Rachel Sweet...'2 Broke Girls'

Wow...who knew? If it weren't for TP, I wouldn't have done a double take when I saw her name listed on the opening credits on an episode:

"I don't know how much longer '2 Broke Girls' is gonna go, maybe 1 or 2 seasons," she said. "I would like to develop something for myself to open the next season."
[www.ohio.com]

I wonder if she'll ever record another album.

She's crazy if she does. TV/film is so much more lucrative than rock; it's not even funny. Given that she has not recorded an album in 34 years, don't hold your breath. Besides, all we needed from Rachel was that first one.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Yeah, and the [admittedly great] "Hairspray Theme" was 28 years ago! I know that she's acted on stage some but that's no better than rock for putting meat on the table. As a TV writer/producer, she's probably found her niche. 92% of her material was written by others.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

She did sing the theme song for original Hairspray movie. That's the last thing I can think of that she's recorded, but I may be wrong.

She turned up on Seinfeld as George's cousin who visits him in the hospital. I think that may be the famous "The Contest" episode.

I think I confused her with Suzi Quatro.

Leather Tuscadero!

I was discussing with a friend the other day how much things have changed with the passing of the monoculture. Pinky Tuscadero was on a grand total of what, one (maybe two) episodes of Happy Days, yet just about anyone who was a kid or teenager in the 70s knows the name.

Jump forward to today, and a person can be blissfully unaware of anything in the top 40 or any character's name on the highest rated shows on tv. In fact, probably more people DON'T know the names of any of the characters on The Big Bang Theory than do, and as far as I know it's the highest rated sitcom on tv.

Back in the 70s and into the 80s, even if you didn't watch a show, you knew who the characters were on it. I never watched a single episode of Miami Vice, but I sure as heck knew who Crockett and Tubbs were. Even shows that are considered culturally significant and that capture the zeitgeist can't make that claim. I suspect if I went to a family reunion and mentioned something that Don Draper said, most of my cousins would think I was talking about someone at work.

That's all totally off topic, but it's something I've been thinking about lately, and was trying to formulate something resembling a coherent point to make about it in the Problem With Millenials thread when that thread was current, but I never managed to come up with said coherent thought or what it said about Millenials. Still haven't, obviously.

Breno - I blame computers. The ability to collect and interpret demographic data has allowed media outlets to increasingly over time [from the late 60s onward] to almost surgically target whatever audience that they wish to reach, so there's no need for a uniting culture. In fact, that would be a minus. It's been deemed more profitable to narrowcast to hundreds of distinct, smaller audiences instead of reaching a single [albeit huge] one which is irrelevant to the advertiser.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Quote

I never managed to come up with said coherent thought or what it said about Millenials. Still haven't, obviously.

You know...I actually think you did put your finger on it. In the Millennials thread, I was asking why, if they are now hitting their 30s, have they not made any significant contribution to culture? And the idea of the death of the monoculture might explain it. Previous cultural uprisings were in reaction to the mainstream, from the jazz hepcats, to the Beats, hippies, punks, up thru the '90s alternative nation. But if there is no mainstream, they have nothing to hate, nothing to rebel against. As Monk pointed out, this is due to the internet, and its infinite fracturing of culture. And the Millennials are the first generation raised on the 'net.

Thanks guys, well done!

"I never watched a single episode of Miami Vice".

What? Even the Sheena Easton period?

Nope, never saw a single episode. It was on Fridays in the 80s, which was the brief window of time in which I hhad a social life.

Never saw "Miami Vice" either. According to

[en.wikipedia.org]

twas opposite "Max Headroom". If I was home Fri Nights, that def. would have been what I was watching.


And so far as the larger questions raised by this are concerned, here's a big one: are cultural shifts a thing of the past?

For most of human history, there was ONLY a monoculture. If you were a Navajo living 300 years ago, or a Florentine, or a pygmy, you ONLY knew your culture. The 20th century introduced (racial, cultural) subcultures, somewhat in opposition to the mainstream. Maybe those days are gone, and we're the last generation to have participated in the thrill of shifting the culture.

And another thing..! "2 Broke Girls" is so very, very bad. Luv ya Ms. Sweet, but "2 Unfunny Girls" would be a much more accurate title, there, I said it!



Post Edited (02-16-16 14:14)