internet is changing how our memory works. [The Toronto Sun]

What was Google thinking when they deleted some accounts on Google+? [ZDNet]

The confidence game going on with Google+ [New York Times]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Tech

The Politics of Tech

Here is a simply amazing video of a super-lightweight robot imitating a bird’s flight by flapping its own wings. A must-see. [TED]

A recent study claims that internet movie pirates are actually better consumers for the movie industry than non-pirates. the pirates typically buy more DVDs and visit movie theaters more often. [Geek.com]

A fantastic editorial on the unfortunately common practice of data-capping. “Caps should not just be a way for Internet providers to extract monopoly rents.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. [NY Times]

Here is another interesting article that explains how wider WiFi ranges (up to 45 miles) are possible using lower power consumption. [Clean Technica]

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