Brain Dead is the Most Brilliant Piece of Political Satire Ever - But Is It Fiction?

Three things about the short summer series Brain Dead on CBS Television.

First you should be watching this show.  It's fast, funny, brilliant, cleverly written and wonderfully acted. The link above will let you see past episodes.

Second, as a satire on the current state of political discourse and governmental function it is stunningly on point.  Watch the scenes from the show taking place in the Senate, then watch the real news and you're unlikely to be able to tell the difference.  Its terrible funny..... or is it?

Third, the show creators, Robert and Michelle King are having entirely too much fun.  The "I think I love you..."  sequence in Sunday episodes is one of the greatest moments in television history.

In Praise of The Huffington Post

The Wizard is praising The Huffington Post?

O.K., O.K., I know it's impossible, but it's true. I have been a harsh critic of Arianna Huffington and her cadre of Hollywood Glitteratt for years. At times her corral of bloggers smell a lot more like a pigsty, wallowing in a mud hole of hate. A quick review of today's blog posts show that nothing much has changed.

But let's give Arianna and her news staff a great deal of credit and prise for their 24 hour a day reporting of the Iranian Election and subsequent protests. While our cable news networks slept and generally ignored this extremely important story, The Huffington Post was all over it.

Using every resource available to them from bloggers, to Twitter, to international news networks, including al-Jezeera, Huffington has continuously put together one compelling story after another.

A great deal of praise and credit goes to the legions of people worldwide who contribute daily or hourly to Twitter. The Twitterati have provided much needed information and solidarity and support for the people of Iran. Twitter has been so fascinating it is literally difficult to turn off at night. It is our window tot the world. Literally.

Which brings me right back to The Huffington Post. I've "tweeted" several times in the last 72 hours that Nico Pitney deserves and should win a Pulitzer Prize. In fact, if he doesn't win, they simply need to throw the prize away, because it will be meaningless. He writing and editing of video, stories and tweets has been nothing short of masterful. Using the methodology often referred to as "live blogging" he has chronicled the unfolding story in the way television should, but hasn't.

I believe we have actually learned the weakness of television. It is a singular medium, video only. Pitney can seamlessly combine video, written word, audio and still images to a maximum effect.

We can only hope and pray for a good and safe outcome for the people of Iran. But I am certain this is the event that changed the nature of news forever.

FOX to President Obama: Lie to Me

For the very first time since the FOX Television Network was founded, a major over-the-public-airways network has decided to skip a major prime time news conference requested by the President of the United States. FOX Television Network has announced they WILL NOT cover the live press conference, instead opting to air their regularly scheduled programming.

NEW YORK -- The Fox network is sticking with its regular schedule over President Barack Obama this week. The network is turning down the president's request to show his prime-time news conference on Wednesday. The news conference marks Obama's 100th day in office. Instead of the president, Fox viewers will see an episode of the Tim Roth drama "Lie to Me." It's the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama's request. This will be the third prime-time news conference in Obama's presidency. ABC, CBS and NBC are airing it.

President Obama has been taking a lot a criticism from conservative bloggers and commentators for scheduling this ego driven (as opposed to crisis or event driven) press conference to mark his 100th day on office.

But the normally supportive Hollywood industry insider publications and blogs have also been critical about what they see as President Obama's abuse of this executive privilege.

While the FOX Television Network shares common ownership with the FOX (cable based) News Network, it is unlikely this is any sort of political statement. And, it must be noted, that FOX NEWS will carry the entire presser live and with all hands on deck.

It is the regular FOX broadcasting network that has opted for a critical May Sweep Ratings victory over what has been up til now, normal news coverage. FOX was already likely to win the May Sweeps with its powerhouse line-up of American Idol, House and 24. Presidential press conferences have always been a ratings drag with local and independent stations picking up huge audience share, especially since the national networks of ABC, CBS and NBC essentially duplicated themselves.

Still, FOX is getting a lot of flak, especially from Obama supporters and left leaning media. I wouldn't be surprised if they blink and carry President Obama's show.

In reality, such national over-the-airways coverage may well be a thing of the past. With most homes having access to the 200 plus cable channels, there are many outlets on which to view such events. We may well see all networks reduce or eliminate such coverage, just as they have already reduced or eliminated coverage of the political conventions.

Just wondering out loud..... You know I really like that new Tim Roth drama, Lie to Me. Wouldn't it be super cool if the cable news networks could hire someone like Dr. Cal Lightman to analyze the Presidential News Conference and let us know when someone was lying.....

Sadly, as Grayson Wray says, "It's Only Science Fiction." SHAMELESS AMAZON LINK TO EARN MONEY FOR THE WIZARD

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

I must admit that my lovely wife and I are secretly addicted to The Secret Life of the American Teenager. We love every minute of this breakthrough drama about a 14 year old girl who becomes pregnant and has to deal with ALL the consequences. The show is at once hopeful and heartbreaking, tragic and inspiring, funny and sad.

It's easy to fall hopelessly in love with Amy Juergens (played beautifully by Shailene Woodley, pictured to the right), the 14 year old who makes a terrible mistake one night while away at band camp. Through much of the first season Amy kept the secret from her parents and most of her friends and even her new boyfriend Ben (played with a deft romantic touch by Kenny Baumann) who is NOT the father of the baby.

And all America has fallen in love with Amy and Ben and Ricky (the baby's father) and the extremely large cast who cover the very real issues of sex and pregnancy and growing up without ever sugarcoating or holding back on any issue.

As you might suspect, writer and producer Brenda Hampton's Secret Life is a very, very liberal Hollywood values show. Sex is dealt with openly and honestly. The show is a weekly one hour commercial for sex education and then tops that off by providing a great deal of sex education right in the show.

Abortion was covered logically and dispassionately as a real option to be considered by any young girl who finds herself in this situation. Amy, for several weeks, considers having an abortion and visits an abortion clinic. She almost goes ahead with the abortion.

But the "pro-life" position was also handled fairly through a strong Christian character, Grace (played by the very beautiful Megan Park). Grace, who wore a "chastity ring" until recently, is terribly tempted to have sex and is having great difficulty reconciling her emotions, not to mention her hormones, with her Christian teachings. No subject is taboo on this show.

Most importantly the show empowers young women. Amy stays in High School and works to graduate and go on to college. It certainly doesn't romanticize pregnancy, but it never condemns it, nor does it ever condemn Amy who faces some of life's toughest decisions with a realistic mixture of fear, ignorance, bravery and hope. Amy is the hero of her own life.

Even though the show on cable (ABC Family), it has a huge audience (3 million viewers plus) and often actually out performs major network shows in the ratings.

However, back in the real world, the cable and network news today covered with occasional irrational glee, the breakup of 18 year old unmarried Bristol Palin and the father of her baby, Levi Johnston. MSNBC has, frankly, been disgusting in their coverage of a young lady whose only claim to fame is to be the daughter of Alaska Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

But what is truly pathetic is the left wing and progressive blogosphere's treatment of Bristol which has been sexist, vitriolic, hate filled and often just grossly pornographic. It is simply hard to even imagine this much hatred. And it's tough to read this much filth.

When they aren't portraying her as a slut who was begging to be used and abused by a variety of men, they portray her as mindless bimbo completely incapable of controlling her urges and sexual libido. And I'm cleaning most of this up. Every foul word to describe women and every gross misogynistic term used to degrade women can be found on The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and other bastions of supposed liberal thought.

So as liberal Hollywood producer Brenda Hampton works to bring America into the 21st Century of enlightenment about teenage pregnancy and the innate worth of every woman, the so-called progressive left does their damnedest to treat women much worse than the most horrific fundamentalist Muslim Taliban society or extreme, backwards, fundamentalist Christian sect.

Amy Juergens, American Hero. Brstol Palin, American Whore and Slut.

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

The Prisoner

Long before Abu Ghraib, long before Guantanamo, children of the '60's knew governments were corrupt and secret prisons held people without due process, without rights, without the possibility of escape or parole.

And one brilliant actor, writer, director and producer captured all the fear and paranoia of the 60's in a brilliant, iconic television series called The Prisoner. That actor, writer, director and producer was the multi-talented Patrick McGoohan, pictured to the right above in a screen shot from the television series.

McGoohan passed away today at the age of 80.

As I lament the likely demise of The Middleman with only 12 episodes ever produced, it is heartening to note that with only 17 episodes, The Prisoner has become more beloved, more important and more popular than it ever was during its short one year season.

The two shows couldn't possibly be more different. While the Middleman is a dizzying comedy rich with pop culture references and tributes, McGoohan's The Prisoner was a dark and sinister spy suspense filled drama. In fairness, The Prisoner did have its sci-fi undertones.


McGoohan was one of the most highly regarded actors in Hollywood and Great Britain. He won two Emmy's for his television work over 30 years, and won high critical acclaim for his portrayal of the King in Mel Gibson's Braveheart.

But it is his vision and work in The Prisoner that will always remain the cornerstone of his career. If you do not already own this great series there is a great compilation produced with love and care by A & E Network, available at bargain prices from the associates at Amazon.

I watched the series when it first aired in the 60's. And I bought it on Laser Disk, believe it or not, paying $40.00 for each episode back in the 80's, proving that I am, indeed, crazy.

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P.S. I apologize to my "regular readers" for two successive forays into televison. I do hope to write shortly about the magnificient and historic event of Barack Obama's inauguration. I also feel the need to write once again about the tragedy of Bush Derangement Syndrome and to note, hopefully, that Obama is being treated much more fairly (so far) than Bush has ever been.

I Am Not Crazy!

Well, many of you may think I'm crazy, citing as proof the last ten years of entries to this blog and journal. But ignore that and bear with me for a moment.

My point today is that I am not crazy in my adoration for what is perhaps the greatest television series in the entire history of the medium, Javier Grillo-Marxuach's The Middleman.

Although not officially cancelled by ABC Family, the show remains in limbo and the twelve glorious episodes produced last year will probably be our only tickets to ride on this wondrous pop culture roller coaster. Even a DVD of the twelve episodes has yet to be released.

And so I actually feared that I was crazy, or at least terribly alone, in my love for Natalie Morales and Brit Morgan (both pictured above) and Matt Keesler and the entire cast and crew of The Middleman.

Ahhhh, but the end of the year brings out all these great Top Ten lists and guess what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a sleigh full of great and well deserved tributes to this literary and comedic masterpiece. Here are but a few that have come to my attention:

USA Today writes of star Natalie Morales: "Her character on ABC Family's The Middleman is smart, creative and tough -- and you don't get a lot of those on TV these days. Now all we can do is cross our fingers that the gang will return for another season..."

Time Out Chicago puts The Middleman into their Top Ten. They wisely observe: "An adaptation of the popular comic-book series proved to be the summer’s smartest, geekiest fare—or at least proved that to the dozens of us who watched and fell in love with Wendy “Dub Dub” Watson (Natalie Morales), an artsy twentysomething who finds herself battling the forces of evil. Wendy and her boss, the retro Middleman, fought aliens, mad scientists, James Bond–style villains and the crippling ennui familiar to recent college graduates, all while spouting allusions to every sci-fi classic or B-movie hero you’ve ever heard of and many you haven’t."

Of course it's no surprise that Comic Book Resources (CBR) should out The Middleman into their Top Ten for both the graphic novels and the Television Series. What is a bit of a surprise is that they place The Middleman series ABOVE such highly praised movies as the blockbuster Ironman! Their praise is so effusive and so spot on correct I am forced to reprint even more of their review:

"If this show doesn’t cause you to laugh out loud with delight, then you are dead inside. Well, here is all that fun, present not just on the original Middleman comics pages but even– to my continuing astonishment!– done for television."

"I would not have thought it was possible to get that crazed Bob Haney adrenaline-fueled superhero feel captured on a TV show until I saw this. Gorillas with machine guns, aliens masquerading as Botox junkies, fashionista succubi…. and Matt Keeslar and Natalie Morales inhabiting the characters from the comic so beautifully I have a hard time picturing them any other way now."

"It helps that the guy who created the original comic is the show’s producer. Some of you may have missed this magnificent television series on ABC Family that aired earlier this year. Fortunately, there are some clips on YouTube that should enlighten you, at least a little. Here. And here. And one more for the hell of it."

"Please, please, get this show another season, or failing that, get the first twelve out on DVD. And in the meantime, you all should treat yourselves to the trade paperback The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability, which I believe collects everything done in the comics to date."

But let's continue with the growing list of reviewers and critics who have chosen The Middleman of one of 2008's Ten Best.

Certainly Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times was already considered as one of the nation's most highly regarded television critics. But what will be a real eye opener to my many liberal and progressive readers is that Lloyd heaped equally effusive amounts of praise on MSNBC's terrific Rachel Maddow, the brilliant Tina Fey and The Middleman. Lloyd writes: "Culturally allusive live-action comic book works both as adventure and parody. Sometimes sweet, sometimes snarky, but always smart."

New Jersey's Star Ledger critic Alan Sepinwall who placed The Middleman on his Top Ten list and wrote: "The Middleman, meanwhile, was a hilarious and ever-cheerful adaptation of writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach's comic book about an office temp (Natalie Morales) recruited to work with a super hero (Matt Keeslar) in cleaning up messes involving aliens, demons and, on occasion, evil Mexican wrestlers. It was silly, smart and all-too-short-lived."

This is already running the risk of being the longest blog entry in Wizard history and I'm not even close to done!

Critic Al Norton, in his column Two TiVo's in Paradise, placed The Middleman all the way on to the top as the Number One Comedy of 2008, ranking it above other greats such as Pushing Daisies, The Office and 30 Rock! Norton acclaims the series stating, "This was a very easy choice as no show made me laugh as much as The Middleman, and certainly none did so with as wide an array of humor styles; witty banter, puns, physical comedy, pop culture references, and romantic comedy were just some of the ways the show got a hold of your funny bone, frequently managing to combine two or three of them to great effect."
NPR critic David Bianculli named The Middleman as one of the television events to Celebrate in 2008.

Las Vegas Weekly critic Josh Bell put The Middleman on his Top Ten list and wryly observed, "Based on a comic book series that nobody read, this show that nobody watched was a hilarious, endlessly creative mix of cheesy throwback sci-fi and postmodern pop-culture quippiness."

This list could probably go on forever, but I'll end with Bill Frost of The Salt Lake Weekly has named The Middleman to his list of 2008 "Greats." I love Frost's review: "Anything would be too smart for ABC Family, but the geektastic Middleman (think Men in Black meets vintage Saturday-morning action cheese) probably will never find a proper home—not until the Sci-Fi Channel merges with Comedy Central, anyway. ABC Family hasn’t officially canceled The Middleman, but it seems as likely to return as (insider joke alert) finding a cherry Hruck Bugbear on CarMax.com. I’ll miss you most of all, Dubby … "

I'll echo that! Barring a 2009 miracle, I'll miss Dubby, too......

Maybe I am crazy after all.

Rising to the Challenge: Fox Business News

Sunday night, September 28, 2008, 11:00 pm - As we sat in the eye storm during the worst financial crisis in modern history, the cable and broadcast news networks went to sleep, lulled by the lilting lullabies of reruns, repeats and a band headlined by a former governor.

If you wanted news, if you wanted analysis, if you wanted updates on a marathon Republican House of Representative's meeting, you were simply out of luck.

Unless you were one of the very lucky few who have access to the new FOX BUSINESS NEWS CHANNEL. Fortunately, I subscribe to satellite provider Direct TV and I receive Fox Business on channel 359.

While CNN and FOX NEWS were rerunning earlier programs, MSNBC, who seem to have totally abdicated the news business entirely, ran old, old, old NBC Dateline programs. Even the news crawls were seemingly outdated and sparse on facts.

At the critical moment that House Republicans emerged from their 3 hour meeting, the regular FOX NEWS channel was caught flatfooted rerunning last night's folksy Mike Huckabee debut, complete with Huckabee himself leading a really terrible band made up of FOX NEWS staffers. It was embarrassing.

Curiously, even business leader CNBC missed the oportunity to cover the biggest business story since cable news broadcasts began.

But right next door at FOX BUSINESS NEWS it was all live and incredibly professional and informative. Only FOX BUSINESS ran the Republican House News Conference. Only FOX BUSINESS had live interviews with House members, Wall Street leaders and business leaders, economists and government leaders around the world.

Anchored coolly and professionally by David Asman and Cheryl Casone, there was no hyperbole and no spin. And, after the House Republican leaders issued there tentative support for the compromise bill, the FOX BUSINESS team tracked the reaction from markets around the world. Gold is down and most markets and futures are up as I write this report.

FOX BUSINESS has a new fan here. I know where to tune for business news.

I Wish Charles Gibson Had Interviewed Sarah Palin

I was up well before dawn this morning preparing for a road trip. I needed to refuel the car and I am worried about potential 30% increases in gas prices that could affect all of us motorists in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

Since I was up and traveling outside my normal morning routine, I was listening to Doug Stephan's Good Day on the radio instead of my normal diet of television cable network news programs. Change is good, It gives you more perspective on current events.

If you've never listened to Steffan's program he tries, but usually fails, to avoid politics and political issues. But his crew made a comment on ABC's Charles Gibson's interview with Governor Sarah Palin that was amazingly spot on: "What was with Charles Gibson last night? He looked like a curmudgeonly old school principal who caught a girl chewing gum in class."

I laughed until I cried. Stephan and his crew were so right.

As great as the pressure was on Sarah Palin, it was even tougher on Charles Gibson who has endured three days of particularly critical comment simply because he was awarded the first interview with Governor Palin. Gibson was as much under the microscope as Palin. And the pressure showed.

I wish the Charles Gibson I know and deeply respect had interviewed Palin. I'm certain the McCain camp wishes the real Gibson had shown up, too. Everyone would have looked a lot better.

Palin faltered a couple of times under Gibson's grilling. But Gibson acted like he was conducting an inquisition. It was difficult to watch. The normally relaxed and chatty Gibson would have gotten a lot more from Palin. This certainly wasn't the Gibson that recently interviewed Barack Obama and that will come back to haunt Gibson.

Sarah Palin's interview also showed the signs of the intense pressure she is under. Plus I get the feeling she is being terribly over managed. The McCain Palin team has got to relax. If she is over coached, she will not do well in the upcoming debate. Frankly, more live, unscripted interviews will prepare her better for the debate than any amount of coaching.

Over the next 72 hours there will be thousands of blog posts, interviews and television and radio commentaries about the Palin-Gibson interview. Some will claim she demonstrated she is totally unqualified for office. Others will claim, with video clips to back them up, that she was poised and rock solid. I sincerely doubt any minds were changed. Of course we have one more segment to watch tonight. That could be the atomic bomb.

I remain both impressed by and confident of Palin as a candidate. But it's early and I'm more than ready to change my mind (on all four candidates) as the cycle continues. We will see some really major mistakes from someone before we vote in November.

I'm hoping for a deeper and better interview with Palin before the election. Based on last week's compelling Obama interview, I'm hoping the McCain team will grant a Palin interview with Bill O'Reilly. That would be "must see TV."

Three Short Takes on Political Television

BARACK OBAMA TRIUMPHS ON FOX NEWS: Barack Obama not only hit a home run in his long awaited interview with Bill O'Reilly on FOX NEWS, he knocked it our of the park, over the Green Monster!

Sports metaphors aside, Obama and O'Reilly make for terrific television. I can't wait for tonight's installment. Senator Obama is relaxed, articulate, combative, compelling and charismatic. He and Bill O'Reilly seem to have great chemistry. Barack Obama could not possibly have done his candidacy more good.

First, O'Reilly himself helps Obama immensely. O'Reilly's massive ego is an easy foil for Obama and O'Reilly seems to be willing to listen and to concede points. Yet Obama stands toe to toe when he needs to. He never yields to O'Reilly.

Plus, and even more important, Obama is gaining much needed human and up close face time with a gigantic part of the electorate that is devoted to FOX News. No amount of advertising can buy this coverage. By appearing on O'Reilly, Barack Obama appears both fair and fearless.

BARACK OBAMA PUTS THEM TO SLEEP ON OLBERMANN: Compare and contrast the dramatic, combative and compelling interview Barack has with Bill O'Reilly with the sleeper interview with Keith Olbermann. The problem is that Olbermann telegraphs the answer in every question. We learn nothing by watching the soft ball, gift wrapped straight lines supplied by Olbermann.

Once again Keith's problem is that he knows everything he wants to know before the interview ever begins. As a result no one learns anything.

BUT.... Just as we really learn a great deal by Obama's interview with O'Reilly, we might really learn a great deal if Senator McCain sat down with Olbermann. You can bet Olbermann would ask real, in depth and probing questions of McCain.

RACHEL MADDOW CURES INSOMNIA: I just love Rachel Maddow. I love her on Air America and I really loved her on Tucker Carlson's old MSNBC show. But, oh my god, what was that disaster we witnessed last night? To say that Rachel was awful is an understatement. The show was unwatchable. I know. I tried. Twice. Even TiVo couldn't save this snooze fest. You wanted to fast forward to the next commercial.

Rachel's problem is exactly the problem described above with Olbermann's interview with Obama. Rachel knew everything she wanted to say and provided the most boring list of guests, each of whom were ready and waiting to echo her every statement. The interviews were simply pathetic. Leading questions that telegraphed the answers she knew in advance she would receive.

Maddow can hold her own in any argument or intellectual discussion. What's missing from her show, so far, is anything resembling an intelligent discussion. The only compelling few moments came in her discussion with Pat Buchanan. But Buchanan is too lightweight to be a good guest for the near brilliant Maddow. And, I must repeat, Buchanan is no conservative.

If there was a television god, she would design a show where Maddow would face off with a real conservative like Sean Hannity. That would be great television and the viewers would learn something every night.

Let's hope Maddow and the folks at MSNBC tinker with her show and give it some life.

Journalists Win! Olbermann Out as News Anchor

The New York Times reported today that the once powerful NBCNews Organization is making moves to regain control over and return credibility to the pathetic MSNBC Cable Network. As a result Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have been removed from anchor desk duties on all future political news broadcasts and will be replaced by David Gregory.

The Wizard could not possibly be more pleased. I had confidently predicted this back on August 26th - Keith Olbermann was a disaster and an embarrassment. His iron fisted control eliminated all real reporting and squelched any opposing views. He was a tyrant and a bully and NBC could no longer look the other way.

The Times report stated, in part (editing and emphasis are mine, I encourage you to read the entire report):

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage. The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left. “The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what’s supposed to be straight news programming,” said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin. Executives at the channel’s parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC’s coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC’s news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers. MSNBC remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks. In prime time, the channel averaged 2.2 million viewers during the Democratic convention and 1.7 million viewers during the Republican convention. In interviews, 10 current and former staff members said that long-simmering tensions between MSNBC and NBC reached a boiling point during the conventions. “MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict,” one senior staff member observed. “They’re living from fix to fix and swearing they’ll go into rehab the next week.” Mr. Olbermann, a 49-year-old former sportscaster, has become the face of the more aggressive MSNBC, and the lightning rod for much of the criticism. In January, Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews, the host of “Hardball,” began co-anchoring primary night coverage, drawing an audience that enjoyed the pair’s “SportsCenter”-style show. While some critics argued that the assignment was akin to having the Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly anchor on election night — something that has never happened — MSNBC insisted that Mr. Olbermann knew the difference between news and commentary. But in the past two weeks, that line has been blurred. On the final night of the Republican convention, after MSNBC televised the party’s video “tribute to the victims of 9/11,” including graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, Mr. Olbermann abruptly took off his journalistic hat. “I’m sorry, it’s necessary to say this,” he began. After saying that the video had exploited the memories of the dead, he directly apologized to viewers who were offended. Then, sounding like a network executive, he said it was “probably not appropriate to be shown.” Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed commentary each evening. Mr. Williams did not respond to a request for comment and Mr. Brokaw declined to comment. At a panel discussion in Denver, Mr. Brokaw acknowledged that Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews had “gone too far” at times, but emphasized they were “not the only voices” on MSNBC, according to The Washington Post. Some tensions have spilled out on-screen. On the first night in Denver, as the fellow MSNBC host Joe Scarborough talked about the resurgence of the McCain campaign, Mr. Olbermann dismissed it by saying: “Jesus, Joe, why don’t you get a shovel?” The following night, Mr. Olbermann and his co-anchor for convention coverage, Mr. Matthews, had their own squabble after Mr. Olbermann observed that Mr. Matthews had talked too long. NBC Universal executives are also known to be concerned about the perception that MSNBC’s partisan tilt in prime time is bleeding into the rest of the programming day. On a recent Friday afternoon, a graphic labeled “Breaking News” asked: “How many houses does Palin add to the Republican ticket?” Mr. Griffin called the graphic “an embarrassment.”

The Middleman

If you are actually blogging, or even worrying about, the "Cone of Silence" or McCain's superior performance in Saturday night's Saddleback Forum, you need to just relax and tune into tonight's episode of The Middleman, one of the most brilliant television series ever created.

Created by Javier Grillo-Marxuach from his own graphic novels (or comics if you prefer) by the same name, The Middleman is absolutely overflowing in trivia, cultural references and inside jokes. If somehow you glossed over this series thinking it's some sort of modern day Batman (the Adam West version), you need to sit back down and watch it again. It's closer to modern day Get Smart, with Natalie Morales a legitimate heir to Don Adams brilliant comic timing.
But the writing is well beyond Get Smart's simple humor and mild satire. Each of The Middleman's thematic shows is a veritable treasure trove of layered humor, nuance and tribute to past cultural icons. You literally need to watch each episode several times to catch and find the references. And even then you'll need to log into one of the many Middleman forums and read comments from other viewers.

The comedic acting, led by Morales and the equally talented Matt Keeslar, is wonderful. Mary Pat Gleason, as the annoying and all too human android Ida, is a joy to watch.

Watch every detail. No detail is too small and absolutely nothing is unimportant. In a recent episode that overflowed with Ghostbuster references, a street sign had the name "Ray Palmer Jr. Ave."

So, take a break from your stress over who will be nominated as Barack Obama's Vice President and immerse yourself in an hour of real fun and frivolity. Discover one of television's hidden treasures, The Middleman.

What Obama Can Teach Jesus

"Some might call this arrogance, but I call it spiritual confidence."

O.K., I know I'm going to get crucified for this (pun fully intended) by my friends and readers on both the left and the right. But only Greg Gutfeld can manage to offend Christians, conservatives, liberals and Obamamaniacs in the same two minutes.

This is easily the funniest thing I've seen so far in this otherwise nearly humorless Presidential campaign season.

Tim Russert

I join virtually the entire nation and perhaps much of the world in mourning the tragic and premature death of Tim Russert. We have suffered a great loss, the magnitude of which we will feel for years to come.

Curiously, I was working on an essay about the very sad state of news journalism today. The laughable excesses and hyperbole of FOX News and the tragic fall into a cesspool of tainted journalism by MSNBC have simply destroyed the great legacy of Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite.

With Tim Russert's passing we are left with the mere shell of old fashioned journalism. Today we are force fed clowns who substitute ambush interviews, bombastic rants and one-sided political commercials for any real reporting.

Russert was great. His trademark of hard hitting and probing questions were always delivered with civility, manners and grace. But he got the answers. In the process he made Meet The Press the most important forum for any politician or government official.

While NBC will no doubt audition dozens of potential substitutes, Tim Russert cannot be replaced. That is the magnitude of our loss.

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The best reporting and consolidation of stories I have found this afternoon is found on The New York Times at this link: NBC’s Tim Russert Dies

The photograph above was provided by NBC News and was taken by Virginia Sherwood.

Bobby Jindal for Vice President

The Wizard sits in front of the television once again on a Tuesday Night and opines on the day's primary results........

If you were smart or lucky enough to switch over from MSNBC to FOX NEWS, you might have caught Bobby Jindal's stunningly brilliant introductory speech for John McCain. You would have also caught McCain's entire speech start to finish instead of hearing Keith Olbermann slobber shamelessly over the Barack Obama nomination. Thanks to TiVo I got to do both. Only FOX carries McCain's entire speech.

MSNBC is rapidly becoming an insult to journalism, their viewers and to everyone's intelligence. If FOX leans to the right (and it does), MSNBC leans so far left they literally capsize the boat every night. Don't get me wrong. I watch MSNBC all the time. I just recognize how pathetic they have become.

FOX and MSNBC. What a sorry state news television is in. What happened to integrity and intellectual honesty?

But back to Bobby Jindal. Bobby Jindal gave an excellent speech. He was bright, articulate, knowledgeable and he is a gifted speaker. Jindal is the future of the Republican party. Nominating him puts him in position to carry the party's banner in 2012 or 2016.

Regular readers might assume I will endorse Barack Obama in the general election. Certainly I've written much more about Obama than I have McCain. But hold your horses. I endorsed BOTH for their primary nominations. I will discuss my views of their strengths and weaknesses and, much more importantly, their positions in the issues over the next few months. I genuinely have not made up my mind. I promise I will endorse one by October and I will have thoroughly aired my reasons.

BUT...... but.... but, I'm going out on a limb tonight. I confidently predict Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States.

Anyone who did watch FOX NEWS tonight and listened carefully to EVERY WORD of McCain's speech and EVERY WORD of Obama Speech knows the results right now.

That doesn't mean I think Obama should win. I have many, many problems with his candidacy. But I think he will win.

We Interrupt This Blog

In the words of Kristin over at E! Online,

This just might be the most depressing news yet coming out of the New York upfronts.

I've just received word from Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman, bosses of Moonlight, that the series has been canceled.

They sent me this message to pass along to you fans:

It's true. We found out about an hour ago that Moonlight has been officially cancelled.

We are truly saddened by the news and are sorry that we won't get the chance to live with our wonderful characters and follow them on their adventures for a second season.

We really want to thank all our loyal fans for their undying love and support of the show. We never would have made it this far without them.

This series has one of the most dedicated, passionate audiences I've ever seen in the many years in this job. And to all of you I extend a heartfelt hug.

The move is stunning and reflects incredible stupidity on the part of the executives at CBS. One minute the network claims that women dictate the success of network television and then they cancel the most romantic series in the entire history of television.

If you somehow missed Moonlight, you missed a great televison drama. Alex O'Laughlin and Sophia Myles have real chemistry. The storyline is compelling and the production is first rate in spite of the rumored turmoil behind the scenes.

The ratings were quite good in the writer's ravaged split season. And the show won the People's Choice Award for Best New Drama. This simply isn't a show you cancel.

Within hours of the post above at E! Online the boards there had gathered nearly 400 outraged comments. There will be an effort to save this series. I hope it succeeds.

This Apologizing Crap is (Almost) Out of Control

Don Imus, you are one "nappy headed ho." There I said it! I mean Christ, you have got to do something about your hair! It's out of control!

And your latest whoring, this time for RFD-TV mogul Patrick Gottsch is disgusting. Man, the guy can't even manage to sell a single commercial to sponsor your show! If I have to sit through one more slobbering love tribute from you to Mr. Gottsch , I'm gonna be sick. Get a frakking room!

Opps! That was over the line,wasn't it? I guess I better apologize before the Imus fanatics boycott my blog. And death threats can't be far behind. Sorry, Don. I apologize. You really still are the great radio personality you once were. And you do wear a hat, so it's all good. Okay?

In all semi-seriousness, this not offending people thing is simply out of control! Everyone has to be so careful, they almost can't talk, let alone editorialize. And satire.... forget about it.

It's a world wide trend and, tragically, many countries are actually putting it into law. Canada is totally out of control, with many bloggers facing impossible lawsuits for offending someone.

Italy, Spain and virtually all countries with large Islamic populations have strong laws against offending religion, but usually that only means Islam.

Here in the good old U.S. of A. we have one special interest group after another demanding apologies, firing and worse.

So when radio personality Randi Rhodes makes a wild, expletive filled rant about Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro, she is forced to apologize or lose her job. To her credit Rhodes quit rather than apologize (and has since found a new radio home for her far left wing talk fest).

Don Imus, of course lost his job and was exiled from radio for six months or more, before finally bringing back a highly sanitized version of his program, this time with two black co-hosts to keep him out of trouble.

Bill Maher's rant about the Catholic Church and the Pope was terribly funny, but far enough over the line that HBO was forced under pressure from Catholics to demand Maher apologize. And he did, sort of.

Of course you will absolutely never hear Maher take on Islam the way he attacks Christianity. Maher nibbles around the edges, but I don't think he wants to risk a fatwa.

And that is a shame. We've got to fight as hard for our right of "FREE SPEECH" as other special interest groups fight to protect their so-calling image or good name.

When the demand that we "never offend" one group or religion, you can easily end up with the kind of out of control mob violence now going on in India at Ranchi University where riots have closed the University because a history professor offended Islam by wording a final exam essay question in a way that was unflattering to the Prophet Mohammad. Links here, here and here.

So easily offended is the Islamic population that the major newspapers in India won't even reprint the question in question. It was something about the tracing the life of Mohammad from "trader to raider." It was an Islamic history class.

By the way, if you'd like to read an extremely funny rant, I point you the newest Internet blogging sensation, Rachel Lucas and her terrific If I were Temporary Supreme Dictator of America. Then read her massive apology the very next day (yes, it's a real apology after outrage from her readers) Bold new blogging horizons: I deconstruct my very own post.

This is the kind of shit that happens when you get really popular. A problem that, alas, I will never have.

I promise that those two posts will brighten your entire day.

It's Only Science Fiction

Ahhh.... A delightful Sunday Morning..... Surfing the Net.... Having a cafe mocha (my second)... and listening to Wizard Radio [Now Playing: Grayson Wray's "It's Only Science Fiction" from the album Alternate Heavens]

Science Fact



One of my favorite movies of all time is "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" starring Bing Crosby. The movie is, of course, based on Mark Twain's book of the same name.

A pivotal moment in the story occurs when the time traveling Hank Morgan (the Bing Crosby character) uses an almanac to correctly predict an eclipse to impress King Arthur and save his life.

What I didn't know is that Mark Twain based this episode on similar real life event that actually saved the life of Christopher Columbus and his crew. Joe Rao writing for Space.com tells the entire story in a fascinating "must read" story. Click the link above and enjoy this great read.

And enjoy a real full eclipse of the moon on February 20th (details are included in the story).

Seed Pod Campaign to Save a Science Fiction Series



No, those aren't seed pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, they're Sunflower Seeds being mailed by the thousands to the USA Television Network in an effort to save the cult science fiction series "The 4400."

It seems that sunflower seeds are a favorite of Dr. Kevin Burkhoff , a character on the series. So fans are working to bury the USA television offices in a mountain of Sunflower seeds. Here is a link to the Save The 4400 campaign.

Meanwhile Giants Sunflower Seed Company knows a good thing when they see one. They are promoting the campaign heavily on their web site.

Yes, I'll admit that I ordered a case sent to USA Network today. I'm a fan of the show, too.