The More Things Change….

June 5, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, Technology | Leave a Comment 

Catching Up

June 3, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Comedy, Supreme Court | Leave a Comment 

 

Both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report were on vacation during the Memorial Day week, so they had to bring their viewers up to date on the major story they missed.

Here’s Stewart:
 

And Colbert:

colbertnation.com

 

Laughing Matters

May 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Bush Administration, Comedy | Leave a Comment 

According to the old saying, many a true word is spoken in jest. 

In many cases, only some true words are spoken in jest.

In all cases, jest is a matter of taste and few jests are really all that funny.

In the case of SNL’s cold open last night, some words were true, most jests fell flat, and the whole thing was delivered without any particular spirit, conviction, or sense of timing, while being badly read off cue cards.

Laughing Matters

May 10, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, Nixon Administration | Leave a Comment 

The President’s decision to adjourn his weekly White House luncheon with the Vice President to Ray’s Hell Burger across the Potomac in Arlington, was reported and deconstructed with an intensity that finally struck even the media as a bit much.

Here’s the Daily Show’s take on it:

Of course RN and HAK wouldn’t have had to leave the White House to enjoy a tasty Mexican lunch. One of the least heralded accomplishments of the Nixon Administration was the introduction of Mexican food (and, as the sole exception to the otherwise teetotal rule, Coors beer) every Wednesday in the White House Mess.

Hate Speech

May 10, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, News media, Obama administration | 1 Comment 

President Obama spoke to the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner last night at the Washington Hilton.  He performed —without the teleprompter he made a joke about not using— with his usual aplomb.

Some of his jokes were very good; many were pretty good.  A few were surprisingly acerbic (and those were the ones he cracked himself up with, whatever that may mean).

This year’s after dinner act was Wanda Sykes.  Ms. Sykes is a comedian and actress who made a strong impression with her bracingly attitudinal cameos on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Her standup is, not to put too fine a point on it, raunchy and racial.  One would have thought that she was an unlikely choice for the WHCA gig, which requires a sense of propriety and and at least a modicum of decorum; and one would have been right.

Ms. Sykes is an accomplished performer with an engaging manner.  And she started out well.  Lese majeste, particularly in the presence of majeste that knows how to roll with its flow, can be refreshing.  But then she said this:

You’ve had your fair share of critics. … Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. … He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason. He’s not saying anything different than what Osama bin Laden is saying. You might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight. … Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.

The President, who had clearly enjoyed some of her earlier digs, suddenly sported a rictus smile.

The Sunday talk shows have been all over the Obama jokes.  But —with the exception of Jon King’s increasingly impressive State Of The Union— there’s been nary a mention of Ms. Sykes’ hate speech spoken in the presence of the President, the First Lady, congressional leaders and all those moral arbiters in the media.  Remember the career-threatening outrage that met Don Imus’ 1996 WHCA gig — when he dared to base a couple of lame jokes on the fact that POTUS was a horndog?  Let’s see if anybody holds Ms. Sykes’ feet to that same fire.  But let’s not  hold our breaths.

You can see the President’s remarks here; Ms. Sykes’ sorry performance here.

Laughing Matters

April 14, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, International Affairs, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

Old news, I know, but here’s Jon Stewart’s take on the President’s recent European trip — not without its amusing moments (the take, not the trip) most of which unfold as the piece progresses (and it doesn’t get started until :55 in).

And, for literal-minded TNN readers, here is Jon Stewart’s preferred “Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!” moment. 

Laughing Matters

April 8, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Comedy, Congress | Leave a Comment 

Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.  (Not to mention having to hear Santayana’s cliche endlessly misquoted.)

Ignoring his Florida colleague Robert Wexler’s example, New York congressman Dan Maffei got suckered by Stephen Colbert.  Of course Congressman Wexler is still comfortably ensconced on Capitol Hill.   And Mr. Maffei won his very visible seat (the first Democrat to do so since 1981) by a comfortable 13% margin, so what harm can be done by having a bit of fun?  (The interview begins around 2:05.)

 

Michael Steele Takes His Talk On The Wild Side

March 16, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Comedy, Republican Party | Leave a Comment 

On today’s Daily Beast, Mark McKinnon says stop the madness of the current wave of calls for Tim Geithner and Michael Steele to resign after only a few weeks in their respective offices.

The reason Mr. Geithner is under fire is because of his —to put it mildly— so far unspectacular and uninspiring performance at Treasury.  What Secretary Geithner omits, Chairman Steele commits, and his offense (aside from Chairmaning while Republican) is precisely how spectacular his attempt to inspire turned out to be.

It wasn’t so much his desire to attract younger voters —and particularly young blacks and hispanics— by  applying Republican principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings” that caused the problem.  That necessity is pretty generally acknowledged.  Rather, it was his announcement of his decision to run an “off the hook” PR campaign to attract these new voters that raised some eyebrows, some hackles, and some questions.

Michael Steele (Johns Hopkins, Georgetown Law)  is a sophisticated attorney who worked for a downtown DC white shoe law firm.  After experience in London and Tokyo he set up his own international consulting group.  He served as Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor under Bob Ehrlich.  Hitherto neither his public statements nor his obiter dicta reflected anything other than his biography-to-date.

But as soon as he was elected GOP Chairman, he appeared to start channeling some inner Biggie Steele.  When asked in a TV interview about his plans, he said, “Oh yeah, I’m always open to everything, baby, absolutely.”  His considered opinion was that  ”Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin awesome job,” and, with his finger firmly on the current Mumbai-beat of popular culture, he sent ”Some slum love out to my buddy Gov.”

Was this kind of talk really  inappropriate or just really surprising coming from the Chairman of the RNC?  Whichever, Mr. Steele said that he planned to “surprise everyone” with his update of the party’s image — and he certainly achieved that goal.

His reaction to all the criticism is in character with his new attitude: “Stuff it.”

Perhaps the Chairman’s rationale is that, as long as they spell your name right, any publicity is good publicity.    If that’s the case he might even have been amused by Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live —

— and perhaps less so by the crew at LandlineTV.

Whether the Steele brouhaha is anything more than just the predictable (and not undeserved) fun being had with a clumsily launched campaign remains to be seen.

One current rumor, which surfaced today in Mike Allen’s “Playbook” on Politico is that  “The next RNC chairman will be Norm Coleman, after he loses his recount fight and big donors see Michael Steele’s March numbers.”

Laughing Matters

March 10, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, International Affairs, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

Absolutely the  last word —at least for the time being— on the administration’s frightfully bad show during Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit, and the Secretary of State’s Russian Reset Button goofski (getting the translation wrong was unfortunate but understandable; but someone in Foggy Bottom should have known about Putin’s father having been killed by a red button):

Laughing Matters

March 9, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Barack Obama, Comedy, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

A short clip from Will Forte’s Tim Geithner cold open of Saturday Night Live received wide play on the Sunday talk shows.  The resemblance between the comedian and the Secretary doesn’t achieve Palin/Fey levels (and it’s based largely, but not entirely, on hair and makeup), but it’s pretty good.

Whether Forte is successfully mimicking his target’s voice is hard to tell.   The Secretary’s few and elusive public performances have mainly been of the “more follows” variety.

Here’s the complete clip:

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The show’s host was Dwayne Johnson — the former WWF wrestler turned action actor known as The Rock.  He’s an engaging personality and turned in a more polished and thought-through performance in a variety of sketches than many of the film and TV stars who have taken that high profile gig.

 

A President’s Proud Legacy

March 7, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, News media | Leave a Comment 

On NPR’s weekly comedy —at least they claim it’s comedy— news-based quiz show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, the final segment is a round robin of the panelists making humorous predictions about the future.

Today’s edition featured WaPo’s Roxanne Roberts making this prediction about this week’s topic: What will be the next scandal to rock reality TV?

Bill Clinton withdraws from the new season of The Bachelor saying he didn’t realize marriage made him ineligible for the show.

The audience roared laughter before it broke into applause.  On NPR.  Not EIB.  NPR.

Jimmy Fallon’s McCain Joke: T’ain’t Funny McGee

March 4, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Comedy, Entertainment | Leave a Comment 

Jimmy Fallon’s second show last night was no more comfortable or focused than its predecessor.  His nervous and ponderous first night interview with Robert DeNiro was understandable and excusable.  (It’s the devil’s bargain to book the biggest talk show name knowing in advance that, in talk show terms, he’s a stone dud.)  But a talk show is a daunting undertaking and it will take some time before —and if— Late Night with Jimmy Fallon finally starts to settle down and feel at home.

But there is no excuse for closing his monologue with an unaccountably and gratuitously ungracious joke:

Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, says she’s tired of constantly dating guys who are obsessed with how great her father is.
Fortunately for her she already dated all three of them.

While Ms. McCain’s unfortunate most recent attempt to extend her fifteen minutes of reflected fame lacked decorum —and was, therefore, fair game for comment— it was harmless enough.  So I wonder who thought it would be funny to trash her father — and why no wiser head prevailed before the “joke” reached the flashcards.

News Flash: Republicans Not Funny

March 3, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy | Leave a Comment 

Now that George W. Bush (remember him?) has gone (and has anyone ever been so gone so fast?), and has been replaced by someone who is even more popular than Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, late night comedy is floundering.

One of the problems, clearly, is that, absent Mr. Bush, Republicans aren’t rib ticklers.

Take Saturday Night Live. Please. But seriously, the show, which is now in its three hundred and sixty-seventh year on the air, has entered one of its extended doldrums.

A couple of weeks ago they excavated Dan Ackroyd to make a guest appearance as Minority Leader John Boehner (a somewhat Nixonian John Boehner, but that’s the problem with type casting).  It’s hard to imagine a more embarrassingly unfunny, underealized, under written, under rehearsed, and amateurishly executed six (count ‘em, six — and, trust me, by the end you will be counting every second of them)  minutes of post-prime time air.  It’s one thing for Darrell Hammond to be too busy to learn his lines; but it’s quite another thing for him to read them so badly.

Last night, on the debut of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, we learned that Bobby Jindal isn’t any funnier than John Boehner. It’s way too early to assess —much less to write post mortems for— NBC’s new offering in the 12.30 PM Late Night slot that was made venerable by the tenancy of Late Night with David Letterman and has only just been vacated by Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

But this topical piece about the controversy raised over Governor Jindal’s response to the President’s Not Ready For State Of The Union speech last week doesn’t bode well.  And, aside from the fact that it isn’t funny, am I alone in thinking that Jack McBrayer doesn’t sound anything like Bobby Jindal, but sounds exactly like Al Gore?

No Child Left Behind A La Simpson (Via Hulu)

March 2, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy | Leave a Comment 

When The Going Gets Weird On The Late Show

February 12, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, Entertainment | 1 Comment 

Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance on last night’s Late Show is being widely deconstructed on the internet and the radio.  It’s true that he hasn’t hitherto been known as a pillar of dependability or stability —his past history and his recent decision to forswear acting to pursue a rap career have been widely reported— but these several minutes would seem to take weirdness to entirely new levels.

It was on my watch —in fact, early on my watch— that perhaps the quintessentially weird Letterman moment occurred: Crispin Glover’s July 1987 visit to Late Night.  In that case, the guest was certifiably —and proudly— strange; and the pre-interview had not been without its surreal moments.  But then he showed up at the studio in a heightened state of excitement that almost matched his wig,  Even so, he was sufficiently coherent and professionally present for me to tell Dave and the producer that there was no need to scrap the segment.

It all began OK, but a few minutes in my life was flashing before my eyes; it continued to do so until Dave brought things to an end by walking off the set.  As I went up and led Crispin back to his dressing room and then to the elevators, he seemed genuinely confused about what had happened, and why.  (I was still on the job when, two years later, Crispin Glover revisited Late Night for an undeniably weird but otherwise more conventional appearance.)

So what about last night’s Phoenix gig?  Was it real?  Or was the actor doing a Borat-like shtick?  (He is, apparently, involved in some kind of reality movie project.)

On one side is the fact that if he had been similarly uncommunicative and incoherent during the mandatory pre-interview there is no way he would have been booked.  But there are degrees of things, and he has never been known for being chatty.  On the other side is the fact that, while Dave is not beyond playing along with a bit, it’s unlikely that he would be part of such an extended fabrication — especially if it were in aid of a guest’s independent project.

Then there is the degree and kind of Dave’s reaction.  The only thing that makes him mad is when a guest disrespects the gig by not —as he described it— “coming to play.”  (Gum chewing was another thing that got his goat.)  Dave would be helpful and patient and tolerant, and —where leggy supermodels and clueless one hit actresses were involved— even gallant, if the guest were trying but failing.  His anger, which would manifest itself as increasingly remote contempt, was reserved for people who showed up and didn’t participate (hence the stinging power of his remark “I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight”).

So the jury —at least here on the Western Shore— is out but definitely leaning toward a verdict of legitimacy.   But decide for yourself — here, depending on your point of view, is either a superb piece of performance art or an out and out train wreck:

The Blago Road Show Plays The Late Show

February 4, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Comedy | Leave a Comment 

Impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich appeared last night on The Late Show with David Letterman.  Dave brought his best chop-busting A game, as indicated by their opening exchange:

Dave: “Why exactly are you here, honest to God? 

Blago:  ”Well, you know, I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time.”

Dave: “Well, you’re on in the worst way, believe me.” 

It was a long and basically very serious interview that filled most of the first half of the show.  You can see the opening segment here.

And in the second segment (which includes the by now ritual but still no less odious Nixon comparison), Dave fulfills my prediction that he would boldly go where no man has gone before and ask exactly what’s up with the hair.

The third segment (with its discussion of the arrest, Patrick Fitzgerald, and fathers-in-law) will undoubtedly have its admirers. But I think the most interesting one was the last:

You have to admit this Blago dude is damned good.  He actually ends up getting a smattering of applause from the audience and a modicum of respect from Dave.  Either he’s stone innocent or he’s in a kind of denial compared to which OJ is a paradigm of transparency.

Bill Hicks’ Legendary Letterman Set Aired At Last

February 2, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, Culture, Entertainment, Media | Leave a Comment 

What turned out to be Bill Hicks’ final appearance on CBS’ The Late Show with David Letterman was finally broadcast on Friday night, sixteen years after it was cut from the show.

I met Bill shortly after I joined NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman in the summer of 1987. He had been banned from the show a couple of years earlier for PWI — performing while intoxicated.   I was unaware of this backstory when I saw him at a club and was bowled over by his presence and his talent.

He had completely dried out and I vouched for him and he returned and became a friend of the show, regularly appearing several times each year.

My job was to decide whether a comic had enough material to fill a five minute segment, and then to help hone it into a set that would both fit into the context of Dave’s show and come in right on time.  Some comedians resented it, and I knew they were thinking “he sounds exactly like Nixon” when I told them that I understood how they felt.  (It wasn’t coincidental that Saturday Night Live’s “politically incorrect private investigator” was called Frank Gannon P.I.P.I.)

But I had no doubts about my ability to do my job because it didn’t take a comedian —much less a rocket scientist— to figure out that the sense and sensibility of Dave’s network show was different in every way from the freewheeling club atmosphere in which the comedians developed and performed their sets.  A TV set was tightly timed: at the pre-show production meeting I would have to tell the producer and director the set’s last word —the out cue— in advance.  The ideal Late Night five minute set included two or three runs of jokes on separate topics building to a big joke at the end.

Bill understood the necessary (or as he put it, necessarily evil) function I performed and enjoyed the irony of working with a man whose qualifications for the job of comedy arbiter consisted of studying history in grad school and working for Richard Nixon for seven years.  So we hit it off and hung out whenever he was in town working on a set.  He was amused when one of the introductions I wrote for Dave described his comedy as “relentless.”

At one point cameras from CBS’ 48 Hours examined the process by  following us around from club to club and then into the studio for the broadcast. The months of ribbing that followed from Dave and the Late Night crew, added to the fact that neither NBC nor CBS would reimburse me for the town car the cameraman required to film from the front seat, put paid to my interest in any further on camera work.

I left Late Night on 14 February 1992.  After his last show on my watch, Bill gave me a picture book of dinosaurs with the inscription “From one dinosaur to another.”

Later that summer Dave decamped to CBS.  On 1 October 1993 Bill was scheduled to do his first set on the Late Show; it would be his twelfth appearance with Dave but his first on the CBS show broadcast at the earlier, 11.30, hour.

His set was pre-approved in the usual way by my successor and delivered successfully at the Ed Sullivan Theater. But when Bill got back to his hotel, he received a call from Robert Morton, the show’s producer, informing him that, on consideration, the set was considered inappropriate and would have to be cut. He assured him that he would be invited back to do a different set. Bill called me, but aside from expressing sympathy there was nothing I could do.

What none of us knew was that Bill knew there wouldn’t be another time.  He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and he died five months later, fifteen years ago this month, less than two months into his thirty-second year, on 26 February 1994.

In the last few years before he died, Bill had developed a large and growing cult following, particularly in the UK where they took his outlaw persona literally, and where he filled theaters with his one man shows (as you can see in the heavily produced BBC filmed version of one of his West End extravaganzas).

John Lahr, the New Yorker’s drama critic, was an early and ardent Hicksian. After the Late Show fiasco, Bill wrote him a 39-page letter, and Mr. Lahr incorporated this apologia pro vita sua into an earlier New Yorker profile to make an insightful and indignant and moving chapter in his book Light Fantastic.

Which brings us back to Friday night.

Bill’s mother appeared with Dave in an introductory segment that was about equal parts poignant and uncomfortable.  Dave apologized and eulogized, and Mary Hicks offered acceptance but not absolution.  In fact, although Dave rightly, and characteristically, accepted responsibility for cutting the set, the question was almost certainly first raised by the CBS Standards and Practices rep assigned to the show and the show’s producer.   If the five minute segment was the reality with which the comedians had to cope, the Standards and Practices constraints were the producers’ cross to bear.  

The set, with its unrelenting language and undercurrent of violence, delivered with Bill’s characteristic intensity, was undeniably disturbing.  Whoever made the decision, it was, in terms of the realities of the times,  certainly an arguable —and, arguably, the right— one to make.

The first shock watching this old footage was seeing how uncharacteristically healthy Bill looked.  The man always described as pasty and pudgy was now lean and trim.  The irony was painful.

On the page the jokes had seemed edgy but unexceptional. But in performance, with Bill’s charisma and intensity added, the whole became greater than the sum of its parts, and I could understand why it made the Standards and Practices already supersensitive needle flip into the red.

Bill begins by joking about hunting and killing Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Bolton, Marky Mark and others; then he does some gay and lesbian material before attacking pro-lifers; he segues into some of his old smoking jokes and ends with a rant about Easter and people who wear crosses.

Even today, with all the changes the intervening years have seen, this is still a set that would still be challenging in terms of broadcast network standards.  It would probably be passed, but there would surely be some discussion.

The mistake was the preapproval that led Bill to perform with the expectation that the set would air.  But mistakes get made, and if Bill had lived, he would have taken the Mulligan, and the unhappy experience would have become fodder for later rants instead of the tragic legend at the end of his career.

If you seek Bill’s legacy — just look around.  His influence can be seen and felt and heard anywhere good comedy and craftsmanlike comedians are to be found.

Cynthia True’s biography —American Scream— tells Bill’s story.  And John Lahr edited Bill’s routines and writings in Love All the People. But the best sources are Bill’s own several CDs and DVDs.

Laughing Matters

February 1, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Barack Obama, Comedy, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

Here’s last night’s Saturday Night Live cold open.  It starts amusing and gets funny.

By the time SNL was on the air, President Obama was already back at the White House, having successfully accomplished the mission of addressing his first Alfalfa Club audience —- and, according to the available accounts, making them laugh.

“Obama rocks the Alfalfa Club” is Politico’s headline. And Mike Allen indicates the Prexy’s opener was boffo:

How big is Barack Obama right now?

Even the well-heeled, well-tailored and well-connected members of the Alfalfa Club all but tripped over their patent leather shoes and floor-length gowns to get a moment Saturday night with the man who happens to be both the new president and the world’s most buzzed-about living figure.

Think ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, media magnates, the Bush family and Henry Kissinger. To put it in Obama—er Lincoln—terms, it’s a soiree of the elite, by the elite and for the elite. Star-struck they’re not.

Yet in a breach of protocol at an event where protocol is everything, a long line of club members and guests formed to shake Obama’s hand before he spoke. Titans of journalism (Donald Graham), politics ( Jane Harman) and business (Henry Kravis and Michael Dell) all paid homage.

Even Fred Malek, a longtime GOP fundraiser and John McCain’s campaign co-chairman, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made sure to make their way over to greet the president.  

Such a scene is out of character at the Alfafa, but then for a club originally founded to celebrate the birthday of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the mere presence of a black president made for a different kind of evening.

“If he were here with us tonight, the general would be 202 years old,” Obama mused in his speech, confronting the unlikely moment. “And very confused.

The White House even issued a sample of the Presidential routine:

I am seriously glad to be here tonight at the annual Alfalfa dinner. I know that many you are aware that this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused.

Now, this hasn’t been reported yet, but it was actually Rahm’s idea to do the swearing-in ceremony again. Of course, for Rahm, every day is a swearing-in ceremony.

But don’t believe what you read. Rahm Emanuel is a real sweetheart.

No, it’s true. Every week the guy takes a little time away to give back to the community. Just last week he was at a local school, teaching profanity to poor children.

But these are the kind of negotiations you have to deal with as President. In just the first few weeks, I’ve had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life. And that was just to keep my Blackberry. I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could email me. It’s a very exclusive list. How exclusive?

Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my email address.

Mauling Paul Blart Misses The Point

January 28, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Comedy, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies | Leave a Comment 

In today’s WAPO Hank Steuver stylishly reflects —”America Asks: But Is It Blart?“— on the unexpected success of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  PB:MC is the latest product of Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison empire.

The critics either dismissed it or drubbed it; and the people love it.  What’s up with that?

There are many reasons for the phenomenon —including the number of screens, the fact that it’s a PG-13 family flick, etc.— but Steuver digs deeper to discover why, in just ten days, PB:MC made more than  Slumdog Millionaire and Milk combined.

The movie takes place in a mall where there’s still a Sharper Image and plenty of happy Black Friday consumers. In Paul Blart’s world (the film was shot on location in two Massachusetts malls), there is no Great Recession, and the mall is still vital, important — a noble center of communal life. People are still spending. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” also has a knowing underpinning of snark about the mall: Our hero falls in love with a woman who sells hair extensions at a kiosk called “Unbe-Weave-able.” The employees hang out at a chain restaurant and sing karaoke.

At times the movie almost takes on a documentary hue, a social study, a portrait of who we are. But not too much. It’s a recession movie. It’s what Laurel & Hardy did in the 1930s. Come in, America, and forget. It requires all the thought of a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon, but like a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon there is more to see, if you squint, if you think. Explaining it is like explaining dada.

Critics snubbed it, if they reviewed it at all. The Washington Post, like many others, relegated a review of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” to a brief 314 words on Page 32 of the Weekend section, in which the critic who saw it, and loathed it, said she would recommend watching “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” only on cable TV — if and only if the viewer was lying sick and could not physically reach the remote control. (In other words, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” is a film for the comatose.)

Here you have the essential divide between art and commerce. Living in a country that makes “Paul Blart” the top movie two weeks in a row is like realizing how many people think crotchless lingerie is sexy, that stretch Hummers are appropriate things to have when you’re feeling special. Taste is fraught.

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” goes away the minute you walk out and breathe fresh air. What was it about? What’s the takeaway? We would type “America, go see ‘Paul Blart’ ” here, but guess what? America already has, and for whatever reason, loved it, without shame.

Promises To Keep

January 15, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Barack Obama, Comedy, Obama administration | 1 Comment 

Here’s a clip from the recent past.  Why, then, does it seem so long ago?

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