Got home this morning and made my usual Internet rounds. On the AV Club site I saw an advertisement for a new show on TruTV (a network I'm not familiar with) called Impractical Jokers (or something along those lines). Though I haven't seen any promo clips or read anything about the show, I can tell from the advertisement depicting four douchey-looking thirty-somethings standing in front of what can only be described as a virtual screen with hands making bunny ears behind their heads that this is going to be another one of those unfunny shows about guys being dicks.

I really don't get this trend. It's Always Sunny, that show on Comedy Central about those four guys who work office jobs and the one guy looks like the lovechild of a Porn Star and Carrot Top and a host of other really terrible and uninspired shows. I get the guys-acting-like-dicks thing. In the right circumstances (I can't think of any off the top of my head) it can be funny. But I've seen this formula so many times before: not just the guy-acting-like-dicks thing but four thirty-something guys acting like dicks. I get it. But it's not funny. It's like bro humor. I think you're supposed to watch these shows and be like: "What?? I can't believe he just did that! What a dick! You could never get away with that in real life. Man, I wish I could act like these dudes. That'd be so cool." But I don't get that feeling. Most of the stuff they do on these shows doesn't even strike me as shocking. I mean, it's very possible that I'm jaded and desensitized to just about everything. But the way the jokes are set up--you can see them coming a mile away. And they're not even funny then. It's kind of how I feel about Kesha (that's right--no money sign, Kesha. That's how little respect I have for you!). She says things and does things that are supposed to be shocking but you can tell she says and does those things because she's trying to be shocking, which never works. It's so transparent to me. But I wonder how other don't see it. Or maybe they do and they don't care. Whatever. I'm sure it says something insanely profound about our culture but I'm not sure what. Other than we're just really dumb. The most emblematic example I can give is this Katy Perry video that I saw (I'm not sure how--that shit has a way of infiltrating even the most closed-off of pop culture haters). The song itself is supposed to be inspiring or something. It's called Firework (I think. At least that's what I recall her saying a lot of times in the chorus). At the end of the video she is standing on a balcony, looking forlornly into the night sky. Suddenly, as the final chorus erupts, fireworks begin shooting out of her boobs. And this, I think (I could be wrong), is supposed to be a really powerful image within the context of the video. But in any context...it's just stupid. The brilliant minds behind Katy Perry and her image (her manufactured shock-value) and the director, I'm sure, all sat down and brainstormed: "OK. We need a concept for this video that is equal parts sexy, shocking and also pulls at the heartstrings." "I know!" exclaimed one incredibly in-touch with the rampant anti-intellectual half-assed tumblr mindset producer. "She'll shoot fireworks out of her boobs. Ha. Get it? The song's called Firework and she's--get this--shooting fireworks out of her boobs." And, you know what, enough people thought it was a good idea that the video got made. And, still, enough people continue to think it's such a good idea that they watch the video and buy Katy Perry paraphernalia. I don't know. That's how I feel about this crop of new guys-acting-like-dicks shows. They think they're being shocking and totally cool. But they can't see that they're really just shooting fireworks from their mammaries in a misguided attempt to be profound.