Joe Bruno knows what it takes to be a successfully published writer. He's penned novels and has been a sports writer for The New York Tribune to Ring Magazine and even Penthouse. Trust me, no pictures of him are thankfully in the latter. He was the Vice President of the Boxing Writers Association from 1982-1986. Did I mention he knows about the Mob?
Having been raised in the 6th Ward of the Lower East Side of NYC, he's known his share of Wiseguys. He has a unique point of view on everything from sports as he's a Met AND Yankee fan to Organized Crime and life itself. He graciously offered The Spector Sector an article he penned about a group of women determined to battle their way through the difficulties of life, one fistfight at a time...yes I'm talking about Mob Wives.
It happened last Monday, and now it’s happened again on Monday April 2, 2012. And all it proves is that the American public loves to watch a train wreck. My blog Joe Bruno on the Mob got 20,000 hits before noon today; the great majority of those hits were on articles I’ve written concerning the TV show Mob Wives. ( I’ve written over 330 articles for my blog; only 16 on Mob Wives) Go figure .
I forced myself to watch Mob Wives last night (Sunday night, April, 1) and it certainly was an April Fool’s joke turned bad. Last week (March 25) the show finally disclosed that Hector “Junior” Pagan was in police custody. But even though, before Thanksgiving last year, it was revealed in the newspapers and on the Internet that Pagan was a rat for the FBI, viewers, not aware of the fact, were conned into thinking this was happening real time. Or close to real time.
On last night’s show, Renee Graziano was featured for most of the show doing her “I’m going crazy” routine. And doing a damn good job of it.
Crying. Banging her hands over her face and head. Hugging other crying mob wives like Karen Gravano, who has some experience with the rodent kingdom herself. It was enough to make my eyebrows hurt. And my four dogs were howling at the TV screen. It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the show that viewers were given a hint that Pagan was now a stool pigeon. But this revelation did not come through Renee, but from other mob wives reading the local newspapers. At the show’s end, Renee was still supposedly in the dark as to why her ex-husband “self-Incarcerated” himself, (Pagan was actually pulled off the streets by the FBI because he had served his purpose by wearing a wire while talking to several alleged mob figures, including Renee Graziano’s father Anthony “TG” Graziano, who was arrested the same day Pagan went bye bye).
Then the viewers got the all–telling promo for next week’s show. Next week, Renee will go from despair, to plain anger, as well she should, when she finds out the truth about Pagan; a man so low, he can lick the curb standing up. The producers of Mob Wives , which includes Renee’s sister Jennifer Graziano, are milking this Graziano family tragedy for all its worth (like making chicken salad out of chicken spit). Instead of telling the viewers in one minute what happened five months ago, it’s taking them three shows (maybe more) to let the viewers know:
1. Pagan went into the wind.
2. Renee is overwrought that her ex-husband is going back to jail, as well as her father.
3. Pagan is FBI informant who was instrumental in putting TG Graziano back into the can.
Welcome to the wacky world of Reality TV. It’s all about ratings, not about the truth. Surprise, surprise. I now await with bated breath the April 9, Mob Wives extravaganza. But before I watch, I’m going to get myself good and drunk so that I can endure almost 60 minutes of bad, over-the-top acting, that is no longer part of a Reality Show, but in actuality a rotten piece of half-truths manipulated by the producers to bring more viewers to the table.
I know. Watching and reporting on Mob Wives is dirty work, but someone’s got to do it. Tequila anyone?
Joe Bruno
Author of "Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks, and Other Creeps - NY City" Volumes 1, 2, and 3
No comments:
Post a Comment