BABYL OPTIONS: -*- rmail -*- Version: 5 Labels: Note: This is the header of an rmail file. Note: If you are seeing it in rmail, Note: it means the file has no messages in it.  0, unseen,, *** EOOH *** Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Path: news.kth.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!news.cais.net!hunter.premier.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!usenet.logical.net!news.telenet.net!nimbus From: nimbus@TeleNet.Net (Eric VanDycke) Subject: TV in the World of Darkness Sender: news@telenet.net Message-ID: Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 17:49:31 GMT X-Nntp-Posting-Host: shell.telenet.net X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Lines: 149 -------------------------------------------------------------- Popular Television Shows In The World Of Darkness; -------------------------------------------------------------- The World of Darkness, although it parallels our own world, there are subtle differences that help make the place weird sometimes, completely alien the next. Television and television shows should be no exception. So here are a few television shows that flow over the airwaves in the World of Darkness; --------------------------------------------------------------- Sci-Fi/Space Drama --------------------------------------------------------------- SpaceTreck; The Next Regeneration (tm) SpaceTreck; Deep SPace X (tm) SpaceTreck; Voyages (tm) Outward Appearance; This trio of television shows is on the surface a nice little "sci-fi" show that depicts the exploits of a group of do-gooders in space. They travel from planet to planet, exploring, finding new things, and for the most part exterminating aliens (if they don't look human that is). The "lucky" aliens that are close to human form or "intelligence" are accepted into the "United Brotherhood of Planets", but they still do not share the status or acceptance that their human "brothers" do. The show is loaded with "Technical Jargon" and flashy special effects. The "Reality"; This show is one way that the $yndicate is making a public image for Void Engineers, hell you can even buy a rudimentary bi- corder (tm) now that will tell a person a few vital signs. By making the technical jargon mainstream, and showing that "Space Travel can be possible by the methods that they use in the show". Slowly the procedures that are used by the Void Engineers become more and more coincidental. As a side effect, the show helps spark interest in the Convention, producing a larger pool of people that have a basis in the reality that the Void Engineers work for. At the current time there are large groups of "Spacies" that have large conventions. dress up as their favorite Space Treck character (Like the lovable wacky android Lt. Datum, or the dashing second in command Will Richter!), and buy overpriced merchandise. Again some VE's pick recruits from these semi- enlightened masses. As a side note, Pentex has noticed the popularity of the show in the 10-18 year old demographic, and has started to produce cheap knock off toys that are infested with banes and the sort of usual evil dreck. They also have plans of producing their own sorts of shows on their television network (PNB) aka Penumbral National Broadcasts network. Look for such fine shows as; Captain Hansom vs the evil forces of W.O.L.F. The Chemical Avenger Attack of the Killer Vegetables etc....... ---------------------------------------------------------------- Police Drama/Real Life Tales; ---------------------------------------------------------------- P.O.L.I.C.E. The Government's Most Wanted Real Tales of the Highway Patrol Savior 911 Outward Appearance; These "Live-Action" cop shows are filled with "real-life" police action. Every week they show the trials and tribulations of the Peace Officers of our country. Whether it be the dashing highway patrol or just a couple of rank and file beat cops that bring justice and order to the cold dark streets. Through these shows the masses get a good look at the criminals that populate our world, and the good and brave men that bring them to justice. The "Reality"; A picture is flashed across the screen, "this man is wanted by the united states government for over 15 counts of armed robbery, rape, and murder. If you have any information, concerning this individual's where-abouts, there is a reward of $100,000 for information that leads to his arrest. Be warned that this man is armed and dangerous." well, the picture was that of a mage, a mage that the NWO wanted for questioning. What happens? Well it is a great cover for an entropy coincidental effect don't you think? Someone in all of those millions of viewer will know something.....and when they call, they will find them and bring them in. There is a second, more dangerous effect at hand here. Some of these shows have subliminal messages imbedded in them, messages like; "if you know anyone 'weird' or 'showing supernatural powers' you will turn them in to us, call the number at the bottom of the screen, tell the person on the other end everything that you know, then hang up and forget that you did this." or other similar messages. Being the evil and devious person that I am, you can weave this into a correspondence/mind effect, sort of mass mind control, hell you can have the NWO build this massive broadcasting device (that coincidentally looks just like a big satellite dish) that is a Techno-talisman that produces the above effect. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Game Shows; ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Price is Right (I am frightened by this show as it is) Family Rumble Universal Gladiators ($yndicate in with the Progenetors) Wheel of Wealth (Had to take any occult significance out of this) Trivial Masters Outward Appearances; Nice people winning ever nicer stuff; Right? Well that is what you see every day, people winning prizes because they know the price of dish soap is less than $5.95, because they know what the "man on the street" would say when polled over a stupid question, because they have "superior" bodies, because they can guess some stupid letter puzzle, or because they know some little fact. The "Reality"; Remind you of something? "Sit.....roll over.....beg.....good dog, here is a doggie bone." That is right, we are being trained through our televisions to uphold the power of wealth and material goods, everyday the masses bow down before the temple of materialism and pray to their god....the all mighty buck. Yes this is the work of the $yndicate (Big surprise there!) just another way that they are re-shaping the paradigm of the world to fit their end-goal. Again Pentex is creeping a tentacle hold in here, as they also promote these types of shows because they promote greed and envy, two emotions that the wyrm is very fond of. --------------------------------------------------------------- Well that is all that I can think of right now, there may be a part two to this, or even a part three + if everybody likes this. Let me know, again all criticism/comments more than welcome. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- |}r. |\|imbus: Master of the Ether Nimbus@telenet.net "Don't Mess With Me Man, I'm Crazy" - Nacho the Cat -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  0, unseen,, *** EOOH *** Path: news.kth.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!nntp-oslo.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!online.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.coast.net!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!hesperia.demon.co.uk!spiral From: spiral@hesperia.demon.co.uk (Steve Collington) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: TV in the WoD part the next... Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 00:13:42 +0100 Lines: 54 Distribution: world Message-ID: <19960722.001342.63@hesperia.demon.co.uk> Reply-To: spiral@hesperia.demon.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: hesperia.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: hesperia.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Archimedes TTFN Version 0.36 Real-life cop dramas (continued). Police Stop! Terror in the Streets These real-life police shows demonstrate the 'incredible stupidity' and 'real-time footage' of various traffic offenses and vandalism and urban riot situations, showing advanced 'traffic camera' and 'helicopter surveillance' of criminals being apprehended by the police. As the increasing expense in NWO surveillance systems to keep track of the Awakened enemy started to add weight to certain Sleeper beliefs (assisted by the Virtual Adepts) that a dystopia similar to that of Orwell's 1984 was coming into effect, the Technocracy's agenda faced a new challenge. The Sleepers were beginning to question regulations and social manipulation through new fashions was becoming less and less effective. A Syndicate marketer hit upon the cunning idea that 'real-life' drama would hold the interest of the Masses more than the latest contrived cyber-fantasy used to justify the automaton excesses of Iteration X and some of the more vulgar actions of the Progenitors. Footage from the surveillance tapes (Q-film and Kirlian celluloid) were renamed light-intensified or IR film) Not only did the Masses identify with the real-life dramas, adopting more trusting attitudes to authority figures in uniform, this also stifled the imagination. After all police dramas are easy to believe. Shows involving 'the supernatural' and creative thought were 'weird' or 'too complicated'. The Syndicate gained an increase in market share and the NWO gained possible coincidental Correspondence Sensing against 'criminal' reality deviants. Riot footage and violence is the screening of Homo Superior/Victor assaults on Tradition acolytes or weak mages. After all, the easiest place to hide these atrocities is in plain view... The Z-Conspiracy This show details the quest for truth from two 'Government agents' againsta morass of supernatural and extraterrestrial beings, supported by cabals or individuals who shelter, sympathise or try to manipulate these beings. Popular due to the good looks of the stars, the gritty 'real' feel that comes from a well-produced low-budget series and the use of Dimensional Science tech as well as retouched footage from Technomancer Shock Corps and Border Defence Corps mission tapes (cool special effects!), the agents move along a labyrinthine series of events against shadowy enemies. The agents are portrayed in a sympathetic light and the show is full of justifiable explanations for strange events, an almost 'how-to' for any Technomancer coincidental magick. They profile the abduction of people by extraterrestrials as a frightening process, using the initially sympathetic curiosity of one of the agents to make the inevitable hostility of said supernatural that more chilling. A vaguely subversive element has appeared in recent scripts, it is suspected that a Virtual Adept is hacking the scriptwriters. -- Until we speak again, think happy thoughts...;-) Spiral ***************************************************************** * "Goddamn creatures of the night. They never learn..." * * Mr Gideon, The Crow. * * * *****************************************************************  0, unseen,, *** EOOH *** Path: news.kth.se!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!news-res.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!hunter.premier.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!portc01.blue.aol.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!newsbf02.news.aol.com!not-for-mail From: terryob@aol.com (TerryOB) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: Re: TV in the WoD part the next... Date: 23 Jul 1996 22:07:47 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Lines: 88 Sender: root@newsbf02.news.aol.com Message-ID: <4t40hk$8cv@newsbf02.news.aol.com> References: <19960722.001342.63@hesperia.demon.co.uk> Reply-To: terryob@aol.com (TerryOB) NNTP-Posting-Host: newsbf02.mail.aol.com "Bleak Shadows" Outward Appearance: A long-running supernatural afternoon soap opera, detailing the travails of Barabas Collinsworth, a vampire who returns from his 200-year imprisonment to seek an end to his vampiric existance with his descendants in decadent Collinsworth, Mass. Over the years of its run, he would be joined by his distant cousin Matthew, a (stereotypical movie) werewolf, who is also seeking a cure, several ghosts and hauntings, the occasional black mage, and Barabas' tormentor and Sire, Jacqueline. The "Reality": Enough to make a vampire vomit or a Garou gag, this program was noted for its over the top scripts and acting, its stereotypical representation of the occult, and its low-budget, cheesy production values. Many times the actors would be seen crashing into a phony tree, which would collapse, or a microphone or stagehand would be seen on camera. The scene where Barabas' phony fangs fly out of his mouth during a long rant is highly prized by its fans. Still, it is fondly remembered by a legion of devoted fans. It also has subtle undertone that the supernatural is really -BAD- and should be avoided at all costs. "The Bionic Man" Outward Appearance: Fighter pilot Colonel Steve Houston, severely wounded in combat, has his right arm, eye, and both legs enhanced with cybernetic replacements. Now he performs crucial undercover work for the Scientific Investigations Office in the name of freedom, combating alien invaders, mad scientists, robots, Bigfoot, and other strange enemies of the United States and freedom. When his childhood sweetheart was critically injured in a car crash, the SIO gave her bionic limbs and hearing, and she works alongside him on occasion, until she died heroically saving the world from a nuclear threat. The "Reality": The Progenitors want in on the media, too, being envious of the Void Engineers. This is also subtly indoctrinating the masses to accept bionics and other super-scientific wonders in the present age. Of course, it might do better if the actor who plays Houston could actually -act-: he sometimes seems more robotic than his opponents. It was because his co-star -could- act, and well, that she was written out after working two years on the series. "Dodge City" "Wagon Trails" "Oklahoma Territory" Outward Appearance: The Western, an old Hollywood tradition. "Where daring men and women pushed back the frontier of the Old West." Stories of the legendary lawmen, daring outlaws, and just plain folks on the American frontier. To a generation who grew up on Saturday morning western serials, these shows are a welcome reminder of the true spirit of America. The "Reality": The re-inforcement of the negative values of the old West: the power of the gun, the subjugation of Native Americans (witness the stereotypical depictions: the Noble Savage, the Hot-headed Young Brave, the Fallen Injin) and the destruction of their way of living, the exploitation of the Western lands (not to mention the destruction of Garou cairns and corruption of nodes). "Exposed!" Outward Appearance: A muck-racking program, led by well-known media celebrity Hidalgo Riviera, which focuses on frauds, con games, phony psychics and healers, fake gurus, and coverups. Wherever the public is being deceived, "Exposed!" is there to uncover the truth! The "Reality": Funny how this program never exposes any of the Syndicate's rackets, but always finds something dirty in a Celestial Chorus storefront soup kitchen. And Heaven help any Mage they find using his powers publicly: there are enough counter-mages on their staff that they can convince any audiene that the subject's powers or claims are frauds. The fact is, this is a nothing more than an attack on anything threatening to the Technocracy, with a few manufactured expose's thrown in to bolster its image. They also sponsor an 800 number for people to report frauds and fakes, and take special effort to investigate anyone who appears to manifest magickal or psychic powers.\ Terry O'Brien: Member SFFWA Refer all E-mail to TERRY.OBRIEN@genie.com "The Gostak Distims the Doshes."  0, unseen,, *** EOOH *** Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Path: news.kth.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!sunic!02-newsfeed.univie.ac.at!01-newsfeed.univie.ac.at!Austria.EU.net!EU.net!news-res.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!hunter.premier.net!news.cais.net!mr.net!news.sgi.com!news.msfc.nasa.gov!newsfeed.internetmci.com!usenet.logical.net!news.telenet.net!nimbus From: nimbus@TeleNet.Net (Eric VanDycke) Subject: TV in the WOD Part 2 Sender: news@telenet.net Message-ID: Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 16:38:58 GMT X-Nntp-Posting-Host: shell.telenet.net X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Lines: 166 --------------------------------------------------------- Popular Television Shows in the World of Darkness Part 2 --------------------------------------------------------- Hello again, here are some more Shows that I have thought up, have fun with them (I have tried to add in some more story hooks, etc in them) --------------------------------------------------------- Talk Shows --------------------------------------------------------- The Jeremy Jones Show Hopera Winnifred (Just Hopera) Carrnie Windsong Late Night with Doug Alphabet (The list is endless........just pick one) Outward Appearences; A housewife turns her T.V. on in the afternoon, waiting for her laundry to finish, she sits down and begins to watch the Jeremy Jones Show. For the next hour, she is confronted with what she would call 'freaks'. Today's show is about a group of teen- agers that are dressed up in black ripped clothes. All of them wear nose-rings and such, the one girl wears a rock-and-roll tee- shirt that is ripped and patched with black electrical tape. They call themselves "goths"......'disgusting' she thinks as she gawks at the kids. 'kids today, they are like monsters, not like when we were growing up' she mutters. Jeremy, a clean-cut young man, berates them when they begin to discuss what they do on a given night, free sex, drugs, and smatterings of witch-craft fills the roster. One of the group, which calls itself 'the hollow ones' leaves, stomping off the stage....'can't take the heat, ya young punk?' she thinks. Ooops, her laundry is done, time to get back to work. The "Reality"; Public Opinion shapes the paradigm. Talk shows help shape (or establish) the public opinion. Or so is the belief of the $yndicate. Want to harm someone's paradigm, tie it in with some weirdo's and parade them in front of an audience of millions. Again the Wyrm raises it's ugly head here, using talk shows to berate victims of crimes (as in the 7th Generation in Rage Across New York...for WereWolf) and to spawn it's own kind of PR. Have the Player's chantry or hangout pictured as a haunted house, have a player that like to use fire effects in a vulgar manner, have one of the local talk-shows do a show on people touched by the "whatever arsonist's" crime spree. Make it hit home. If the (Insert Technocracy Convention Name Here) wants them bad enough, or has enough info on them (Read NWO/$yndicate) they can have the people that are speaking out give a decent discriprion of the mage. The use of this type of thing can be almost limitless, have fun with it, but don't over-use it, save it for you want to annoy the PC's, or you have some down time between stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Action/Adventure ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Jones' (Based on the Smiths, a new spy show) Beach Watch Temporal Leap Ocean Quest DSX (Deep Sea X-ploration) 10 Billion Dollar Man 2.0 Outward Appearences; The above three shows have lots of good looking people doing daring things. They are filled with lots of good action, explosions, secret spy action, perfect looking human bodies, good ole' high-teck science, and all that jazz. These shows get people excited and interested in all that sort of stuff. Most of the plot lines fall around the usual basis progression, usually the tried and true. The "Reality"; Well the NWO is sponcering The Jones' The Progeneitors have Beach Watch Iteration X has The 10 Billion Dollar Man 2.0 and the Void Engineers have Temporal Leap and Ocean Quest. Yes you guessed it, more propaganda for the Conventions. Again they use this, as they do most television to shape the paradigm of the masses, allowing themselves to operate their "proceedures" with ease. With the advent of the spy show, the view of the spy has become more and more romantic, we identify with the spy more than the people that they are spying one (even if that be your own country, corporation, etc) Also the little "spy gagets" that are used, filter though the paradigm and allow things like "oil slick cars" and "Tack dispensors" a concidental thing. Pen guns (That is shooting someone with a regular bick pen, and using that as a focus) have found there way into popular culture, etc, This all makes the NWO's job much easier. The Progenitors sponser (through the $yndicate) the shows that show the sculptured and physicaly "superior" humans on them (and they also supply most of the actors for these shows) making it easier for them to make larger, stronger, fitter, clones that will not attract as much paradox. Slowly they make room for the perfect humans in the paradigm. Shows like Temporal Leap, and the Space Treck shows (mentioned in part one) help bring the Void Engineers paradigm into line with the rest of reality. Being the hardest (besides Iteration X) to assimilate (Although the Cy-Borg on the Space Treck shows, allies of the Brotherhood of Planets are, also helping in this) into the current reality, they need all the help that thay can get. Ocean Quest helps out the Engineers that explore the oceans, helping them show their paradigm. All and all these shows are bringing about a fast change for the Techno's. As the popularity of these shows, and ones like them grow, they will find it easier and easier to do "weirder" effects as coincidence. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Children's Shows/Cartoons ---------------------------------------------------------------- Barnaby Mr. Mysto and the Mystic Circus Captain Wallaby Secret Agent X and the Cyborg Cops etc....... Outward Appearences; Happy happy children's television shows. Big pink dinosaurs that spread happiness and cheer, A little puppet man that does the neatest tricks, a jolly old man that teaches kids how to be "nice" and "pleasent", and a smart secret agent that battle against the secret society of W.O.L.F. These are the types of programs that fill the air-waves of saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. The "Reality"; There are two main factions here, both battling for control of this powerfull section of the masses. On one front the technocracy ($yndicate) wants control over the very lucrative toy markets, as well as the commercial aspects of the Children's shows. The NWO is finding that they are a great way to "re- program" the next generation of the masses. On the second front is the Wyrm/Pentex/7th Generation/Etc. Pentex has control of many of the worlds Children's television conglomerates. They use the shows as ways of spawning violence, apathy, and hatred in the younger memembers of society. The subsidiary toy sales are both a good way to generate funds, as well as spread banes throughout the children. (Read Book of the Wyrm for bane infested toys!) Game connections can be many, perhaps the players find out what the techno's or Pentex are doing and set out to stop them one way or another. Or a child that one of the players has a connection to, gets into the "grasp" of the wyrm through one of these shows and or toys. -Well that is it for now, -Thanks goes out to all of you that sent me positive respoce on the first one, I appreciate it. P.S. if there is any interest, I have a long (60,000+ bytes long) chantry write-up that I am using as the basis of my on-going chronicle in NYC (yes I am a part of that cross-game chronicle) If any one is interested I can post it to the list. -Eric -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- |}r. |\|imbus: Master of the Ether Nimbus@telenet.net "Don't Mess With Me Man, I'm Crazy" - Nacho the Cat -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  0, unseen,, *** EOOH *** Path: news.kth.se!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!torn!news.unb.ca!UNBSJ.CA!w5mx From: w5mx@UNBSJ.CA (CHILTON RICHARD G) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: Re: TV in the WOD Part 2 Date: Sat, 27 Jul 1996 21:57:57 Organization: UNB Saint John Campus Lines: 171 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 138.119.5.171 A great post, but you don't really have to discribe every show for your players. I try to make do with the "mood" of the shows, how they are different then ours. In my version of the WoD no one fraction conpletely dominates any one network and few entire TV shows. To work so openly invites another faction to oppose you. So on your typical show most of the people would be mundane, a scriptwritter or two working for one faction, a producer for another, maybe the director for still a third. Sometimes they unknowly work together. (eg both the Technocracy and the Camarilla want to keep the masses from believing in the Supernatual so might cooperate on such a show.) This keeps the players from being hit over the head by the message but gives a more insidious creep to the various messages. But supernaturals don't completely dominate the shows. Public reaction and a need for profit are responsable for most of the programming as the networks catter to the lowest common demonator. (Lower in the WoD then here. Scary isn't it?) Here a look at how I handle it. Feel free to use any of it (remembering to credit it to "some guy who posted it on the net" :)) or to ignore the entire post. Soap Operas Worst then those in the real world. Domestic violence weeves its way through may of the shows and it's not always condemed (a minor victory for the Wyrm). Characters will vanish and the other characters will say little about it (many of the factions like it when people are prepared to except sudden disappearences). Plots tend to be darker, focusing on sexual and racial steriotypes to keep people afraid of different seeming people. Kids Shows. Take a look at those old "Little Rascals" shows with a PC view point. Leave in the slap stick and racism and you have a typical WoD kids show. Theses shows, either focused around kids or directed to a children's audience, tend to fall into one of two catogories. A) Adults in charge: The kids spend the episode trying to out smart the adults or unraval adult plots only to be told at the end that they've failed or didn't understand what was going on. Parents (and other adults) are always right and children shouldn't poke their noises where they don't belong. Often hints (or more than hints) of justified corporal punishment are sprinkled throughout the show (specially at the "You're wrong!" endings). The Technocracy likes enforcing the big brother is always right message, the Wyrm enjoys encouraging abuse, while the Kindred love how curiousity is met with failure or a reasonable explaination. B) KIDS RULE!!!! The kids are always right as they take charge and torment or thrort the stupid, mean adults. Take "Home Alone" and mix it the old Twisted Sister video "We're not gona take it" and you'll have a good idea about these shows. They show kids taking charge and risks. They teach how you shouldn't listen to you parents (encourage the brakedown of the family), that you should ignore your teachers (and drop out of school), and to be disrespectful of all authority (encouraging youth violence). The Technocracy uses them to make youth seem an enemy, the Wyrm enjoys the chaos, and the Kindred maintain a nice supply of uneducated, unemployed teenages. The Kindred also love the message that YOU the child should invesigate any weird goings on by yourself rather than telling an adult. It' s much easier to handle a vampire hunting child (who probably doesn't have the upper body strength to stake you quickly) then its parents. Game Shows. More humilating then in RL. Ever see the SCTV sketch "Poor People doing WHACKY things for MONEY?" Think along those lines. "The Price is Right" never got on the air because "True or Consenquences" is still going strong. Chance is emphanized so people will belive money comes from being lucky. Comendy. The lowest common denominator drives this field. Many shows go for shock value, pushing as far as they can to insult for a laugh [See note on V- Chip]. Minorities, the poor, the stupid rich, all serve as the butt of jokes. Most of these shows are seen by the various supernaturals as bread and circuses but, as with soap operas, other ideas creep in. Take the most offensive comedy shows you've seen and make them worst to get the base line for the WoD. Take the implied family violence from old shows like the Honey Mooner ("I'll fly you to the moon.") and update it for a new generation. Make it so it's fun to laugh at anyone different. Enforce the steriotypes. Milk humilation for laughs. Include jokes about kids "getting it" complete with pillows to sit on. Mix the views of the Technocracy, the Kindred, and the Wyrm. Throw in some views from the other factions, and you've got a typical WoD comedy line up. [In my world the current top comedy show is a remake of "The Honey Mooners" ( which started about the same time "Bless this House" did in RL) with the wife dominating it. The Black Fluries, so sure they've won a victory, haven' t noticed the other elements (dosmestic violence, possible backlass, enforced steriotypes, etc).] Cop Shows. These come in a wide range. a) Black and white versions of good and bad. The cops are right, the crooks bad. Give throw in car chases, bloody shooting, and fight scenes. Re- enforces the idea that it's bad to leave your own part of town. Helps people to accept the high crime rate. Encourages people to report everything to their friendly police. b) Good cops in a corrupt system. Sometimes the focus is even on the bad cops. The Technocracy doesn't really like this view but other factions do. While some of the nicer factions support this to warn people not to trust the system the Kindred and the Wyrm enjoys how it re-enforces the idea that currupt cops are no big deal. Everyone takes a little hush money (or nose candy, or a free ride from a working girl, or (insert bribe)) now and then. c) Renagaides taking the law into their own hands. Think Death Wish, the series. Helps to increase urban violence as fed up people take the law into their own hands. Vigelantti group, like s modren day KKK, enforcing their view of right and wrong as the justice system stands helpless. News. The real battle ground. Kindred will try to quietly kill stories, as will the Technocracy and Pentex. Some Mages and Gurous want other stories to air. And it's live TV. Many of the decision makers are control by one side or the other. Reporters are dominated, charmed, emspelled, blackmailed, and otherwise interferred with. In theory the deepest plant on the set can be the news reader, brainwashed, dominated, or whatever to ignore a certain news story as it is displayed on the reader. As most news readers would be fired the first time they did this only the truly desperate uses the reader to censor the news. The voilence level shown is much higher then we'd allow, but it's a much voilenter world. Anything that titilates is pushed in the climb for ratings. For example if a local strip club is raided the black dots and bars might slip around a bit. V-Chip: The Coming wave. In the WoD the V-chip's arrival will be worst then here. While the networks are publically putting the "power to choose" in the hands of the people they are actually resolving themselves of the responsability of keeping objectional programming from the home. [A real life aside: Anyone else think prime time will be filled by shows that most V-Chip settings will block?] In the WoD the situation is worst as the networks are taking the up coming V-Chip as license to put on shows they think they need to compete with cable. Worst, many of the early V-Chips will be defective (part of a Wyrm plot to expose children to adult TV combinned with the supernatural hacker types (VAs, Glasswalkers, etc) who believe information wants to be free. Of course there will be millions of old TVs without V-Chips still around. Some ideas WoD excutives are considing will hit the top of the V- Chip settings. The Technocracy want to increase the blood and guts levels of some cop shows so to better act as a deterant. Money hungry groups are looking for more (as are the mundaine investors) as the Technocracy want to rebuild and concenstrate the power of the Networks, in keeping with their plans for controlling the masses. The Wyrm's minion's are pushing in this direction as well. Most of the things that will generate ratings are based on negative emotions that will feed it well. Some soaps are thinking about adding simulated (and realistic looking) rapes to their line ups, as well as pumpping the sex to almost pornographic levels. Violence may be increased to level of some cop shows and vulgar language added. Kids shows will now have captive audiences as the V-Chip will block most other shows. The slap stick may get a little harder, the humor crueler, but nothing to trigger a higher rating. Game shows will soon add a bit of nudity (to help compete with the soaps) and more vulgarity will be allowed (eg contests screaming 'I F*** ing won!'). Comedy shows will take the chip settings to the max. Think about the Dice Man getting his own show and doing his brand of humor. The family violence getting a bit more realistic. The steriotyping including vulgar words to discribe each group. Instead of making a joke a bout a kid " getting it" up the violence rating slightly and show it. When the embarrassed guys walks in on the nude lady give the audience a peak. Push comedy far beyond the limit and see how ratings go. Cop shows will have much more violence, a bit (or a lot, depending on demorgraphics) more sex and nudity, more vulgarity. Druggies will be seen shooting up and crimes shown in graphic details. All drving home the message that it's not safe out there so stick with your own type and report anything susicious to the cops NOW before it kills you. News shows will be immune from ratings. If you don't know what the news will be how can you rate it? More blood and guts will be shown. More sex and nudity. And if a story shouldn't be told 'actidently' broadcast the maximum V-Chip settings while it's aired. A little error that should allow the news to be better controlled for at least the first year. Humm... Seemed to have gone on for a bit longer then I intended. Well, if anybody likes these ideas don't hesitite to use them. Let me know if you have any comments, via e-mail even if you don't feel like posting. Richard