Fall 2012: A Sneak Peak

 

 

Confront The Media War Whores

They are the news bimbos — many blonde, some aging kind of nicely, proud of their legs and flashing Colgate toothpaste smiles. They hate war — except when the enemy are those awful, awful Muslims with beards who want their women modestly dressed and acting proper. They love the fact that like their male counterparts, they don't have to ask a hard, tough question — unless it has to do with women's rights or abortion or any left/feminist concern. And if they make a blunder pronouncing the simplest of words, it's a real hoot, a giggle and a flash of those pearly whites and a leg-cross from being forgotten. Real pioneers, these wild women of the air. Let us digress a bit:

Barbara Walters leads the pack: she was the first woman on America to co-anchor the evening news on ABC, earning the enmity of many guys and her co-anchor Frank Reynolds. This Jewess went on to become the most famous face in broadcast news, with two TV series (The View and The Barbara Walters Specials) and her own production company. She became the template for all who followed in her steps on both sides of the border (we'll get to the Canadian gals in a bit).

Today Diane Sawyer and her sleepy gaze greets us on ABC five nights a week. Formerly with CBS, she was snatched up by ABC to replace Joan Lumden on Good Morning America before inheriting the anchor chair from the late Peter Jennings on World News Tonight. Over at CBS, their experiment with Katie Couric to replace Dan Rather was a bust. People just liked her as a cutesy host of NBC's Today. Today, the aging Couric now does occasional stuff for ABC. At NBC, there's Andrea Mitchell looking fresh outa bed all the time

At the all-news outlets, it's chicks of all shapes and sizes all day and night. Fox News Channel has a preference for blondes, starting with rotating hosts Alisyn Camerota and ex-beauty queen Gretchen Carlson on Fox and Friends. After that, it's tough chicks Martha McCallum on America's Newsroom, Jenna Lee on Happening Now, followed by mean-eyed Megyn Kelly on America Live. The peroxide patrol continues on The Five, with Dana Perino, whose one claim to fame prior to Fox was as speech writer for George Bush. Another bimbo, one Andrea Tantaros, gets to flash her stuff as the outside gal on that show as she swings her cute legs to the music played going in and out of commercials. Who needs the Playboy Club when these gals strut it?

Not to forget late-night all-business Greta Van Sustern, cribbed by Fox after a stint at CNN and another CNN defector, cutie-pie money reporter Geri Willis. Check out YouTube, where some of the eye-popping-est videos show these babes in leather, bending over and in the famous risqué leg-cross — on the air on these "news shows." It's like watching the All-Clothed Miss America Pageant. Serious journalists, all.

Over at CNN, Soledad O'Brien, formerly of American Morning, now fronts its replacement Starting Point. This gal, with her doe-eyes, an Irish surname and a mucho caliente Latina background, is a real empty charmer better suited to flipping her hand at cars on game shows. The afternoon shift there consists of dark-haired Suzanne Melvaux, and hair-by-Clairol Randi Kaye and Dana Bash and the newly glasses-sporting Carol Costello. They follow the same pattern of softball questions to Lefties and women's libbers but aren't as kind with upfront people like Ron Paul. And, ready to chat are money "expert" Poppy Harlow and medical consultant Dr. Liz Cohen. Speaking of Jewesses, there is Gloria Borger, who this year gets promoted from commentating from a stool to playing with computer graphics while co-hosting CNN's US Election specials, and five nights a week, it's all-business (but no substance) Erin Burnett waste of an hour, Up Front.

On Sundays, ya got beefy Candy Crowley hosting State of the Union (see? we're serious about our female reporters) and at the end of Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room, Jeannie Moos covers funny fluff pieces. Then there are the two stalwarts from CNN's sister network HLN (all owned by strictly-kosher Time Warner): Robin Meade heads up their Morning Express, and twice a night, it's legal eagle Nancy Grace, who "danced with the stars" recently, but still is as tough as nails on criminal types. When she grills, you almost expect her to grind a cigarette out on you.

TV doesn't skimp on the multicult. Following CBS' Julie Chen, there's Juju Chang and Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, along with CNN's Alina Cho and Fredrica Whitfield and  Fox's Uma Pemmaraju on weekends. At NBC there's Natalie Morales on Today and Asian host Ann Curry (who replaced Meredith Veiera).

Here in Canada, it's empty heads packed into either cute bodies with no substance or reporting style, or trying to fake sincerity during breaking news of calamity. At CTV, there's Sandi Renaldo and Lisa LaFlamme (who is currently featured in a CTV News promo fawning over poor Third World kids and who took over the CTV News at 11 from Lloyd Robertson.) The morning brings us Heather Hiscox and Nancy Wilson on CBC NewsNetwork's News Now, opposite Beverly Thomson on CTV's Canada AM, which now boasts Canada's first female African news host, Marci Ien. Later in the day, it's dead-eyed Carole MacNeil at the anchor desk at CBCNN, and later, at 7, Amanda Lang dishin' the dirt and getting lippy with capitalist  Dennis O'Leary on business on The Lang and O'Leary Exchange.

Sun News,  has Jacqui Perrin keeping us up to date with all the latest, along the Caryn Leiberman, who likes to spell her name differently just like CNN's Kiran Chetry (Awww, how about a gal named Cindi — with an "I"?) Across the pond, Lise Doucette is perhaps the most famous female face on BBC News. Her vapid, grey style makes you wonder about that makeover she looks like she had recently.

Here in Toronto, it's chick city on the news: Global News has Anne Mroczowski in the early evening. Back when she was at City-TV, rumor had it she was puffing enough cigarettes a day to keep the industry alive. And in an old interview from Toronto Life, she had no problems about showing off her gams [legs] ("I'm damn proud of them"). City-TV grad Liza Fromer gets to sit on a stool and yap about nothing each day on Global's new Morning Show. Still at Global is the amazing-looking Susan Hay, once a feature of TV news (mostly feature fluff stories), now relegated to the annual Santa Claus Parade.

On CP 24, Ann Rohmer, daughter of Canada's warmonger poster boy Richard, has been a staple for years in daytime there and at City-TV and also currently as host of the real-estate series Hot Property and the pet-finder show Animal House Calls. She began her TV gig in the seventies on the Global TV magazine show That's Life. CP24 Breakfast features Steve Anthony sharing the anchor chair with Dina Pugilese.

At City TV Toronto, Pam Seatle and her tight skirts still prowl the streets for news, while Breakfast Television has Kevin Frankish outnumbered by  Melissa Grelo and Pooja Handa. And around noon time, Christine Bentley, of CTV Toronto (formerly Channel 9) looks like she's ready to fall asleep,

Bottom line of this all is this: it's time we all tweeted, e-mailed and confronted these media whores who love war, hate racism and are as red and women's libby and lippy as they were in the days when Babs Walters got Frank Reynolds booted off ABC. They spout the "equality line" but back it up with visible leg and sweet smiles and nothing of tough questioning, save for their political adversaries in the public eye.  They're phony as hell and the intelligent viewer can see right through their game.

Time to call them on it — start here:

ABCNEWS http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3068843

NBC NEWS: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32359544/

CBS NEWS: http://www.cbscorporation.com/contact.php

FOX NEWS/FOX NEWS CHANNEL: http://www.foxnews.com/

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

CBC NEWS:   http://www.cbc.ca/contact/

CTV NEWS:   news@ctv.ca

GLOBAL NEWS (Canada): http://www.globaltv.com/About/ContactUs.html

CITY TV NEWS TORONTO: http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews

CP 24: http://www.cp24.com/contactUs/

Tell 'em 'ol Bob sent you.

 

 

 

Fallen Black Idols: Where Are They Now?

 

THE LATE MYSTERY WRITER ROBERT B. PARKER CREATED AN ANTI-HERO AS PART OF THE CAST OF HIS "SPENSER" NOVELS, NAMED HAWK. HE WAS A BIG, MEAN BLACK DUDE WHO BEGAN HIS APPEARANCES AS A HITMAN/ENFORCER, BUT LATER "MELLOWED" INTO A "GOOD GUY"; IN THE BESTSELLER A CATSKILL EAGLE, IT IS HE WHO COMFORTS SPENSER'S WHITE GIRLFRIEND SUSAN AFTER THEY RESCUE HER FROM A RICH FIEND. AS A SPENSER DRIVES THEM IN A GETAWAY CAR, IT IS HAWK WHO HOLDS SPENSER'S CRYING LADY, REPEATING "BE ALL RIGHT...BE ALL RIGHT."

YES, THE CLEAN-CUT SENSITIVE BLACK MAN (ALONG WITH THE ONE WHO IS MUSICALLY TALENTED) HAS COME QUITE THE WAY SINCE THE DAYS OF SIDNEY POITIER AS THE BLACK PRINCE CHARMING TO BOTH BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN IN TV AND FILMS. INVARIABLY, THE FRIENDS AND FAMILIES OF THE LADY PARAMOUR OF THESE STORIES ARE IDIOTS, STERN RELIGIOUS TYPES OR ABUSIVE. IF THERE IS NO OUTWARD LOVE INTEREST, EITHER ONE WILL BE CREATED (THE WHITE TEEN CRUSH OF TO SIR WITH LOVE) OR THE BLACK WILL BE THE COLD, DETACHED PROFESSIONAL (A BLACK SHRINK PLAYED BY POITIER TRIES TO "CURE" A NEO-NAZI IN THE FILM BREAKING POINT ); WOW, THOSE DUDES USED TO PLAY EVERYTHING ON SCREEN!

HOLLYWOOD ONCE HAD TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT BLACKS ON SCREEN AND IN MUSIC. IN D.W. GRIFFITH'S BIRTH OF A NATION, A WHITE WOMAN IS SAVED FROM A HORRIBLE FATE AT THE HANDS OF A BLACK RAPIST BY A GROUP OF KLANSMEN. FROM THEN ON, UNTIL THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES, BLACKS WERE DANCERS, BUTLERS, MAIDS, CHAUFFEURS AND SLAVES OF THE US SOUTH. THEN, THANKS IN PART TO THE SURGING POPULARITY IN THE FIFTIES OF COMMIE HARRY BELAFONTE'S CALYPSO MUSIC WHICH ADDED TO THE LATEST VARIATION ON WHITES IMITATING BLACKS JITTERBUGGING ON THE DANCE FLOOR), IT BECAME MORE AND MORE ACCEPTABLE TO PORTRAY BLACKS NOT AS BUFFOONS BUT AS "SENSITIVE" AND "CARING."

IN TWO FILMS, GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? AND A PATCH OF BLUE, THERE IS A NOBLE BLACK OUT TO "SAVE" A WHITE GIRL FROM HER BAD EXISTENCE. POITIER STARRED IN BOTH FILMS. IN THE FORMER, HE IS THE BOYFRIEND OF A WHITE GIRL WHOSE PHONY LIBERAL PARENTS ALMOST BLANCH WHEN THEY LEARN OF HIS RACE. IT'S PLAYED FOR LAUGHS AND MOM AND DAD AT THE END "LEARN TOLERANCE." IN THE SECOND FILM (ONE OF THE MOST EVIL PROPAGANDA FILMS FLOGGING RACE-MIXING EVER MADE) POITIER BEFRIENDS AND LATER FALLS IN LOVE WITH A TEENAGED GIRL FROM A BAD FAMILY (HER BOOZING MOTHER THREW ACID IN HER FACE, BLINDING HER) WHO, DESPITE CAUSING HER DISABILITY, STILL TREAT HER LIKE DIRT. OFF TO HER RESCUE COMES THE NOBLE BLACK SIR GALAHAD TO SWEEP HER OFF HER FEET — AND BECAUSE SHE CAN'T SEE, IT'S OKAY, RIGHT? LOVE IS BLIND.

IT ISN'T HARD FINDING A WHITE WOMAN WHO LIKES TO DANCE TO A FAST BEAT. OR A MEDIUM-FAST BEAT. THAT'S HOW CARIBBEAN CALYPSO BECAME A POPULAR FAD JUST DECADES AGO, WHICH PAVED THE WAY FOR RAGGAE AND OTHER FORMS OF ISLAND BOP THAT CREATED THE ATMOSPHERE THAT BLACK JAMAICANS WEREN'T JUST A BUNCH OF THIEVES, GANJA-SMOKERS, KILLERS AND RAPISTS. THEY HAD SEDUCTIVE ISLAND RHYTHM. ADD TO THAT A NUMBER OF FILMS, APPEARANCES ON TV VARIETY/MUSIC SHOWS AND FESTIVALS LIKE CARIBANA, WHICH RAN FOR YEARS IN TORONTO, AND YOU'VE GOT A HOTHOUSE ATMOSPHERE THAT WILL ENTICE ANY WILD WHITE WOMAN WHO'S BORED WITH HER HUBBY OR BOYFRIEND.

ONCE A BIG STARS IN HIS OWN RITE, SIDNEY POITIER NOW IS PRETTY MUCH RETIRED FROM FILMS, AND STILL A LITTLE BITTER. MOST OF HIS LATER FILMS WERE TERRIBLE FLICKS LIKE A PIECE OF THE ACTION THAT HE DID WITH PAL BILL COSBY (MORE ON HIM LATER.)HARRY BELAFONTE, NOW BALD, HAS MELLOWED A BIT AND STILL MAKES THE OCCASIONAL APPEARANCE IN INTERVIEWS OR KEEPING UP WITH POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

BILL COSBY, WHO BEGAN HIS CAREER DOING COMEDY BITS BASED UPON HIS BOYHOOD IN PHILADELPHIA, LATER TRIED TO SET HIMSELF UP AS AN "EDUCATIONAL" ENTERTAINER WITH HIS CBS KID-ORIENTED SERIES FAT ALBERT AND PICTURE PAGES. AFTER BURNING HIMSELF OUT IN A SERIES OF COMEDIES ON THREE NETWORKS, HE GAVE UP STAND-UP COMEDY AND BEGAN TO RAIL AT BLACK PARENTS WHO ALLOWED THEIR KIDS TO GO WILD. HIS ONLY STINT AT DRAMA WAS AS THE LACONIC ALEXANDER SCOTT, THE "HIP" AMERICAN SECRET AGENT OF I SPY. YET, IT WAS AS THE IDEAL, SUPER-COOL AND SUPER-WISE  AMERICAN TV DAD OF THE COSBY SHOW IN THE 90'S THAT SO MANY STILL LOVE HIM AND REMEMBER HIM FROM.

THE 1970'S SAW THE BIRTH OF MOVIEDOM'S "BAD-ASS DUDE": RICHARD ROUNDTREE BROUGHT TO LIFE ERNEST TIDYMAN'S CREATION SHAFT, TRUE TO THE ISAAC HAYES THEME SONG, A "BLACK PRIVATE DICK WHO'S A SEX MACHINE TO ALL THE CHICKS (OF ANY RACE)" . SHAFT'S POPULARITY LASTED THROUGH THREE FILMS, A CBS TV SERIES AND A REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL IN 2000. EVERY JEWISH MOVIE PRODUCER TRIED TO OUTDO SHAFT IN TERMS OF BURPING MUSIC ANTI-WHITE VIOLENCE AND CARDBOARD PLOTS —CAR CHASES, MASS SHOOTINGS (USUALLY OF WHITE "VILLAINS". AND INTERRACIAL SEX. THERE WAS SUPERFLY. ACROSS 110TH STREET, FOXY MAMA AND CLEOPATRA JONES (LET'S NOT FORGET THE BLACK LADIES!), BLACK EYE, THAT MAN BOLT, THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY, FAREWELL UNCLE TOM,  AND SO MANY OTHERS THAT REMAIN THE BASIS OF WHAT THE JEWISH PRODUCERS CALLED "BLAXPLOITATION" FILMS. SAMUEL J. ARKOFF PRODUCED MANY OF THE ABOVE AT THE JEW-RUN AND NOW DEFUNCT AMERICAN - INTERNATIONAL PICTURES. ALL THEY DID WAS TO SOUP UP THE ALREADY-AGITATED RAGE AMONG GHETTO BLACKS TO HATE AND KILL THE HONKIES (WHICH THEY DID IN EVERY BIG US CITY WHERE THEY POPULATED) AND MAKE MILLIONS FOR MGM, PARAMOUNT, FOX, ET AL. THEATRES WHERE THEY WERE SHOWED CAME ALIVE WITH YELPS OF "GET THAT WHITE MUTHA F——-, YEAH!" TODAY WE HAVE NOTORIOUS, NEW JACK CITY, ANYTHING BY SPIKE LEE, MURDER AT 1600 (DENZEL WASHINGTON SOLVES IT), JOHN Q (SENSITIVE DAD WASHINGTON TAKES A HOSPITAL HOSTAGE TO GET AN OPERATION FOR HIS DYING CHILD) AND KISS THE GIRLS (MORGAN FREEMAN SEEKS A SERIAL KIDNAPPER/KILLER OF WHITE WOMEN), JUST TO NAME A FEW.

THEN THERE'S THE "FUN RASCAL" BLACK GUY, THE HIP-HOPPER WILL SMITH WHO LAUNCHED HIS RECORDING CAREER MAKING MUSIC THAT DIDN'T INCLUDE GANGS, VIOLENCE OR "HO'S" BEFORE HIS HIT SHOW THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR. INSTEAD. IT WAS STUFF LIKE "GIRLS AIN'T NOTHING BUT TROUBLE", "PARENTS JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND" AND "MEN IN BLACK." TODAY HE IS A TV/MOVIE PRODUCER AND A DAD WHO WANTS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS AN ACTOR. YET HE'S STILL THE CLEAN-CUT GUY TOO MANY WHITE DADS HAVE NO PROB SEEING AT THE DOOR ON SATURDAY NIGHT TO TAKE THEIR DAUGHTERS OUT.

LAST WEEK, US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TRIED TO CHANNEL SOME OF THAT SIDNEY POITIER CHARISMA BY WARBLING OUT A FEW BARS OF AL GREEN'S LET'S STAY TOGETHER, A KIND OF SUBTLE CAMPAIGN MESSAGE (CLEAN-CUT, SHARP DRESSED BLACK GUYS ATTRACT THE WHITE LADIES A LITTLE MORE THESE DAYS THAN THE SAGGY-PANTS. BACKWARD-BASEBALL CAP WEARING "SOULJAHS" ); THIS WEEK, HE'LL TRY TO CARRY IT ON WHEN HE GIVES WHAT COULD BE HIS LAST STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON TUESDAY. YET, NO MATTER, CLEAN CUT BLACK GUYS DON'T CHUCK THEIR HERITAGE WITH A SHORT FRO AND LIGHTER SKIN. THEY'RE JUST AS GOOD A REASON TO EXPLAIN TO YOUR KIDS AT AN EARLY AGE ALL ABOUT RACISM AND RACIAL INTEGRITY BEFORE THE MULTICULTISTS AT SCHOOL GET THEIR MITTS ON THEM.

TALK TO YOUR DAUGHTERS, DADS. THE NEXT GENERATION OF POITIERS ARE IN THE RECORDING STUDIOS AND GOING BEHIND THE CAMERAS RIGHT NOW.

 

TV Scuttlebutt

Another one bites the dust: Work It!, the new ABC sitcom about guys in drag, has been pulled after two episodes and a firestorm of heat from gay/lesbian groups. Repeats of Tim Allen's Last Man Standing will air in its place for now.

Fox has ordered a pilot for next season called The Asset. It's a trip down Alias/Nikita way, with its central hero a lady CIA operative working out of New York.

And Fox has given a go to Living Loaded, a comedy pilot from the creators of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." This one revolves around a boozy blogger who becomes a radio host.

 

 

Beware The Nerds

A few weeks back in this space I lamented about the few examples of real men in films and TV. Now I'd like to wax a bit about the real "not-men": the scrawny, geeky, arrogant know-it-alls whose expertise in things like Dungeons and Dragons and who can name everyone in the Justice League — yet couldn't survive a weekend in the woods. Yeah, I'm talking about the nerds, and they're everywhere. Not just in films, but so much on TV for the past five or so decades.

TV has celebrated the nerd so much: one of the hottest shows on CBS, The Big Bang Theory, is centered on a group of science geeks, too-young doctors and whiz-kids to whom a night with a beautiful woman can't hold a candle to building a working model of a "Transformer." The only girls this group can come close to scoring with (a young professor, an East Indian, a mom-dominated jerk and a nebbishly Jewish king of obnoxiousness) are an airhead bimbo blonde and a bespectacled, drab nerdette played by TV's former "Blossom" Mayim Bailik. For nine seasons and now in syndication, another group of nerds —a sarcastic, shallow comic, a constantly frustrated loser, a man-hungry gal and a hulking, lanky "hipster doofus" comprised the cast of Seinfeld, and spent half of the series getting others in trouble or just pissing people off with their arrogance. As those who watched that show's last episode know, they finally got their comeuppance by landing in jail for refusing to help a mugging victim in a small town.

But wait, there's more! Who could ever forget Screech, the annoying dimwit from the Saved By the Bell series? Or Squiggy (David L. Lander), the horn-dog wannabe greaser from Laverne and Shirley? And where would our Friday nights on ABC be in the 1990s without TV's most famous black nerd, Steve Urkel of Family Matters (played by Jaleel White, who pulled a black "Fonzie" trick when the series' focus swung almost exclusively to him)?

Let's drift to the movies for a bit to learn something about nerds and why we're right to feel repulsed by them. The Revenge of the Nerds series had a simple premise: If you're not a masculine guy who ends up at the bottom of the college pecking order, it's okay to break the law and/or cause property damage or bodily harm to get even (much like the crew of Animal House and its TV spinoff Delta House had the same lack or moral character —or any sense of moral code.)

The nerd has become a staple of TV comedy, live action and animated. On The Simpsons, we have not one, but three nerds: Milhouse, the easy-to-push mama's boy smitten with nerdette Lisa; Jeff Albertson, a.k.a., Comic Book Guy, and science whiz Data. On American Dad, the "hip. modern" feminist daughter Hayley is balanced by Stan Smith's other kid, Steve, a loser glasses-wearing failure with girls, not to mention TV's only alien nerd, the boozy, abrasive costume-wearing alien Roger. Yes, I won't forget Brian, the liberal souse pet of Family Guy, whose worst moment occurred when he was doing a Howard Stern-type radio show and got openly gay Gore Vidal mad.

Even good-looking nerds on TV are such wimps. Take the trio of clydes on Friends — Joey, Chandler and Ross: It turns the stomach to see these clowns fall all over themselves trying to impress girls and hopping in and out of bed with the user female half of their clique, Monica, Phoebe and Rachel. When the Joey character was spun off into his own show after Friends was cancelled, he wasn't so hot any more; Joey was canned after one season.

One of the stars of How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris, began his TV career as a geek/nerd doctor on Doogie Howser, MD, a show about a young man smart enough to attend medical school but not legally old enough to drink. It was a hit in the early 1990's on ABC.

Nerds of the non-white variety aren't new by any stretch of the imagination. The inspiration for Big Bang's Raj character is clearly "Fez" from That 70's Show, played for laughs and novelty (you don't hear too much complaining from the East Indian communities about their portrayals.) Oh, I almost forgot Timmy Patel, the South African nerdy/preppie doormat to total d-bag David Spade on Rules of Engagement.

In various degrees, there are common denominators to the TV/movie nerd: there is that lack of masculinity that miraculously co-exists side-by-side with a desire to meet and "be with a girl!" There is the arrogant sense of self-importance connected with having an ability or aptitude towards certain sciences or skills (the ego-tripping sitcom brothers Frasier and Niles Crane show this best.) And of late, it is the nerd in TV comedy who comes out ahead in some way, sometimes by taking the cute girl away from the cement-headed no-manners jock, or by showing up someone who's a little older.

Nerds have no peers. Deep within many of them is a mostly-hidden seething hatred of those who ostracize or ridicule them or criticize their know-it-all attitude. Steve Jobs was one nerd who went to his grave last year with one victory: turning so many billions of people around the world into isolated, communications-dependent, anti-social (and thanks to texting, illiterate) nerd wannabes.

Beware the nerds, people. Beware how they will try to make all our lives "easier," (i.e., make us all lazier) and how friendly they will be to you face-to-face while a couple of feet lower beats a sensation for any female companion of yours. Worst of all, you may have to depend on a nerd in the future for a job, a welfare check, a good college grade, a bank loan, a promotion ad nauseam. As an animated Michelle Obama advised in an episode of The Simpsons, be nice to them.

But beware.

 

TV TRIVIA — All Ads!

.1. What breakfast cereal features a drawing of one Cornelius Rooster?

2. To make you look good, "A little dab'll do ya" of this. What?

3. What Canadian grocery chain boasted of William Shatner as its spokesman?

4. And what was its motto?

5. What cartoon feline flogs Cheetos Cheese Puffs?

6. Murray Westgate was the voice of this Canadian oil company for years. Which one?

7. General Mills, Nabisco or Quaker: Which one manufactured Quisp and Quake cereals?

8. For what burger chain did Clara Peller yell. "where's the beef?" (Bonus points: What US politician was first associated with it?)

9. When hockey aired on Wednesday nights on CTV, what car company shared sponsorship of it with Molson's?

10. What soft drink once had a feathered cartoon mascot named Fresh-Up Freddie?

TV SCUTTLEBUTT

Soaps are dying on TV. Disney has announced they are pulling the plug on their SoapNet channel, to be replaced with "Disney Junior" already playing up here in Canada.

Yet another "entertainment news" show will soon be unleashed: Fox TV will soon syndicate "Dish Nation" in the US. They've already cleared 55%, including Tribune/CW stations.

The not-yet-aired CTV series L.A. Complex, has been picked up by The CW.

And, all you lovers of the History TV series Pawn Stars, ABC is planning a Baltimore-based version of its own. In development is Ball Boys, set in a sports memorabilia store, and set to start in March.

 

 

An Ode to Ron Paul: The Consistent Man

In 1935 in Steel Town, a great event was going down
A baby was born, many later would say
Would be great to be runnin' the USA
He studied hard, he became an M.D.
Then on to greater things in old D.C.
Soon to be known to one and all
As the peace candidate, Doctor Ron Paul

He had energy like that rapper Hammer
Unlike Rick Santorum, he hardly stammered
The Jew pundits claimed that he was totally nuts
Ron Paul's saner than most, no ifs ands or buts,
In the New Hampshire debate, out went the order
Let's fix his wagon and get him cornered,
We'd be better than Ron, Mitt and Rick'd be singin'
Ron stood his ground, the truth he'd be bringin'
Sayin'
Let's not have wars going far and wide
Causing grief, destruction and G.I. suicide
They can lie and promise till you start to yawn
But you can't stop a man like Consistent Ron.
He means what he says, he says what he means
Giving aneurysms across the neo-con scene
The "Jews media" are really pissed
At this anti-war non-interventionist
and each media jerk tried as hard as he can
To make Ron Paul an invisible man, they said
"He'd never go far, he'd never score" never knowing
this year what they were in for.

Ron Paul's crowds grew larger at rallies each day,
The pundits didn't know just what to say,
While they were thumping on the Romney drum,
They wondered, where'd all these young Paul supporters come from?
Ron Paul had captured the imagination
Of the young and old across the nation.

Their border's leaking, that's a fact
Ron Paul says let's get the troops back from Iraq
Let's let them guard our borders, that's what they're
paid for,
Not fighting globalist multi-wars.
Let's trash new bad stuff bring in more of the old
Let's dump the Jew Fed, make the standard Gold
Let's give Americans a real reason to be proud
Vote for Dr. Ron Paul, sing it strong and loud.

2012 is a year to note, with
Most GOPs floating happy in the kosher boat
Except for one, I'm happy to say
Will guarantee America a brighter day
Ron Paul's the man I'm talking about
Don't listen to the liars, don't count him out
He wants an America worth fighting for
He's got what America needs and more
As the others crumble, he still stands tall
Why Canada have its own Ron Paul?
 

 

A Few of My Favorite (Christmas) Things

Despite rumors to the contrary, I'm not all crusty. The holidays have always been special to me for so many reasons. I bet some of them light a bit of warmth with you, too:

The holiday rituals. As a kid I never missed seeing Santa at Simpson's (now The Bay); after seeing the animated mannequins in holiday mode in the windows, it was off to the toy department for my yearly loot list.

The travelling: The relatives of my folks always laid out a good spread, with lots of snacks, candies and ginger ale for the kids and Molson's beer and Seagram's rotgut for the grownups. Some of those parties were legendary and a few I couldn't even discuss in this space.

Snow. Yeah, people hate it but it just ain't Christmas without snow up to your chin. Just get a toboggan and clear the snow tomorrow.

Christmas songs: I like most of 'em, secular and religious. To this day, the sound of Silent Night or Ave Maria can still bring a tear to my eye, except for Boney M's '70's sacrilege of Mary's Boy Child — what were they thinking?

The tree. I love to see it festooned with tinsel and candy canes and twinkling lights, it always brightens up a room. I get really cheesed when politically correct idiots try to ban trees or call them "Holiday trees" No, jerks, they're called Christmas Trees. okay? Just leave your Grinchiness at home. okay?

That beautiful week between Christmas and New Year's — there's wacky Boxing Day and my own birthday that both fall between them (Yay!)

Egg Nog. Mmmmmmm.

Christmas TV: Charlie Brown's Christmas, Frosty, The Wizard of Oz, all the holiday specials that show up year after year. And they were way better than the newer dreck like Elf on the Shelf or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

And best of all, even when it's been a tough year, there is still the love and warmth that friends and family bring, and how we are reminded that it isn't just the birth of Christ that we remember, but of the hope for all Man that collectively, we can make a better world in the next twelve months.

May this Christmas and holiday season, no matter how you observe it, bring all of you peace, joy and all the best life has to offer.

And have a Merry and safe Christmas, all! And DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!

 

 

Guy Stuff on TV: Return of the He-Man

 

Fear not, fellow males. In a television-land full of emaciated, bony young men who let women tell them what to do, of interior decorators and Brokeback Mountain clones and oh-so-sensitive males and (turn head now and spit) "Bromance" the masculine male is making his way back to the tube, slowly but surely. He may not [be]Tom Hanks (whew!) but he harkens back to a time when men were men and women didn't mind it at all.

Strangely enough, we can thank Steve Smith's woodland sage Red Green for being the harbinger of shows that capture the special camaraderie (not bromance) that men share, even if they don't particularly like each other. And it's kind of comforting that we Canadians taught the Yanks how to be men — again.
The male is back; trouble is, you have to know where to find him. It ain't on broadcast TV prime time anymore, but on the cable and specialty channels. Here's a guide to a few of TV's newer macho men — and I don't mean the new Old Spice guy:

AMERICAN CHOPPER: SENIOR Vs. JUNIOR (Discovery Canada) This spinoff of the highly successful American Chopper finds the Teutel father and son as competitors in the bike-shop business. You just know it's gonna get ugly.

AX MEN (History TV Canada/History Channel USA) Timber! Logging is one of the hardest professions ever, and you've got to be in shape to cut down trees AND get them safely over nature's obstacle course of land and water. Oh yeah, the ability to work with others is vital, too. Veteran reality show producer Thom Beers (1,000 Ways to Die) fronts this one. The scenery is spectacular.

SWAMP PEOPLE (History USA) Here's a profession you can sink your teeth into: Alligator hunting. The Landry family who hunt and trap the gators of Louisiana are an interesting mix of young and old, and they know their profession — they're all still alive after two seasons.

SONS OF GUNS (Discovery) Guns have a long history and in their own way, tell the history of the US, from revolutionary days to past the Wild West. And the men who build and collect them are not lunatics; they believe in safety and respect them as part of history and American heritage.

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS (History TV US and Canada) Another Thom Beers production. Imagine hauling supplies in a multi-ton rig over the most dangerous fragile road surface ever. You need men with nerves of steel and great reflexes, or you can die of hypothermia with just one bad judgment, with that truck as your tomb.

ICE PILOTS, NWT (History Canada, National Geographic Channel) All-Canadian! Yet, this series focuses on Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways, with a mostly-guy group of pilots and businessmen who brave the cold and storms of the raw north. Forget Sarah Palin's Alaska — the scenery is one of the things that makes this a great series.

PAWN STARS (History TV Canada, History Channel USA) These are the new pawnbrokers, not the smirking fat dude named Herschel, who run the Harrison family business in Vegas. Don't try to put one over on these guys, they've got more beef than a Loblaws store.

FULL THROTTLE SALOON (Action, TruTV) Liked Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze? Producer Arnold Rifkin hopes you do, so that you'll love this "reality show" set in Sturgis, South Dakota. It's got bikers — big, MEAN guys, including two interesting fellows called "Fajita" and "Chicken Leg" (sorry, you'll have to watch and get their stories.
 

 

Outdoors, Inside "Occupy"

 

THEY'VE BEEN CALLED EVERYTHING FROM THE NUCLEUS OF THE NEXT SOCIAL UPHEAVAL TO THE NEXT WOODSTOCKERS TO — OH I CAN'T SAY THAT! THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT — THE SUDDEN, ALMOST SPONTANEOUS MOVEMENT OF HAPPY CAMPERS THAT HAVE SPRUNG UP WORLDWIDE TO VENT AGAINST BANKERS, POVERTY, WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, AMONG OTHER THINGS (THEY'RE NOT TOO BIG ON NATIONALISM YET) HAVE TAKEN THE MEDIA BY STORM (ONLY FIGURATIVELY; WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL CONFRONT THE CBC OR THE TORONTO SUN, HAS YET TO BE SEEN). YOUR HUMBLE SCRIBE PAID A VISIT TO THEM HERE IN TORONTO, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, AND HERE'S WHAT I'VE SEEN AND HEARD:

I VISITED THE DOWNTOWN TORONTO SITE GROUNDS ON A WARMER-THAN-USUAL NOVEMBER DAY (THE 9TH) AND DID NOT FIND A BUNCH OF SMELLY ANARCHISTS IN NEED OF A BATH (WHAT SUN MEDIA JERKS LIKE JOE WARMINGTON AND REACTIONARY RADIO DOLTS LIKE JOHN OAKLEY AND JERRY AGAR RAIL ABOUT;) THESE PEOPLE WERE INTELLIGENT, LITERATE CANADIANS OF ALL AGES, QUITE CAPABLE OF EXPRESSING THEIR VIEWS. THE MEDIA INITIALLY ESTIMATED THEIR NUMBER AT AROUND 200. AS I MADE MY WAY INTO ST. JAMES' PARK, ONE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIVELY DEBATE WITH A TORONTO BANKER TYPE ABOUT THEIR RIGHT TO OCCUPY TORONTO'S ST. JAMES PARK, CAUGHT BY OUR LOCAL CITY-TV NEWS CREW. I SPOKE AT LENGTH WITH AN OBSERVER OF THIS DEBATE, STAN, A CASUALLY-DRESSED YET EXTREMELY INTERESTING SOCIALIST CHAP WHOSE SMILING, SHAKING HEAD AND OCCASIONAL DERISIVE REMARK AT MR. BUSINESSMAN ECHOED THE SENSE OF ANGER, FRUSTRATION AND DESPERATION OF THOSE IN THAT PARK AND AT OCCUPY PROTEST SITES AROUND THE WORLD. NEARBY ON A BENCH WAS ANOTHER OPTIMISTIC WHITE MAN IN CONVERSATION WITH A BLACK LADY WHO WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN HOW THE BIBLE COULD PROVIDE ALL THE SOLUTIONS AND ANSWERS TO THE CRISIS OF THE DISPOSSESSED. SHE WAS ONE OF TWO BLACK PEOPLE I SAW THAT DAY. ALTHOUGH A MOHAWK WARRIOR FLAG WAS VERY VISIBLE, I ONLY SAW THREE ACTUAL ABORIGINAL PEOPLE ON THE GROUNDS. NO PEOPLE I COULD IDENTIFY AS LATIN-AMERICAN, AND A SPRINKLING OF ASIAN CANADIANS. WHAT I DIDN'T SEE TOO MANY OF WERE LARGE CANADIAN MAPLE LEAF FLAGS AND SUGGESTED TO A FEW I SPOKE TO THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE. THEY WERE POLITE AND FRIENDLY, STRESSING THE INTERNATIONALIST THEME OF THIS WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN (STAN WAS BIG ON THE INTERNATIONALIST ANGLE, BUT I SECRETLY FELT THAT HE WAS STILL PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN.)

IT WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE, WHERE PROTEST SINGERS. LECTURERS AND OTHER PASSIONATE PEOPLE SHARED THE SPACE WITH THE RICH-DRESSED LAWYERS AND BANKERS AND THE OCCASIONAL DOG TROTTING AROUND. IT CERTAINLY BORE LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THE G20 FIASCO HERE JUST TWO SUMMERS AGO, AND THERE WAS HARDLY A UNIFORMED COP IN SIGHT. I DOUBT FOR NOW THAT THE TORONTO POLICE WILL GET TOO ROUGH WITH THESE GUYS: G20 INCIDENT TRIALS AND INQUIRIES ARE ONGOING.

THEY WERE WELL ORGANIZED, WITH AN ENTERTAINMENT AREA INSIDE OF A GAZEBO, AVAILABLE FOOD AND ASSISTANCE, A MULTI-FAITH CENTER, AN ON-SITE LIBRARY AND A LOGISTICS TENT FOR COORDINATION. THERE WAS NO RUDENESS AND MISTREATMENT; AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST EXPLAINED TO ME HOW THEY TRIED TO GET EVEN LOUD VISITORS WHO'D HAD TO MUCH TO DRINK TO VENT, IN A FRIENDLY, NON-CONFRONTATIONAL WAY. AND THEY PICKED UP THEIR OWN GARBAGE AND KEPT THE PARK CLEAN. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO SEEMED TO HAVE A DISTASTE FOR THEM WERE — YEP, THE LOCAL MERCHANTS. THEY GROUSED TO THE MEDIA THAT THE OCCUPY PEOPLE WERE WRECKING THEIR BUSINESS AND NO DOUBT WERE AMONG THE LOUDEST OF THE VOICES WANTING MAYOR ROB FORD AND POLICE CHIEF BLAIR TO BOOT THEM FROM THE PARK.

OCCUPY HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A LOT OF NOISE FOR THE POOR. BUT UP HERE THEY NEED TO SHOW THE FLAG MORE, MAKE IT A NATIONALIST CAUSE HERE. GLOBALIST CAPITALISM IS RUINING THIS NATION AS IT IS RUINING THE USA AND EUROPE. THE "ONE PERCENT" THAT OCCUPY IS REALLY UP AGAINST CONSISTS OF JEWS, ELITISTS, BANKERS AND PROFESSORS WHO ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE NATIVES AROUND THE WORLD GETTING RESTLESS.

AS I WRITE THESE WORDS, FOUR DAYS AFTER VISITING OCCUPY TORONTO, OT IS SETTING UP ANOTHER CAMP AT QUEEN'S PARK. IN OTHER CITIES, OCCUPY HAS BEEN MET WITH VARIED RESPONSE, FROM COPS TEARING DOWN THEIR TENTS TO SCUFFLES, TO THE MAYOR OF HALIFAX GETTING ONE HOSTILE RECEPTION TO HIS ACTIONS AGAINST OCCUPY NOVA SCOTIA. OUR LOCAL CHEAPSKATE MAYOR ROB FORD IS IN A QUANDARY: IF HE ALLOWS OCCUPY TO STAY AND GROW, HE RISKS THE BUSINESSMEN'S VOTE. IF HE AUTHORIZES THE POLICE TO MOVE THEM OUT, CHARGES AND TICKETS WILL TIE UP THE COURTS (OCCUPY HAS ALREADY GONE THAT ROUTE) — IT'S LOSE/LOSE FOR HIM AND ANY OTHER MUNICIPAL MAYOR WHO ACTS AGAINST THE OCCUPY FOLKS. HERE IN ONTARIO, THE BALL MAY NOW BE IN PREMIER DALTON McGUINTY'S COURT; AS A LIBERAL, HE'LL WANT TO TREAD SOFTLY, EVEN WITH OT CAMPED JUST OUTSIDE HIS OFFICE. AFTER LEAVING THE SITE, I WAS KIND OF GLAD THEY WERE THERE: IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A PIECE OF SOCIAL TORONTO HISTORY UNFOLD.

HOPEFULLY A LOT OF THOSE RICH FREQUENT-FLIERS WHO WERE AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISERY THEY HAVE BROUGHT TO SO MANY WITH FREE TRADE, CHEAP LABOR STANDARDS, RISING CRIME AND ALL THE OTHER CRISES CONNECTED WITH GLOBALISM AND CAPITALISM, ARE BEGINNING TO PERSPIRE PROFUSELY. WHILE MANY THINK THAT OCCUPY WILL HAVE FIZZLED OUT BY NEXT SPRING, I DON'T SEE IT GOING AWAY ANYTIME SOON.

KIND OF COMFORTING.

 

 

A Distorted Mirror Image

 

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, MY GRANDPARENTS, LIKE MOST, WERE ADMIRED AND RESPECTED. THEY HAD WISDOM, A KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY THAT CAME FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND WERE (AND ARE) A LINK TO TIMES GONE BY. THAT RESPECT, SADLY WOULD NOT LAST HERE IN NORTH AMERICA AND OVER IN EUROPE.

THE HIPPIE REVOLUTION IN THE 1970'S FOUND ITSELF LINKED WITH THE MASS MEDIA — TV AND FILMS. AND PART OF THAT COMMON GROUND WAS TO PUT DOWN THE ELDERLY, TO RIDICULE THEM AS BEING WEAK, SENILE, DODDERING, OVERLY CONCERNED ABOUT SEX, AND GENERALLY NUISANCES TO BE IGNORED, PUT AWAY OR MARGINALIZED. TWO FILMS FROM THAT ERA, LOGAN'S RUN AND WILD IN THE STREETS, WERE HARBINGERS OF THAT NASTY ATTITUDE. IN THE FORMER, SET IN THE FUTURE, YOU WERE PRE-DETERMINED TO DIE AT A CERTAIN AGE THROUGH A DEVICE IMPLANTED IN YOUR BODY, AND THE FEDS SENT PEOPLE AFTER YOU IF YOU DIDN'T GO QUIETLY. IN THE LATTER FILM, ONCE YOU BECAME 30 YEARS OF AGE, YOU WERE HERDED AWAY TO PRISON.  

TODAY, IT'S MOSTLY SITCOMS THAT CONTINUE THIS DAMNABLE TREND. AND, YEP, IT'S DIVIDED ALONG RACIAL LINES. IF YOU ARE A SENIOR BLACK PERSON, WELL, YOU CAN TRUST YOUR KIDS WITH THEM — AT LEAST ON TV (NOTE THE SUCCESS OF THE COSBY SHOW). ELDERLY ASIAN PEOPLE HAVE, DESPITE RECENT REAL-LIFE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, HAVE ENJOYED THE "SENSEI"/KARATE KID IMAGE IN THE MEDIA, A SOURCE OF WISDOM AND VIRTUE BORNE OF THE GENERATIONS OF RESPECT THAT CHINESE YOUNG PEOPLE USED TO HAVE INGRAINED IN THEIR CULTURE FOR THE HISTORY AND THE REVERENCE OF THE OLD. TAKE ANY MODERN SITCOM, LIVE-ACTION AND ANIMATED — SEINFELD, FAMILY GUY, KING OF QUEENS, TO NAME A FEW, AND THE NASTY STEREOTYPES ARE THERE, AND MOSTLY CONFINED TO ELDERLY WHITES. 

IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND ANY RESPECT FOR THE ELDERLY. THEY ARE THE BUTT OF JOKES ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM SENILITY, FAILURE OF MEMORY, BODILY FUNCTIONS, BEING "OLD FASHIONED". OR THEY ARE THE "WILD, ECCENTRIC" TYPES. OR, THEY ARE LECHEROUS "DIRTY OLD MEN" (THE LATEST TWIST ON THIS IS FAMILY GUY'S ELDERLY NEIGHBOR, WHO SEEMS TO HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR YOUNG BOYS). OR THEY ARE BITTER, ANGRY OLD "COOTS" LIKE ABRAHAM SIMPSON. GIVEN TO EXAGGERATIONS, DEMENTIA, AND OCCASIONAL VIOLENCE.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW ELDERLY BLACKS REGULARLY PORTRAYED WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE TRAITS (NOT COUNTING MAYBE TYLER PERRY OR MARTIN LAWRENCE?) THEY ARE SAGES, NOBLE PEOPLE WHO GENTLY TELL THEIR GRANDCHILDREN ABOUT ALL THE HARD TIMES "WHITEY" PUT THEM THROUGH (BUT EVER SO CAREFUL NOT TO USE WORDS LIKE "HONKEY" — EVEN THEY HAVE TO BE A LITTLE POLITICALLY CORRECT). NO, THAT LEVEL OF DISRESPECT FOR TRADITION AND HISTORY IS RESERVED FOR WHITES.

IT WAS A PRETTY TELLING THING WHEN US GOVERNMENT LEADERS LAMENTED IN THE 1980'S HOW AMERICAN FAMILIES SHOULD BE MORE LIKE BILL COSBY'S AND LESS LIKE HOMER SIMPSON'S. SURE, THE "JEWS MEDIA" MADE BOTH SHOWS "HITS": BETWEEN CLIFF HUXTABLE'S BALANCE OF WISDOM AND STERNNESS AND HOMER'S MOOD-SWING APPROACH TO PARENTING, THERE WAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE TO LAP UP. CONFUSING? YEP. CONFUSING ON PURPOSE? ALSO TRUE. WITH THOSE MIXED MESSAGES ABOUT THE OLDER GENERATION, IT IS NO WONDER WE HAVE A GENERATION OF SLACKERS, SNEAKS AND NE'ER-DO-WELLS.

WHILE WE MUST REMEMBER THE MISTAKES THE GRAND-GENERATION BEFORE US MADE, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE REMEMBER THE HISTORY AND TRADITION SO MANY OF THEM TRIED TO PASS ON TO OUR PARENTS.

SO, HAVE YOU VISITED YOUR GRANDPARENTS LATELY, OR CALLED THEM? IT'S ONE STEP TO ASSURING THAT RESPECT FOR THE ELDERLY GOES BEYOND JUST OFFERING A SEAT ON THE BUS. WE MUST RESPECT THOSE WHO TRIED TO PRESERVE A MORAL SOCIETY AND THE IDEAS OF A TRADITIONAL FAMILY, AND WHO DIDN'T TURN THEIR BACKS ON GOD TO PURSUE A FREQUENT-FLIER AGENDA OF FUN, FUN, FUN, BUT WHO SACRIFICED AND DID CONTRIBUTE TO OUR NATIONS.
IT IS THOSE PEOPLE WHO RESPECTED TRADITION AND DEFENDED HISTORY WHO ARE THE TRUE EUROPEAN WHITES AND ARE WORTHY OF OUR LOVE, HONOR AND RESPECT.

AND REMEMBER, BEING YOUNG DOESN'T MAKE YOUR SMART OR HIP: SHOWING COMPASSION, RESPECT AND GOOD JUDGMENT, ALONG WITH THE WHITE MAN'S WATCHWORDS OF COMMON SENSE, GOOD WILL AND FAIR PLAY DOES.

LET'S STOP PUTTING DOWN THE ELDERLY. THEY HAVE MUCH TO GIVE STILL, AND MUCH TO TEACH US.

TV SCUTTLEBUTT

AT THIS POINT, AT LEAST ELEVEN MORE SHOWS IN PRIME TIME (OLD AND NEW) ARE FACING THE NIELSEN GUILLOTINE IN THE COMING WEEKS: THEY ARE ABC'S PAN AM, BODY OF PROOF; NBC'S COMMUNITY, HARRY'S LAW, THE NEW PRIME SUSPECT; FOX VETERAN FRINGE; CW'S NIKITA; AND CBS' A GIFTED MAN, UNFORGETTABLE AND YES, CSI: NY AND HAWAII FIVE-O. ALL HAVE SEEN THEIR RATINGS NOSEDIVE IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS AND IT'S CLEAR THE BELEAGUERED NETS ARE SCRAMBLING TO USHER IN THE REPLACEMENT MIDSEASON CONTENDERS. THE LAST OFFICIAL NEW FALL SHOWS, BTW, ARE FOX'S I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER AND ALLEN GREGORY— AND THEY WON'T PREMIERE UNTIL AFTER THE WORLD SERIES. GO FIGURE.

 

Glad to have known you, Martin