By Steve Rhodes
Recent observations from more TV viewing than should be allowed even in a democracy.
1. ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption has a segment at the end of every show where a young staffer corrects all the factual errors the host have made during the previous 30 minutes. I’ve always thought newscasts should do this too. Jay Black at TV Squad would extend the idea even further.
2. ESPN and its showcase SportsCenter have attracted some grumpy critics in recent years, but it’s still one of the smartest networks and shows on TV; if only my evening newscast could be as well-produced as SportsCenter.
3. I don’t think anyone has had as strong a run of commercials than GEICO and Comcast. See also: Caveman’s Crib and The Slowskys.
4. A lot of heel work.
5. Mom, those minutes are from September!
6. One of the great things about Me TV is that they show vintage commercials. While watching Star Trek last night I saw this beauty for Atari Home Computers, starring Alan Alda.
7. I haven’t seen Denise Richards’ It’s Complicated, but a trusted friend says it’s actually not bad. Living Lohan, on the other hand, is a total tease because all you really want to know is anything related to the one family member who’s not on it – Lindsay. And not even that . . . although there is a voyeuristic quality to watching Dina Lohan ruin another kid’s life.
8. Intervention is back and its consistently the most powerful 60 minutes on television.
9. I suppose this is about right, but while Bob Brenly is greatly improved, Len Kasper seems increasingly hokey. Lose the punny stuff.
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A letter writer to the Trib suggested Pat Hughes and Bob Brenly as the dream team, but I think it’s Brenly and Steve Stone; I don’t care if neither of them is technically a play-by-play man. Who cares? Can you imagine? What a booth! Best. Baseball. Broadcasts. Ever.
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Hawk Harrelson and Ron Santo are unlistenable.
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10. Maybe Meet the Press oughta dump the star moderator format and go back to what I think was the original: a panel of, you know, members of the press grilling the pols. It works for American Idol.
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Posted on June 24, 2008