I'd heard that comedian Dennis Miller was no longer the ranter's poster-boy. I never warmed to Miller's annotated stylings, so I couldn't say whether or not he'd lost his grip on anything. I did think his coming out as pro-Bush was questionable. But I have friends who are pro-Bush, and they have my unflagging respect. The operative word is "questionable": they question me, I question them, and mostly we leave the subject alone.
Miller's appearance on Jon Stewart's Daily Show was, however, a sad, sad spectacle. Miller looked run-down and depressed, and even though Stewart generously gave Miller the floor, and cackled at Miller's every attempted quip, Miller - a stand-up veteran - struggled to claim it. When he finally worked up a head of steam, it got worse. He made some tired quips about global warming (Mordecai Richler did better), then endorsed oil drilling in Alaska by slagging Alaskans. Yeah, that's the ticket. If you can't blame Canada, fly to New York and pick on the largest state in the Union.
As if to prove that Miller isn't the only cat with meta-referencing abilities, my wife turned to me and said, "I feel like I'm watching Bobby Bittman on Sammy Maudlin."
Precisely.
6 comments:
Your wife. She is but too funny for the words. Perhaps at the time of Christmas, does she decorate your tree with socks? Her management style? In the vein of Edith Prickley or Don Caballero?
OOps! That's Guy Caballero, not Don. Losing signal on my memory.
It ain't Lola Heatherington, I'll tell you that! Though, come to think of it, she did bear all my children ....
Kevin Murphy, formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and a helluva writer, recounted the MST3K gang's encounter with Dennis Miller during their show's heyday. Murphy noted that Miller seemed rundown and depressed then, and churlish about MST3K's supposed "sellout" for taking on a big studio film. Miller's a chronic chump, then - a massive but fragile-as-glass ego with transparent envy of those funnier than he is (this was all too evident in his appearance with Jon Stewart).
So, to continue the SCTV character comparison, I'd have to go with Bruno, Dr. Tongue's bewildered hunchback toady, spewing half-hearted screams to support his master's pale attempts at scaring the naive. By extension, Dr. Tongue would be GW. "Oooh, scary, eh kiddies?"
"GW as Dr. Tongue?! That's ... that's ... a-WOOOOOOOOO!!ha-ha-haa (gurgle, choke)"
Indeed... "Dr. Tongue's 3D White House of Beef(s)"
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