July 4th Mailbag, by Arthur Tebbel – Pop Art #135
July 6, 2011 Arthur Tebbel 0 Comments
What a crazy holiday weekend. Let’s grab a few short ones out of the mailbag so I can get back in the pool.
Dear Art,
It sure does suck having to get through the depths of summer without even primetime TV to watch. With networks serving up a barrage of reruns and second-rate reality shows what is a person to watch?
-Name withheld
Anonymous,
I could go on about the cable renaissance but I think that’s really been covered all over the place. I’ve got an unconventional suggestion (no it isn’t go outside, please) catch up on some really low rent cable shows. Your next guilty pleasure is hiding somewhere right now.
I’d like to suggest Bully Beatdown on MTV2. The premise is a brilliant one, people send in tapes of the bullies that torment them and MTV has those bullies fight a cage match against a professional MMA fighter. There’s a cash prize element but that’s really the boring part. Watching amateurs who think they’re badass get absolutely wrecked is a sublime pleasure. I hope this concept can branch out to other sports. I’d love to see some of the jerk drivers in LA in a demolition derby.
Dear Art,
After a couple debates who do you think is going to be the Republican nominee for president? We’re pretty stumped over here.
-Ken Jautz, President of US Operations, CNN
Ken,
It has to be Romney right? He has the most money, he’s holding fast to his lead among all the contenders and he polls the best in the potential general election matchup. I know the media kind of likes to pooh-pooh Romney’s chances because he isn’t as fiery as the far right candidates and he’s such a known quantity. Unless Gingrich suddenly pulls his shit together or Bachmann starts to fundraise like a woman possessed I think Romney takes it in a walk.
But that isn’t a very sexy answer is it. That’s what gives this story legs. No one wants to hear the prohibitive favorite is still winning. That’s why Herman Cain and Rick Perry and their like get so much attention. Because otherwise you’ve basically settled on the two politicians you’ll talk about for the next 16 months. That’ll hardly keep the soap ads apart.
Dear Art,
As of 12:01 am this past Friday the NBA has joined the NFL and has locked out its players. This means the two biggest winter sports could both miss substantial time this year. I won’t ask you to weigh in on the labor issues, your far-left history means you would undoubtedly come down on the side of the players, but what on earth will you watch this year?
-Billy Hunter, Executive Director, National Basketball Players Association
Bill,
Man, I don’t know. The NBA was really fantastic this year. There were great games almost every week and the finals was undoubtedly the best since Michael Jordan hung it up. Maybe I could start watching soccer before the Champions League play. Maybe I can just watch some older games on ESPN Classic and pretend they’re current. What you and the NFL should really be afraid of is maybe I’ll get a life.