Blue Collar TV (2004–2006)
disappointing
23 September 2004
I don't care for rednecks, only because most of the ones I've met hate everybody who is NOT a redneck. (notice I've said "most", so please, no hate mail...)

Nevertheless, I always liked Foxworthy, and thought his standup routine was smart and creative. I thought this show might have potential but the first episodes I saw -- I don't know which number they were, but they featured "lingerie" for older couples and the "You Might Be" movie trailer -- just weren't funny. Not at all. Not even clever. Another sketch involving Larry The Cable Guy reading a politically correct version of Little Red Riding Hood was just jaw-droppingly stupid. The sketch ostensibly was making fun of uptight PC-speak, but wound up revealing the prevalence of bigotry that the sketch writers feel is prevalent among blue collar types...i.e., "Native American Riding Hood" instead of "Red" Riding Hood.

Satire is one thing. Desperately trying to associate obscure and offensive terms with a poor attempt at wit is just embarrassing. Christ Almighty, do people still call Native Americans "Reds"?

Some of the comparisons between BCTV and SNL/MadTV are, I think, appropriate. But I would compare this disappointing series to a different, earlier attempt to glorify the unwashed masses. Anybody remember the rootin'-tootin' variety show called "Hee-Haw"? The major difference, however, is that Hee-Haw was REALLY about rednecks. The type that thinks that Blacks are monkeys, Jews have horns, and that the Confederacy will rise again. I see more of that in BCTV (though more muted) than anything actually "blue collar" oriented.

A better title for the show would be Redneck TV, since what they do has little in common with the typically urban culture of real blue collar America. I don't hate the show or the people involved, but I really hope they improve and find their niche. Foxworthy can do way better than this.
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