The Right Tool For The Job

I never got very involved in the minute details of the Hollywood writer's strike. Specifically, I didn't really know much of anything about the disagreements. It certainly makes sense that the writers ought to get a piece of the revenue from forms of distribution that didn't exist a few years back, like On Demand and iTunes downloads.

Honestly, I don't even know how it got settled. Who won? Who cares? Either way, mostly, I'm glad that it's over. Even though I don't really watch a lot of TV, I am glad that my favorite shows, House and Lost, will be having more new episodes this season. And the possibility that a short season will inspire the Lost writers to keep things tighter throughout the season definitely excites me.

But mostly, I'm glad that Real Time with Bill Maher is back to top form. Like most of the talk shows, he came back on the air before the strike had ended, but it was clearly an inferior show. It's amazing how much of a difference the exact wording of a good joke makes. In his monologues, especially, even when the setup was there and the joke was obvious, but punchline was always a little off, whether in wording, or timing, or whatever.

Just 3 examples of great lines from his monologue this past week (all paraphrases):

3) John McCain tied up the Republican nomination this week, which was made official when Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race, throwing his support to McCain. Which is just perfect - a guy who doesn't believe in evolution, supporting someone who remembers it!

2) The media has been trying to get Obama to really wade into the race, trying to get him to 'take the gloves off.' Which may not be the best strategy, really...a young, black man attacking a 60 year old white woman?

1) But, really, when it comes to foreign policy, John McCain and George Bush are basically the same person, right? Both think that the problem we have is that we just don't have enough wars yet. For instance, McCain said this week, regarding the problems in South America, that if our ally Columbia is attacked, then the U.S. would have to intervene. Because, you know, it's not like our troops are busy or anything. Someone really needs to tell these guys that 'Army of One' is a slogan, not a goal.