I'll put it in quiz form.
1. Which candidate likes "The Office"?
2. Which candidate likes "The Daily Show" and "The Sopranos"?
3. Which candidate likes "Antiques Roadshow"?
4. Which candidate names Sam Malone (of "Cheers") as his favorite TV character of all time?
5. Which candidate says SpongeBob SquarePants?
6. Which candidate says it's a tie between the Lone Ranger, Lou Grant and Archie Bunker?
Go here for the answers. And then one more question:
7. Which candidate's information is most likely to be true and which is most likely to have been concocted for publicity purposes?
January 16, 2008
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57 comments:
Right now I'm thinking. In the meantime, I wanted to note...good post.
1. Which candidate likes "The Office"?
all of them?
2. Which candidate likes "The Daily Show" and "The Sopranos"?
John Edwards (maybe Obama)
3. Which candidate likes "Antiques Roadshow"?
Hillary or the gay one.
4. Which candidate names Sam Malone (of "Cheers") as his favorite TV character of all time?
Obviously not Hillary (his), maybe Thompson?
5. Which candidate says SpongeBob SquarePants?
Obama
6. Which candidate says it's a tie between the Lone Ranger, Lou Grant and Archie Bunker?
Ron Paul
7. Which candidate's information is most likely to be true and which is most likely to have been concocted for publicity purposes?
a) none of them b) all of them
Off to check....
True: Thompson
Made up: Hillary, yeah she's got time to watch AI.
antiques roadshow gay? michael farris you are out of touch. its in 30 million homes a week and most tv shows would kill for its following. there is a bidding war for sponsorships because of the audience make up.
that gays are 10% all audiences is probably true. that antiques roadshow is "gay" is stupid.
or do you equate gay with smart?
Looks like somebody forgot their chill pill ....
Hillary likes the makeover shows on HGTV. I really like Designers Challenge, though the owners always choose the wrong designer, IMO.
John McCain's all-time favorite is I, Claudius? I liked it too, especially Sian P. as Livia. Ooh, what a great character!
I thought "Antiques Roadshow" was the new name of the McCain campaign.
I believe all of them except Clinton, Edwards, and Romney. I'm committed to the idea that they're totally fake.
I think it's weird that only two of them say SportsCenter.
"Lost. The Office. House."
Is this Mitt Romney's prediction for the GOP's '08 performance?
Also, he clearly does not know that Congressman Davy Crockett lived in and represented Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.
That's Fred Thompson's hometown.
Some of these shows I haven't seen so it will be especially difficulty
Office - ? maybe Thompson, Kucinich maybe
D.S. and Sopranos - Rudy because he took on the Mob
Spongebob - the senator from CT...I'm blocking on his name and/or Obama...bc they both have
young children
Sam Malone - Mitt....the Mass/Boston connection
LR, LG, and AB - IDK but it is hard for me to imagine a dem endorsing these three - it doubt it is one of the younger candidates
Antiques Roadshow - I've never seen the show - but I will guess Clinton
Most likely to be true...Paul or Kucinich
Most concocted - Romney/Clinton
OK, I will check after posting
The Ed Sullivan Show
This part, I believe.
Favorite TV character of all time: James Garner as Maverick
Too obvious. I'm suspicious.
"Fred Thompson on Law & Order"
My favorite answer of the entire piece, and I'd even bet it's sincere. But what does it mean--that is, what does this say about Edwards' inner being?
"It'd be a three-way tie: the Lone Ranger, Lou Grant and Archie Bunker."
Huh? Talk about mixed messages.
"SpongeBob SquarePants, because SpongeBob is the show I watch with my daughters."
Result of reaching across partisan lines, or intrafamily polling?
"My favorite 'character' is Chris Berman, a longtime ESPN broadcaster."
The only character I haven't heard of.
I have read that Obama likes "The Wire," but I don'd see that listed. Hmm.
Here are my guesses:
Edwards -- "The Office"
Clinton -- "Daily Show and Sopranos"
Thomnpson -- "Antiques Roadshow"
Romney -- Sam Malone
Huckabee -- SpongeBob
McCain -- Lone Ranger, Lou Grant, Archie Bunker
Romney's answer is the most calculated, but also most likely to be true.
I don't really think Thompson said he likes "Antiques Roadshow," but it was the first name that popped into my head. Whoever answered with AR was most likely telling the truth. Unless Clinton claimed that AR was her favorite show, at which point I suspect it's a calculated appeal to older, white women.
And we are supposed to care about this crap....why? Please tell me this is a joke.
DB Queen--
It is for bullshit detection purposes.
None of them watch television.
We're trying to figure out which answers are the most preposterous.
Next will be finding out who their favorite Beatle is.
Didn't Bush pick Ringo?
Best answer to favorite TV show comes from Jackie Broyles on RedState Update. He tries to say that football is his favorite show, but Dunlap presses him for something a little more specific.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GatuCxRZybE
DBQ: Presumably the campaigns decided to answer some sort of query, and then made specific decisions as to what to include in the answers. I think it's sort of funny and interesting to see what they picked.
Do I care about this? Nope. Do I think that even TVGuide really thinks this is important in terms of selecting a president? Or that it thinks people really care about these answers, or that they should? Nope, nope and nope. It's just using an obvious hook on which to hang an entertaining little feature in its newshole.
I could be a joke, though.
Good one, Trooper York! That comment made me grin!
Having little patience for the guessing part of the first six questions, I went and looked up the answers after reading some of the comments. And I've got to say that of all these folks, I think Hillary! is most likely bluffing. I can't imagine she spends time watching many of those programs. I think she named those shows because they fit the demographic she is trying to attract.
I'll vote for the first candidate who promises to get WKRP in Cincinnati released on DVD with all the original music.
That should have been "Iit" could be a joke, though I suppose it works either way.
***
I'll vote for the first candidate who promises to get WKRP in Cincinnati released on DVD with all the original music.
Bill, you may be onto something there (though I still can't imagine pulling the lever--well, make that completely filling in the line between the arrows with no stray marks, and not too dark, please--for Huckabee, even under those circumstances).
At first I didn't believe Hillary's list of NETWORK shows. (HGTV & Antique Roadshow thoguh, both seem totally believable.) But after thinking about, I believe all of her answers except Grey's Anatomy. AI & DwtS are both shows that don't have to be followed closely to enjoy. This would be good for someone that just wants to plop down in front of the TV from time to time. I don't buy Grey's Anatomy, however, probably because I don't want to. (Large parts of that show are about men cheating on their women.)
Maybe McCain's Maverick thing is a put on, but he is the right age for that kind of response.
The only one that sounded COMPLETELY phony to me was Thompson.
I thought McCain's answer was retch-worthy. It's like having Rudy answer the question with "24, because after 9/11, I love to watch Jack Bauer beat up the terrorists."
I liked Romney's answers, because I agree with what he says/does (at least wrt to TV): TiVO SNL and zip through to find the funny parts, and enjoy some escapism on shows like Lost. I think Fred's answer was most honest; I can't imagine that any of these people watch that much TV, at least in the past year or so.
There's something about Obama's combination of M*A*S*H and The Wire that grates on me. I'm not buying it.
Ref: WKRP on DVD, there are apparently insurmountable difficulties in obtaining the music rights. My friend Ross has written at length on this topic; start with the first one and keep clicking; there are four parts altogether.
Bill, I would make that the first plank in my Presidential platform. Second would be election reform. Third? A decent pair of pants for Brainiac.
I've been trying to decide whether or not I like Mitt Romney. He likes all the same tv shows I do. Hmmm...what does that mean...
I'll vote for the first candidate who promises to get WKRP in Cincinnati released on DVD with all the original music.
Accordion to Bill.
Joan, Bill, Reader & I are all well acquainted with the problems around WKRP's music licensing issues. But, given that it is the highest cultural achievement in American history, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! In fact, THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW!
Reader, but can he play the CLOSING music to WKRP on an accordion?
A Cause ...
A Movement ...
A Candidate!
(Think of the grassroots support.)
Yes, indeedy! Oh, the humanity!
Could that a mass American Idol tryout?
My God! Did you see how many ukulele's that man has hanging on his wall?!
"My God! Did you see how many ukulele's that man has hanging on his wall?!"
I wonder if any of them are tuned.
The PR-inspired answer has to be Hillary's. Her list of shows is aimed right at her demographic -- middle-aged women.
McCain's choice of "I Claudius" comes just as I was completely writing him off. Now I have to reconsider. Pre-"The Sopranos," I think "I Claudius" was the greatest thing on TV ever, with the possible exception of "The Jewel in the Crown."
updates:
1. gay = British
2. Bill, you may be onto something there. Not like any politician plans on doing anything they promise, I just want someone to pander to me. My needs are simple: legalize practically everything, a nuclear reactor on every corner, and the original WKRP on DVD.
3. ukulele's that man has hanging on his wall Is that a euphemism?
4. I wonder if any of them are tuned. Is that a euphemism?
In light of Bill Clinton naming Hillary as the insurgant candidate, I find her Ed Sullivan answer to be the most unintentionally amusing.
I thought Edwards's Law and Order answer to be the most clever.
I wish they would have asked them to name their favorite South Park character.
Thompson's answer is realistically dull. Occasional sports info is about all you'd have time for.
Edward's reference to Thompson is great.
Obama's young & hip, so he probably has ways of seein "The Wire" while he's on the road. And M*A*S*H is almost always on somewhere in the universe....
As for getting WKRP on DVD with original music--good lord, people, the government has LIMITATIONS!
the government has LIMITATIONS!
Then why do they keep acting otherwise?
I just want someone to pander to me. My needs are simple: legalize practically everything, a nuclear reactor on every corner, and the original WKRP on DVD.
Those are most of my platforms for my run for the 2016 Republican nomination.
End the drug war. Make all licit and currently illicit drugs federally permissible to sell OTC (it's up to each state how to deal with massive federal deregulation). Rescind all federal laws against gambling and prostitution. Reduce the size and scope of the IRS. Repeal Sarbannes Oxley. Reduce the corporate tax rate. Eliminate all cabinet positions established since 1950. But most importantly (with regards to the WKRP issue) End perpetual copyright, encourage Congress to limit copyright to 25 years for TV programs, 30 years for music and 50 years for books, non-renewable. If drugs can come off copyright, why not WKRP (and the songs therein)?
My exploratory committee begins now. After 8 years of a Pres. Obama or Pres. Clinton, there ought to be a huge backlash brewing against intrusive nanny-statism, I'll be the perfect antitode.
(Plus, I'm even more multi-racial than Obama, I'm French-German-Mexican-Black, and none of this African black stuff, good old fashion my grandfather was born on a sharecropper's farm in Hope Arkansas black)
Mitt was the only one I guess right.
Obama likes MASH? Ugh, most annoying tv show of all time. Hawkeye Pierce: most annoying tv character of all time.
Hdlouse said:
“…antiques roadshow gay?”
It is humor. The whole point is humor. Since you have no sense of humor, ferris may forgive you. Geez, lighten up a little.
Dust Bunny Queen said...
And we are supposed to care about this crap....why? Please tell me this is a joke.
11:36 AM
OK, it is a joke. I told you. Now please tell hdlouse.
Bill, sorry, I forgot to pander on the nuclear issue you brought up as well.
Not on every corner, but definitely a sodium cooled, closed fuel cycle 50MWe Toshiba 4S for every suburban enclave of 5,000-10,000 folks to augment current power plants.
If GE, or any other American company, comes up with something better and cheaper before 2016, then I'll have a look, but until then, you won't get a more specific policy recommendation and promise from any candidate running today, in 2012, or any of my opponents in 2016, that's for sure.
As far the presumptive gayness or not gayness of Antiques Roadshow, I'd have I'm siding with the not gayness side of the argument. Not because decorating is a not gay thing, decorating as a hobby is a pretty gay activity, at least amongst men (I'm looking at you Christopher Lowell), but Antiques Roadshow isn't really about decorating, it's more about yard sale addicts hoping they've pulled the proverbial fast one and paid $20 for the crappy painting that's really worth $20,000 (or that piece of crap family heirloom has left to them buy great-aunt Peg has more than sentimental value). It's a success in part for nostalgia, part keen interest in history, and big dollops of jackpot, get rich quick without a lot of effort, culture.
At least that's my impression whenever you see the disappointment on a low side estimate and the goofy grins on the wildly inflated estimates.
Which leads to a rule I think this show should follow. The appraisers on that show should be forced to offer half of the appraised value of any object they evaluate if the other party is interested in a quick sale. That'd prevent them from throwing out wild numbers or giving half-assed appraisals, cause I suspect they throw ridiculous numbers out there from time to time just for dramatic effect.
Nice thread topic, Anne!
Right after I was in a deep snit about how worthless the TV pundits are when all they talk about is "horserace" and give nothing to the voters in research or interviews with the candidates except more horserace, more reiteration of position, more wearisome "gotcha" on nuance shifts in position.
I am still in a "learning phase" on candidates. The more I see and learn about Hillary, the more I respect her but the less I want to vote for her - but mainly because I disagree with her philosophy and positions. I like Huckabee and his great people skills - but trust I am seeing the real guy less. The more I learn about Romney and the more I filter what he says, the more I think he would be an excellent President.
But the more of the stuff that reveals more of a candidate's character, capacities, and tastes - the better.
Looking at the answers, the most contrived seem McCains, formed with help of an image consultant - to fit his "persona". Edwards, too. If you are in a profession - why hook up in your free time with shows about your profession as imagined by Hollywood writers?
I liked Hillary's choices. Agree with the escapism aspect and agree it is quite possible to kick back with "Dancing with the Stars" and "Antiques Roadshow's" attraction that ordinary people out there have amazing things squirreled away that you never thought existed or were so valuable. And no consultant would have ever recommended she add the "Ed Sullivan Show".
Romney had a good selection of shows for escapism - and I agree about SNL and TiVo. SNL was meant for it.
Disppointments: No Trekkie fans. No "Prime Suspect&Magnum" fans, not even Hillary. No "Nova, Mission:Impossible, Seinfeld, Simpsons, Cosby Show, Everyone Loves Raymond," fans - or "Twilight Zone" for Ron Paul.
I agree with everyone who says that a Presidential candidate pledge to release the full "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVD set and fuck the copyrights would be a hero.
*****************
Seriously, a question.
Does anyone have a list of what foreign languages the candidates either speak fluently or are conversant in?
Which countries they have visited other than short-term tourism - and had the most exposure in?
"Only the sheep watch television. The wolves watch the sheep."
Hugo Chavez in a conversation with Dick Gregory in 2006.
Obama likes MASH? Ugh, most annoying tv show of all time.
Thank you. Even the horn playing the theme song sounds tired and depressed. And what sort of show has such a depressive theme song anyway?
I’m Gay.
And what sort of show has such a depressive theme song anyway?
One based on a movie that was a black comedy, wherein one of the main characters ("Painless Pole") suffers from impotence and so decides he'd rather commit suicide than live a life without sex.
Hence, suicide is "Painless".
So...Sponge Bob is Sen. Obama's "Favorite TV Character of all time"?
Here is the Wikipedia entry for SpongeBob with Sen. Obama's name inserted...
Sen. Obama is capable of shape shifting and has shown a degree of super "human" durability.
He is marked [by] his cheerful nature. Sen. Obama is kind almost to a fault, and tries his hardest to make friends with those around him but has occasionally been known to be malicious. Though he is generally harmless, he can become very dangerous when he puts his mind to a task; when Sen. Obama focuses on a job, he will stick to it almost religiously, and go to extreme lengths to accomplish it.
Sen. Obama...is not ashamed of enjoying things associated with young children, such as cartoons and homemade cookies. He cannot discern sarcasm very well, and is very literal-minded. Despite these traits and his lack of physical strength, Sen. Obama considers himself very tough and mature, and has attempted--and failed--to prove his "manliness" on many occasions.
IMAGINARY CONVERSATION WITH ANN ALTHOUSE:
____________________
MAXINE: "Sometimes it's fun to write for writing's sake, without any readers at all."
ALTHOUSE: "I´ve never understood why somebody would want to write stuff that no one wants to read."
MAXINE: "Well, Ann, I guess that's why you clamor and grapple for ever more and more readers."
ALTHOUSE: "What I´m looking for, whether in writing or public speaking, are opportunities for impact. It's hard to make an impact if nobody's reading, or listening to you."
MAXINE: "You mean right now? Posthumously, there have been many famous writers who were ignored during their life."
ALTHOUSE: "I don't think I wanna wait that long."
__________________
None of the candidates is a Battlestar Galactica fan. (sigh)
Obama earns brownie points for "The Wire". That really is one of the best shows in the history of TV -- and the best crime show period.
I'd never thought of Antiques Roadshow as "gay". I'd thought of it as "watched by middle-aged and elderly women".
Over in the other thread, Freder wrote:
[American Idol] is aimed at an audience on the lower half of the bell-curve in intelligence who don't know real talent, culture, or music but just mindlessly swallow the gruel that is spoon fed to them by corporate drones?
... interesting, isn't it, that it turns out to be one of Hillary's favorite television shows? :)
I wonder if any of them are tuned.
How could anyone tell?
ukulele's that man has hanging on his wall Is that a euphemism?
Sadly, no.
I wish they would have asked them to name their favorite South Park character.
Since I'm now seriously considering running on a WKRP platform, I will answer this question: My favorite South Park character is Cartman. He is perhaps the only character in American fiction that is more sociopathic than Hannibal Lecter, and I appreciate that in a person. Ah, the yummy and sweet tears of unfathomable sadness....
I'm a little disappointed that no one copped to Rome. Too close to home?
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