You know, I don't mind Charlie so much as the material. IMHO, you got to do better on the narration scripts. I see you're hammering the message home in the narration bits but it needs to be funny. And it needs to have a consistent viewpoint with some integrity. The tsk, tsk stance just doesn't quite do it for me. I think it needs more ridicule and less scorn. But mostly more humor.
I appreciate your comment and I'm curious as to why you think the scripts should be funnier or it needs more humor? The thinking was that we didnt want the message to get lost in a laughfest. Especially when so many clips can be considered humorous on some level (even if they're sad and awful). We were trying to strike a balance between that and a message. I was trying to recreate the feeling you get with the website, where you may laugh but its really not funny. Which is really a challenge as a writer. But your point is well taken. There is always room for improvement but it was a conscious choice not to go with a solely comedic feel between segments.
I do appreciate the challenge of striking the right balance. When I say more humor, I mean mixing in good-natured humor that does not look down upon or heap scorn on the messes being portrayed (no matter how richly they may deserve it). It's like jonin' on somebody. It needs to be funny and ridiculing, but not so mean that folks want to fight. Done well, the message will be reinforced with good jokes. The risk of the "serious message" approach is that it can come off as preaching down to the po' ignant fools (how many different ways can you say, "We got to do better"). Humor can do it more obliquely and more effectively, IMHO. Gotta do it with love though. Try to channel the late, great Robin Harris. Even Farrakhan's got jokes sometimes.
BTW, just because something is tragic doesn't mean it can't be funny too, i.e. tragicomic. Black folks know something about that. The ultimate blues line according to BB King:
"Nobody loves me but my momma, and maybe she's jivin' too."
Thanks for listening and good luck with the show.