The Ultimate Jewish Mother Put Down on the TV Show House

I love House. Ok, there are parts of House where my son Matthew says “Mom, don’t look.”  I’m not great with the gross medical aspects of the show.  I would have probably gone to medical school instead of law school  if I didn’t have that little problem of passing out when people are bleeding.

This week’s show featured a male Jewish Porn star…and for some reason they had to point out that it was an unusual occupation — is that really true?  I don’t really have the statistics to dispute the jewish participation in the adult film industry one way or the other.  They didn’t mention on the yesterday’s OPRAH where they took an in depth look at the porn industry and women (odd programming I think for daytime…but that’s another issue).

In any case, the porn star continues to tell the doctors that he grew up in an extremely controlling and clean household….thus his attraction to the porn industry.  AND the solution to his medical problem is that he grew up in such a clean environment that he has no immunity to anything…so they have to put the worms back in to help him (have you ever noticed how many House episodes depend on worms?)….

As the Jewish  mother of two boys…my reaction to this episode was “really”?  His controlling and super clean household drove him to porn and a life threatening condition….

My conclusion: some writer had a serious score to settle with his mother!

What's in a date?

I was coming downtown yesterday and saw an ad on top of a taxi for the new show, Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher (who was just so good on House — you wish he could be a regular). Let’s put aside for the moment that my son has no memory of Quantum Leap….makes sense but still you forget how fleeting pop cultural is from generation to generation.

The date for the show is December 7th. So?  You know,  the date that “will live in infamy”.

Of course this is the day that our nation was brought into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor…but the meaning of that date seems to have been lost. It certainly wasn’t in the discussion at the marketing department at TNT.

Can you imagine a big show being launched on September 11th?

Even though I was an American History major–I didn’t understand the extreme upset when I told my parents and in-laws that my older son’s due date was going to be December 7th.  “Change it!” they all shouted at once.  It wasn’t until we lived through the horror of 9/11 in the nyc that I really understood their collective upset.  December 7th was a day that forever changed their childhoods.

I wonder how long it will be before September 11th fades as a “date” that makes us all sigh and remember where we were.

So?