The commercials are at the bottom of this post. But if you’ll allow me just a moment, I’ll explain what got me thinking about ’em in the first place.
As a lifelong fan of all things hockey, I’m well aware that it’s the black sheep of the United States professional sports “family”, viewership-wise. To illustrate, the NBA’s playoffs ratings are destroying the NHL’s right now; it’s not even close. Even the NFL draft (the freakin’ draft?!?!?) crushed the Boston/Montreal Game 6 Semifinal in the ratings by a 5-to-1 margin.
And this has been the trend, unfortunately. Heck, the first two games of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals (both nationally broadcast on NBC, by the way) got soundly thrashed by RERUNS of the following programs: ‘Dogs In The City’, ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’, ‘Secret Millionaire’, ‘America’s Got Talent’, ‘Grimm’, ‘2 Broke Girls’, …and a rerun of the rerunof ‘America’s Got Talent’.
Yikes.
That’s the difference between getting beat …and getting a beat-down.
And yet, both the league and the sport are positioned for success, perhaps now more than ever before.
Although I periodically watched ‘Star Trek‘ growing up (primarily with my father, as I recall), I was always more of a casual fan. To me, it made a nice change-of-pace from the TV westerns and cop dramas that were so prevalent in the 60’s and early 70’s.
But when I saw the cartoon (below), I couldn’t help but chuckle pretty hard. If you never watched the series, you’ll need to read this as a primer in order to get the joke. For everyone else, though, no explanation is needed.
First, let me give credit to Piers Morgan, of whom I’m usually highly critical. He conducted a solid interview, and let his guests respond without arguing with them, in and of itself an exceedingly rare occurrence.
But the primary takeaway I had after watching the entire interview was how far modern television has fallen from my youth. As a member of the generation which grew up watching Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, et al on TV with my entire family, those shows not only were clever then, they are still clever now.
Glenn Reynolds reports that it was well received. I missed it when it aired last night and in case you did too, here it is. The fact that 95% of us live off the farm and wouldn’t know a horse if it bit us doesn’t, for me, take away the appreciation for a well crafted production.
Just saw my first “War on Christmas” story for 2012, from a group called ‘Arkansas Society of Freethinkers‘ doing the annual secularist freak-out.
But as you read this, remember: the repeated refrain we hear in the media is that there IS no such ‘war’, and that it’s a contrived creation of the “Christian right” and Fox News.
“This isn’t about Charlie Brown or Christmas, it’s about the separation of church and state,” Anne Orsi, the vice president The Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, said in her statement voicing opposition to the actions taken by the Terry Elementary School in Little Rock, Ark.
The school took students to a [stage] performance of “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown,” reinvigorating a debate between the pious and secular.
The school should not have taken the children to see this play, regardless of giving the option to attend. Not because it violates the Constitution or breaks freedom of religion, but because the state should not have any say in the spiritual or religious education of our children…
“The Hope and the Change,” the movie about Democrats and independents who voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and will not do so in 2012, will air on a dozen television stations this fall leading up to the presidential election, Citizens United announced on Monday.
Citizens United produced the film and has struck a deal to begin airing the movie on six broadcast stations and six cable stations beginning Tuesday on HDNet and through November’s presidential election. It will reach 130 million households and air on broadcast stations in Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Colorado. The movie will air on cable channels such as FamilyNet, Rural TV, and HDNet movies.
Sean Hannity said “The Hope and the Change” was the “most powerful documentary” he had “ever seen,” and the movie could only be produced because of the Supreme Court decision that did not place limits on political speech.
“It is important to note that these distribution opportunities would have been against the law a mere three years ago. This is why I went to the United States Supreme Court – to fight for the right to produce a political documentary,” said Producer David N. Bossie. “’The Hope and The Change’ exposes the hard truth that many Democrats and independents are suffering at the hands of President Obama’s failed policies, and we will aggressively market this film so Americans can finally have an unfiltered conversation they deserve.”
Stephen K. Bannon, who directed the film, said “the ability to reach 130 million American cumulative households with this historic deal is astonishing.”
“The power of the film comes from the collective unscripted and unrehearsed voices of the participants – ordinary Americans from every walk of life – who broke through the white noise of political speak,” Bannon said.
Pat Caddell, the former Jimmy Carter adviser who helped conduct the film’s focus groups of Reagan Democrats from swing states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Colorado, said “this documentary gives real voice to ordinary Americans, Democrats and independents, who are, until now, unheard and ignored by the political class and mainstream media.”
Watch the trailer, and be sure you spread the word. Call your cable company, and request that it be shown in your area.
Merely existing doesn’t do a darn thing without eyeballs on the screen.
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And if it IS being shown in your area, you may wish to keep an Empty Chair nearby, in case Obama wants to watch, too.
Two Heads are Better Than One 
Best Super Bowl ad…?
Glenn Reynolds reports that it was well received. I missed it when it aired last night and in case you did too, here it is. The fact that 95% of us live off the farm and wouldn’t know a horse if it bit us doesn’t, for me, take away the appreciation for a well crafted production.
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