Articles by Chris Schults

Tonight on Wife Swap

Oh dear ...

Monday, November 7, 8/7c, "Heiss/Kestrel"
A woman who does everything and more for her three super-indulged children and her "man-of-the-house" husband swaps lives with an energy-conserving, hippie mom whose family does all housework together and whose husband likes to wear a skirt.

Via TH.

Sunday night television

There was some interesting television on last night.

First, there was the live (fictional) presidential debate on The West Wing, wherein the two candidates tossed out the rules in an effort to give viewers the type of debate that they've yearning for since the last round of real presidential debates. And according to a MSNBC/Zogby poll (!), Rep. Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), D-Texas, edged out Sen. Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), R-Calif.

I'm not sure how viewer submitted questions worked into the show, but they did manage to field a few energy questions, which prompted a brief exchange on global warming. And speaking of global warming ...

Afterwards, on CBS, Category 7: The End of the World was airing. Now I know I'm advocating for more enviro themes in television and film, but I expect such attempts to be well-produced. Sadly, I had to force myself to watch.

Video previews, an Earth pod and more

Being the young and growing organization that it is, Current TV seems to be constantly tweaking its website -- for the better. Me, being the Current TV fan that can't actually watch it, I get a little frustrated. But luckily, they've thrown me a bone in the form of video previews. And I like what I see.

Another change is that one can now browse what is airing by "pod" category. Low and behold, there is an Earth pod just for us. Yippee! In it we find a clip on saving gorilla and rhino habitat, two (!) on climate change in Alaska, another on hurricanes, and one animated short on Bush and his love for oil.

Those of you who have been keeping up with my Current TV posts might notice a few clips missing from the Earth pod. You'll find them categorized elsewhere: "A Visit with Cody" (Current Casa) and "From the Fry Daddy to Your Car" (Current Ride).

And there is a new clip awaiting the greenlight in the Current studio on the Solar Decathlon that was recently featured in our own Grist List. IMHO, this one definitely deserves to be on air and is example of the type of video I'd like to see on Grist. If you agree, submit your greenlight vote.

How enviros can tap the video game market

I'll echo Dave's sentiment that he expressed in his post "Reaching the hipsters":

What about the hipsters? What about the semi-affluent, college-educated, tech-savvy, media-saturated twenty-somethings with artfully disheveled hair? They are, like it or not, apt to be central players in our culture in coming years ("the next generation," blah blah).

They have no tolerance whatsoever for the kind of earnest, soft-focus appeals most enviro-groups pitch. They are, let's face it, a tad self-absorbed, but they are attracted to all that is innovative, cool, and cutting-edge. Cool hunting is practically a genre unto itself on the net these days. And lots of stuff that's going on in the green world these days fits the bill.

As I've written before, enviro groups might want to consider how they can introduce green themes into television shows and film, as well as develop campaigns to cultivate the emerging phenomenon of participatory journalism. One other unlikely medium that has significant potential is the world of video games.