" These days, Veronica deals with her
high school troubles during the day and helps her dad run a private
detective agency at night. We’re not talking The Secret of the
Old Clock. Seventeen-year-old Veronica is tracking down adulterers
at sleazy motels and cops getting "favors" from exotic
dancers. It’s a little much to believe that this teenager can
manipulate a biker gang, law enforcement, and her dad like she
does, but it works.
Veronica Mars is built around a high school student. Kristin Bell is
a breakout actor of the new fall season, and a big part of why Veronica
Mars works. Before this, the 24-year-old’s most visible TV role was as
a deceptively innocent prostitute, Flora, on HBO’s Deadwood. Bell can
handle the genre-twisting mix of My So-Called Life and The Rockford Files
with maybe a little Twin Peaks small-town weirdness."
Here is another edgy TV show with lots of sexual content being
pushed on middle schoolchildren by Channel One News.
Channel One has a deal with the UPN TV network. The network needs
to drive teens and preteens to this junky show so it will be a
success. Channel One News is happy to take UPN’s money and is pushing
this show hard on its in-school "news" show.
On November 1, Channel One News allowed Kristen Bell, the actress
who plays Veronica Mars, to become a special news anchor. Ms. Bell
gets to co-anchor the entire show.
Beginning of show:
[HELLOS]
[AIRDATE=11/01/04]
[PRO=ENAS]
[TALENT=JANET & KRISTEN]
JANET: HEY EVERYONE, IT’S MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST- I’M JANET CHOI AND JOINING
ME TODAY IS KRISTEN BELL – THE STAR OF THE NEW SERIES ON U-P-N "VERONICA
MARS" — HOW ARE YOU?
KRISTEN: I’M GREAT
JANET: THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY
.KRISTEN: NO PROBLEM. JANET: WE’LL
HEAR A MORE ABOUT KRISTEN IN JUST A LITTLE BIT, BUT FIRST WE’LL
GET STARTED NOW WITH TODAY’S TOP STORY.
At the end of the show this is how Channel One News "sneaks" in
a commercial for Veronica Mars during the "news" segment.
Channel One does NOT consider the conversation below as "commercial." When
Channel One News tells school board they have only two minutes
of commercials, they don’t count guest hosts plugging their TV
shows.
[GOODNIGHT]
[AIRDATE=11/01/04]
[PRO=ENAS]
[TALENT=KRISTEN & JANET]
JANET: SO NOW YOU KNOW. WELL KRISTEN, SMALL WORLD MOMENT. ONE OF THE
OLD PRODUCERS HERE AT CHANNEL ONE IS A GUY NAMED ROB THOMAS …KRISTEN:
… WHO CREATED "VERONICA MARS."JANET: RIGHT, AND WHO IS
THE SEVENTEEN-YEAR OLD PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR HELPING HER DAD SOLVE
MYSTERIES AND ALSO HAPPENS TO BE PLAYED BY KRISTEN. SO WHAT IS IT
LIKE BEING VERONICA MARS?
KRISTEN: OH THE BEST PART ABOUT
PLAYING VERONICA IS I LEARN HOW TO DIG UP DIRT ON ANYONE AND
ANYTHING. IN FACT TOMORROW ON ELECTION DAY OUR EPISODE INVOLVES
A SCHOOL ELECTION THAT GETS TAMPERED WITH AND I GET TO INVESTIGATE
THE FRAUD.
JANET: VERY FITTING ON ELECTION
DAY. AND FOR ALL YOU FANS OF KRISTEN AND HER SHOW, WE’VE GOT
A SPECIAL AUTOGRAPHED SCRIPT FOR YOU TO WIN. JUST GO TO CHANNEL
ONE DOT COM AND LOOK IN GAMES AND CONTESTS TO FIND OUT HOW YOU
CAN ENTER. THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
KRISTEN: THANK YOU FOR HAVING
ME.
JANET: COME BACK ANYTIME YOU WANT.KRISTEN:
I WILL.
JANET: WE’LL SEE YOU GUYS TOMORROW.
BYE
.KRISTEN: BYE.
Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, "It is obvious why Channel
One is doing this. They are making money. The real question is
‘Why is any school in America allowing one second of school time
to be used to get children to watch more TV?’ ‘Why is any school
putting aside learning time to promote a TV show like this?’ Channel
One is in control of schools. They will show what they want, when
they want and as often as they want. It is not surprising that
the best public high schools in the U.S. overwhelmingly do not
have contracts with Channel One."
