Along with the tired story, “Gray Matter” features severely underdeveloped characters. Isaac and Dukes are fine considering the material they’re given to work with, but both  characters are nothing more than rough sketches of human beings. Dukes is the protective mom, constantly uptight and worried, while Isaac is the rebellious youth convinced her mother is overreacting.

Cut to present-day television viewing. Press the guide button on your TV remote and you will notice that the most popular genre of shows are now “Reality.” And while almost every person will declare that reality television is not real, a startling number of new shows are constantly being produced because there are viewers to receive them. Even as naysayers publicly castigate Juan Pablo Galavis, the latest bachelor on the hit ABC “reality” series, the franchise just wrapped up its 18^th season, with the next bachelorette already selected to star in the hit spin-off. 

Keeping a more low profile in recent years has fans wondering whatever happened to Estafan, who was such a presence in the 1980s/90s music scene.  We were able to catch up with Estefan recently, along with Karin Caro, Donna Drake and The Village Connection Magazine,  for an interview while the reality show  The Next  was being produced on Long Island at The Paramount Theatre in Huntington, New York. Reality TV seems to be a last bastion of great artists who land on television to either mentor others on the road to fame or keep the irresistible spotlight of fame shining  as long as possible. 

From New America Media: Has a Bill Cosby show equivalent finally arrived for Muslim-Americans with the TLC network’s reality series, “All-American Muslim”? The series, which premiered on November 13th,  could be that first step of offering an alternative image to common stereotypes for American Muslims.  It centers around five Muslim-American families who all have roots in southern Lebanon, living in the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Dearborn.