10 Reasons We Are Tired of Charlie Sheen

Here's a countdown I did for BET.com. Oh, and please make a choice in my poll in the right column.

With reports of Charlie Sheen’s recent recording session with Snoop and his upcoming TV appearances, the media’s fascination with the actor clearly isn’t over. But his love affair with the public may be, as indicated by his difficulty at completely selling out his upcoming tour. Here are some reasons why he may be losing his, uh, sheen with us.

10. Because after being bombarded by Charlie Sheen–mania, we just simply can’t stand no more! And, really, did we need THAT much coverage?

9. Because we realize that while Sheen’s firing from Two and a Half Men may hurt the series, the show is in its last days anyway. Besides, is it a top show in Black households?

8. Because we’re no longer laughing at witty uses of Sheen terms like “tiger’s blood” or “Adonis DNA.” Jokes or comments making use of those terms are now D.O.A.

7. Because we don’t want to buy tickets for his My Violent Torpedo of Truth tour. Actually, we saw the best of the Sheen circus via the news/Web anyway. We don’t need the Cirque Du Soleil version.

6. Because yelling the catchphrase “Winning!” has grown beyond tired. File it next to Martin Lawrence’s “You go, girl!” and Jimmie “J.J.” Walker’s “Dyn-o-mite!”

5. Because at the end of the day, we realize the Charlie Sheen debacle is just a fight among the wealthy. Unlike us, these folks are dealing with no parts of recovering from a recession.

4. Because while we enjoyed the distraction, it’s time to get back to reality. Enough said.

3. The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan. Reality numbero uno (not to mention news-worthy problems in America and around the world).

2. Because recording a song with Snoop is a sheer sign of desperation. And we know Snoop was too nice (literally and figuratively) to decline the offer.

1. Because we ultimately realized that warlocks should just say NO … to drugs. And you should, too.

Is Tyler Perry Really Making TV History?

A question of quality or quantity.

Recently, Tyler Perry sent a message to his fans via his Website in part trumpeting the monumental success of his TV show House of Payne. The show had just celebrated its 210^th episode, a feat the movie/TV mogul was eager to file in the annals of black TV history.

“Let me just put this in perspective for you,” Perry wrote. “House of Payne has done more episodes than Good Times, more episodes than Sanford and Son, and even more episodes than The Cosby Show. The Jeffersons is the only show of this genre to have more episodes. Ella and Curtis are running a close second to George and Weezie. ”

Only, within this celebratory note about numbers was Perry’s lack of an in-depth mention about any creative value he feels his series has. Maybe a thought on the show’s connection to its audience or what his characters mean to loyal viewers. (A difficult question to ask or answer considering there are no Black shows on network TV and—excluding salacious reality shows—only a half-handful on cable.). But it’s an important thought given Perry’s eagerness to think of his series in the context of iconic Black sitcoms.

In comparison, consider the ground these shows broke when they aired. Sanford and Son turned a crotchety junk dealer and his son into the biggest Black TV sitcom duo since the cancellation of The Amos ‘n  Andy Show. Good Times transformed the impoverished Evans family into America’s ghetto storytellers and cultural tour guides. The Jeffersons were America’s first beloved upper middleclass Black family before The Cosby Show turned Bill Cosby into America’s dad.

While House of Payne has a viewership of 1.2 million, the series has yet to establish what its footprint will mean in the pantheon of TV history. Given the show hasn’t made the cultural impact of a cable smash like The Sopranos or a network hit like, say, Martin its hard to gauge what will be the show’s legacy.

So the question that has to be asked is: Although Perry’s TV acumen produces sizable numbers and historic business deals, will he produce something on the small screen that reaches beyond the fact that he did it, did it big and, mainly because of that fact, it’s great.