Monday, January 22, 2007
Late night television
Have you seen those commercials with the people doing ridiculous things to compensate for the credit card rewards for which they haven't yet qualified? My favorite (a relative term?) is the one with the two cyclists and the guy pretending he has a bike. They all arrive in a clearing at the same time commenting on their enjoyment of the trip thus far and then one of them says, "Let's do it." The bike-free guy then hops up, runs a few steps and falls downhill, saying, "I'm good," from his faceplant. Does no one except me stop to wonder not only how this clown made it that far on foot but also how he kept up with his wheeled companions to this point?
Then there's the commercial that begins (in ominous voiceover), "From the mind of William Shatner...." I still have no idea what it is that Mr. Shatner's mind is spewing simply because just hearing that one line sends me into a fit of hysterical laughter. "From the mind of Stephen King..." was a truly ominous teaser for, "the most dangerous night of television". But William Shatner? The man who presided over the original Iron Chef America looking like an Elvis wannabe? The man who made the dramatic pause into a comic art form? I believe he's contributed to many a Star Trek novel and even came up with a television series that starred someone other than himself. (Trek Wars? Something like that.) It's this kind of programming that puts the Sci-Fi Channel in the same category as Comedy Central, except that it is cleaner and...less dangerous. Which is a good thing.
'night.
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Then there's the commercial that begins (in ominous voiceover), "From the mind of William Shatner...." I still have no idea what it is that Mr. Shatner's mind is spewing simply because just hearing that one line sends me into a fit of hysterical laughter. "From the mind of Stephen King..." was a truly ominous teaser for, "the most dangerous night of television". But William Shatner? The man who presided over the original Iron Chef America looking like an Elvis wannabe? The man who made the dramatic pause into a comic art form? I believe he's contributed to many a Star Trek novel and even came up with a television series that starred someone other than himself. (Trek Wars? Something like that.) It's this kind of programming that puts the Sci-Fi Channel in the same category as Comedy Central, except that it is cleaner and...less dangerous. Which is a good thing.
'night.
