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Sponsors Also Star in School Makeover Reality Show
One more reason not to watch TV.
By Mike Hale
NBC's new Friday night show "School Pride" tries to tap the out-with-the-bums, everything’s-broken mentality currently at large in the country and apply it to the popular home-makeover genre. In doing so it becomes a microcosm of both the good side (authentic, if totally random, charity) and the bad side (stunning superficiality, rampant commercialism) of this particular corner of reality television.
There doesn't seem to be any doubt that the down-at-the-heels schools chosen to receive the program's largesse get a lot out of the deal: new playgrounds, gym floors, teachers' lounges, furniture, air-conditioners, books -- the list goes on. Teachers dissolve in tears upon being led into their new classrooms.
But turning this into television involves a level of manipulation, sentimentality and just plain cheesiness that for some will render the proceedings difficult to watch.
The format of "School Pride," ironclad through the three episodes made available for review, is basically an hourlong pep rally with recesses for crying. It's led by four team members who have no expertise in education (though one of them, the comedian Kym Whitley, is said to be a former substitute teacher).
Each has a role: Susie Castillo, Miss USA 2003, is the chipper cheerleader; Jacob Soboroff, described as a journalist, is the group's Michael Moore, interrogating public officials about their schools' deficiencies; Tom Stroup is the host and master of ceremonies; and Ms. Whitley provides sass and comic relief.
These four are seen rolling paint and carrying boxes, but their work is entirely for the cameras. The actual labor -- and there is a considerable amount of it -- is done by the students and teachers, the community volunteers, and, most crucially, the contractors and corporations that donate their services but impose a heavy cost in product placement.
No science classroom or computer laboratory is refurbished without getting a huge Microsoft logo over the door. The camera lingers on a Hewlett-Packard logo; students and teachers shriek with delight during shopping trips to Wal-Mart and Home Depot. An elementary school in Baton Rouge, La., becomes the home of a People Magazine Reading Room, and the magazine's managing editor, Larry Hackett, squeezes himself into a child-size chair to discuss the importance of books.
Each episode also features the human version of product placement, the celebrity drive-by. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California; Randall Gay, a cornerback for the New Orleans Saints; and members of the country-pop group Lady Antebellum all drop in for some carefully controlled time with the children.
The show's creators, Denise Cramsey (a producer of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") and Cheryl Hines (a star of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), have clearly made a huge physical difference in the schools they’ve chosen to feature, beginning on Friday with the Enterprise Middle School in Compton, Calif.
You wonder, though, how helpful it is when the show pounds home the idea that the educational system is broken and (in Mr. Soboroff's paper-thin "investigations") that government is to blame. And there's the question of how much a one-time physical makeover really means for schools that will continue to struggle with inadequate funds, political squabbles and a low-income population.
For NBC there may be a more immediate concern. If you don't have a taste for tears and cheers and group hugs, a lot of time in "School Pride" is actually spent watching paint dry.
School Pride
NBC, Friday nights at 8, Eastern and Pacific times; 7, Central time. Created by Denise Cramsey and Cheryl Hines; directed by Jack Cannon; Ms.Hines and Ms. Cramsey, executive producers; Derek W. Wan and Herb Ankrom, co-executive producers; TomStroup, Susie Castillo, KymWhitley and Jacob Soboroff, hosts. Produced by Denise Cramsey Productions and Horizon Alternative Television.
— Mike Hale
New York Times
2010-10-15
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/arts/television/15school.html?tntemail0=y&emc=tnt&pagewanted=print
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