Page 6-The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition-Arts-Thursday, September 9, 1993 The talk show generation? eY. °x..t. .. A writer looks behind the scenes at the Montel Williams Show 0 by Darcy Lockman Labels and misnomers - our gen- eration has received its share of both. They call us the MTV generation, or Generation X. Butwho comes up with these super- fluous titles, these "pearls" as Norman Maifer would call them, that attempt to sumup with one catch phrase the en- tirety, the entity that defines you, me and the age in which we live? Certainly not its own members (we could not have, for those same people who label us have seen fit to tell us that we are not smart enough, or old enough yet, to attempt to define ourselves). 'I trying to spit up pearls, these lael1-ers omit so many of the complica- tions that encompass our lives. Aside from the t-shirt, one of the most frequently overlooked pieces of culture and influence from our genera- tionuis the daytime talk show. Perhaps lacking the longevity of the daytime drama, this other form of soap opera has come into its proverbial own in the last demi-decade, becoming arguably more influential than the soapoperain amuch shorter time span. But it is a phenom- enon about which no one ventures to speak. In what could only be described as fitting, the evolution of the talk show is neither particularly exciting, nor terri- bly complicated. We all remember the days when Phil Donahue played the lone rider, ambitiously striving to cover all the subjects about which Americana By seeing how little thinking the producers of Montel wanted us as a small audience to do, I was able to grasp what had only been a fleeting fancy when I watched from my couch - to a greater degree than other television genres, the talk show takes away the at-home-viewers' need to think and question. yearned to learn. Alas, Phil could not fly solo - so many necropheliac garden- ers and the mothers who refuse to love them, so little time to fill between com- mercials. So on came Oprah, and Sally, and Jenny Jones, and Geraldo, and - oh, I do have limited space in which to write. You know the rest, and the rest, and the rest. I have watched Oprah. I have watched Phil. I have watched Jane Whitney. I have even, in last ditch ef- forts tojustify skipping class, flipped on Jenny Jones. Call me an iconoclast, I just don't get it. What about the talk show holds interest for so many hours on so many channels every working day of the year? When Montel Williams came to town last week, I could notpass up the chance at cultural discovery. The answers the TV had yet to provide, a behind the scenes glance would surely reveal. Naturally, I was not the only one in the area who desired to spend an after- noon wading through the American psyche that is talk show, and I arrived at the State Theater in Detroit (two hours before the taping) to find a line that wrapped itself around the corner, about 500 people thick. A mostly female but otherwise heterogenous crowd waited peacefully together, united in the ex- citement of what would soon ensue. When finally admitted, I landed a seat stage right on the main floor. I was primed for discovery. Montel's stage manager: I will not soon forget him, for he was to shatter my talk show innocence. With a few simple yet deliberate hand motions, he would let us know when to clap, when to be quietandwhen to hold up our arms to ask questions. First pro-wrestling, 0 Montel Williams recently brought his talk show to Detroit. Our own Darcy Lockman went to sneak a peek. now this. No one else showed any ad- verse reaction to this announcement, however, so I kept my disillusionment to myself. Then out flounced the producer, to tell us the topic of today's show (they refused to tell us when we got our tickets, and even up until the last min- utes before we were admitted to the theater no one was allowed to know) - Women Who Say They Can Steal Any Man. Everyone laughed good humoredly, briefly revealing a bit of intelligence. It would be the last such instance of the day. The producer then let us know that they were looking for our natural reac- tions to the guests. I was confused. The stage manager hadjust informed us that we would be told when to clap, when to quiet down and when to ask questions. Where in those commandments was room to be aunaturale? The stage man- ager and the producer were obviously not communicating very well (Co-work- ers Who Don't Communicate, I think I saw that on Jane Whitney). On came Montel to tell us not to move our lips with the monitor ("Those are Montel's words," he explained em- phatically), and then it was lights, cam- era, action. Excitement-wise, the day veered downhill from there. Giovanna and Sa- rah claimed they could steal anyone's man. Giovanna boasted nine previous steals, Sarah only one (I don't see what made her such an expert, anyone can steal one man). A woman named Shady came on to talk about the seminars she I Ann Arbor Civic Theatre Presents its 1993-94 MainStage Season (All performances in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre unless otherwise noted.) THE NERD by Larry Shue, directed by Charles Jackson September 15-18, 1993 An extraordinarily inventive, side-splitting comedy. OKLAHOMA! Book by Richard Rodgers, Book and music by Oscar Hammerstein 11, directed by Conrad Mason October 6-9 1993 Song, dance and music are triumphantly blended in this striking slice of Americana. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN by Charles Fuller, directed by wallace Bridges January 12-15, 1994 A compassionate drama exploring the impact of random violence on a family and on an inner city community. For Tickets or Subscription Information, Call 971-AACT MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by william Shakespeare, directed by Kerry Graves February 23-26, 1994 Combines a witty and intelligent battle of the sexes, an intense love story and outlandish slapstick comedy. WEST SIDE STORY Book by Authur Laurents, Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Linda Spriggs May 18-21, 1994, at The Power Center for the Performing Arts This brilliant collaboration of Broadway greats sets the moving love story of Romeo and Juliet in the contemporary urban streets of New York City. BROADWAY BOUND by Neil Simon, directed by Russ Valvo June 22-25, 1994 (dates subject to change) A warm, perceptive and humourous play based on Simon's adulthood. - L CIe - -I. o 0 0-4 gives: one on how to steal aman, one on how to keep a man (I couldn't help but wonder if her students ever came up against one another for the attentions of the same beau). Giovanna's stolen ex-boyfriend, an exotic dancer with the ability to hold his muscles in the flexed position for longer time periods than any man I've ever seen, appeared to stir up some contro- versy. And finally, out came a couple that had been having an affair for four years in which the woman had given birth to four of the cheating man's chil- dren (I was abit unsure of how these last two fit in until I figured out that they were probably just stragglers from the previous taping). Everything ran smoothly. We clapped when told, we were quiet when ordered, and we offered our questions and natural reactions (I learned that natural reaction was code word for boo- ing those awful hoydens when they said something immoral) in all the right places. In recognition of all our hard work, Montel assured us that he would come back to Detroit, and even offered us souvenir t-shirts (refer back to the second paragraph, first line) for only $10. Calling up all my will power, I left the State Theater t-shirt-less and headed toward the Lodge to re-ponder the at- traction of the talk show. As I hit I-96,I realized that my entire pre-taping thought process had been incorrect. Fo- cusing on the talk show itself provided noanswers. Fornot the genre, notguests or the host, but rather the on-camera audience is what keeps the 13th genera- tion in the throngs of Sally Jesse Land. By seeing what slight degree of thinking theproducers ofMontel wanted us as a small, live audience to do, I was able to grasp what had only been a fleeting fancy when I watched from my couch - to a greater extent than other television genres, the talk show takes away the at-home-viewers' need to think and question. More complete than its predecessor the laughtrack, the warm-bodied TV audience that the talk show provides does the thinking for them (and I leave itto you to read acertain degreeof irony into the fact that all audience reaction occurs only with permission and even direction). So in my exploration I have discov- ered my own'pearl. We are the Talk Show Generation, and for all that this says about us we are not likely to stand up and scrape off the MTV or Genera- tion X misnomers. The talk show incli- nation in us all is too content to sit back and clap on command. 0 The Nerd 4o' ez: WELCOME BACK! 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