Two Medium Hits and Four Quick Hits

No, this is not the STD.  It's still baking.


(1)

I heard the Jake/Dan/Bob/Julie from a week or so back on Work in Progress last Sunday.

It had an odd quality.  Very disjointed.  No one knew quite what was going on or knew quite what to say, so there was a lot of interrupting.  No one seemed all that angry.  Everyone seemed childish.

It got started in a strange way.  I thought the throw-in of the Country Music Saturday reference (by Bob, I think) in the middle of whatever else Jake was talking about -- it was a Jake segment -- was gratuitous and I didn't get what it had to do with what Jake was saying.  I don't think Jake did either, and that's why he got up on his hind legs, upset that one of the hosts had to reach for a doesn't-follow reference to bust his balls.  It sounded like they were spoiling for some kind of fracas with Jake.

I don't think this is the beginning of the end of anything -- does BaD sound appreciably different since then?  no -- but I do think it pulls back the curtain a bit as to who is getting on whose nerves in this cast.  We know Dan is somewhat thin-skinned.  Bob can be, too.  Jake, generally, is not.  He fights back when challenged, but he doesn't usually sound like he's taking it personally.  This sounded different, and it made me wonder if maybe there's some simmering jealousy there, some off-mic slights that have been building up to this.   Bob and Dan toiling for years in what they probably consider The Ticket backwater, sacrificing a good offer from CBS to stick with The Ticket. Jake the very talented and smart upstart, all over the station, talked up as a guy who may be needing his own show before too long.   Dan has a history of belittling underlings but it's tough to bully Jake.  The whole thing had a flavor of remember-you're-still-only-a-producer-just-like-Gribble to it.

I don't have any predictions.  I don't expect a series of similar jousts.  But it won't surprise me if Jake finds something else to do in DFW media if there are no host openings on any of the shows in the next year or so.  And none are anticipated. 

(2)

I've always liked Work in Progress, the Sunday ayem extravaganza.  Everything except the title, which makes even less sense now that it's an established weekend joint
What I want to mark today is the ascension of David Mino.

When WiP began, it was pretty much the Justin Montemayor Show, with Mino alongside.  Nothing in the world wrong with that.  Justin is a favorite of mine and I was glad he had his own show.  Didn't have a problem with Mino, either, but he was pretty green.  Had trouble getting out of his own way, lots of self-deprecating remarks about his inexperience, some uncertain starts to his segments, etc.  But Justin kept the show going and it was cool just the way it was.

But someone -- face it, it was the New World Catman -- had patience and let the show, and David, find their path.

And they did.  I listened last Sunday and was struck at David's polish.  I've been listening, but his improvement has kind of snuck up on me.  Dare I say it?  He led that particular show.  Seemed to helm most of the segments, was well-prepared.  Justin was even back on his heels once or twice, board had to dump the guy.  In fact, the show has a great balance now and it's a lot of fun.  More fun now that Justin doesn't have to carry the load.

Well done, Justin, David, and Cat.

(3)

Those Juul stop-smoking-device ads.  Not the worst we're-trying-to-make-something-utterly-scripted-sound-unscripted ads, but pretty comical nonetheless.  ("I thought  .  .  . OK, I'll try it.")   What was that one that aired a few years ago that tried the same schtick? 

(4)

I'm not anti-Christian -- raised in a church, was an officer at a major Protestant church, not so active now -- but I do wonder about some of those Good Contractor's List ads.  The ones that are frankly evangelical, the message overtly religious and really with very little to do with the GCL.  I don't find them offensive, but they're just the littlest bit creepy. 

Here's what occurs to me:  How would we feel if a Muslim business proselytized in Ticket ads in this fashion?  Hindu?  Druid?

(PS:  Out on the Plains, I sometimes deal with self-professed "Christian businessmen."  YHWH save me, I'd rather negotiate with Michael Avenatti's less ethical cousin than some of these guys.)


(5)

Someone in a comment a post or two back said they didn't care for those Sharon Moore good-citizenship City Credit Union ads.  I think they're OK, she sounds like a nice lady, the good deeds sound sincere.

Here's the thing.  Listening to these things for months on end, I formed a mental picture of her.  Maybe mid-forties, early fifties.  Blond.  Hair parted in the middle, straight, mid-length,  framing her face.  Pleasant face, quite attractive but not glamorous.   No Kelly "The Bulldog" McClure, she.

Looked her up:

(6)

God, do I get sad listening to those Tight Ends ads.  Poor Savannah.  Poor all of those girls.  Although  .  .  .  woman's gotta work, the tips can probably get them through the week, pay the rent, get some pot pies on the table for the kiddo, pay the cell bill.  Is it really more fun than a 9-5 gig?

Yeah, probably.

Savannah and Emma suffering from cell phone's poor optics in handling relative sizes of items at different distances from the focal plane

Obviously a slow ad season.  The Baby Dolls Saloon ads are back, too.

Nice hits, Plowman.  But can't wait for your STD.

With All the Annoying Political Talk, we Turn to the Ads.

Confessor Jack McCall submitted this little essay prompted by his perplexity over the "Good Contractors List" commercials running with increasing frequency on The Ticket.  I liked the writing and the recollection and the point.  With Cowboys training camp and surging Rangers and Fight Night and all the rest there's Ticket fodder out there, but I thought this elegaic little piece was worth your time.  Thanks to Jack McCall -- his nom de MTC is actually quite clever -- and, as always, I would appreciate hearing from others who would like to be a guest contributor.  I hope Jack will weigh in on a Ticket topic soon.

*     *     *

As a P1 you have a love-hate relationship with commercials. And by "love" I mean "not hate as much." Commercials are part of the P1 deal, though, so your best option is to at least let the advertising genius in you dissect some of these odorous specimens.

If you don't have that level of expertise don't worry--neither do I. But I do know something about the generally terrible idea of coming up with a message that is so contrarian that it must be good. Hint: it isn't.

Sophomore year of high school my buddies and I managed to talk our parents into letting us spend New Year's at a friend's "river house," which was actually a single-wide situated some 300 yards of thick, steep hiking away from a desolate stretch of the Brazos.

Obtaining their permission was tough, as our folks no doubt imagined a combination of booze, fireworks and just an utter disregard for the dangers of the river. We prevailed but were still rattled enough on the drive down that we came up with an idea, one that would layer in some additional lies to lessen the ongoing skepticism. If nothing else we might be subject to less grilling upon return.

This idea, which was really bad and poorly strategized from the beginning, went something like this: Upon calling our parents to confirm arrival in Unincorporated, Texas, we'd all mention how some state trooper had stopped us as we pulled into our destination. This idea, which, again, was really bad, was that we'd breathlessly tell our parents how this cop had pulled us over for no good reason, searched us and our car for no good reason, and then obviously had to let us go because of course his search was fruitless.

What our parents would take from these calls, however, was that a mere 90 minutes into our trip we had already found ourselves in trouble with the police.

It's easy to become so enamored of a contrarian idea, so convinced of its reverse-psychology genius, that you don't quite think it all the way through. For example, if you're a company called The Good Contractors List, maybe don't do a whole commercial talking about a really BAD contractor on YOUR list. As Seinfeld once said, "Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?"

Your company positions itself, down to its very name, as a cut above the rest. But you spend lots of money to run lots of spots talking about a bad contractor on your good list. I guess the resulting cognitive dissonance is supposed to be so jarring that I'm now listening even more attentively as you explain why your company is still good anyway. But really, I'm just thinking about how maybe your company can't quite live up to, well, you know, the name you gave it.

"Anyone know where I can find a Hammer?"