It probably comes as no surprise that Luc enjoyed watching Fight Quest on the Discovery Channel with us more than listening to classical music or visiting a very, very cool exhibition ("Brave New Worlds") at the Walker this weekend. Even though he thought the artist's grafitti and a dancer's contortions at the museum were strange and kind of funny, he much preferred building his Leggo Star Wars creations while watching people get their butts kicked in new and exciting ways in exotic countries.
I have to confess that Luc is not the only one who likes the subgenre of reality shows to which shows like Last One Standing and Fight Quest belong. The Discovery Channel has become quite adept at edutainment (Have you seen Dirty Jobs, Surviorvman, or the Everest shows?)and they've done a great job at combining elements of National Geographic specials, Survivor and a Martial Arts Competition with these shows.
We got hooked as a family on Last One Standing last fall for the same reasons that we get a kick out of Fight Quest. It's a show that we can get engaged with as a family. There's enough strangeness (like an Indonesian mystic slashing his tongue with a knife) to keep Luc interested and us talking with him while he's watching. Given that Luc totally digs Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron while Chris and I have been watching The Tudors, Californication and The Wire, it's not easy to find common ground in the front of the TV. But finding a show that allows us to explore martial arts and inspires Luc and Chris to practice their battle moves is a very good thing. As much as we like to adventures outside of the house, we also love to sit back and shake our heads while the shows' participants go through hell for the sake of their art. (Come to think of it, I guess our experience with Fight Quest shares a lot with American Idol.)
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