Dateline MSNBC is really taking this whole “Green” thing to a new level. It had a major story yesterday about them helping people find missing money. It’s a great feel good story in tough economic times. They even had shot like this one showing the unexpected glee on shocked people’s faces as they were told about this new found money.
Great action shot. I’m sure the woman in the upper right is thrilled to be immortalized in this photo. Enjoy your 15 minutes. No one said they wouldn’t be taken up with you featured in a picture looking like you just got punched in the kidney.
I’d actually like to call your attention to the boy towards the bottom of this photo. He’s happy, sure, but he also knows something’s not right. He’s thinking, “Great. Maybe I get a new bike out of the deal, but I know I’ve seen this before, but where?” Well, maybe he’s not saying this, but it works as a literary device for me, so leave it alone.
You might recall that this same story was in Google Trends yesterday:
So, people are checking again today to see if there was any change from yesterday, I suppose. “Damn! Nothing found for me on the site. I’ll just check again tomorrow. Surely, they’ll be something then.” Predictably, like everyone else, I did check yesterday, and MissingMoney.com was down from all the traffic. This was somehow familiar to me and I remembered a past Google Trends (yep, it’s what I do).
Check this out:
This list is from April 4 and MissingMoney.com is there again. They must have great PR people. I remember checking the site back then to see if I was rich, but I couldn’t access the site then as well. I made a comment to a number of people that day that if you know you’re going to be featured on a major news program with millions of visitors and you know your site is going to have a massive influx of traffic, you might consider finding a better host for your site or upgrading your $4.95 a month hosting plan if even just for a day. A lesson learned for MissingMoney.com.
Except they didn’t learn, MissingMoney.com was featured prominently on Google Trends Lighting Rod, The Today Show, on April 4 and that’s why the found themselves on Google Trends and with traffic they couldn’t handle. This is where Dateline goes “Green,” as they decide to simply recycle effectively the same story that their pretty sister did just 3 months ago. “I know!,” a producer exclaims at a creative meeting for Dateline, “Let’s do a show about helping people find lost money.” “BRILLIANT!,” they all say. “Sounds familiar, but brilliant.”
Two things about this piss me off. First, Dateline has no creativity or inventiveness. This shouldn’t come as a shock as they love to go back to the well when something appears to be working. “I’m Chris Hansen. Tonight, we’re going to catch a predator and you’ll never guess the excuse we’re told tonight on To Catch a Predator Part 98.” Of course, we will guess the excuse because we’ve seen the same show a million times now, but stick with it. It’ll be different this time.
So, in keeping with their creative brief for the show, which must be “Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery,” let’s just rip off something that our network already did a few months ago and make like its new.
The second thing that pisses me off is, of course, MissingMoney.com. So, let me get this straight, you blow the first time you’re on Today because you’re site is down and just annoys people to no end. You miraculously get another chance to be featured on national TV. What do you do? Nothing! Their site was down again yesterday after the show. Nice work. Can someone give them a call and explain how this whole Internet thing works? When they get on Oprah in 3 months, I don’t want them to screw it up again.
“I’m Chris Hansen. Tonight on To Catch Your Lost Money, we’ll go to the deep, dark corners of the Internet and track down your money hiding in the seedy databases of tiny regional banks and fringe insurance companies. You’ll never guess what excuse your money has.”
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Posted on July 15th, 2008 by Jonathan - Everyone But You
Filed under: News, Television | No Comments...Yet. Click to Be the First »
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July 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I confess to be one of those charlatans at whom you rage. I enjoy working the NYT puzzle on-line. I do my best to solve it without using Google. But sometimes later in the week, they get hard enough that I get stuck part-way through. By using Google to provide one or two clues, I can often complete the rest of the puzzle. While I would never brag to anybody about this method, it does make working on the harder puzzles more enjoyable. I was disturbed by the difficulty of today’s puzzle (Tues!). I also find that Fri and Sat puzzles are usually of a sort where Google doesn’t particularly help. On those rare occasions when I can do a Fri (or a Sat!) I’m very proud.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Now let’s get one thing straight, I didn’t call anyone a charlatan. I called them cheaters. There’s a big difference. Of course, since I lack the vocabulary knowledge required to complete a NYT crossword, I can’t tell you what the difference is. I can only assume it is both deep and vast.
PS: for all the crossword puzzle people who get upset upon reading this, let me share another word with you. “Satire.” Satire is “a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.” Just saying…
July 1st, 2008 at 8:25 pm
yes…i sometimes cheat at nyt xword puzzles…not to present myself as smarter than I am…but sometimes I need a clue or two to solve the theme. the themes are very often quite creative. once I know what the theme is I usually don’t care whether I solve the entire puzzle. today’s puzzle was ( as previous comment says) hard for a tuesday, but I might also add, it was not as interesting or creative as say the ‘where’s waldo’ puzzle of a few weeks ago.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Great…now I’m going to be officially branded as an anti-crosswordite. Of all the prejudices I could be labeled with this might be the worst.
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Just one quick note: though you were able to Google “etui,” you actually didn’t arrive at the definition usually used in crossword puzzles, which is more like this: A small, usually ornamental case for holding articles such as needles. But I learned that from years of crossword puzzles! And though I look things up occasionally, it’s usually the next day when I don’t have time to finish the puzzle, but I’m curious about one or two clues.
Of all the things to rail at these days, people who look things up while doing the crossword puzzle shouldn’t be one of them.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Alison said: “Of all the things to rail at these days, people who look things up while doing the crossword puzzle shouldn’t be one of them.”
Hmmm…okay. What about railing at people who correct this definition of etui “a small ornamental ladies’ bag for small articles” with their own “A small, usually ornamental case for holding articles such as needles” remarkably similar one? Is that all right?
Just trying to find my boundaries.