August 27, 2008
How we 'do'...
Keepin' it 'modest'...
So the thing with a show like ours is 'the line'.
(the line?)
Yes. The line.
See, we exist because our station needs 'First run spiritually balanced Canadian programming...' and that means that 1) All our shows need to be 'new material' and run for the first time in Vancouver then beyond 2) we need to have at least eight [8] minutes per show that the CRTC considers 'spiritual' and said minutes need to be balanced meaning we must try not to lean too hard in one direction in terms of said spirituality and 3) the show needs to be made by Canadians.
So, a challenge we've had recently is related to being perceived as not spiritual 'enough' and that's a real tough nut to crack because our motivation is totally spiritual--we're 100% interested in the human journey and believe that said journey is actualized and vitalized by more than just the physical. Every question we ask, every guest we interview, every streeter question and every in-studio riff between our hosts is designed to try and scratch beneath the surface of our common experience to see what lies beneath.
And the trick is to do it without being 'stupid'.
'Cause you know it and I know it. Most TV shows that have a spiritual 'bent' to them are either one way or they're another. They tend to be pretty specifically a certain 'thing' and as often as not that 'thing' is a little less than universally applicable, right?
But things have been that way for so long that we don't seem to fit quite yet. We're spiritual but not partisan. We're spiritual but not coming from one specific agenda. We're spiritual but actual as in (hopefully) connected to your actual life in a way that's entertaining/informative/inspiring/funny enough to be worth you spending a half-hour with us each night.
So in our quest to keep this show growing we'd love to hear from you re: how our show is connecting to you on the 'spiritual side of things'. We're always able to improve and are very open to your suggestions.
(feedback@thedailytv.ca)
We got a 'guest suggestion' yesterday suggesting that we interview 'modesty of dress' which can only mean that Mark's got to stop it with the racy Mark's Work Warehouse dress pants already!
We also go this:
"Hello you two,
I am a confirmed PBS Documentary Queen, Historic drama fanatic and I have no idea why I like your show, but you have hooked me in........ I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing........... But you have got me interestingly worried. I don't even know what has happened after the 1/2 hour is up.......
I really like the honesty in the humour, and then seriously, how the very real suggestion is made, intelligently, that Spiritual - capital S - searching is important, but it is not made in such a way that someone who does not know this, would be turned off.
William P Young - Author of The Shack would be a great interview, but I can not imagine how you would handle this............
Go easy on him. "
(name withheld by editor)
And I thought that was worth posting here 'cause it shows that what we're trying to do we're kinda' doing once in a while, despite our silliness, weakness, human frailty and penchant for racy slacks.
Thanks for watching.
TD
