Crossword Down, Hoes Up
A couple of years ago I was eating in the diner that is now Twenty when a slightly uneasy feeling came over me. I leaned over to my girlfriend and asked her “Is it me or is there an inordinate number of nerds in this diner?” She was quick to scold, but I knew I was right. When we took to the street again I noticed an disproportionate distribution of nerds about town. Determined to find answers I discovered a flyer directing me to their hive, The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament at the Stamford Marriot. I was vaguely familiar from the documentary about the tournament called Wordplay, and curious enough to walk over and wander the floor. That night I rented Wordplay and returned the next day to watch the finals, now fully up to speed on the players and ready to root on poor Al Sanders who has never taken home the gold. The was the last year the tournament was held in Stamford, moving to a larger venue in Brooklyn after the movie increased interest beyond capacity. The event has been nicknamed by the participants since as “Stamford at Brooklyn”.
I was reminded of the event weeks ago in Grand Central when the girl inquired why there was a vampire walking the platform. Before I could even answer another dude behind exclaimed “Hey, it’s Mr. Sinister!” Right away I knew this fat Mexican guy turned X-Men foe was on his way to the Comic Con. I had attended a few days previous for work and debated the merits of the Javits Center hot dogs vs. cheese steaks with several homemade Watchmen. Whether it’s a young lady in crossword pajamas and a crown or a middle aged guy in a leather corset and white face paint, convention space brings some enjoyable color to town, not to mention a giant injection of money into the local economy. Stamford is apparently approved to build a 100,000 convention center by the state but has never moved forward. If only we had a centralized location downtown, unused and partially excavated ready to take such a project…
In the meantime we’ll have to settle for trannies, hillbillies, baby mama drama as Jerry Springer, Maury, and some other hack I’ve never heard of are poised to move their filming to the Rich Forum. My first reaction - “Jerry Springer is still on?” Where do we stand on this, excited to be part of the studio audience or embarrassed that we’re trying to pack as much lowest common denominator TV into city limits as possible?
6 comments :
I've always enjoyed your blogs because you seem to understand the importance of economic growth for this city.
IF (and it's still if) these shows come to Stamford they will not only mean jobs for those of us in the tv business (and there are quite a few in this town) but spending by staff and audience at hotels, restaurants, etc. Moreover, the lease will produce revenues for the bankrupt SCA, and help keep the Palace and arts in Stamford alvie at a time when corporate donations and state funds have dried up.
BlogStamford, this production is a coup. It's not showbiz. It's biz. I wouldn't stick up my nose at it.
Jobs, yes, good...but Jerry Springer? Really? We can't do better than that? How about we get HGTV to spruce up the hole or heroes from "Heroes" throwing the giant stained glass tee pee at bad guys.
I could think of a number of empty locations that this would have been good for (the convention center). Of course i heard the hole in the ground is going to become something (I can't remember what), but it would have been ideal!
Cast another vote in favor of bringing Jerry Springer here. It would be nice if the city was in good enough of a financial position where it could afford to turn its nose up at what some perceive as a more vulgar form of entertainment - but Stamford's never been a town like that (as least, as far as I know.)
We have the headquarters of the world's largest pro wrestling organization. In fact, when the WWE was still the WWF, they used to film their TV show "Tuesday Night Titans" right here in Stamford.
While OLN has moved to Pennsylvania, they continue to house their central location for their hockey studio in Stamford. There are those who feel hockey to be a barbaric brutish sport.
We have comedians perform in Stamford who don't use the cleanest of language. Yes, it's not broadcast nationwide, but it's a level of entertainment that some would consider too base.
Bring on Jerry - and get Maury here, too. Is Sally Jessie still around? Montel? Reincarnate Morton Downey Jr. and give him a show if it'll help boost the economy.
I still won't watch, but I can be appreciative of the assistance it will bring to the city, and IMHO it's better to bring money into the city through private means like this than depend on public funds.
I am not advocating blocking NBC from moving filming to the Rich Forum. The jobs, upgrades to the building, and revenue that will help keep the SCA afloat are all positives. I do reserve the right though to say I’m not particularly proud that Baby Daddy Bingo is filming down the block. Once the upgrades are done though I suppose it opens the door for anything to film there and maybe set the precedent to move more film production to Stamford.
I am a Stamford resident who firmly believes that Fairfield County needs more freaks. If they all flock to Stamford, that's fine with me. Especially if money and jobs come with them.
Everybody must fly their freak flag now.
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